It’s been over a decade since the last episode of Sliders aired on February 4th, 2000 entitled “The Seer”. I thought I would put together a list of ideas the show could use from current events of the first decade of the 21st century.

These plots could be used directly or indirectly in the series. There’s been a number of wars, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and an explosion of technology all in the last decade. As the saying goes the possibilities are endless. Here’s just a few alternate themes that could be used for the series.

- The Sliders land in the middle of a war ravaged city. On this world Iraq’s Saddam Hussein invaded an underdeveloped United States waging war, claiming that America has weapons of mass destruction. Can the Sliders survive after being drafted into war?

- A tropical cyclone barrels down on the Sliders in San Francisco. They are forced to stay hunkered down in a local auditorium in poor living conditions. Looting of a large degree occurs and the Sliders most precious possession is stolen, the timer.

- The Sliders discover a world where terrorists plan to bomb the Golden Gate Bridge. An informant reveals to them that the real enemy is someone they never dreamed of… the U.S. government.

- A technological world is filled with numerous social media platforms. The Sliders discover this world requires social media participation under the penalty of law. The only catch is that their technology has mind reading capabilities. Could their secret of sliding be exposed and compromise the slide?

- Quinn and Professor Arturo decide to visit their old college class and are held hostage in a university auditorium. The gunman is a belligerent student who is constantly bullied and suppressed because of his crazed theory of alternate dimensions. Can Rembrandt and Wade come and diffuse the situation in time?

If you can finish the end of something well whether it’s a speech, the closing seconds of a basketball game, or the last note of a song that’s what people will remember the most. Take for example just one of Michael Jordan’s game winning shots, or the final lap of an Indy 500. If you can pull of the closing act of something you’ll be remembered for that the most.

It got me to thinking about the various “final acts” or end scenes of Sliders episodes. Sure there were some bad endings and even worse episodes that could never recover from the most well written ending. It seems however, that more often than not there were good final scenes, whether they were comedic, shocking or emotional they always make you feel good after watching them.

That’s just one of the reasons that makes Sliders a great show. Remember the Pilot episode where Quinn sees his father’s double in shock and realizes they’re not home? Or how about “Fever”, where Rembrandt pokes fun at Arturo for being the “Quarter Pounder”. It makes you feel good after watching the episode and it seems your time spent was worthwhile.

Then there was season three which paid homage to so many movies, and in many instances lacked true original writing. Nevertheless they always pulled out the stops and made great endings. Just throw together some thoughtful words and music and there you go. Take for example “Sole Survivors”, a very lack luster episode, yet thoughtful ending:

Dr. Tassler: (to Debra) “We’re the only hope this world has. Look it’ll take time, but we can start to inoculate people. We can create a groundswell of recovery.”
Quinn: “That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? A lot of things just come down to loyalty. Don’t they?”

Season three’s “Dinoslide” felt like a step back into the “Jurassic Park” movies, with a brain sucking Rickman. But there’s the emotional final scene with Rembrandt and friend Malcolm that doesn’t disappoint:

Malcolm: “I wish there was a way we could stay together, but I can’t see it.”
Rembrandt: “Yeah. Yeah, you’re too important to Gretchen. She needs you, all of these people do.”
Malcolm: “And your friends need you. (sighs) I’m not gonna ask you to promise you’ll come back. I’ll just hope for it.”
Rembrandt: “Me, too.”
Malcolm (gives drawing to Rembrandt): “So you won’t forget me.”
Rembrandt: “I will never forget you, son. Not in a million years.”

And as a final example who can forget the infamous last lines of “The Guardian”? “My name isn’t Jim. It’s Quinn.” After all, isn’t that what people remember the most about that episode? If there’s one thing to remember about Sliders, it’s their final scenes, they not only crafted them, but they crafted them exceptionally well.

