So here's hopin.
I just started watching Sliders recently. I was only about 12 when it first came out so it was a no go. Fast forward ten years and now it's on Sci-fi. Woohoo. I have fallen in love with this show. Well the first three seasons anyway. I'm reading and watching anything I can get my hands on. Fanfiction, episode guides, all the stuff.

So the deal is, Are there any other Sliders fans out there still? And if there are, does anyone know of any current sites out there? All the fanfiction sites I have found are old old old. Some haven't been updated in years. The broken links are so depressing. A whole lot of the stuff I have found is absolutely wonderful and I'm really hoping to find some more.

Me!Me!Me! Loved 'Sliders' although for some reason I only watched 2 seasons, some people thought it was ripping off 'Quantum Leap' but I found it enourmously entertaining. Jerry O'Connell was not grating yet, Neither John Ryes Davies (before it got on my nerves in Voyager. I think I watched to the point where the professor dies.

I need an episode guide... my memory ain't what it used to...

Glad it is on Skiffy, maybe I can TiVo it.

How come the last season jumped the shark? what happened?

Yay! I was so baffled by the lack of Sliders thread! I loved the show when it was on Fox or the WB or whatever network it was on before SciFi. I never saw it on SciFi, cause it was all weird and not the same show.

You didn't miss much. The third season was pretty awful, IMHO. I remember the fan forum I was on at the time, we made our own fun by identifying which movie they were ripping off each week.

I caught the first part of the fourth season, the first one on Sci-Fi, and I thought it had improved. Yeah, the Kromag stuff was weird, but at least the show had an arc and a purpose. And some of the non-arc episodes were pretty decent.


Jerry O'Connell left. That was it for me, so I really have no opinion on the fifth season's quality. The new woman that joined the cast then seemed appealing, but I checked out.

Anyway, what a disappointing show it was. The first season had so much promise. Sometimes when the commercials came, I'd actually be jarred by the transition into our own reality, because the alternate worlds were so compelling.

The second season was lesser, but I came to appreciate it more after the third season. Yow.

the show's decline in quality started in season 3 with the Professor dying. the continual replacing of the characters got sillier and sillier (it's Quinn's brother! it's Quinn's double!). I don't think I've seen much of the Sci-Fi years, but I didn't think the whole "Kromag" thing was particularly compelling. I was more into the alternate Earth thing, which they pretty much gave up on about halfway through the series. I liked some of the episodes in season 3, though. the Christmas one is one of my favorites. and to go to the shallow end, Jerry O'Connell is quite the nummy treat.

now, where's the DVD sets?

I liked the Kromaggs, but Quinn's brother and Guy Who Wasn't Quinn Except He Was were awful. The black female character in the last series could potentially have been good, but by that point it was almost entirely a different show and I'd given up. I would like to rewatch the earlier seasons though.

Try here tvtome

episode guides and more...

tv tome

sorry, try this one...

Didn't they used to slip in commercials from the various alternate Earths during the commerical breaks?

Earth Prime and The Dimension of Continuity are pretty much the most comprehensive Sliders resources that exist. EP even has an interview with Cleavant Derricks, which is pretty revealing - but cool.

I'm pretty well-versed in most things Sliders, so if anybody has any questions, feel free to ask.

Some basic show info to start:

S1 - 4: Jerry O'Connell as Quinn Mallory
S1 - 3: John Rhys-Davis as Prof. Maximillian Arturo
S1 - 3: Sabrina Lloyd as Wade Kathleen Welles
S1 - 5: Cleavant Derricks as Rembrandt "Cryin' Man" Brown
S3 - 5: Kari Wuhrer as Captain Margaret "Maggie" Beckett
S4: Charlie O'Connell as Colin Mallory
S5: Tembi Locke as Dr. Diana Davis
S5: Robert Floyd as Mallory

Season One: FOX, March - May 1995
Season Two: FOX, March - June 1996
Season Three: FOX, Sept. 1996 - May 1997
Season Four: SciFi, June 1998 - May 1999
Season Five: SciFi, June 1999 - January 2000

The first season I loved and was even more overjoyed when the second one came out. The third I found a bit lacking especially after Arturo was killed off by Rickman. The Kromaggs were interesting and I'm glad they followed that storyline but after they stopped carrying SCIFI in my area I lost interest for the final seasons which in watching in reruns doesn't seem like much.

I loved Sliders. It was my favorite show when it first came on. I used to watch it in the den with whatever other family members happened to be around. I remember the first season cliffhanger where Quinn got shot, and then the show disappeared for like six months. I was so, so happy when it came back.

