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By: Simon Button<\/strong><\/p>\n With two Power spin-offs on air and a third in the works,\u00a0showrunner Courtney A. Kemp and executive producer Curtis \u201c50 Cent\u201d Jackson are surely two of the biggest power players in television right now.<\/p>\n The original series, which began its six-season run in 2014 and wrapped last year, wasn\u2019t always a critical darling (\u201cToo much sex, drugs and violence\u201d was a typical reaction) and was never up for any major awards.<\/p>\n But it had a loyal fanbase and, by season six, was bringing in nearly 1.5 million live viewers, giving the STARZ network one of its biggest hits \u2013 hence the greenlight for sequel Power Book II: Ghost<\/a> as soon as Power itself went off air.<\/p>\n It ended with drug baron and corrupt political wannabe James \u201cGhost\u201d St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick) shot to death by his own son Tariq (Michael Rainey Jr.) for, among things, his abusive treatment of Tariq\u2019s mother Tasha (Naturi Naughton).<\/p>\n The sequel, a mite more ruminative than its predecessor but still stuffed with fan-pleasing violence and Shakespearean machinations, gave Tariq his own show as it saw the youngster forced to attend college to secure his inheritance whilst supplementing his income by dealing drugs for head of the Tejada family Monet (Mary J. Blige).<\/p>\n Another ratings hit, Book II is back for a second season with one of its stars \u2013 Method Man, who plays lawyer Davis Maclean \u2013 telling RadioTimes.com<\/a> he sees several reasons for the success of the ever-expanding Power universe.<\/p>\n \u201cFor one thing the writing is great,\u201d he says. \u201cI also think a lot of it has to do with the diversity and all the cliffhangers you get left with. It\u2019s like \u2018How the hell are they gonna get out of this?\u2019 but they always find a way.\u201d<\/p>\n They, namely Kemp and Jackson, also found a way to fashion a prequel in the 1990s-set Power Book III: Raising Kanan<\/a>, chronicling how Kanan Stark (James St. Patrick\u2019s mentor turned enemy originally played by Jackson himself) became a drug lord. With Mekai Curtis in the lead and the likes of Omar Epps, Patina Miller and Joey Bada$$ also in the cast, the prequel is also getting a second season.<\/p>\n