Ryan Steven Bergara is the man responsible for commissioning the Hot Daga, as well as making a number of important contributions to the story and canon. While the reins of the Daga are firmly in the capable hands of Shane Madej, Bergara's role in its creation and continuation cannot be overstated.
He is responsible for kicking off the main story, taking the context-less animations of Dan the Hot Dog (then unnamed) from amusing seconds-long bits at the beginning and end of "BuzzFeed Unsolved: Postmortem" episodes (starting with the Q+A episode of "The Boy In the Box") to a narrative, by having Pam, in disguise, shoot Dan in the head in the Q+A episode of "The Missing Family".
Furthermore, he introduced and initially voiced the character of Pam, who would become a primary antagonist (and reformed protagonist) and solved the question of "Rebecca" apparently shooting Dan in the head, which Shane admitted he had no resolution in mind for. Likewise, he turned what was originally intended to be the "Hot Dog Quadrilogy" into a cliffhanger by cutting off Shane as he prepared to present the crab joust in "Amelia Earhart - Q+A".
Bergara's well-documented adoration, but also consistent constructive criticism, of the Hot Daga, has been a constant, valued source of inspiration and support. The Hot Daga likely would not exist at all without his persistent, unyielding enthusiasm.
List of Contributions
- First coined "The Hot Dog Saga" (later condensed into "Hot Daga" by Shane)
- Provided the voice for Doctor Goondis as an egg
- First put the characters of Dan and Rebecca into a definitive, continuous narrative
- Provided the inspiration for wedding guest Little Mr B.
- Created and provided the initial voice for Pam
- Created the concept of the climactic crab joust
- Responsible for the cliffhanger which turned the planned "quadrilogy" into a prolonged serial
- Compelled Shane to continue with another season after the conclusion of Season 2
- Led to the Daga continuing after it was absent in the Q+A episode of "Vulture Mine"
- CEO of Ryan Bergara Productions which produces "The Hot Daga"