Back in 2001, America was high on "BAM!," thanks to Emeril Lagasse and his penchant for shouting that word at regular intervals. We loved Emeril: He was animated, and shouty, and good-natured, and had an indecipherable accent even though he was from Massachussetts, and pronounced "garlic" as "gaaaahlik." America couldn't get enough of that strange-speakin', notch-kickin' chef. Then NBC gave Emeril a sitcom called, naturally, Emeril, and America collectively said, "Okay, that's enough Emeril. No thanks." And can you blame America? Emeril was so traumatic that you can't even find an embeddable clip of it on the Internet.
If you want to know why Emeril failed (besides, of course, the fact that an Emeril sitcom obviously should have been titled Bam!), see above. Emeril was personable enough, but as it turned out, no one wanted to watch a show about a well-known chef that didn't end with recipes.
So what would happen if NBC centered a show around a TV cook who has 50-60% less personality than Emeril? We're about to find out! Unfortunately!
From Variety:
Top Chef” host Padma Lakshmi is cooking up plans to star in a sitcom for NBC.
Lakshmi has sealed a development deal with the Peacock and sister Universal Media Studios, which plans to create a half-hour comedy for her. Original Media, which is based at Universal, is also involved; Original’s Charlie Corwin will exec produce.
Building on her “Top Chef” credentials, the show will star Lakshmi as a woman working in the culinary world. (One possible title being mulled: “Single Serving.”)
Single Serving? Yuck. Why not: Ladychef Lakshmi or Glad Family Of Products or Positively Padma!
Otherwise, this idea has obviously been a long time coming. While watching Padma deliver lines such as, "We'll see you all at judges table." like she's dropping a leaden anvil in the middle of a room on Top Chef, who hasn't thought, "If given the right material, Padma could be really funny." After all, she was hilarious in Glitter:
"They're only back-up." Hysterical. Utensils Up! can't miss.