Seton Hall Takes Over Primetime Television

Erica Butler and Emeril Lagassee backstage at the taping of Emeril Live
Erica Butler, Seton Hall College of Nursing student, poses with world renowned chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse backstage at a taping of Emeril Live in New York City.

Four friends on the set of Emeril Live
From left, Ashley Troutman, Erica Butler, Shea Forrest and Katherine Bautista on the Emeril Live set. Troutman, Butler and Bautista are Seton Hall juniors. Forrest is Butler's best friend from Florida.
Matt Hanson '95 (second from right) participates in The Amazing Race: Family Edition as part of the Aiello family, which includes (from left) father-in-law Tony Aiello and brothers-in-law Matt and David. Photo: Robert Voets/CBS. ©2005 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Donald Trump speaks as Carolyn Kepcher and Michelle Lokey listen in during an episode of The Apprentice.
Michelle Lokey, J.D. '99 (right), staff attorney for The Trump Organization, appeared with Donald Trump and Carolyn Kepcher on an episode of The Apprentice.

Reality television is taking the nation by storm, but not without the help of Seton Hall students and alumni!

At 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 8 (originally scheduled for September 19), channel surf to the Food Network for the "College Cooking 101" episode of Emeril Live. The hour-long program features world-renowned chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse as he whips up quick and easy meals geared toward college students' budgets and schedules.

Appearing on this episode of Emeril Live is Erica Butler, a 20-year-old Seton Hall College of Nursing junior. In August, a film crew came to Seton Hall to tape Butler in her Ora Manor apartment as she and three friends prepared and cooked a quick meal of chopped hot dogs, noodles and marinara sauce. The video segment will air during the November 8 episode. Butler and friends attended the episode's taping in the Emeril Live studio in New York City, where Butler sat on stage alongside Lagasse as he cooked frittata, roast beef, chicken stir-fry, beef stroganoff and brownies.

For a full season of Seton Hall fun, check out The Amazing Race: Family Edition on CBS. The season premiere is at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Tuesday, September 27. This season of The Amazing Race: Family Edition features groups of four family members competing for a $1 million prize. Matt Hanson '95 competes on the show with father-in-law Tony, 57, and brothers-in-law David, 26, and Kevin, 31.

No story about reality television is complete without mentioning The Apprentice, the popular NBC show that recently completed its third season. For an episode that aired April 7, Michelle Lokey, J.D. '99, staff attorney for The Trump Organization, appeared with Donald Trump and Carolyn Kepcher, executive vice president, on The Apprentice. For that single episode, Lokey replaced George Ross, executive vice president and senior counsel who appears regularly with Trump and Kepcher, in the boardroom.

Seton Hall also was the backdrop for scenes in the television series The FBI Files; the sports drama Rock the Paint; and the documentary Men in White, about three Newark residents who made a pact to attend Seton Hall, go on to medical school and become doctors.

To read more about Butler's and Lokey's experiences, check out the Fall 2005 issue of Seton Hall University Magazine, or read it on the Web when the magazine's online version is launched.