Emeril Fans Get Kicked Down a Notch

Chef Emeril Lagasse pulled a Bieber on fans yesterday when nearly 50 people with tickets to a taping of his new show were denied entrance. One Long Island fan told the Daily News, "They told us we had seats, but they didn't deliver. I'm so mad, because my trip was for nothing." The taping was for a new CBS cooking game show, hosted by the exuberant chef, which would replace As The World Turns.

A production exec, however, said fans were mistaken that their tickets guaranteed them entrance to the taping. He said the tickets actually guaranteed them a spot in the 300-person long line, but the entrance was first come, first serve for 150. He said, "We sincerely apologize to everyone who was turned away today." But that didn't comfort one fan who flew all the way from Indiana to see the star. "This was the highlight of my trip," she said. "I'm a big fan, and that's why I came all this way." Too bad this one-horse town has literally nothing else to offer.

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By Jaya Saxena in News on June 16, 2010 5:59 PM

Comments [rss]

elizabeth kopniske

I came just for this show. flew in monday with an out on Tuesday. They e-mailed me, they called me. I was supposed to have two VIP guaranteed seats-if I was in line by 9:00 am. I was in line. First trip to NYC. Nice welcome!!!!!!!!

Mollygizer

As someone who works as an assistant to one of NYC's top audience coordinators, I can say this is almost always the case. It is made clear in the correspondence to line up early, first come first serve. Especially with a new show, it's important for every seat to be filled, so the invited line list is almost always more than capacity. That way you're not stuck on the street 15 minutes before taping, trying to get people to come watch. The rate of no-shows for most audiences is astounding. Just sounds like this time, everyone showed up (and showed up early to boot).