I also remember making fun of the whole 'ripping off movies' thing, namely at the end of S3, when pretty much everyone in the room called them on their shamelessly undisguised rip-off of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Not during the commercial breaks, I don't think. But they did show commercials from the alternate realities during the show.

The best episodes were always alternate societies, where you really got the sense that this could be our world if people were just a little different. There were also some decent episodes where something impossible happens, but you see how society has adapted to include it (Here I'm thinking of "In Dino Veritas", where Dinosaurs are endangered species in a wildlife preserve).

The ones that stunk were the category I called "plots rejected from The X-Files". More than once, there was nothing different about the world they slid to except that something freaky and X-Files-esque was going on, and even the natives weren't used to it.

I don't think I've ever wished so hard for a show to be better as I did with this one.

I loved this show when it first came on. I convinced my wife to name our first son Quinn. I just loved the whole alternate-history feel of this show, at first it was like a different Harry Turtledove Novel every week. Of course, I saw how it went downhill after it left Fox, but I even followed it through the first Sci-Fi season. For some reason I lost interest after that. Maybe it was that the show sucked by then.

Right there with ya. I guess I was only about 12 when the show first started, but after I got older and started watching the show in syndication and all that, I had to admit 'Hey, this show really isn't that good, is it?' But I think it was a very likeable show, due largely to the cast. You're right, though, it could have really benefited from better writing.

I was very sad when the professor died, but after the show moved to Sci-Fi I lost track of it. I don't think we got Sci-Fi then. So I didn't see the last couple of seasons until maybe 2 years ago. I had no idea what was going on with the whole 'Quinn/Mallory' thing. I was like "Where's Jerry O'Connell?"

And I had no idea what had happened to Wade. When I finally saw "Requiem," that also made me pretty sad. But I'm glad they finally gave Wade an actual exit, even if it wasn't actually Sabrina Lloyd. Oh, now I just got sad, realizing that 3 out of the original 4 fell along the way. Arturo getting shot; Quinn getting, uh, fused or whatever the hell happened to him; and Wade getting stuck in glass Kromagg breeding-tube thing and then blowing herself up.

Rembrandt was the only one who stuck around. And then there's that damn cliffhanger ending. All I can say is, damn all cliffhanger endings to all TV shows.

Actually, while a body double was used, Sabrina Lloyd did take time off from Sports Night to do all the voice work for Requiem.

Am I the only person alive who actually liked season 5? I mean, I missed Quinn. (The real Quinn.) But I liked Dianna, and Mallory was okay. I liked it that one of the "girls" was the smart one. And I also liked that the two female characters could be friends, because they weren't fighting over a guy.

[nostalgic violin music playing] Aw ... Sliders used to be my absolute favourite show a long time ago. I remember I had a school-girl crush on Jerry O'Connell as Quinn, but like several other posters, I started skipping many episodes after the Professor died and the series started going down-hill. [end music]

Maggie was extremely grating, and the Kro-Mag storyline was just kinda boring. After Wade was gone and even Cute!Quinn disappeared, my days of casual watching were much ended. I still caught a couple of episodes every now and then, but I don't really recall much of them at all. I think I actually watched the ending, but there isn't even a vague memory of what happened. Except that it was pretty confusing, sucky and inconclusive. :P

Really? I don't even remember her having much of a speaking part. But that's cool of her.


I also liked Dianna. And Mallory was okay, although I don't know that I like the Quinn-fusion storyline (they spent the entire season going 'Hey, maybe we can get him back/But maybe not/But we have to try' and then at the end it's pretty much 'Oh, I guess we can't'). I even liked Maggie.

I agree that the cast was likable. Which is why it pissed me off so much whenever a cast member left, and they got replaced with someone less likable. And then you'd just start to like that new person, and someone else would leave.

I mean, I hated Maggie at first. But after the move to Sci-Fi, I warmed to her. And I missed Wade, but Quinn's brother was pretty instantly likable. And then when the O'Connell brothers both left, I just gave up.

Nothing against Cleavant Derricks. He's very likable as Rembrandt. But he just wasn't enough to keep me around.


The first thing I'll admit is that I didn't even watch S5. So I don't have any legitimate complaints about its quality. But I felt like I'd given the show a huge pass for a long time, and their inability to keep their star was the last straw.

