Something About A Pulled Plug?

 Here's the thing about show business:

The National Broadcasting Company announced they would not be moving forward with the production of their television series The Ultimate Slip 'N' Slide. The show, that had been offered the lucrative and somewhat prestigious spot on the Peacock's post-Olympic schedule, was to feature contestants competing in a series of challenges related to the toy that was found on so many lawns as far back as 1961. What could be more fun than running and taking a full speed dive onto a wet plastic sheet? 

How about if I introduced two words to that equation: Explosive Diarrhea 

Back in June, a crew member for the show tested positive for giardia, the parasite that causes the aforementioned explosive diarrhea. According to the Centers For Disease Control web site, "Giardia spreads easily and can spread from person to person or through contaminated water, food, surfaces, or objects. The most common way people get sick is by swallowing contaminated drinking water or recreational water (for example, lakes, rivers, or pools)." Different accounts of the incident suggested that it was more of an "outbreak" rather than an isolated case, which is probably why the CDC would be a good place to check, since they tend to understand outbreaks pretty well. 

So while production was halted, it seems that perhaps cooler heads prevailed and executive types had a chance to consider their options: Keep pumping network television money into a game show centered around a toy from Wham-O, or not. Those executives chose the latter. 

Please understand that I am a big fan of nostalgia. The idea seems to lend itself easily to celebrity versions, pitting contestants from Universal and NBC productions against one another in hopes of recapturing the glory of the gold standard of Battle of the Network Stars. And the systematic lowering of our national discourse could have continued its steady decline. 

If not for that little germ. The hosts of the show, Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches, will have to wait for their careers to bounce back from this missed opportunity and hundreds of crew members were given their pink slips. Amazing how that tiny thing affected so many. 

There's a lesson in there, somewhere.