Highly Questionable
| Highly Questionable | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Starring |
Gonzalo Le Batard Dan Le Batard Bomani Jones |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Miami, Florida |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network |
ESPN2 (2011-15) ESPN (2015-) |
| Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) |
| Original release | September 12, 2011 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Pardon the Interruption |
Highly Questionable (abbreviated HQ) is a daily sports talk television program that airs daily on ESPN at 4:30 PM Eastern. Created as a vehicle for Miami Herald sportswriter and ESPN contributor Dan Le Batard, who also hosts his own radio show for the network, the show premiered on September 12, 2011. From its premiere until May 2013, the show bore Le Batard's name and was called Dan Le Batard Is Highly Questionable (DLHQ), and from its premiere until March 25, 2015 the show aired on ESPN2 at 4:00 PM Eastern. The program is based in Le Batard's hometown of Miami, Florida and was created by the same people behind Pardon the Interruption (PTI), which Le Batard has appeared on multiple times as a substitute host.
Since May 13, 2013, the show is hosted by Le Batard, his father Gonzalo "Papi" Le Batard, and his colleague Bomani Jones, who hosts The Right Time on ESPN Radio and was formerly based in North Carolina.[1] Pablo S. Torre, who like Jones is a panelist on Around the Horn, is the show's designated substitute host.[2]
Since September 2014, Highly Questionable is recorded on location at The Clevelander Hotel in South Beach. Le Batard's radio show and Jones' Around the Horn segments are also broadcast from here. Previously it was recorded on a studio set designed to resemble a stereotypical Miami kitchen.[3][4] As a nod to the previous set, a bowl filled with plastic fruit is placed on the table all three men sit at to do the show. The show is produced out of Washington, D.C..[5][6]
Segments
The show is broken into 4 segments. Each segment utilizes a question-answer format, with questions for the non-guest segments coming from fans. Each show begins with Le Batard introducing the panel, Jones offering a pithy commentary on one of the discussion topics, and Le Batard telling his father "vamos, Papi," which kicks off the show.
Opening Questions
A series of viewer submitted questions begin the proceedings. Papi reads each of them from an Apple iPad in front of him, and Le Batard and Jones each take turns addressing the audience with their takes while Papi chimes in with a random non sequitur. Occasionally, Dan and Papi sometimes find questions humorous or ignorant enough in nature to the point where they are not worth answering, and just simply laugh instead.[7] Once in awhile, Papi will say something completely ridiculous and potentially damaging; when he does this, a technical difficulty bumper will play for several seconds and Le Batard will prompt Papi to apologize.
On certain Mondays, particularly during the National Football League regular season, the "Questions" segment will continue into the second segment.
Guest Interview/Sports Analyst
During the second segment, a pretaped interview with a guest airs. The questions are usually related to a current issue or event in sports, and Dan and Bomani often ask about the guest's life outside of sports. Papi asks the final question, usually about topics unrelated to sports.
On days when no guest is available, one of several things will happen. One of "Papi's famous interview medleys", with highlights from past interviews shown, might play or a second set of questions might be asked. "Do You Question" (see below) may also serve as the second segment, in which case a replay of a previous interview will serve as the third.
During the commercial break, there is often a brief interlude where Papi recites lyrics to a rap or hip-hop song.
Do You Question
The third segment is essentially a repeat of the first segment, and is introduced by Jones by saying, "you give us topics and events, we question 'em." The only difference is that they begin with "Do you question..." and often feature humorous video clips that do not necessarily have anything to do with sports.
¿Sí o No?
The final segment of the show relates to television programming. The three hosts are given the name of a program airing that evening and offer their opinions on whether or not they are intrigued. Each responds with "Sí" or "No" while holding up a placard with his response. Most of the programs are sports related but at least one is a general interest program such as a documentary or reality program. Papi has the on-show reputation for responding "Sí" to just about everything and often comes up with odd reasons for doing so, such as a team with a "Latino player" (sometimes an actual Latino player, but other times one with a Spanish-sounding name or even one he completely makes up, like "Miguel Verde" or "Bernardo Bishopo") who is going to have a "helluva game" or who will be a "name you'll never forget" (which he promptly forgets), or humorous misunderstandings of the shows in question. Sometimes Papi will feel strong enough about a game that he will imitate a ringing telephone and pick the banana out of the plastic fruit bowl and hold it to his ear, pretending his bookie "Juanito" is on the other end and telling him to "put everything" on the team he thinks will win. A running gag, which carries over to other segments, is that Juanito takes bets on virtually any sporting event known to man, from the America's Cup to middle school basketball. Papi is also known to thank Juanito for a tip he allegedly gave him or implying that he had a role in a certain event's outcome.
End of the show
After "Sí o No", the show comes to an end with Papi thanking the viewers for watching. Le Batard follows with his own goodbye, reminding the viewers when to catch the show again and (infrequently) promoting either his or Jones' radio show. Jones has the last word, saying "Gracias, see ya mañana" or "see ya el lunes" depending on the day of the week (lunes being Spanish for Monday; this is usually said to close the Friday show). After this, there is a brief interlude where something from the previous segment or from earlier in the show is revisited humorously before the show cuts out.
On-set Guests
Occasionally, a special guest can be seen utilizing the kitchen, supposedly without Dan or Gonzalo noticing. Special guests have included Lil Wayne, Pat Riley, Jason Taylor, Kimbo Slice, Sebastian the Ibis, Isiah Thomas, Ron Magill, Steven Bauer, Micky Arison, Mike Lowell, Lil Dicky, and Robert Smith among others.
Papi Awards
In 2014, Highly Questionable presented as its end of year program the first ever "Papi Awards", which consisted of a series of awards based on video clips that were usually visited in Do You Question. Papi dressed in a tuxedo while Le Batard and Jones served as his co-hosts, and each category had a winner and two runners-up. Each "winner" received the "Golden Banana", a trophy made for the occasion. The running joke was that each winner could not be present to accept their award, so the trophy was simply used for the next award. The special returned in 2015 for the second annual "Papi Awards."[8]
References
- ↑ Hall, Andy (January 24, 2014). "Bomani Jones and the Le Batards put everything on the kitchen table as Highly Questionable returns today". espnfrontrow.com. ESPNFrontRow.com. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
- ↑ "Pablo Torre". MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ Hall, Andy (September 8, 2014). "Highly Questionable debuts new look from South Beach’s Clevelander Hotel". espnfrontrow.com. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ Hall, Andy (September 5, 2014). "ESPN’s Highly Questionable, ESPN Radio’s The Dan Le Batard Show Getting New Studio Homes at Clevelander South Beach". ESPN MediaZone. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ Hall, Andy (December 4, 2013). "How teams in D.C. and Miami work together to assemble daily doses of Highly Questionable". ESPN Front Row. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ Hall, Andy (September 8, 2014). "Long-distance collaboration and “kitchen” chemistry produce successful recipe for Highly Questionable". ESPN Front Row. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
- ↑ "Dan Le Batard and Dad rip Dan Gilbert". 2011-12-15. Retrieved 2013-03-28.
- ↑ ESPN's Highly Questionable - The 2015 Papi Awards December 25, 2015. Retrieved January 23, 2016.
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