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.