At the 2008 Comic-Con convention, Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane referred to Sliders with vulgar and negativity. I wonder what co-creators Tracy Torme and Robert K. Weiss would think. Not to mention Jerry O’ Connell. It’s the scifi series that jump started his career and fanbase. Well MacFarlane, if Sliders is so bad why do people even remember this show? Sure the first two seasons are primarily the best and the final season is nearly unwatchable. Yet Sliders has a cult fan following much like you’re own show.

“Family Guy” airs controversial subject matter such as: Nazis, anti-semitism, homosexuality, pedophilia, transvestites, babies in dumpsters, and not to mention religious bigotry. The show even knocks Jesus Christ and illustrates Him as a record store clerk who is obsessed with fame and eventually gets arrested. The Fox Network has now even chose not to air an episode because of it’s extreme graphic nature of the depiction of an abortion. Crushing and dicing a human being to bits? Oh well now, that sure is funny isn’t it? Yes, it sure looks like everyone is becoming shameless… of everything. No MacFarlane, everything in this world isn’t funny.

Back to the parody of Sliders, I highly doubt this show will do justice to the series. If anything of course, they’ll make fun of and destroy Sliders’ true brilliancy. “Family Guy” is one of those shows that lacks the brains of other animation series such as Mike Judge’s King of the Hill. The only thing “Family Guy” has to offer and I repeat, the ONLY thing, is bringing attention to the great television shows such as Sliders.

“Family Guy” was canceled two times, in 2000 and 2002. Yet a strong fan base and rallying DVD sales brought the show back twice. An exceptional and outstanding come back for the history books, you say. HARDLY. Sliders was canceled three times, and a strong cult fan base also rallied to bring the show back, twice. Not to mention the fourth season, which at the time, brought the Syfy Network it’s highest-rated series… ever. One year later after its fifth season the show was canceled, despite high ratings.

In essence “Family Guy” is anything but a “family”. Hopefully it’s next cancellation will be the third nail in the coffin. The premiere of “Road to the Multiverse”, featuring the Sliders parody will air on September 27, 2009.

But then when we thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. The season three DVD set came with double sided discs overlaying on top of one another. Not to mention the annoying orange plastic that always bends in your way while you’re trying to get a disc. Trying to get a disc out without smudging it is like performing a precise surgery incision.

By then, I had enough. I eventually bought a small wooden case that has the so-called “sleeves”. I found this to be even more of a problem than the foam or overlaying discs. The discs are hard to remove since there is only a slot at the top of the sleeve and they’re almost as rough as light sandpaper. Plain and simple, I just decided to put the discs back in their original packaging.

I looked into various DVD cases including thin paks (small DVD cases), and about any case suitable. I felt 10 cases were just too much, too many, and too confusing to keep up with so I abandoned that plan.

Not longer after, the season four DVD set was released. Finally, there was a DVD set I could live with, as well as other Sliders fans. It isn’t perfect but it is created like a book, where each DVD is placed in a small plastic page. At times I want and need to go back and watch seasons one through three. I became concerned again especially for season three’s discs. So I just put the first three seasons in CD cases. Still though, it felt odd that season four was in its own case while the other ten cases are scattered and mixed.

After much research and browsing I came upon a case called Discus, created by Discgear. It’s a round CD/DVD case that opens on both ends (a double sided case). Each holder has soft fabric that allows me to hold the DVD from the side… not the top of a double sided disc. You may have heard of the product or own one yourself. It sounds like it was a hit in the late 90s, but by it’s design it also has a Sliders feel. The creative catch is that each side that you open holds ten DVDs, for a total of twenty discs.

Side A of my Discus case holds the first three seasons of Sliders; ten discs in all. While side B holds the five discs of season four. Assuming that a season five set will have five DVDs or less… I’m covered. And there you have it, one small compact CD/DVD case that holds all my Sliders DVDs.

If you’re interested in the Discus case you can find more info at: Discgear.com
What are some of your Sliders DVD re-packaging solutions?

