The Floor - General Discussion

[Madding crowd]

It drives me crazy when people just stand there letting the seconds tick by. Did they forget it’s their turn? Tonight a person had to yell out play before the lady answered. The worst part is you automatically know they will lose because they can’t get the time back. 

[Taeolas]

Nerves can often get people. That seems to often be the problem. 

Also they sometimes seem to legit forget it's their turn, either forgetting a "Pass" doesn't pass the turn, or just lost track of the pattern. 

And sometimes they get lost in their head; they recognize it but can't get the name out, so they burn more time chasing down the thread instead of just passing and moving on. 

Considering for many, this is their first time in the literal spotlight, nerves are obviously a huge factor, especially early in the season. 

[MrAtoz]

There have been several times when people have obviously not realized that it was their turn. I guess with both people looking at the same picture, it's not always clear. Maybe they should have a light go on in front of the person whose turn it is, or something like that.

To go back to another topic, I think "Black & White" proves that some of these categories are assigned to the contestants. First, who would choose that as the area of trivia they're good at? Second, even the guy who had that category didn't seem to have any idea what it would be about.

That was mostly a pretty easy category, just identifying common things that are black and white. But then they threw in a couple of stills from old B&W TV shows. That almost seems like it belongs in a different category altogether.

[iMonrey]

Defending a category you inherited has got to be tough. From what I've read, they record two or three episodes per day. So if you just inherited a category, you may not have much of a break to study it. That seemed to be the case in the first duel with Brianna who inherited college basketball. (I would have sucked at that too.) It was also smart of Marc to challenge Kent after the latter had just inherited doomsday prep in the previous duel. Not that you'd really need to study that, it was a pretty easy category, but Kent lost it anyway.

I kind of liked the "association" duel where they put up three words associated with an island. I wouldn't mind that being a semi-regular feature. 

Some of these categories are childishly simple, like sandwich ingredients. Except that Rob described them as things you would find between two pieces of bread. Two of them were bread! You wouldn't put a baguette between two pieces of bread.

And then there's things like airport codes. I could have guessed a lot of them but it was hit or miss for the international ones. 

The only rapper I knew was Vanilla Ice and I might have had trouble remembering his name too. I knew more of the sports MVPs than I did the rappers but that's not saying much. And apparently the "expert" didn't know very many of them either. He lost his own category.

3 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Also they sometimes seem to legit forget it's their turn, either forgetting a "Pass" doesn't pass the turn, or just lost track of the pattern. 

I'm terrified this would happen to me. Interesting that several of the contestants down on the floor were able to yell out to Laura that it was her turn. I wouldn't think that would be allowed. Hilariously, nobody did that when it happened to someone else later (I think Seth). Maybe they got a reprimand after the first time.

[gonzosgirrl]

Considering some of the answers they take, it was kind of garbage that they didn't accept "Hammer" for "Sledge Hammer".

Edited February 20 by gonzosgirrl

[HerkyJerky]

26 minutes ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Considering some of the answers they take, it was kind of garbage that they didn't accept "Hammer" for "Sledge Hammer".

I don’t know if Peter Gabriel would agree with that! 😏🤣

[gonzosgirrl]

31 minutes ago, HerkyJerky said:

I don’t know if Peter Gabriel would agree with that! 😏🤣

[Rickster]

I liked the concept of the island category, but there were some wonky answers allowed. Japan is not a single island. Pearl Harbor and Waikiki are on Oahu, not Hawaii. They shouldn’t allow the state of Hawaii as an answer if they’re then going to ask for Maui.

[lh25]

15 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Considering some of the answers they take, it was kind of garbage that they didn't accept "Hammer" for "Sledge Hammer

I totally agree.  It seems a bit random to me, what they sometimes take and sometimes won't.

[KeithJ]

On 2/10/2025 at 12:32 AM, Lantern7 said:

Here's the IG post from Anna Leigh. She wasn't brought up, but the couple from The Bachelor was, so I'm afraid Rob Lowe has been briefed on where TAR stands amongst reality shows.

