Emeril Lagasse Moves To Fine Living Network To Save "Emeril Live!"

NEW YORK — Emeril Lagasse is leaving the Food Network's prime-time schedule for the Fine Living Network, a move the chef hopes will mean a second course of "Emeril Live!"

The show that combines cooking, music and the chef's own energetic personality has been a staple of the Food Network's prime-time lineup since its 1997 debut.

But ratings have tailed off, and last year the Food Network moved the show from 8 p.m. Eastern to 7 p.m. Its average audience has declined from 717,000 three years ago to 579,000 this year, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The Food Network will air reruns of "Emeril Live!" in the afternoon. But corporate sister the Fine Living Network will pick up the show at 7 p.m. starting on July 7.

The show will air seven nights a week in that time slot. In its first week, five original episodes will be shown and, for about two months, a new episode will be shown each Monday while the rest are reruns.

Fine Living is carried in about 50 million homes, fewer than half the nation's 110 million homes with television. The Food Network is in more than 90 million.

"As you know in television, things have to evolve and this is a little evolution for me," Lagasse said.

While his prime-time showcase may be smaller, Lagasse said it represented an opportunity to expand his fan base to people who might not necessarily seek him out. He'll also be paired on the schedule with Martha Stewart; on weekdays Fine Living airs reruns of Stewart's syndicated program a day after it's shown on broadcast television.

"It's really what I consider to be a network-defining moment for us," said Bob Baskerville, Fine Living Network president.

Fine Living will be rated by Nielsen Media Research for the first time this fall, and Stewart and Lagasse provide some big draws.

Lagasse held out hope that if the reruns do well on Fine Living and on the Food Network during the daytime, corporate owners the Scripps Networks would decide to order a new run of "Emeril Live!" episodes.

"Who knows what's going to happen?" he said.

Comments

[haleywins]

Best of luck to him, he's a national treasure.

[mergina]

I wish he was running for president. Just imagine if chef's ran the countries of the world. Ahhhh!

[iBgood]

Can't stand the guy and his audience acts like they're on an infomercial.

I like Alton Brown and his Good Eats show.

[sweettooth]

Alton Brown is a goober. You can't feign a sense of humor with boundless trivia, and he proves it. The smell from his kitchen gets pilled higher and deeper with every expansive explanation. Who cares how the cabbage got discovered, sheesh.

[Shashi0224]

I love Alton Brown. I always learn something.

Emeril uses too many exotic ingredients. I enjoy the cooking shows like Paula Dean and the rest where they use ingredients in the cabinet. I cook every night and need easy and fast. Emeril is good for special occasions.

[drec1500Madrid]

I agree with you, but I started watching Heston Blumenthal on YouTube...he's a polished version of Alton...check him out...

[ENK727]

Great... Glad to hear it. I love Emeril live. How do you go about getting tickets to see it live in NYC?

[lewes17266]

I like Emeril a lot. I like his show.

[gr8abz]

I watched Emeril once back in 03 when he brought on his pal Toby Keith to sing 'Iraq and Roll'. That did it.
I switched channels and never went back.

[BillLumbergh]

Sad to see Emeril go.
Could they get rid of that no-talent Rachel Ray, and that fat, talentless millionaire's wife who can't cook?

[lewes17266]

Who is the talentless millionaire's wife? Is that Sandra Lee?

I am a Food Network junkie but have always wondered about Sandra Lee and how she got a how and how she keeps it.

[lewes17266]

how she got a s-h-o-w

[dagnew]

Sandra Lee was raised by her grandmother, and went to college in Wisconsin. Sandra invented a special window treatment accessory that was widley used back in the 80's and early 90's. Her cooking show is not her first TV endeavor. If she is a millionaire, she earned it the hard way.

[LitDr2B]

I think he's referring to Ina Garten, the "Barefoot Contessa."

[lewes17266]

Hey. Those are two of the best!

[PrairieDog]

My wife & I recently did a road trip to Jazz Fest & the small hotel we were at was just a few blocks from Emeril's Delmonico. We were able to saunter over for an elegent evening snack. That kind of tab is not something we'll being doing again anytime soon. But the "snack" was sensational & one of the highlights of the trip. I'm happy to see him investing in the resurrection of NOLa.

[moana]

BAM! Bye bye :)

[bujeeboo]

He's a chef. And so I still respect his skills and his approach to food as being that of an artist and a restauranteur, no matter how over-the-top he becomes. What is more garbage than anything on the Food Network are shows by these non-chef, no-talents like Rachel Ray.

[chronic]

Leaver her alone!!!!



Shes a cute lil thang! LOLOL!

[PhillyQuaker]

Emeril has a good heart:

http://www.emeril.org/press_detail.php?id=68

[bac]

He has become just a showman, and a corny one at that. I wonder if he can actually cook anymore. What I hear, he has a big staff behind the scenes that bring in the food at the different stages!

[grailknight]

Emeril should do fewer live shows and emphasize preparation and technique. Please stop pulling the heat control knob from the oven! Emeril was getting sloppy for the last couple of years and otherwise phoning in the show.

[wagonjak]

I watch Emeril occasionally, and do think he's pretty over the top in a lot of his performances and gets a little too much out of repetitions of his favorite moves and phrases (like BAAAAAMMM!!!!, but...

I saw an Anthony Bourdain (I believe) show on him. He was one of the first chefs not only to reopen his restaurant in New Orleans, but he started two others, and is training young chefs in one of his restaurants. After the catastrophe he spent a lot of his own money located former employees and helping them return to NO and resume their careers.

Now I look at him as more then a food clown...

[LadyAva]

Admittedly, I'm not fan, but I saw that episode of Anthony Bourdain in NOLA and I, too, was touched by Emeril's generosity and dedication to his hometown and his staff. In spite of his schtick, which can be a bit much at times, there's no doubt that he's a good guy. I wish him the best of luck!

[fishwater]

I don't know who you talked to...
I have a friend who worked at NOLA and all staff were "let go" after Katrina so Emeril did not have to pay their health Insurance. He is all big business and only about the dollar, don't let him fool you.

[drec1500Madrid]

I liked Emeril when he first came to the Food Network, then it became a bit too much. The hyperactivity and the huge portions kind of turned me off.