The season one episode entitled “Fever” pictures a parallel world where a flu pandemic arises since penicillin was never invented. Of course the virus is called “the Q” on this world, not the “Swine Flu”. The word “patient zero” has also been used in the media today, which means the first known carrier of a disease. I wonder if the “patient zero” from Mexico and his parents will be scrutinized like the Quinn of Sliders was? We’ve also seen men walking around in their protective suits. Although we haven’t seen officials throwing body bags in portable dumpsters… well at least not yet.

Remember the scene where the Sliders walk through a scanner just to enter “Fay’s” restaurant? Well it has been reported that some airports are using scanners to detect the body heat of individuals to see if they have a fever. Of course there’s the other scene in the restaurant where a man coughs and everyone stares fearfully at him. It’s almost as if this scenario will come true as well. The media is already giving out orders for a way to handle the situation. If the guy next to you sneezes you better take cover. Also avoid being in closed-in areas such as planes, classrooms, and subways.

Perhaps it’s a good time to critique the episode “Fever” a little more. First of all there’s been a huge run on protective masks for your nose and mouth. Where are these in the episode? Well, maybe they run out like we are now. Perhaps they should have briefly explored the spread of the virus to other countries as well. One thing they did get right was the people’s fear in the episode, and the CHC’s (or CDC’s) attentiveness to the situation.

Some things are bizarrely similar to the situation in Sliders and only time will tell if the “Swine Flu” will end up like a scenario from the episode “Fever”. Perhaps it’s a good time for you to experience the episode again, or see it for the very first time.

**Spoilers**

While the first two seasons are the most popular among fans, the last two seasons have their own vital significance to the series as well. I find many who are quite repulsive of the seasons and there are others who even doubt whether or not to watch them.

Let’s consider the season four premiere of “Genesis”, where it’s revealed that Quinn is from another world. Sure it takes time to get used to that fact, and yes it’s quite shocking, plus debatable if it was just a Kromagg game. But the fact remains that this plot opened up debate and imagination, more so than we were given from the third season. The Kromaggs and Quinn’s new world become a plot for enjoyable continuity throughout the entire season.

We also discover Rembrandt’s despair of leaving Wade behind among the Kromaggs; considering he could have done something. We find Maggie tamed among the other Sliders this season and friendly, calling their world her home since her own was destroyed. We find Quinn even more determined to get home and thrilled that he has a brother. There aren’t that many times when we see him as happy. Then we have Quinn’s lighthearted brother, Colin. He doesn’t fail to create interest by being naïve and yet he creates the comic side of the season. The fourth season certainly lacks no interest in character development, continuity or humor. Even though the Professor and Wade are gone, a team must go forward whenever they lose someone and that’s what we find the Sliders doing.

You’re probably thinking season five is the least enjoyable and yes, I will agree. The departure of Quinn (Jerry O’Connell) and Colin (Charlie O’Connell), was one of the biggest factors if not the biggest that led to that. Nevertheless, a real treat from season five is Rembrandt. At times we see him disconnected with the new Sliders, longing for his old friends. He’s still determined to get home with all that has happened; and yet he’s still the interesting guy he is. We’ve rode along with Rembrandt from the beginning and we see from his eyes all that has happened to him. In a way, the fifth season should be viewed as Rembrandt’s story, as he reflects upon his lost pals.

Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I just hate it when we see a favorite character played by another actor. Instead of replacing the characters Quinn and Colin Mallory with different actors, we’re given another plot. It’s smearing Quinn into another guy and calling him “Mallory”. It probably wasn’t the greatest idea but at least there wasn’t another actor actually trying to portray our beloved Q-Ball.

The complete series as a whole is quite unique because there were no major fairy tale endings. If the theory of sliding could be discovered in our own time it would probably end up like our favorite TV series, Sliders. No happy endings, depressing and disastrous, with a few annoying Sliders with us along for the ride.

Which parallel earths would you like to visit?