Here's a quick note I haven't seen mentioned. Universal is planning to release Sliders on DVD. Commentaries for at least the pilot movie have already been recorded, and other items like unaired footage were being collected. How much of that will see the light of day is still up in the air, but I don't see why they wouldn't use the work that's already been gathered and completed.

Anyway, keep an eye out. With the Quantum Leap DVD set coming on June 8th, I imagine a Sliders set can't be far behind.

For further information on the Sliders DVD timeline and developments, look to the DVD FAQ at Gate Haven: http://www.slidersweb.net/blinker/about/faq.htm

I have to admit I loved the first season but lost interest during the second (or maybe it was the third), when all they did was rip off other TV shows and movies.

I hope that means a worldwide release and not just an American one. I'm trying to restrain myself from doing the dance of joy right now. I used to love Sliders, even though the longer story arcs didn't make a lot of sense because I didn't see it in order. It was one of the first Sci-Fi series I ever got interested in, way back when. It would be excellent to be able to sit down and watch all the episodes in order, and see all the ones I'm sure I missed.

Like, for instance, the Professor dying. I had no idea that had happened until I read this thread. I saw episodes that were pretty much in random order. So he was literally there on day, and gone the next. Hmph.

Sweet! "Red means go, green means stop..."

And then he was back a couple episodes after he died because Fox refused to air it in its proper order. And then he was dead again.

Oh, Fox.

I actually liked the fifth season better than the fourth. I thought the fourth got a little overrun by Jerry O'Connell's ego, and the idea that Quinn wasn't native to Earth Prime in the first place? Didn't like it. Not one bit.

Robert Floyd really had a thankless position in the fifth season-- he was a replacement for the lead. He did a fine job, but he simply had shoes to fill that fans didn't want to see emptied in the first place.

I loved Sliders when it started.

I can't remember exactly when I lost interest, but I do remember being disappointed when Jerry O'Connell left and when the "arc" took over the series.

I greatly preferred the stand-alone storylines that revolved around an alternate Earth. Once they were "saving the Earth from the Kromag", or whatever that storyline was, took over, I became bored. Same thing happened with Quantum Leap. I was worried when FarScape started having most of the episodes revolve around the arc, but they have managed to keep it interesting.

I know many sci-fi fans love arcs, but I prefer stand-alone plots that have some basis in continuity [FarScape did this very well: characters and circumstances were changed week after week because of what happened previously, but many episodes could still be stand-alones resultant of the past but individual episodes not necessarily needed a lot of known past history.]

Anyway, I loved Jerry O'Connor in Sliders. Wade was whiney and got on my nerves [I liked the actress much better in Sports Night], and I liked the Professor and Rembrant. Jerry's brother was fine and I liked the girls that took Wade's place, if I'm remembering correctly. I remember an African American girl that I really liked - if I'm not confusing this show with something else. But by then, I had lost most of my interest in the show and only watched sporatically, if at all.

I liked season 5. Hated the brother so much by the time season 5 rolled around I was okay with sacrificing Quinn, who I adored, just to get rid of Colin. Plus Diana and Mallory were nice additions. I can't say I ever liked Maggie but after awhile she was not a constant irritant so I count that as an improvement.

I thought it was weird that there never seemed to be alternate Kromags. Kromags developed on only one earth and spread forth from there. But I hated the Kromag storyline so I don't really care beyond noting it.

It was weird that they always felt comfortable meddling in other people's business. I don't think any of them ever learned that maybe being on an earth for 10 seconds didn't give you enough information to jump into any situation. It's shocking that only Arturo was shot.

Here's some info on the dvd:

Sliders dvd

I always thought that Season 5 was prime Maggie time. She returned to a normal head of hair (that black hair in Season 4? Yuck!), and she turned into a genuine person. Her relationship with Rembrandt was pretty nice, and I actually felt symapthy for her in Requiem after she thought Remmy was gone - she was the "senior Slider," now; she didn't want / couldn't handle the responsiblity, and she was really ready to quit travelling.

A couple of changes that I would have liked to see:

• More doubles. By the end of the series, we rarely saw any main character doubles as time went on. We had one Colin double (Lipschitz Live!), and no Mallory doubles (even though he was really a Quinn almost-copy, statistically there should have been at least one double).
  
  
• A reappearance of Maggie's husband in S5. I know we had a Steven Jensen double in Slide By Wire, but I would have liked to see how a non-miltary Maggie/Steven-double relationship could have evolved... especially if they rehired the original actor.
  
