CAN EMERIL COOK UP A HIT SITCOM? PLANNED NBC SHOW STIRS MEDIA FRENZY, BUT OUR TV CRITIC SMELLS A RECIPE FOR FAILURE.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

PASADENA - Superstar cable TV chef Emeril Lagasse has yet to appear in his new situation comedy as a cable TV chef, but he's already where he normally dumps lobsters - in hot water.

On Friday, the chef whose charismatic cooking shows ``Essence of Emeril'' and ``Emeril Live'' have helped the Food Network's ratings go ``Bam!'' fought back against harsh advance criticism of NBC's ``Emeril,'' which debuts this fall at 8:30 p.m. Tuesdays.

``I've been under fire for a long time,'' Lagasse said in an interview during a day in which NBC brought the chef to a news conference at the Television Critics Association's meeting in Pasadena in an effort to boost enthusiasm for the show.

``Since opening my restaurant, critics come in and they have their opinions on how the silverware should be. You can't stop them from writing what they write. And I do what I do.''

Lagasse called the critical sniping ``a little unfair'' but added, ``Even at my restaurant, everything has to be massaged, retooled, kicked up. I'm just afraid people have formed their opinions before they see the final product.''

Negative reaction to the show - in which Lagasse essentially plays himself, a cable-TV chef - by some critics and within NBC prompted network executives to launch a counterattack. NBC West Coast President Scott Sassa facetiously asked one critic, ``Do you not like `Emeril'?''

The show's executive producers Linda Bloodworth and Henry Thomason, well-known for the long friendship with former President Clinton, and co-stars Lisa Ann Walter and Sherri Shepherd, joined in the effort to boost ``Emeril.''

``There was so much negative reaction, I was shocked at the negative response before anyone had seen it,'' Bloodworth admitted. ``There was a little talking out of school from some NBC people who weren't on board, but now they're on board.

``We don't want to be defensive, but we didn't get to use our own people for the pilot. It was hard at first at NBC Studios. They're very hands-on and tend to micromanage. But they trust us now.''

There still seems to be some difference of opinion about what the show will be.

Bloodworth said, ``It's a sophisticated show, a very adult show with grown-up, sophisticated comedy.''

Lagasse himself characterized ``Emeril'' as ``a real show for families.''

Whatever it turns out to be, NBC's Zucker insisted, ``We believe in it. It may not be to everyone's fancy, but I have a gut belief that it may respond with people out in the country.''

Lagasse admitted he was initially hesitant to try his hand at acting. ``I wasn't convinced. I didn't buy in immediately. I had to arrange things in my life - I'm so very hands-on and still will be.''

Both he and the show's producers profess to be unconcerned about his acting chops.

``It's not a stretch being myself,'' Lagasse said. ``It doesn't feel that complicated to me.'' Later, he said, ``They want me to be me. My mispronunciation of words'' - as if to prove his point, he said ``mispronounciation'' - ``and my accent, they don't want it to change.''

The chef-turned-actor was able to poke fun at the situation - noting that he has hired a chef who studied under him to serve meals on the set. He said set visits have become a hot ticket: ``If there's a positive buzz about something, it's that. The folks at 'Will & Grace' across the hall will realize what a bad deal they have.''

Bloodworth said her alliance with Lagasse was ``born of necessity. ... I'm not looking to do anything original.

A few years after creating successful series like ``Designing Women'' and ``Evening Shade,'' she said, ``I was out of this business - they were never going to let me have an actor. So, I thought, I'm going to get me a chef. I would not have come up with it if I had not had to.'' The pilot had been rejected at all networks, even NBC, until Zucker took over there and acquired the series.

All this begs the question: Why does a guy with a $65 million empire, two popular cable shows, a chain of restaurants, a series of successful cookbooks and a Web site that logs a million hits a week put his neck on the chopping block like this?

``It's a project I believe in, and I'm a huge fan of NBC,'' Lagasse said. ``Jeff Zucker, he don't like to lose. I ain't lost many bouts, and Henry and Linda (he pronounces it `Linder') have a successful track record.

``Those are a lot of strengths. We didn't come here to play around. And if it doesn't work, you can't say I didn't try.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Popular cable TV cooking show host Emeril Lagasse will star as himself in a half-hour NBC sitcom based on his life.

(2) Chef Emeril Lagasse, right, jokes in Pasadena on Friday while his producers Harry Thomason, left, and Linda Bloodworth laugh. ``Emeril,'' a sitcom starring the chef, debuts this fall.

Kim D. Johnson/Associated Press