I feel “Eggheads” would be intriguing to see, where geniuses are the equivalent to sports stars. The earth’s population would be more intelligent, and as a result make new scientific and medical discoveries. Opposed to the less intellectual games that we have, like football and basketball, it would also open more ways for children to learn. Season three’s “Slide Like An Egyptian” would impose an Egyptian culture into our mindset; a foreign concept for the majority.

Finally, “World Killer” from the fourth season is a must see. You get there look around, and realize everyone on the face of the planet has slid to an alternate earth. Think of the silence… there’s no roaring vehicles, no loudmouths, and you even have exclusive ‘roaming’ privileges. Which worlds would you like to visit?

The fourth season DVD set is coming soon- March 25, 2008. But what do you expect? The same old, same old? What do you hope Universal Studios will provide?

We all know the past two DVD sets have disappointed us from one degree to another. I think a good packaging design (maybe a slim DigiPak set) would exceed our expectations. It would be a much better deal on our end than the foam and the plastic overlapping case. I guess we’ll have to hang tight however, because the artwork appears similar to the Third Season Set.

Hopefully we’ll discover some commentaries for a few episodes and some never before seen footage. I think a DVD-ROM containing Scifi’s “Online Slides” would be another great addition. For those who aren’t familiar with it, it was a type of game for each fourth season episode and they helped you learn more about the worlds the Sliders visited.

I feel that the necessities are “The Making of Sliders” which aired on the Scifi Network, a photo gallery and the deleted scenes that were cut in the U.S. for commercial airtime. History stands against us, but when Sliders moved networks it became the Scifi Channel’s highest rated original series. The ratings were great, let’s hope the DVD set gets it due.

So what are your expectations of the fourth season DVD set?

Science fiction can occasionally become reality, and in the first season of Sliders worlds vary from a Soviet Union ruling America to a ‘last days’ scenario. Of the season one “what if’s”, I believe that a men’s rights movement may have one of the best opportunities to become reality.

Women’s rights have progressed rapidly since the early 20th century. Only until 1920, were women given the right to vote under the 19th Amendment. Today, single women are becoming the head of the household, and they are climbing to the top of the political and social ladder. The world has seen women transform from housemaid to head business employee. Never before have women been given so much power and position in the United States. Recent studies show that women are attending college more than men, and girls are even ‘smarter’ than boys in grade school. What would stop a transfer of power from men to women? Sliders even portrays Hillary Clinton as president in “The Weaker Sex”. The writers apparently found it strange enough to become sci-fi material, but to our amazement we now see the real Hillary Clinton campaigning for president in 2008. Such things would have been unheard of a century ago. Could the tide be turning before our very eyes? Is it possible for women to have supreme power over men, contrary to the times before the 21th century?

Of the season one storylines listed below, what situations do you feel have the greatest potential to become science fiction reality?:

- The Soviet Union will rule over America
- A U.S. hippie generation will fight Australia
- A British States of America will be developed
- A ‘last days’ asteroid scenario will frighten the world
- A men’s rights movement will occur
- Being smart will be the equivalent of a being a sports superstar
- The lottery will become a form of population control

A brilliant and trusted scientist approaches and gives you the ability to slide to alternate earths. The only problem is finding your way back home after your departure.

Think of the tribulations. Hunger, loss of sleep, injury, near death, uncertainty and countless problems. You become a nomadic explorer having to adapt to infinite worlds and their varying situations.

Think of the rewards. Adventure, new discoveries, new opportunities, peace and many
additional benefits. You become a brave adventurer, learning and gathering amazing breakthroughs and you even have the chance of finding a utopia-like earth.

Do you stay or slide?

It would be fascinating to slide to parallel worlds. But I definitely wouldn’t want to go alone on my journey. Food would be a weakness, because it seems there’s bad food on every world the Sliders visit. 3 and 4 am sliding times wouldn’t be so bad, just the inconsistency of the departures. I wouldn’t have to put up with a repulsive boss at work, since I would have a different one on each world. But I would have to put up with the Kromaggs and many more egotistical people. Then I question there’s got to be a peaceful world out there, more so than my own. At least I would hope so.