  
• Less Kromaggs, more alternate histories. Episodes like Prince of Wails, Luck of the Draw, and Love Gods are all popular episodes because of their setting - worlds based on possible historical twists (the US losing the Revolutionary War, massive Iraqi bioweapons in the early '90's, etc.) Having such pointless Earths as the ones seen in Data World and The Chasm simply turned the show into another crappy SciFi Channel series. (Excluding Farscape, of course.)
  
  
• The unbelievable Strangers and Comrades. An asteroid trapped in a vortex... with a sun... and people... and a wormhole with a tail? What the hell?!?

They actually tackled that in the fifth season. They went to an alternate world where Dianna's double wasn't living a life Dianna thought was worthy of her, so she decided she had the right to change it, and ended up screwing up royally. I mean, much badness all around.

And I liked the idea that you could have a duplicate that didn't look exactly like you...or was even another sex. I mean, if you think of it, one slip of a gene here or there, and any of us could look different, but still be the same person we are...mostly.

As I understand it, Sci-Fi demanded a heavier leaning towards science fiction on the alternate worlds, hence the injection of a lot more Kromaggs and crazy shit. I think this is especially evidence in S4 even more than S5. Although I did like both of those seasons — truth be told, the only season I have minimal tolerance for is S3, which has some of the best episodes coupled with a long list of the absolute worst.

Dang, that DVD is expensive.

Well, the good thing about season 5 is Peter Jurasik as Oberon Geiger (using Londo's voice, almost).

I finally saw the transition episodes where the Quinn Brothers go poof and this new Mallory dude appears on the lab (with Geiger and Diana) As for Diana joining the team...just jumping impulsively into sliding seemed forced to me...

The next episode after that one had another Babylon 5-er where 'Garibaldi' plays some sort of soldier in a military camp. Guess all the B-fivers were out of work at around the same time.

Dunno, I miss the original flavor Quinn here. FOr those who watched until the bitter end... did they manage to extract the original Quinn from the new guy?

Nope. I mentioned that somewhat on my last post (on page 2). Basically, IIRC, they spend most of the season with vague hopes that they might be able to, but in the penultimate episode they find Dr. Geiger, try to do the un-fusion (diffusion?), and it basically doesn't work.

I think Dr. Geiger tricked them into thinking he could do it, but he really just wanted to fuse with Mallory (to get himself un-unstuck, I guess). So they stop it, and then I'm pretty sure Diana's just like "It can't be done."

So no, Quinn is never returned, and the finale ends with a cliffhanger where Rembrant jumps into a sliding vortex that might take him home (I think) or possibly kill him, while the others watch.

If I recall, the de-fusing thing basically boils down to an either/or thing. They can have Orginal Flavor Quinn, but doing so would obliterate Mallory. And Remy makes the call that Quinn wouldn't be kosher with that.

I saw the series finale 'The Seer'.... and that was the WORST finale ever for a sci-fi series... It was cool that the sliders got to a world where they are revered like 'Star Trek', but having Remy leaving by himself to his world (w/ the anti-Kromagg virus) and the rest of the gang left behind... that sucked.... bad...

The Seer dies too, so we have no way to find out if Remy survives. This series needs a movie badly, just to undo the finale.

After watching most of season 5, I got a crush on Diana... she was cool.

Skiffy played the 'Pilot' episode of Sliders today... I sure hope they run in chronological order, that way I can TiVo it and no need to but the DVDs (unless they are below the $50 range)

I watched about halfway (had to go to work! damn!) but dude! it was so refreshing to see Jerry O'Connell back in the lead, plus the 'Pilot' episode is fairly good, loved to see Quinn's lab (he was a regular Jimmy Neutron)

Compared to the series finale, the series beginning was pretty cool.

I caught an episode yesterday: The one where most of the men had been obliterated by a virus. Of course, being a desired commodity excited Remy for a short while. :-)

Two things:

1. The Professor said that this world didn't know anything about artificial insemination or in vitro. I thought I remembered that he left them instructions about that, but obviously, I was remembering something else. I distinctly got a flash of the doctor looking at notes after they left and thinking, "Hey, this could work!" Heaven only knows what memory I was channeling.

2. Quinn possibly left a baby in this world. Interesting...

(yeah I'm quoting myself) But it was too much to hope for Skiffy to run the episodes in the correct freakin' order. They were doing good, until last week they felt compelled to show the two-parter when the professor dies. Then they go back to the rest of the (very cool) season one. So that sucked.