Unless I'm remembering wrong, that hardly looks like her.  Maybe it's the lighting and /or the tan. Her face doesn't really look the same though.

[iMonrey]

Who was Anna Leigh? Was she the whiny one who ran with her dad?

[GameJayAnalysis]

4 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Who was Anna Leigh? Was she the whiny one who ran with her dad?

She wasn't whiny she was telling her dad to catch up. If you saw season six it was WAY worse with Jonathan and Victoria.

I presume TAR is a CBS show so why would they promote a competing network?

 

 

22 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Considering some of the answers they take, it was kind of garbage that they didn't accept "Hammer" for "Sledge Hammer".

* watches the snacks duel from season 1 again * 

I'm pretty sure a sledgehammer doesn't have the triangle thing on the other side.

Edited February 21 by GameJayAnalysis

[iMonrey]

18 hours ago, GameJayAnalysis said:

She wasn't whiny she was telling her dad to catch up.

So that was her. Sorry, I know mileage varies and all but she was universally loathed by a lot of the audience. I know in Primetimer's AR forum most of us were rooting for her to be eliminated.

[GameJayAnalysis]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

I know in Primetimer's AR forum most of us were rooting for her to be eliminated.

There was a similar team in Chris and Mary on one recent season as well with the same connection and they got eliminated waiting too long

[Taeolas]

I noticed in some of the long shorts, when its your turn, the screen in front of you (along with the screen between the contestants) will show the clue. So that's the big indicator on if you are expected to answer or not. 

 

Seems like some contestants use the side screen (maybe because it is bigger/closer) so don't realize it is their turn. 

 

Watching the ep now, Electronics was a painful category for the "expert", some obvious misses there that an 'expert' should certainly have known (Nintendo Switch?!?)

[GameJayAnalysis]

If anyone's interested, Angie from season 2 has a podcast about the floor and other reality TV stuff.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/reality-redux-with-angie-and-friends/id1791216826

[gonzosgirrl]

22 hours ago, Taeolas said:

Watching the ep now, Electronics was a painful category for the "expert", some obvious misses there that an 'expert' should certainly have known (Nintendo Switch?!?)

And the 'expert' was a retire FBI surveillance specialist (or something along those lines). This had to be an assigned category - he basically knew nothing. Unless he thought it would be the Super Sekrit Spy-Cam 5000 or something.

[GameJayAnalysis]

5 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

he basically knew nothing.

*  Nintendo switch appears *

Brian(Electronics CIA spy expert): Playstation Controller, Nintendo Controller, pass

[Shrek]

Just now, GameJayAnalysis said:

*  Nintendo switch appears *

Brian(Electronics CIA spy expert): Playstation Controller, Nintendo Controller, pass

Is that the same guy who called a Playstation 5 a Playstation, which only the first one is known as? 

[GameJayAnalysis]

2 minutes ago, Shrek said:

Is that the same guy who called a Playstation 5 a Playstation, which only the first one is known as? 

He said "Sony PlayStation" but I think it was a PS5 and they accepted it.

[mertensia]

The yoga duel is what I hope for all categories.

 

[iMonrey]

I don't understand why everyone is afraid to challenge Brian. Granted, when finally someone did they lost, but still. Terry (the last winner from the previous episode) chose to go back to the floor rather than challenge him. Matthew chose sports films rather than challenging Brian then lost. And Clint went back to the floor rather than challenge him. Is it smart play to let Brian win the $20K week after week? Isn't the point of this game to win as much floor space as possible? It feels like everyone is playing defense. Stay hidden away in your little corner and wait until there's only a few people left. I don't know, maybe that's the smartest strategy but it's not very entertaining.

I would have sucked at a lot of these categories. Sports films? I only knew 2 of them. College basketball? I only knew the one from my own state. Yoga poses? Nope. But I did know almost all the Star Trek characters, and most of the Fantasy Films. 

"Math" was laughably simple. It was really just a matter of running down the clock.

