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SLIDERS

 

Time travel had obviously had its day with the bosses at Universal (despite their continuing interest in the development of a transatlantic series of Doctor Who at the time). This adventure series concentrated on a far fresher premise: that of travelling to parallel dimensions of Earth, perhaps to a world where humans are extinct, or where antibiotics are yet to be discovered. The travellers would always arrive in the same geographical and temporal locations (they were neither time or space travellers), but in a world that could be, where things have happened slightly different to our own, or in some cases drastically different. It was an interesting premise that served the series well in its run.

The pilot screenplay was by creator Tracy Tormé. Set in San Francisco, as with Highlander and The X-Files, the production found it cheaper to shoot all the location scenes in Vancouver, British Columbia. Episode titles were not shown on screen. The darker atmosphere and continuity between early episodes was thrown away in later ones when the sliders were joined in some of their slides by people they rescued from danger - only for the next episode to make no reference to them at all, the excuse being that more than one journey had been made between episodes. The first season comprised of just nine episodes (that were screened in the UK, although the production batch was supposed to number thirteen), with American executives worried that the programme might be a flop. When its popularity was assured, a second season of thirteen episodes followed almost immediately, with considerable re-vamping and a break in screening in the US, but with Sky One running the two truncated seasons back-to-back, thus negating the effect of the cliff-hanger ending of the first season. Season Three ran to the full US length, but was much poorer, with A-Team-style action set-ups and weaker scripts. Time was running out for the programme, although it staggered through a low-budget fourth season.

 


REGULAR CAST

Quinn Mallory Jerry O'Connell
Maximilien Arturo
John Rhys-Davies (Up To Late-Season 3)
Wade Wells
Sabrina Lloyd (Seasons 1-3)
Rembrandt Brown
Cleavant Derricks
Maggie Becket
Kari Wuhrer (Mid-Season 3 Onwards)

 


Created by: Tracy Tormé and Robert K Weiss
Exec Producers: Robert K Weiss, John Landis,
 
and Leslie Belzberg (All Eps 1-13 only),
  Tracy Tormé, Jacob Epstein and 
  Alan Barnette
(All Ep 14 onwards)
Co-Executive Producers: Tracy Tormé 
  (Pilot & Eps 1-13), Jacob Epstein (Eps 1-13)
Producers: Les Kimber (Pilot), 
  Steve Ecclesine
(Series)
Co-Producers: Janice Cooke Leonard (Pilot),
  Murray Shostak, Jeff Barmash
and
  George Erschbamer (Eps 1-13), George
  Grieve
(Eps 14 onwards)
Associate Producers: Marianne Canepa (Pilot),
Cathy M Frank (Eps 1-13), Bruce Golin
 
(Ep 14 onwards)
Theme Music: Dennis McCarthy (Pilot),
  Mark Mothersbaugh (Eps 1-13),
  Anthony Marinelli
and Stephen Graziano
 
(Ep 14 onwards)

 


Season One

Pilot

Physics whizkid Quinn Mallory has finally completed his Slider Project; to create a gateway between his world and an Earth in a parallel dimension. But when he tries to prove it to a disbelieving university professor, he overcompensates on the power and shoots himself and the professor, along with would-be girlfriend Wade and passing singer Rembrandt Brown, into an alternate world. There, he finds the equipment for the return journey is damaged. How can the four ever be sure they can get home when many of the worlds contain only minor differences from their own?

Mrs Mallory Linda Henning
Commissar Wapner Joseph A Wapner
Comrade Llewellyn Doug Llewellyn
Doc Garwin Sanford
Wing Yee Jee Tso
Crazy Kenny Frank C Turner
Hurley Gary Jones
Ross J Kelly/Interrogator John Novak
Pat Sook Yin Lee

Fever

The Sliders arrive in a city divided between rich and poor, where the latter are dying of a man-made plague introduced to keep them down. In a world where penicillin has not been discovered, Wade's chances of survival when she becomes infected are slim.