A couple of good episodes were Remy as 'Elvis' making a come back. That was too cool! Also, I saw the episode when it turns out the USA are still a colony of England. My now best favorite is the one where they use the lottery as population control. (very cool and very creepy) plus you can see a very young 'Alex Krycek' in that episode, I think Smoking Man also makes an appearance an episode later.

I also found the episode where they land in the world where men are in short supply very interesting. Quinn must have had sex with her. Why else would she have had his picture in a frame? The first time I saw this, in the seventh grade, I totally didn't get it. I also thought that the Professor left instructions to help that world out. I geuss not. I thought it was messed up that they helped to trade that Trevor guy like he was cattle, and then didn't even try to help him!

Oh, yeah, the Trevor guy...

I was home waiting for the phone guy and he came during the show, so I missed whenever whoever he was was explained, so I didn't understand what was happening there. Then I forgot about them just handing him over when I was trying to remember what I was channeling when I thought the professor left in vitro procedures.

That was a convoluted couple of sentences, but it shows how confused I was at the end there.

Also, did they give any further explanation of what was going to happen to the couple they took on the leap, umm, through the wormhole... umm, [what is it on this show?] other than that they'd have to have a leap of faith? Did they let them know that they'd never see anyone they knew ever again? That they might end up in a world where the cockroaches had taken control? Pretty irresponsible of them. What if the couple had a son safely sequestered away [and they wouldn't trust strangers with that information] and they leaped them a world away?

Duh. The slide.

Hi,
New to the boards, but a fan of Sliders too, and like most others, jumped ship with my lifejacket when the show hit the iceberg. I do still watch it on SciFi these days though.

Maybe my memory's doing weird things too, but was there an episode that was sort of a tie up of everyone? I remember Quinn finally getting home, but his dad was still alive.(perhaps this was another season cliffhanger?)
Wade not being able to breathe after the slide was another.

Another ending showed the sliding tunnel looking like unfinished red jello and acting different than the regular blue tunnel looked, but they jumped into it anyway.

Oh, yeah, that Jerry O'connell was one of the 90's hottest brands of eye candy on the market!
(how many licks does it take to get...oh never mind!)

That was actually the last scene of the very first episode of the series.


You're remembering Maggie's problems when she and Quinn got back to Earth Prime in "Exodus, Part I."



That's the vortex that Maggie's earth came up with. It was featured a couple of times in the last half of season three, starting with "Exodus, Part I."

Thanks Aatrek
After awhile they do all start to blur.
I have to admit that I too like the original series the best, and then the next couple seasons they did on SciFi.
For me once Jerry O'connell left, the balloon deflated, or as they say on another board, the series jumped the shark. Charlie is a cutie too, but he just ain't Jerry.

Day before yesterday they aired a truly heartwrenching episode of Sliders. The one where they slide to a parallel earth where time runs slower, so Quinn runs right into the time his dad dies and he keeps getting beat by bullies at school. Obviously, Quinn has to intervene. But the ending (that I had forgotten) was truly good. He teaches his younger self to fight, 'cause in the original fight, Quinn fought w/ a baseball bat, fracturing the bully's leg and somehow causing him a disability.

But seriously, the scenes between Quinn, young Quinn and his mom were good. Plus he seriously cries when he sees himself getting beat at school. As the professor mentions, 'The past is to be remembered, not relived!'

Really cool episode, I think it is a season 2 one.

Damn. I missed my favorite episode. I wish I'd known it was on so I can tape it. I love Quinn's flirtation with his teacher too. It could have been squicky, but it was well handled.

It's called "The Guardian."

Yesterday they aired 'Season Greedings' which for me, is the most memorable episode of Sliders...(I mean, I had forgotten almost all episodes, except this one) It really got tome how they were able to foretell the future, in having people living right there in the mall... (here in the bay area we have several scenarios like that)

So, to me, the fact that they got it right was huge... I couldn't believe (back then) people living in the mall, and now its like...normal. Plus the whole debt/slavery scenario is almost true (credit cards) People leaving their babies behind... lotsa stuff. Plus gotta love the professor playing Santa. And Wade having a Christmas family reunion.

Maybe it was b/c it was the first time I saw Chase Masterson...(Leeta from DS9), but this episode was really good. And the mall was built in the clouds! They never explained that.

I've been to both that mall & the chapel in the "Seasons Greetings" episode. Someone I know got married at the chapel, it's really a beautiful place. There were parts filmed at Universal City Walk too. That mall is in Santa Clarita & I've shopped there many a X-mas. I hadn't seen that ep in awhile so I forgot that both of those places were in it.