The ESPN show Highly Questionable — hosted by Dan Le Batard — was in a period of transition in 2019 when Dan’s father Gonzalo, aka “Papi”, left. But as Dan worked to try and change the show’s format, he soon learned that the network wasn’t going to take a chance on what he envisioned.
Talking to Katie Nolan on his South Beach Sessions podcast, Le Batard said he approached show producer Erik Rydholm at the time about reformatting the show to incorporate contributions from friends of the show like Nolan.
“There were only a certain number of seats left anymore on television, and they had all these people that they were paying but who didn’t fit in the places where they made their television,” he said.
Dan envisioned the show taking on a sports version of The Daily Show. But as Le Batard said, the way it was explained to him is that there was a good chance the show ratings wouldn’t have improved. It was easier and more cost-efficient to just have Dan and Bomani Jones host the show.
“My suggestion might have been better, but it might not have been better, right?” Le Batard said. “It might have been rejected because the format is you talk on television, people don’t want something new all the time. And so it could have failed and we didn’t end up going that route. But I was hoping to find a place for (Nolan) that could you feel more supported like that.”
Nolan responded to Dan saying she did feel supported by Dan. She felt like doing Highly Questionable was where she felt most supported and most at home at ESPN.
