Floor is Lava: In Lieu of the Olympics, Here's... This
June 29, 2020 10:22 AM - Season 1 (Full Season) - Subscribe
Teams compete to navigate rooms flooded with lava by leaping from chairs, hanging from curtains and swinging from chandeliers. Streaming on Netflix.
Floor Is Lava Is the Most Popular TV Show in the U.S.: What the Hell? -- The Daily Beast
More Lava! And Other Ideas to Improve Floor Is Lava -- Vulture
Floor Is Lava Is the Most Popular TV Show in the U.S.: What the Hell? -- The Daily Beast
More Lava! And Other Ideas to Improve Floor Is Lava -- Vulture
This is a completely silly show that my kids started watching and I can't leave the room if it's on. Need some more development, as per the second link, but it's fun.
posted by nubs at 11:09 AM on June 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by nubs at 11:09 AM on June 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
I wanted the teams to wear white overalls and have them analyzed at the end. Maybe lose fractional points for how much 'lava' they get splattered on them? That would open up more types of obstacles too. A fairly easy route where you are likely to get splashed, or a harder route where you can get all or nothing.
posted by Garm at 11:23 AM on June 29, 2020
posted by Garm at 11:23 AM on June 29, 2020
I'm always wondering whether any part of one's body going into the lava counts or whether one must actually fall in.
As best I can tell you can't have two feet in at once. There are dramatic leaps where one foot gets drenched but they are still safe. There are other times where a contestant can clearly pull themselves up but because two feet went in they have to let go and have a dramatic "fall". The overacting of the contestants is one of the best parts but I do get distracted trying to figure out the actual rules.
Rutledge Wood seems nice enough, but he really needs a co-host to make the commentary more lively. It doesn't have to be Nicole Byer, but it should probably be Nicole Byer.
posted by Gary at 9:42 PM on June 29, 2020 [8 favorites]
As best I can tell you can't have two feet in at once. There are dramatic leaps where one foot gets drenched but they are still safe. There are other times where a contestant can clearly pull themselves up but because two feet went in they have to let go and have a dramatic "fall". The overacting of the contestants is one of the best parts but I do get distracted trying to figure out the actual rules.
Rutledge Wood seems nice enough, but he really needs a co-host to make the commentary more lively. It doesn't have to be Nicole Byer, but it should probably be Nicole Byer.
posted by Gary at 9:42 PM on June 29, 2020 [8 favorites]
I have been watching this (because of my kids, I swear, haha) and it is all right. What it really does for me though is makes me want to get on the Netflix gravy train. They seem like they will just throw money at anything.
posted by Literaryhero at 5:53 AM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Literaryhero at 5:53 AM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I love that each episode changes courses. I love that the competitors are so very average.
I wish they had more rope swings and moving parts.
posted by smoke at 8:31 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
I wish they had more rope swings and moving parts.
posted by smoke at 8:31 PM on June 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
They seem like they will just throw money at anything.
But, like, not very much money. I love how cheap this production looks. And I'll bet whichever production person is sitting there on the lava splash button is super happy when they get to really nail a team member. I want that job.
posted by gladly at 5:17 PM on July 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
But, like, not very much money. I love how cheap this production looks. And I'll bet whichever production person is sitting there on the lava splash button is super happy when they get to really nail a team member. I want that job.
posted by gladly at 5:17 PM on July 1, 2020 [5 favorites]
I wish they had more rope swings and moving parts.
And more escape-room style mini-missions to reveal the path, like untying a rope. I suppose that would take too much time.
posted by gladly at 5:18 PM on July 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
And more escape-room style mini-missions to reveal the path, like untying a rope. I suppose that would take too much time.
posted by gladly at 5:18 PM on July 1, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is a goofy, extremely under-baked show that I totally binged watch.
It was obvious the producers told teams to have one-ish player(s) move at a time; the game is shown in real time, so if everyone cannonballed the course at once they wouldn’t have a game to narrate. However, that completely defeats the purpose of having a timer. No one seemed concerned about the time, and it let the air out of so many runs. Having the stairs disappear helped, but without teams knowing their competitors’ run times, the urgency is essentially gone.
The courses were inconsistent in difficulty, and some much better designed with varying types of “furniture”. I agree there should be more to do to get out - it would force the contestants to interact with the entire set, and give them a clearer goal. So many teams had uninspiring runs of not being sure how to get across, and not much happened in their run.
To the Netflix producer googling their own show - it’s fixable! Let me binge watch another silly round of episodes!
posted by missmary6 at 6:11 PM on July 1, 2020
It was obvious the producers told teams to have one-ish player(s) move at a time; the game is shown in real time, so if everyone cannonballed the course at once they wouldn’t have a game to narrate. However, that completely defeats the purpose of having a timer. No one seemed concerned about the time, and it let the air out of so many runs. Having the stairs disappear helped, but without teams knowing their competitors’ run times, the urgency is essentially gone.
The courses were inconsistent in difficulty, and some much better designed with varying types of “furniture”. I agree there should be more to do to get out - it would force the contestants to interact with the entire set, and give them a clearer goal. So many teams had uninspiring runs of not being sure how to get across, and not much happened in their run.