Doctor Morton Ken Pogue
Doctor Eileen Stanley Allison Hossack
Wing Yee Jee Tso
Pavel Kurlienko Alex Bruhanski
Waitress Marie Stillin
Gomez Calhoun William Sasso
Pharmacist James Timmins
The Sick Man Garvin Cross

Last Days

Albert Einstein prevented the discovery of atomic power, leaving a world without nuclear weapons undefended in the path of an oncoming asteroid. As Quinn and Wade confront their feelings for one another, Arturo races to create the A-bomb.

Caroline Fontaine Jennifer Hetrick
Conrad Bennish Jason Gaffney
Dr Lee Antonovich George Touliatos
Mace Moon Gerry Nairn
Nurse Pamela Robin Palmer

Summer Of Love

After escaping from a world plagued by poisonous insects, the travellers find themselves in a world where the hippie culture is still very much alive.

Conrad Bennish Jason Gaffney
Sharon Brown Deborah Lacey
Mace Moon Gerry Naim
Fling Gabrielle Miller
Copeland Michele Goodger
Newscaster Joanna Piros

Prince of Wails

America lost the War of Independence and is still a British colony. The sliders find themselves caught between modern-day outlaws and Arturo's counterpart, the Sheriff of San Francisco, as an assassination plot against the Prince of Wales gets underway.

Rebecca Kathleen Duborg
Hendrick Sherman Howard
Michael Hurley Gary Jones
Dixon Valey Tracey Olson
Prince Harold Ben Bode

Eggheads

Quinn becomes a media superstar on a world where intellectuals are treated like sports heroes. He is forced to deal with his counterpart's massive gambling debts to a mobster, while Arturo attempts to rebuild his relationship with an old flame.

Coach Almquist Charles Cyphers
Jimmy Fountain Peter Spellos
Christina Fox Arturo Gabrielle Rose
Lydia Karen Austin
Professor Myman William B Davis
Librarian Amanda O'Leary

The Weaker Sex

The sliders find themselves in a dimension where traditional male and female roles are reversed, and the sliders get caught up in a dangerous election campaign.

Mayor Anita Ross Sara Botsford
Lois Liza Huget
Danny Eizenbach Robert Curtis-Brown
Serena Braxton Jill Teed
Hilary Clinton Teresa Barnwell

The King Is Back

Rembrandt's parallel is the undisputed king of rock and roll, who, despite having died eight years ago, is still revered by fans worldwide. But as the sliding Rembrandt revels in his new-found fame, an old enemy from his past turns up for revenge.

Alternate Rembrandt Clinton Derricks-Carroll
Captain Jack Brim Chuck McCann
Gomez Calhoun William Sasso
Penny Jensen Michelle T Carter
Maurice Fish Tom Pickett

The Luck Of The Draw

In a San Francisco free from crime, pollution and poverty, Wade becomes the winner in a Lottery where the prize is five million dollars and anything she wants, but the windfall carries a fatal price.

Julianne Murphy Cynthia 'Alex' Datcher
Ryan Nicholas Lea
Ken Neisser Kevin Cooney

 

 

Season Two

Into The Mystic

Quinn needs medical attention urgently, but when the sliders land on a world where the paranormal is apparently very normal, a witch doctor is about the best help he's going to get.

Love Gods

This world's male population has been rendered mostly impotent by a man-made virus released from the Middle East. The consequence of three healthy men turning up in a society of women eager to re-populate goes beyond the initially obvious when power-desperate governments become involved.

Gillian Of The Spirits

The sliders land, but Quinn is trapped in another plane, where only a young girl with psychic abilities can see or hear him.

The Good, The Bad, And The Wealthy

On a world that embraces the code of the old Wild West in its business dealings, a quick shot can climb the corporate ladder fast - so can a lucky shot.

El Sid

In a war-torn San Francisco, Quinn rescues a woman from her thuggish boyfriend, who follows them into the gateway. The world they arrive in seems friendly and high tech, but it is really an open prison where misconduct is punishable by death.

Time Again And World

Events suddenly seem to be mirroring those which have already happened.

Post Traumatic Slide

The sliders arrive in a world they believe is home, even down to Malory's squeaky garden gate. When Quinn finally finds a difference, can it be real, however small and insignificant it might seem?

In Dino Veritas

The last surviving dinosaurs are living in a specially prepared park watched over by wardens and hunted by poachers. It's not the place the average slider would want to be trapped in, with or without a truth collar strapped to his or her neck.

