Emeril

Emeril is a tremendously talented chef ala artiste, but a comedic actor (or actor period) he's not. This mess is a terribly formulaic take on Emeril's actual Food Channel cooking show (a joy of a show and where Emeril belongs). To make up for Emeril's lack of acting ability, the producers surrounded him with crisp, timing-savvy comedic pros...you can almost hear the snare drum and cymbals after every punchline. Robert Urich lent a legitimate "big-name" which evoked nostalgic sympathy for the cancer victim. Plots lines are trite and "text-book", and yet infantile (those excruciatingly bad baldy wigs in episode #1). Painful to watch, thank God this mistake was taken off the burner before it became completely overdone and rancid.

I enjoy watching Emeril Lagasse's cooking shows on the Food Network, but this situation comedy built around him is a misfire. Compliments to the chef: Lagasse appears to be very comfortable acting in front of the camera as opposed to cooking. However, it's as if he's a supporting character on his own show. Lisa Ann Walter (veteran of a failed sitcom herself) and the other two ladies who play characters who assist with the chef's cooking show seem to pull the action right out from under him. I have no idea why Robert Ulrich's agent character is there at all; I guess the writers needed to give Lagasse a male buddy to interact with to counterpoint all of the women he's surrounded by.

His cooking shows on cable are more entertaining than this undercooked offering.

I didn't really think Emeril Lagasse could pass as a comedian, but after watching this show, not only has it been confirmed that he isn't funny - but he also can't act.

The promo spots on television for this sitcom didn't feature any laughable teasers. That's usually a bad sign for things to come. Emeril basically plays himself in this show. He's a television chef of a reasonably successful cooking show and the sitcom centers around himself and his staff.

The premiere episode was something I could only describe as 'just awful'. Emeril and his crew enter themselves into a competition to see who can lose the most weight against the crews of the other cooking shows on the same network. The prize, $100,000.00, to be split amongst the winning crew. We spend thirty painstaking minutes listening to tired jokes about losing weight and how dieting makes people cranky. We see Emeril and his 'agent' (played by Robert Urich, which is almost a laugh in itself) get themselves into ridiculous situations, such as sweating it out at a gym. And to top it off, we see the main characters sitting in wet-suits on power-cycles at the gym arguing amongst themselves over who can lose the most weight.

One of the worst things about this show is the supporting cast themselves. They over-act to the point where the jokes are forgotten and you find yourself cringing in turmoil over why you haven't yet changed the channel at this point.

If you find it amusing when Emeril shouts "BAM!" when throwing salt onto a plate of food, then this show is for you.

If you want to watch something that will make you laugh at least once, then this show is not for you.

Shame on NBC for serving up this garbage to us so early in the season!

I actually favored watching his live show on the Food Network over this show. If only NBC had done things differently, Emeril fans, like myself, wouldn't have ran out the door! I now feel sorry for Emeril and his potential acting career because I think he could've gone far with this one. My advice to Emeril is, "Please try again."

It was not Emerils fault that the show bombed.

The Thomasons would not let Emeril "play" Emeril as himself.

There were no "bams", no "kick it up a notches".

They forced him to play a toned down version of himself.

Then cast a bunch of actors around him to liven the show up.

Sure Emeril is no Sir Laurence Oliver, but neither is Tom Hanks.

Emeril was handicapped by not being allowed to be himself.

Emeril can still buy and sell any of you out there who have knocked his effort.

I went to one of the tapings of the show in California and in my opinion did as good of a job as was possible given the circumstances.

At least HE tried, can any of you dopes say say the same!