Sliders

Does anyone remember this Fox and then SyFy Channel show from the 1990’s? The show ran from 1995 to 2000.

I remember this show in the nineties but I never once saw an episode back then. I  like science fiction a lot but for some reason I never tuned in. Lately I have been able to watch this show and after a couple of seasons it started to grow on me. Then during the last part of the 3rd season it started to go downhill rapidly and by the 4 – 5th season the whole thing changed.

The plot was that a young genius Quinn Mallory creates a device that opens portals to alternative realities. After an accident leaves them lost, Mallory and his companions: his physics professor, Professor Maximillian Arturo, his work colleague and potential love, Wade Wells, and a once famous soul singer, Rembrandt Brown, “slide” from reality to reality in search of home. They go to parallel worlds where things did not develop like our world. One world Kennedy may not have been killed, the other one penicillin not invented, and etc… They don’t travel in time though…just a different earth in the same decade and time.

I’ve read up on it and as usual…the network was the culprit. Trying to appeal to the “MTV Generation” they changed the show dramatically. By the end of the 5th season only one original slider was left. They ended up doing away with all of the original characters and even the one that survived (Cleavant Derricks) til the 5th season probably would not have made it to the 6th if there had been a 6th.

The show had decent ratings but Fox couldn’t help themselves and messed around with the show and show runner at that time…Tracy Torme.  Starting in the 3rd season newer writers started to rip off movie ideas and put them in the show. Shakespearean actor John Rhys-Davies knew what kind of potential the show had and complained loudly about the awful scripts…he was the first to go…after Sabrina Lloyd left, the lead actor Jerry O’Connell soon quit

On top of everything else the network would air the action episodes first and therefore air them all out of order…so when they went into a new world they would be dressed differently than the episode that was shown before…because that could have been coming from a world in a future episode or one two or three back.

I’m very surprised that no one has rebooted this series. The possibilities are endless with that plot. Like the recent movie “Yesterday” it showed a world where  The Beatles never existed and how the world had changed.

It was cool to see what worlds they would land in…each history was like ours except for a few things…like one episode where the British had won the war.

Has anyone seen it and what do you  think of it?

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

34 thoughts on “Sliders”

  2. I heard of the series but that’s it…never saw an episode nor knew what it was about.Sounds like a very good premise at least, but from your description not worked out that well. I saw a magazine once that looked at those types of things – I should have bought it but it was something like $14 – it had experts weigh in on a lot of those ideas like “what if the Germans had won WWII” or “what if Reagan had died when he was shot when President?” Quite interesting concepts at least

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    1. You would think with the lack of originality in Hollywood someone would reboot this series…it’s really good until the middle of the third season.

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      1. definitely, especially since it wasn’t a huge hit… it wouldn’t irk people like trying to make a new version of ‘Seinfeld’ or something.

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  4. This was a great show. The concept was excellent and the cast meshed. It could be preachy when the writers couldn’t figure out how to end some episodes. It would have paired well with Quantum Leap. The cast changes were absolutely stupid, though.

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      1. It was an excellent twist on the time travel genre. The characters did not take forever to “develop”. The special effects suffered a little from lack of funds (so it seems). They could have cranked out the what-ifs episodes forever. All shows come back to the likeability of the cast (which was A+). Once the originals started dropping, it was tough to keep the interest level up.

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      2. Yes the special effects also suffered from the time they were made in. You are right though…the cast were really good together and I’ve read where the original 4 had a great time doing it…until the changes came.
        Yes and the story lines…all the original ones they got rid of in the worse way.
        Thanks for commenting…I’m glad someone remembered.

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      1. Yea I would have not known about the LOTR because he was so changed…Sliders though are really good until 3.5 or so

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  8. Have heard of the show but never see it. You’re right could be a really cool reboot with a lot of interesting possibilities if done right.

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    1. Yea I just started to watch it around 5-6 weeks ago…had me hooked until they messed it up. Someone should reboot…and you don’t hear me say that a lot.

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      1. The push/pull of executives & money. Plus “ratings”… When it debuted, they showed the first two episodes out of order, confusing the audience. The last three episodes were never aired. Whedon had to fight to get the movie made to get the storyline out to the fans. There was a huge, rabid fan following. Great cast. Great premise. Great writing.

        After the way the show was treated, I suspect there was a fight behind the scenes. There was a lot of that going on 20 years ago. Firefly, Journeyman, New Amsterdam, Moonlight, Threshold… Great ideas. Someone says yes, the filming begins and the money changers & power brokers want immediate success. Some shows are too esoteric for certain people. There is a segment of the population that would rather watch reality TV (which is scripted, too) with the over-the-top human-distorted drama than they would view “what if” speculation…time travel, immortality, alien invasion, mystical beasts, superhumans… The only difference between The X-Files & Firefly (both Fox) was timing and executive power. Both had rabid fans. Firefly never got off the ground and X-Files ran too long. Duchovny got tired and left. I was hoping for a spin-off with Agents Doggett & Reyes. They had chemistry, too.

        I could go on & on…🤔🤨🙄😖

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      2. Yes it just sucks. If they don’t reboot this they are stupid…I think it would be huge with the special effects they have today…you could get a cross section of fans watching.

        You are right the X-Files is the one that got through…I love the X-Files so I’m glad it did…it must have done well at first.

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      4. YES…I hope it happens. Vic I do think you would enjoy the first two seasons a lot.

        My drummer friend got me into the X-Files…just say the word! For all of them

        Oh look at this:

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  11. I actually watched this as a kid when it aired. I recently bought the entire series and tried watching it. I must admit, it’s kind of painful. It is a bit repetitive. The first season is excellent. I actually read a few articles though that they are considering a reboot.

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    1. I made it until the professor was axed off… it did get repetitive I give you that… plus the obvious movie ripoffs in some.
      I do hope they reboot it

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      2. Usually I don’t like reboots…but with this one yes…like you said it never really left the ground after one very good season.

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