Obsession

Wade is paid some unwelcome attention by a leading seer, when he reveals he knew in advance of her arrival and now plans to marry her.

The Oracle Isaac Hayes

Greatfellas

Prohibition was never repealed and the Mob made a huge profit from it, taking over the West Coast. Now they plan to secede from the Union, and only Rembrandt, posing as his double, the head of the FBI, can stop them.

As Time Goes By

Quinn meets Dalen, his lost love from High School, and travels through three parallel Earths trying to change her life for the better - but he is fated not to win her heart.

The Young And The Relentless

On a world where the retirement age is thirty, youth is everything, which leaves Arturo and Rembrandt in trouble, and Quinn and Wade deep in a business power struggle initiated by their doubles.

Invasion

Pre-Neanderthal hominids failed to die out on one parallel Earth, and have prospered and discovered sliding. They are using it to conquer other worlds, and soon have their sights set on Quinn Malory's Earth.

Mary Una Damon

 

 

Season Three

Rules Of The Game

The Sliders land on an Earth where the only thrill is a simulated war game where the weapons are real and the prize is true freedom.

Nicky Laurie Fortier
Egghead Joshua Malina

Double Cross

Mallory Quinn was born a girl, Logan, on an Earth running dry of natural resources and failing to control safe sliding experimentation.

Logan Zoe McLellan
Obsessed Fan Mari Morrow
Mrs Arturo Diana Castle

Electric Twister Acid Test

Electromagnetic experimentation has gone badly wrong, producing a world destroyed by twisters and a community commanded by a madman.

Caleb Corey Feldman
Jenny Mitchner Julie Benz
Jacob Tim Griffin
Franklyn Mitchner Bill Bollender
With: Joshua Cox

The Guardian

Arturo is dying and decides to stay on the latest Earth, until Quinn finds a world where time travels more slowly and his father has just died.

The Dream Masters

West Coast college drop outs have perfected a way of using hallucinogens to enter people's dreams, where they rule in terror.

Gerald Zack Ward
Dr Luhan Katherine Lanasa
Dream Master Rodney Eastman
Cardoza Michael des Barres

Desert Storm

On a world where the water has dried up, the ability to divine natural springs means the power of life or death. (This episode was dedicated to Ken Steadman, who died during the production.)

Devon Gina Phillips
Jeremy Kris Lindquist
Cutter Ken Steadman

Dragon Slide

Druids rule this world, and one of the nastier is planning on becoming immortal.

Melinda Michele Rene Thomas
Gareth Gregory Martin
Scalper Max Grodénchik
Alicia Francis Guinan

The Fire Within

After briefly visiting a world where fire has a mind of its own, the sliders land on an Earth dedicated to the mass extraction of oil, whatever the cost to the workers.

J C Ashton Anthony Tyler Quinn
Diane Brigitta Dau
Amanda Lynn Clark
Voice of the Flame Veronica Cartwright

The Prince Of Slides

Rembrandt meets his American Royalist double, The Duke of Hemmingshire, and carries the Duchess' baby to full term. But someone is plotting to usurp the title.

Danielle, Duchess of Hemmingshire Hallie Foote
Lady Mary Victoria Mahony
The Duke of Hemmingshire Clinto Derricks-Carrol

Dead Man Sliding

Quinn is arrested after he picks up an abandoned wallet, and charged with murder. His ‘trial’ isn’t in court, however, but on a deadly game show where the audience decides his guilt.

Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs Himself
Taryn Miller Perrey Reeves
Phil Fredric Lane
Deanne Bloch Lisa Rieffel
Skip Collins Don Most

State Of The ART

On an Earth where the sky is purple and the streets are deserted, an advanced android society rules the world, but they are undergoing an internal revolution which threatens to split their society and destroy their human creator’s dreams.

D.E.R.I.C. Eddie Mills
E.R.I.C.A. and A.N.G.I.E. Kathleen McClellan
P.A.U.L. Jerry Rector and Jeff Rector
James Aldohn Robert Englund

Seasons Greedings

Arriving at Christmas, the Sliders find a high price is charged for a meal at the vast SkyHigh Plaza shopping mall, so that they are forced to get jobs that pay slave wages, in effect trapping them.

