Flush away your dreams of watching a fun, water-based competition show after the Olympics: Ultimate Slip N’ Slide has been “pulled from the schedule,” according to Deadline.
Weeks ago, we held our noses and reported that NBC’s family-friendly series, Ultimate Slip N’ Slide, was halted due to an outbreak of giardiasis. This disease, which is spread via the giardia parasite found in soil, food, or water, reportedly turned what should have been splish-splash fun into a hellscape. Crew members were “forced to run into port-o-potties” with “explosive diarrhea,” some even “collapsing” from intense digestive distress, according to The Wrap.
The show, which is based on WHAM-O’s decades-old backyard play-set, initially hit the skids on June 2, when the first case surfaced. Testing of the water facilities gave the all-clear, but the problem reared again a week later. In total, production lasted seven weeks and was canned with only one week left on the schedule. (“We hear the studio is considering a few options for completing the season that it will share with NBC,” Deadline reported.)
The show was slated to premiere over two nights, beginning immediately after the closing ceremony for the Olympics on Sunday, August 8. Saturday Night Live alumni Bobby Moynihan and comedian Ron Funches from Black-ish and Harley Quinn shared hosting duties. Neither were affected by the on-set ailment.
The show was set to pit friends and family members against one another in a soaked competition. The rounds had evocative names such as “Human Pong, Body Bowling, Cornhole, and Bocce Fall,” with a big finish called “the Big Slipper.” Maybe we’ll never know what moistened adventures were in store for us, but some things are best left to the imagination.
According to the Mayo Clinic, giardiasis is “almost never fatal in industrialized countries,” and lingering symptoms are usually only found in infants and small children. In other words, don’t feel too bad about laughing at the TV show with the diarrhea slide.
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