Sliders

Sliders, a science-fiction TV show from 1995, was about four people who got stuck on a seemingly endless trip through countless alternate universes (dimensions according to the show's lore), a bunch of Parallel Earths, etc. Despite the "Disaster of the Week" format, the show had some powerful arcs and a very strong cast. It is one of, if not the only television series I know of to have taken the concept of multiple universes to such an extent.

TVTropes does a much better job describing the show than I.

The show ended on a cliffhanger that left three protagonists stranded on another world, while the final, surviving member of the original cast slid onto a world where he could hopefully fix the number of problems that had occurred up until that point.

It was supposed to have a sixth season, but the network let everybody down. Before that, the show began to decline in quality, arguably around its 3rd-4th season. Despite this, it still has a cult following, as evidenced by the Sliders "encyclopedia" Earth Prime.

edited 26th Aug '13 7:54:25 PM by FOFD

God, I haven't seen that show for years. I could have sworn it was from the 80s!

Once a show loses John Rhys Davies, it lose me.

I used to watch it on Scifi. Back before the name change and all that. It was definitely a very good show.

So many damn shows I need to find on DVD! -Headdesks-

I tried to watch it at a friend's recommendation. It bugged me that not once did anyone eat one of those tiny burgers from White Castle.

Now you're going to write an episode for the show where they're in a Puniverse that has a White Castle at every street corner, and whenever they pass by one they're forced by law enforcement to step inside and order sliders.

John Rhys-Davies talking about doing a revival with the original cast.

Yeah, I wrote about an article about this. If we got a good show out of it, I would love a reboot.

I glimpsed a fanfic once that wrote a "Fix Fic solution to Season 5," with Quinn and the original Arturo showing up to rescue the Season 5 Sliders, and to go and find Rembrandt. Arturo, trapped on that one world from Season 2, would have had enough time to figure out sliding better than Diana or Professor what's his face had.

Not sure that would've been the best direction, but I'd hope they don't completely shove out the post-Season 2 stuff. There were some goodies in there: Quinn meeting the version of himself that appeared in the pilot episode; the episode where they trapped in a digital recreation of the Chandler hotel.

...actually I can't remember too many good episodes after Season 3 but I want to think it's just because I haven't binged Sliders on Netflix in years.

The wounds from Wade just being shipped off to a camp, Arturo dying to that military dude, and Quinn and Colin getting merged into a single character have scabbed over. I can't help but laugh at the Development Hell that this show went through.

God, the Executive Meddling on the show never ceased. First it was by Fox and then it was by the Sci-Fi Channel. It didn't help that "rip-off whatever movie made a lot of money this week" was a mandate in the third season (hey, you like Anaconda? We've got Anaconda!).

The first two seasons actually have compelling and interesting storylines.

I just finished the series(it's on Peacock) and I thought it was better all the way through than I expected; I liked the last two seasons just as much as the first two(and the first half of season three; the second half of that season was my least favorite part of the series).

I'm kinda surprised it hasn't been rebooted yet because it has so much potential. Even though the season three episodes where they just copied movie plots is considered one of the show's low points, I think there are some ideas along those lines that could work. I'd like to see a John Wick assassin world, or one where superheroes are real.

Edited by MFLuder on Sep 18th 2020 at 11:40:27 AM

There was a world where all disputes were settled with Mexican standoffs.

I do think this show has a lot of potential to be rebooted by a streaming service. You can easily divide each episode according to whatever alternate world they want to investigate, but provide continuity with character relationships.

One of my teachers was actually a writer on the show, he wasn't hugely fond of the experience because he felt the structure lacked a strong motivational core for the characters. Every world they found themselves in, there is no reason they couldn't just hide out in an alley until the time to slide into the next world. That meant the problem had to stumble onto the characters rather than the characters seeking it out.

He did love the cast, though.

Jerry O'Connell recently had lunch with the 'Cryin' Man' Cleavant Derricks

Well, there's a pretty simple solution to that. What if each portal only shows up at a specific spot, but said spot is different between worlds? Keep the timer element, but when the characters have to actually find the portal each time (with the portal device having a compass or something vaguely inexact in it) it gives them a reason to actually explore and find out what's going on.

Maybe there could be an ongoing plot about someone or something dumping devices in various worlds that block out-going dimensional travel, so there's the occasional world where the portal is central and really easy to find, but it can't open until the interference is dealt with.

I'll stop here, or I'll end up doing my usual thing and creating a whole scenario and plot-line for a hypothetical reboot.

Edited by Zendervai on Sep 18th 2020 at 2:36:04 PM

Anyone know the reason why the writers gave the timer a limited sliding range instead of just having it so they could slide anywhere?

I remember some episodes where the time before they could slide again was long enough (several weeks, if not months), that hiding out wasn't really an option, and they had to worry about stuff like getting a job and paying the bills in their new reality.

A problem with rebooting it is how it's geared towards highly episodic storytelling (with everything except the core ensemble changing each episode) while modern TV is big on serialized storytelling. To pitch a remake, you'd likely need to add some ongoing storyline, besides "try to get home", that could weave through all the episodes.

The Scifi years had an ongoing Half-Arc Season plot about the Kromaggs.

My teacher refered to it as the "franchise element," something that keeps the characters motivated to act episode after episode. Other shows used Comes Great Responsibility or a Magnetic Plot Device for the same purpose. My solution would be a combination of For Science!, since half the cast tended to be scientists they are interested in cataloguing the differences, and that the sliding portal location changes in every place, so that exploration is something they are motivated to do.

Another thing that would work well in today's television environment would be to ramp up the Fake Guest Star cast, repeating actors who change depending on the world they visit. If well planned out you could provide an ongoing story by showing how those individuals change episode to episode, similar to how the main cast often played alternate versions of the same character.

They did a little of that with guest stars early on, but then dropped it.

When doing research for my upcoming webcomic 'Slider's Web', I learned John Rhys Davies played the Kingpin in "The Trial of the Incredible Hulk", so now I just have to reveal he's an Arturo variant!

Edited by Zarius on Mar 2nd 2024 at 2:32:52 AM

I think the multiverse trend in Hollywood right now makes it all the more baffling Sliders hasn't been brought back.

And Sliders actually made a good use of the concept, rather than just a well of nostalgia the way Marvel and DC seem to be handling it.

Marvel and DC has its own self-contained take on the multiverse. The multiverse exists so that they can tell different stories with grim outcomes and in different mediums.

Sliders entire premise was "human history, but..."

That's how I look at it. I give MVL and DC points for making me enjoy... uh... Marvel What-if and the first few seasons of CW Flash and Supergirl.

I don't think I've seen a lot of multiverses in Hollywood, but honestly if John-Rhys Davies, Sabrina Lloyd, Cleavant Derricks, or Jerry O'Connell pass away I don't even want it to come bacm.

Derricks was the only one on the show its entire run, so I doubt nostalgia for the original cast would be that important for a reboot/revival. I think the premise would be the main draw.