From Shark Tank to Stranger Things: Float Tanks on TV
Thanks to our appearance on Shark Tank, Urban Float's origin and success story is inextricably linked to television. More than just a vehicle for funding, being able to describe our vision and mission to a worldwide audience has resulted in a level of exposure that has been invaluable for our float spas. However, Shark Tank isn't the only hugely popular television show that has featured float therapy. From the Simpsons to the Big Bang Theory to Stranger Things, float tanks have made highly memorable appearances with float therapy used as a vehicle for humor, a plot device and even a portal to a parallel realm.
The Simpsons Float Tank Episode
As has been true of so many things, the Simpsons did it first. In this case, they were the first to use float therapy as a major plot device in an iconic 1999 episode called "Make Room for Lisa." The overarching theme of the episode is brainy eldest daughter Lisa's ongoing feeling of being overlooked and ignored by Homer, her salt-of-the-earth father who would rather drink beer than go to museums. In an effort to spend time with Lisa on her terms, father and daughter visit a New Age store where they decide to try out some float therapy. Lisa's experience is calming and enlightening and allows her to see her life from Homer's perspective. Meanwhile, Homer's float tank time is a little more chaotic. His float tank is repossessed, falls out of the back of a van, is buried, washes up on the beach before he eventually ends up back where he started at the store. The Simpsons float tank episode might not be the most accurate depiction of float therapy, but its entertainment value is unmatched.
Sheldon and the Sensory Deprivation Tank
Two decades after Homer's float tank wild ride (we told you the Simpsons were ahead of their time), the Big Bang Theory float tank episode aired. While the plot of "The Inspiration Deprivation" revolves around the possibility of neurobiologist Amy winning a Nobel Prize in physics, it isn't long before Amy and Sheldon agree to try out float therapy in order to calm their frazzled nerves. As was the case in the Simpsons float tank episode, Sheldon's sensory deprivation tank experience was quite different from Amy's. While he swam peacefully "through a sea of Mandelbrot sets," she was subjected to a chorus of women in science saying, "You're blowing it." Hardly the calming experience she was after. That said, the Big Bang Theory float tank episode is noteworthy for the scene in which Sheldon asks a float spa employee several rapid-fire questions about float therapy—all of which were answered accurately. It seems pretty clear that someone involved with the Big Bang Theory is familiar with floating.
The Stranger Things Sensory Deprivation Tank
No television show has put a float tank to more memorable or creative use than Stranger Things. The blockbuster Netflix series has taken the oft-repeated belief that floating causes hallucinations to its most extreme conclusion—that time spent in a sensory deprivation tank can not only enhance a person's psychic abilities, but can also open portals to other dimensions. In this instance, the dimension in question is the Upside Down, which is a truly terrifying place rife with monsters, but we feel fairly confident in saying that it is only the fictitious Stranger Things sensory deprivation tank that can call forth nonexistent demogorgons. However, Eleven's sensory deprivation tank experiences—many of which happen not in the Upside Down, but in a sparse in-between place that is characterized as her "mental void"—make for some of the most elegantly haunting scenes of the series. And we have to give an honorable mention to Hawkins Middle School science teacher Mr. Clarke, who correctly calculates the amount of salt required to create a makeshift Stranger Things float tank during a pivotal season one episode. Even though the enterprising kids of Hawkins were able to craft the Stranger Things sensory deprivation tank, we would not recommend trying to do the same. It is much simpler, easier and more relaxing to book a float therapy appointment at an Urban Float location near you.
While these are far from the only instances in which float tanks have appeared on the small screen, they are among the most iconic. We may not have realized that appearing on Shark Tank would put Urban Float in a group with the Simpsons, Big Bang Theory and Stranger Things, but we feel ourselves to be in excellent company. To find out more about float therapy, contact us today!