To the Netflix producer googling their own show - it’s fixable! Let me binge watch another silly round of episodes!
posted by missmary6 at 6:11 PM on July 1, 2020
Watched the first episode. Could do without the narrator and the replays/flashbacks. Just let people do their jumpy things.
posted by one for the books at 5:04 PM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by one for the books at 5:04 PM on July 2, 2020 [1 favorite]
The only I don't enjoy about the show is that if someone does a faceplant they'll show it close up and in slow motion 10 times. I'm not in it for the humiliation porn. I'll just anyone compete over anything.
posted by dry white toast at 8:22 PM on July 2, 2020
posted by dry white toast at 8:22 PM on July 2, 2020
You can tell the designers grew up on Double Dare and platformer games. This looks like so much fun! I am certain that it would not be, though. It reminds me of Jeopardy in that way: I'm convinced I'd be good at it, but in the actual event I would eat shit because I have never played sports.
I wonder how deep the "lava" is. I should think about nine feet so that nobody could hurt themselves and that they would convincingly sink when they fell. It was probably refreshingly cold.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:00 PM on July 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
I wonder how deep the "lava" is. I should think about nine feet so that nobody could hurt themselves and that they would convincingly sink when they fell. It was probably refreshingly cold.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:00 PM on July 3, 2020 [2 favorites]
I wonder how deep the "lava" is.
I waver between:
1) It’s about four feet, and contestants are instructed to play up their “sinking” (and then it’s edited carefully). There were a couple of times that people seemed to pause in their sinking to be dramatic.
2) It’s about seven feet and there are lifeguards in scuba gear hanging out underneath. Some of the contestants fell pretty fast.
I keep coming back to safety issues and thinking it’s probably #1.
posted by Etrigan at 7:11 AM on July 4, 2020
I waver between:
1) It’s about four feet, and contestants are instructed to play up their “sinking” (and then it’s edited carefully). There were a couple of times that people seemed to pause in their sinking to be dramatic.
2) It’s about seven feet and there are lifeguards in scuba gear hanging out underneath. Some of the contestants fell pretty fast.
I keep coming back to safety issues and thinking it’s probably #1.
posted by Etrigan at 7:11 AM on July 4, 2020
'Floor Is Lava' Creators Answer Burning Questions About the Surprise Netflix Reality Hit
The show as was filmed a year ago at a former Ikea in Burbank.
posted by Gary at 12:23 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
The show as was filmed a year ago at a former Ikea in Burbank.
posted by Gary at 12:23 AM on July 7, 2020 [2 favorites]
'Floor Is Lava' Creators Answer Burning Questions About the Surprise Netflix Reality Hit
posted by Etrigan at 6:50 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
People are screaming at their TVs, they're either rooting for the contestants or rooting for the lava.#TeamContestantsExceptBostonians
posted by Etrigan at 6:50 AM on July 7, 2020 [1 favorite]
So it took a long time to figure out exactly how do you make this thing bubble, flow, be slippery, be viscous in the right way, and also be safe that people can be submerged in it for minutes at a time, hours at a time, whatever it is, and come out safely.
Hours at a time? I have more questions.
People are screaming at their TVs, they're either rooting for the contestants or rooting for the lava.
Wait...I thought everyone was on #teamlava?
posted by nubs at 8:29 AM on July 9, 2020
Hours at a time? I have more questions.
People are screaming at their TVs, they're either rooting for the contestants or rooting for the lava.
Wait...I thought everyone was on #teamlava?
posted by nubs at 8:29 AM on July 9, 2020
hours at a time
Watching the show initially, I felt reassured that the contestants survived because they were depicted reacting to their win/loss afterwards.
However, I then noticed that in all the reaction clips, the team is wearing the same clothes, but completely clean. Either they laundered their clothes and took showers before filming the reaction scenes, or all the outcomes, win or lose, are filmed ahead of them actually competing.
So, now I'm convinced that, while the floor is not really lava, they are absolutely drowning in that stuff, and they're using clever editing tricks to hide the fact that it's a snuff show.
posted by subocoyne at 9:53 AM on July 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
Watching the show initially, I felt reassured that the contestants survived because they were depicted reacting to their win/loss afterwards.
However, I then noticed that in all the reaction clips, the team is wearing the same clothes, but completely clean. Either they laundered their clothes and took showers before filming the reaction scenes, or all the outcomes, win or lose, are filmed ahead of them actually competing.
So, now I'm convinced that, while the floor is not really lava, they are absolutely drowning in that stuff, and they're using clever editing tricks to hide the fact that it's a snuff show.
posted by subocoyne at 9:53 AM on July 14, 2020 [2 favorites]
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I'm also very curious about what the "lava" is made of. I would think simply water, food coloring and fancy lighting, but it seems too opaque for that. My one suggestion to really up the dramatic stakes would simply be to change the show's theme to The Floor is Raw Sewage.
The best part is how the competitors theatrically react when their teammate falls in, and then the camera angles make sure not to show them getting out. It'd be fun to see a behind the scenes video on that process.
posted by subocoyne at 10:57 AM on June 29, 2020 [1 favorite]