Kelly Wells Chase Masterson
Ted Bersen Neil Roberts
Don Wells Allen Williams
Instructor Stuart Fratkin
Carol Jacqueline Obradors

Murder Most Foul

Arturo is kidnapped and brainwashed into thinking he's a great 19th-century detective investigating real murders in a world where assuming different identities is the norm.

Inspector Reed Brian McNamara
Erin Brigid Brannagh
Doctor Bolivar David Purdham
Trevor Adam Wylie
Elston Biggs Lester Barrie
Doctor Punch Suzanne Mara

Slide Like An Egyptian

The Sliders land in a world resembling ancient Egypt, where Quinn is used for a life-after-death experiment and the others are entombed inside a pyramid guarded by a giant scarab.

Doctor Deera Mubaric Apollonia
Doctor Achtbit Rocco Vienhage
Kheri-Heb Shaun Toub
Sheilah Claudette Mink
Architect Armando Valdes-Kennedy

Paradise Lost

Despite the best efforts of the local town occupants to keep their secret, Mallory comes across a beast in the pit which harbours the secret of 'curing' old age.

Laurie Miller Lara Steinick
Sheriff Burk Rob Youngblood
Parker Will Schaub

The Exodus (Part 1)

On a military-controlled world facing destruction by wandering neutron star, sliding could be the key to survival.

Captain Maggie Becket (intro) Kari Wuhrer
Dr Jensen Mark Keily
Malcolm Becket Wes Charles
Colonel Rickman Roger Daltrey

The Exodus (Part 2)

Arturo pays the ultimate price in his attempts to stop the evil Rickman, and the surviving sliders gain a new, and antagonistic, companion in the form of revenge-seeking Maggie Becket.

(Cast as before)

Sole Survivors

The team get stuck in a town riddled with real-life zombies who have plagued the world.

Deborah Stephanie Nizkik
Dr Tessler Jay Acove

The Breeder

Maggie falls victim to super-intelligent insects who manage to take over her body.

(No cast details available)

The Last Of Eden

In a flashback episode, Wade discovers a huge underground city populated by weird creatures and beset by earthquakes.

Brock Ron Melendez
Keegan Don Jeffcoat
Clay Christian Hill
Professor Arturo John Rhys-Davies

The Other Slide Of Darkness

The group run into Colonel Rickman (The Exodus) again, who may be responsible for infecting a world with toxic fog. Quinn meets his parallel version from the pilot episode, now twisted and alone, waiting to die.

Colonel Angus Rickman Neil Dickson
Adra Oona Hart
Bunt La Croix Kevin Quigley
Lucy La Croix Amy Wheaton

Slither

Deciding to take a hard-earned break to ease their worn nerves, the team encounter a lethal breed of snakes.

Kyra Julie St Claire
Carlos Randy Vasquez
Don Marc Tissot

DinoSlide

The group return to the world into which the victims of The Exodus fled, which is now being terrorised by killer dinosaurs where Colonel Rickman continues his path of destruction.

Colonel Angus Rickman Neil Dickson
Malcolm Wes Charles
Gretchen Rainer Grant

Stoker

Wade joins a rock group consisting of vampires in a world where vampirism is surprisingly illegal.

Colonel Angus Rickman Neil Dickson
Van Elsinger Tommy Chong
Harker Duff McKagen

This Side Of Paradise

The quartet end up in a world where animal and human DNA has been merged creating a grotesque society of carnivorous man-beasts, in a season finale straight out of a Wellsian novel. Wade and Rembrandt are shoved into Rickman's vortex on a trip which should send them home - Maggie and Quinn have to use a damaged vortex and end up...where?

Nessandra Melinda Clarke
Rickman Neil Dickson
Dr Vargas Michael York

 

 

Season Four

Genesis
Prophets & Loss
Common Ground
Virtual Slide
World Killer
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Just Say Yes
The Alternateville Horror

Slidecage

Asylum
California Reich
The Dying Fields
Lipschitz Live
Mother And Child
Net Worth
Slide By Wire
Data World
Way Out West
My Brother's Keeper
The Chasm
Roads Taken
Revelations

  

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