Someone please get rid of Brian. I can't stand looking at that Godawful shirt one day longer.

[GameJayAnalysis]

35 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Is it smart play to let Brian win the $20K week after week?

It is smart play if you are trying to survive on the floor alone.  There's no reason to challenge Brian and win if you are not even assured $20K. Everyone is afraid to defend a large territory(the $20K one) for even a few duels unless you have something you are confident defendin. The floor is not a group sport. They want to let someone next to Brian take him out or if people have categories they like, they are trying to stop Brian from getting a boost the next time he chooses to play on.

The entire floor "technically" benefits if there is not once huge piece of land in a weird way but idk this isn't fleshed out idea yet.

For the floor as a whole, I think the floor is maybe trying to get to the point of "everyone can be randomized" again because everyone that goes back with 2 or 3 squares is safe for a certain number of episodes. They are trying to avoid "to win 20k, you must go through x"

Clint has a very safe wall of territory in front of him and he's gonna be here a lot longer.

"You're just paying brian" - Calrione(Boy Bands) guy

The floor: We're not doing this for you calrione. Everyone is fighting for themselves. They're not fighting for you or to take out brian. Everyone wants to take out brian, but no one voultneered to be the sacrafical lamb and there's never a guarantee that sacrafical lamb will even take him out.

Basically, everyone's chicken, but being a chicken keeps them in the game. 

35 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Isn't the point of this game to win as much floor space as possible?

Not if there are still more than 3 duels left.

Edited Thursday at 05:37 PM by GameJayAnalysis

[MrAtoz]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Stay hidden away in your little corner and wait until there's only a few people left. I don't know, maybe that's the smartest strategy but it's not very entertaining.

It can be an effective strategy. Remember that the winner of last season, Keelan von Ehrenkrook, only played in 3 duels total--including the 2 that he won in the "best of 3" final showdown. He won one duel early on, went back to the floor, and then just hung out until he was literally the only person left. Everybody was afraid of his category, the Periodic Table, so they avoided challenging him until there was no other choice.

I'm torn on whether that's effective TV or not. Contestants can go on a long run, winning multiple games in a row, becoming popular with the audience, and then end up with nothing, Other contestants who barely get noticed can end up winning the whole thing. It's interesting strategy-wise. But this does not seem to be a show that rewards rooting for a particular contestant.

Clearly the fact that you get a bonus for having the biggest territory at the end of each episode is intended as an incentive for contestants to keep playing. Otherwise, since losing a single duel means you're gone, the optimal strategy is to minimize the number of duels you actually have to play.

[mlp]

I was surprised by the math category because it was all grade school multiplication.  Maybe it would be hard for young people who don't memorize the tables and rely on the calculators on their phones.  Dunno.  Most of the rest of the categories would have done me in.  Sports anything?  No.  Yoga?  No.  Star Trek?  I think I knew two of them.  I thought it was a hard week.

[gonzosgirrl]

I thought the twist of letting people volunteer to be randomized was interesting. I feel like if the majority of players keep returning to the floor after one round, they will eventually change it to everyone being up for randomizing, every round.

Star Trek was pretty easy for me, except for having to name the Cardassian. Yikes, not in a million years. Three seconds is a hefty enough penalty, but wasting 5-10 seconds and THEN passing is worse. Just pass and hope the next stumper goes to your opponent.

[iMonrey]

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Star Trek was pretty easy for me, except for having to name the Cardassian.

That stumped me too but I remembered his name once they said it. The only one I didn't know was from one of the newer Star Trek shows on Paramount Plus. I haven't kept up with those.

1 hour ago, gonzosgirrl said:

I thought the twist of letting people volunteer to be randomized was interesting. I feel like if the majority of players keep returning to the floor after one round, they will eventually change it to everyone being up for randomizing, every round.

That's a good idea.

