Something Called Ultimate Slip ’N Slide Got Shut Down by Explosive Diarrhea, Don’t Act Surprised

Host Bobby Moynihan doing some Ultimate Slip ‘N Sliding of His Own on SNL Photo: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via

Well … we’re guessing this isn’t exactly how NBC wanted you to find out about its upcoming reality competition series, Ultimate Slip ’N Slide. On June 2, according to The Wrap, the network shut down production on an upcoming Slip ’N Slide–based series after up to 40 crew members contracted giardia, and “the outbreak of ‘awful explosive diarrhea’ left people ‘collapsing’ on set and ‘being forced to run into porta-potties.’” Also known as beaver fever, giardia is usually contracted from getting fecal-infested water in your mouth. So it seems like someone on set was poopin’ their trunks on the show’s “65-foot-tall slippery yellow slide.” The set was inspected for parasites after the outbreak, and on Thursday, Universal says “additional testing revealed giardia in the surrounding area.”

Universal also told The Wrap that the outbreak occurred seven weeks into shooting, only five days before wrapping. Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches are the hosts of Ultimate Slip ’N Slide, which was set to premiere on NBC on Sunday, August 8, in a time slot directly following the Tokyo Olympics. Perhaps they were trying to hoodwink us into thinking that this, too, was part of the Olympics? Bob Costa had to get that pink eye somehow.