Bam!
It's impossible to describe just how influential Emeril Lagasse was in shaping today's culinary
landscape.
But in 2007, Food Network cancelled the show that got so many people into the kitchen — and
helped launch the network.
So, why did Emeril Live really get the ax?
When the cancellation of Emeril Live was announced, Food Network publicist Carrie Welch released
a vague statement on the network’s decision, saying:
"The only reason [the show would be cancelled is] that it hit a ton of television milestones
and, you know, all good things come to an end."
Former Food Network president Brooke Johnson gave a similarly vague statement to The New
York Times, saying that while they still valued Lagasse as an integral part of their team:
"All good things come to an end, and it was time to do something new."
Of course, that wasn’t the whole story.
“Well, we won’t go there.
It’s like … it’s a long story.
You wanna really know?”
“Yes!!!”
The end of Emeril Live was quite a big deal.
Since Food Network is huge today, it's easy to forget that way back in the olden days
of the 1990s, it was struggling to even stay afloat.
Allen Salkin's book From Scratch: Inside the Food Network gives us a pretty unblinking
look at just how far they've come — largely thanks to Emeril Live, which was launched
in 1997.
In the early days, it wasn't so much the Food Network as it was the Emeril Network.
He held the nightly 8 p.m. time slot, and at a time when the young network was barely
squeaking by, it was Lagasse they flaunted to prove that they had the chops to make it.
Salkin describes him as their "million-dollar man in chef's whites," the star they pointed
to when they wanted to impress.
His contract in those early days was a three-year deal, for which he was paid $333,334 each
year.
“WOOOOOO!”
While that might not sound like much in comparison to what some celebrities are paid today, Food
Network lauded it as a million-dollar deal.
The Food Network was essentially built on Lagasse’s shoulders.
Though network execs were boasting about their average prime-time viewership of 778,000,
they weren't talking about their flagging daily ratings, which were down to 544,000
from the previous year's 580,000.
The numbers loss was significant: Food Network was suddenly left owing refunds to advertisers
who weren't reaching the viewership they'd signed on for.
We all know slumping numbers is a very real indication that something at a network needs
to change, and that meant rethinking just what kind of programming they were putting
on.
Emeril Live became yesterday's news, while contemporary viewers wanted more.
While Emeril Live was going up in flames, cable TV was beginning to lean-in to reality
competition shows.
Food Network’s head of marketing reached out to Emeril’s agent to try to get the
chef on an up-and-coming show that would help expose him to new viewers and hopefully lure
those viewers over to Emeril Live.
That up-and-coming show was Iron Chef, and Emeril was having none of it.
In a 2016 interview with GQ, the celebrity chef explained why reality TV just isn’t
his thing, saying:
"I'm old-fashioned, and I want to teach people how to cook, how to eat, how to serve, how
to shop, how to drink wine, how to mix a cocktail properly.
I didn't necessarily at the time want to get into this competition stuff."
Like many Food Network stars today — Lagasse had a full range of merchandise, including
everything from cookbooks and cookware, to salad dressings and spices.
But when Food Network negotiated his contract, they they hadn't accounted for the money the
popular chef was going to make selling his branded goods.
“BAM!
Just like that!”
According to The New York Times, Food Network’s policy began to shift a bit in 2006.
The network wanted more control over the licensing agreements their stars made -- so when they
started signing newcomers like Bobby Flay and Rachael Ray, they worked it into their
contracts that chef-branded product lines would be as much about the network as they
were about the chef.
Lagasse's contract had no such rider, which meant Food Network wasn't making the same
kind of money off his outside ventures.
And as the network became more of a brand, there simply wasn’t any room for Lagasse
to continue to receive special treatment.
Emeril Live was one of the network's flagship shows, and Lagasse was arguably their biggest
star.
But with his star power came a hefty price tag, and that meant the still-fledgling network
had to make some difficult decisions.
According to to Allen Salkin's book From Scratch: Inside the Food Network, it was costing "hundreds
of thousands of dollars a week" to keep Emeril Live on-air -- and those big paychecks were
hitting the network where it hurt.
On the other hand, each episode of Flay and Ray’s respective shows cost an average of
just $40,000 at the time, a price which included their salary.
Food Network had a choice to make: either support one week of Emeril Live with their
budget, or produce an entire, 13-episode season of a show featuring up-and-coming young talent
within the industry.
You don’t need a business degree to figure out why they chose the latter.
It's been more than a decade since the cancellation of Emeril Live, and since then, Lagasse has
gone on to do a number of other shows.
The celebrity chef told GQ:
"When it ended, everybody felt like it was time for a little break.
I didn't necessarily think that, but that's what everybody else thought, that maybe it
was time for a break from Emeril.
And… you know.
So I went and did some other things…"
“Cause you know … men belong in the kitchen.”
There's no denying that Emeril Live helped make Food Network into the juggernaut of programming
it is today, but does Lagasse think they helped him in any way?
It’s doubtful.
Lagasse dished to Eater:
"The Food Network is not why I have 12 restaurants….
It all started at Emeril's on Tchoup."
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