[HerkyJerky]

2 hours ago, gonzosgirrl said:

Star Trek was pretty easy for me, except for having to name the Cardassian

Same! I yelled out Garek (and to be fair, he was in the show a lot more than Dukat if memory serves me correctly)

[gonzosgirrl]

55 minutes ago, HerkyJerky said:

Same! I yelled out Garek (and to be fair, he was in the show a lot more than Dukat if memory serves me correctly)

That's closer than 'Cardassian Guy!' :D

[Lantern7]

I’m caught up. Never found out if Garrett was one of the facial hair guys from TAR. Rob probably won’t bring that up with Anna Leigh even if she goes on a streak. We’ll be hearing about The Bachelor, though. 🙄

As some with a math degree, I found it a bit annoying that category was basically multiplication, but I understand. It could been formula identification, and one contestant would just crater. Not good TV.

i think I only would have passed once on Star Trek. I swear, I called out “Gul Dukat” at the end, mostly because his is the only name that came to my mind seeing a Cardassian.

I’m good with the volunteer “twist.” I hope the show treads carefully.

On 2/27/2025 at 5:48 AM, mertensia said:

The yoga duel is what I hope for all categories.

This would have been me: “Pass. Pass. Pass. Okay, that’s enough of Rob Lowe grimacing towards the camera. I’m done.”

[illdoc]

5 hours ago, HerkyJerky said:

I yelled out Garek (and to be fair, he was in the show a lot more than Dukat if memory serves me correctly)

I said Garek even though I knew it wasn't him (too sinister a smile), so next I said "the evil Cardassian", because his name just wouldn't come to me in time.

[Rickster]

It was strange that the college basketball category had nothing to do with basketball. A knowledge of college football would give you almost all the answers.

[Shrek]

Are you saying that the basketball teams have different names to the football teams & it was the football teams names that were used or am I missing something?

I thought most basketball teams used the same mascot name as the football team from the same college.

Why did they have nothing to do with basketball? I'm British & don't watch either so your comment is a little confusing to me.

[KWalkerInc]

The clues in the category weren't specific to just basketball, so someone that followed along with football or any of the other sports for those colleges could guess the mascots/nicknames.  I think they also had a similar category in season 1 under a different name, so I guess this time was just that the schools mentioned are known for being good at basketball.  I thought maybe they would show photos of famous college basketball players or coaches.

[Rickster]

18 hours ago, Shrek said:

Are you saying that the basketball teams have different names to the football teams & it was the football teams names that were used or am I missing something?

I thought most basketball teams used the same mascot name as the football team from the same college.

Why did they have nothing to do with basketball? I'm British & don't watch either so your comment is a little confusing to me.

No, you're right. What I meant was that there were a few schools on the list that have no national recognition in football, so a generic college football fan with zero knowledge of basketball might not know the nickname. Georgetown and UConn would be examples. I don't think there were any others.

[Taeolas]

The volunteer "twist" was fine. I wonder what brought it on? Seemed kind've random. But as a way to shake up the early rounds it's fine. 

I got all but 1 of the Star Trek ones (though a couple I had a small brianfart on). TNG/DS9/VOY are my era, and I pulled TOS in at the same time. So I only blanked on the Discovery guy, though I recognized him. 

I was a bit spoiled by this thread for the Cardassian, but really it almost had to be either Garek or Dukat. Really I was a bit disappointed by how much the "expert" missed on that category. 

I'm also disappointed they didn't 'splurge' and actually 'beam' Rob off the stage when he said "Beam me up" to start it off. 

For the Math category, I'm fine with it just being a multiplication quiz. It's a very broad category in general and I doubt anyone knew it was multiplication to start. It was an impressive run too. I kept up until they started doing the 12s. 

A Division or Subtraction category (or just mix all the basic ops) would be surprisingly challenging too I'm sure. 

 

In general, at this stage, I think I would be going for 3 as much as possible. The time boost is a powerful advantage, and knocking out some single squares around me means I'm less likely to be challenged by the randomizer.  Especially if my territory is surrounding a single square. Once I had three, as long as I was comfortable with my category, I'd go back to the floor and sit pretty; if only to have more time to study my category for a future challenge.