"Floor is Lava" is the biggest hit in the country and the fourth zeitgeist-capturing reality show for Netflix. What's shocking is not only that it's #1 on the platform right now, but also that the idiotic-looking show is actually getting pretty good reviews. Timely: Holy shit people must be bored!
Miles Surrey says that it's "meant to be binged during a global pandemic." (The Ringer)
It follows "The Circle," "Love is Blind" and "Too Hot To Handle" as reality show hits with extremely good (or lucky) timing. (The Ringer)
Context: My theory is that it's inspired by the meme "the floor is lava."The intersection of memes and streaming shows and movies is nothing new.
Earlier this year I wrote about memes being the new trailers. (Stupefy)
But taking the premise of a show for a meme, one that isn't even new or relevant at the moment, is different and, I think, new. (The Verge)
I think it signals not only that Netflix has something genius going on with reality development but also potentially more shows on this and other platforms also based on memes.
The shorter stuff
The most interesting thing that happened to Quibi is that everyone in their NYC office got coronavirus. (Yahoo)
This lawsuit against Twitch for being too horny, in which the plaintiff complains that he "ejaculated on his PC Monitor," has to be for PR. (Dexerto)
LeBron James and Maverick Carter already have 105 employees at their super-prestige media company. (Bloomberg)
Joe Coscarelli talked to a future Ph.D. in BTS fans for this story. (NYT)
Bill Simmons' "Open Mic Night" Comment
Not a good choice of words. In a Times interview this week about staff diversity complaints at Bill Simmons' media company The Ringer, one sentence seems to be following the guy around all week. (NYT)
"It's a business. This isn't Open Mic Night." Flagship podcast "The Rewatchables" was supposed to be a platform for new voices. But it's now hosted by Simmons, Chris Ryan and Sean Fennessey. In response to this fact, Simmons defended himself with the above quote. Talking too much: I love The Ringer, but I think Simmons needs to say less.
This all started when Simmons had his meathead friend Ryen Russillo on his podcast as the first guest during the George Floyd protests. (NYPost)
Now feels like a good time to be careful with words, after Spotify made him the first podcaster to make Forbes' Celebrity 100 List. (Forbes)
From someone smarter than me: Drew Magary on Simmons' strategy:
Simmons "plays defense about as well as he does when he plays point guard at the Hancock Park Equinox." (SFGate)
The shorter stuff
Fiona Hill learned that, to Trump, "Anyone who takes notes is suspect." (TNYer)
Advertising is so out of ideas that they've turned to "eight-part video series backed by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson," which is what they did in the 1940s. (Variety)
I have a hunch I know which agency did this CIA commercial. (NYT)
There's going to be a Comey show! (NYT)
People on Twitter can't believe how absolutely filthy Bartsool's "Call Her Daddy" podcast is. (Twitter)
Congrats to the Cameo team on their "Talk of the Town," but I'm curious to know if they'd prefer the piece was pegged to something other than ex-Trump staffers on the platform. (TNYer)
Getting Rational About Gen Z
Everyone fell in love with Gen Z this week for supposedly ruining Trump's Tulsa rally. Add a dash of TikTok and a sprinkling of "K-pop stans" and you have yourself quite a story. (NYT)
But it's been nice to see a counterbalance to the narrative that all members of Gen Z are our political saviors, wielding the world's lamest app as a revolutionary tool to save us all, because we are impotent. They're probably just like any other generation: They are fed up, and they fall for conspiracy theories.
Charlie Warzel: "Generation Z is disillusioned by a country and its myriad institutions whose moral arc seems to bend toward corruption and stagnation. It is also, like any generation, not monolithic. And the way that its justified disillusion will play politically, culturally and socially is unknown." (NYT)
Apparently Pizzagate has become massive among teens on TikTok. (The Daily Beast)
And some Gen Z influencers are obsessed with Q-adjacent conspiracies like "Obamagate" and "Plandemic," like 24-year-old Carmella Rose. (Glossy)
The shorter stuff
🌀Special Apology Section
"In Instagram apologies, even when someone ostensibly confronts their ugliness, it’s hard to read the gesture as anything but an effort to publicly reclaim their image." (Art in America)
Tina Fey says "race-changing makeup" instead of blackface in her letter to streaming platforms. (Vulture)
Jimmy Kimmel, in an apology for his Karl Malone impressions years ago on "The Man Show," also did not use the word blackface. (NYT)
Fuck Cards Against Humanity. (Polygon)