Retooled O’Toole returns
Sports Centre with Jay and Dan returns to TSN on Monday after fouryear U.S. stint on Fox
Dan O’Toole feels like he’s back where he belongs.
After four years in Hollywood with Fox Sports, the Peterborough native and his broadcast teammate Jay Onrait will return to TSN airwaves Monday at midnight on brought to you by Tim Hortons.
O’Toole, who turns 42 on Sept. 10, started at TSN in 2002 and in 2003 was teamed with Onrait where they brought a unique brand of humour to their presentation of daily sports news and highlights.
“It’s been amazing how much we’ve been embraced since we’ve come back,” O’Toole said.
“We never rehearse but we have been rehearsing this week for the new show and while there is a new set we still have a Sports Centre desk. Once we sat behind that desk for our first rehearsal on Monday, for both of us, it literally felt like sitting on grandma’s couch. We just let out a sigh of relief.
“Jay said that first rehearsal felt better than the four years of shows we did at Fox.
“It was like the last four years was a Bob Newhart dream. We were like ‘Did that even happen?’”
Their contracts at Fox were not renewed after expiring in June but the duo had already been approached by TSN to return. Their new contract started on July 1.
While it was a great experience to see how the major U.S. networks operate, O’Toole said it never felt comfortable.
“Every single day there would be something new we would be doing. We went through about seven different formats. I told all the producers Peterborough native Dan O’Toole, right, and his co-host Jay Onrait, left, return to TSN on Monday starting at midnight with Sports Centre with Jay and Dan, which will air in a loop overnight and all morning. and bosses; ‘We ran a really successful show in Canada but no one has ever asked us what made that show successful.’ Usually the follow-up question would be ‘Well, what made it successful?’ But they were like ‘OK, here’s what we’re going to do today. They just had their own vision. Their own ideas and we were just there to be a part of it. Now we get to do the show we love doing.”
O’Toole said it was an education on American broadcasting.
“Everything is grandiose. No penny is saved. We went from a stage crew of about 15 (at Fox) to a stage crew of zero here in Canada. From 10 camera guys to two here. From make-up and wardrobe departments to one make-up person. Those things you hear about the States and American television are all very true but that doesn’t make great TV. We don’t need all the glitz and glamour. We just need a show we enjoy doing. We have that back.”
When new management took over at Fox two years into their stay the writing was on the wall.
“We were literally the only two left from the original show. We’re talking about Andy Roddick, Gary Payton, Donovan McNabb. We outlasted all of them by two years. So whenever people say, ‘Sorry you guys failed,’ well, we were the second highest rated daily show on the network for two years. The only show that beat us was NASCAR Race Hub. We didn’t fail. New management came in and because we don’t yell at each other, we didn’t fit.”
He said there were other options they could have explored in the U.S. but with TSN asking them to come back it was an easy decision.
“When someone comes and gives you love and says we want you guys back it’s tough to ignore that or ignore the fact we’d go back to doing a show we loved,” he said.
The show will run Monday to Friday starting at midnight and looping until noon.
“We developed our biggest audience during the morning loop,” he said. “That’s when families turn it on; before going to school or going out the door to work.”
He says there will be some cosmetic changes but for the most part the show will look a lot like the old one.
“That’s what people have said the most; ‘We want the old show’ and that’s what we’re going to give you.
“It will have that familiar feel with a few added elements that will not take away from the show. They’re only going to add to it.”
He and Onrait are not just broadcast partners, they’re good friends.
“You can’t fake it. We go to dinners with our families. Jay emails my mom pictures of his kid and vice-versa,” he said.
O’Toole is now living 25 minutes outside of Peterborough so he’s closer to home. He says viewers can expect to again hear his Peterborough references mixed into the show. While he’s not yet able to divulge the show, O’Toole and Onrait are making a cameo in a popular CTV sitcom next season.
“Peterborough viewers in particular will want to tune in for it because when we received the script it was inundated with Peterborough references that I get to make. I get to be Peterborough proud on a show apart from
I’m not allowed to divulge anything but think of a really funny Canadian show that has become really popular in the time since we’ve been gone, you might be able to draw some correlation.”
O’Toole said he never took Canada for granted but he grew to appreciate it more while he was away.
“I missed it. The air is cleaner. The people are nicer. You appreciate where you are from especially when that place is Canada because it’s the envy of the world.”