2025/03/21
Sliders, a SCI-FI show, debuted on March 22nd , 1995 on the FOX channel. It however was cancelled after the 3rd season. FOX cancelling sci-fi shows!? Unheard of! Anyways, the then still called Sci-fi channel purchased the rights and produced two more seasons before it was cancelled again after 5 seasons. In the midst of a SCI-FI era, Sliders came to our screens, one of many shows as you probably know. Their means of transporting to other dimensions makes you think of Stargate, but where Stargate gated to other planets, Sliders gated to other dimensions on Earth, parallel earths.
Back in 1995 I was enthusiastic about Sliders, it was a great premise and it certainly had a strong cast. No, it was not directly my favorite kind of SCI-FI, but I liked it enough to even purchase it on DVD, at least the first 3 seasons. I have to admit though, that I’ve never watched the final season and I seem to remember also only saw a portion of the 4th season. I did loose interest in the show, especially when John Rhys-Davies left the show. He gave the show a certain credibility, he definitely was my favorite character. I recently did purchase the complete series on “SD on Blu-ray”, a German release with English audio but unfortunately no subtitles. So in the (near) future I will rewatch the first 3 seasons and I will rewatch/first watch the 4th and 5th seasons and I am looking forward to it.
Apparently most of the negatives of Sliders has been lost, so a real HD transfer will unfortunately never happen, so the German SD on Blu-ray release may be the best quality will ever see of Sliders. Another reason is that most likely the fanbase it not big enough for it to become profitable.
It had quite a few cast changes over its five years. The main initial cast included Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), who created the Sliding technology, Professor Maximillian Arturo (John Rhys-Davies), Quinn's mentor; Wade Welles (Sabrina Lloyd), Quinn's friend; and Rembrandt "Cryin' Man" Brown (Cleavant Derricks), a professional singer who is accidentally caught in the first major test of the vortex. Over the course of the show, cast members departed and were replaced by others: Captain Maggie Beckett (Kari Wuhrer), a military officer from one doomed alternate Earth; Colin Mallory (Charlie O'Connell), Quinn's lost brother; a second Quinn Mallory (Robert Floyd) that resulted from the original Quinn inadvertently merging with the Quinn of a world they slid into, and Dr. Diana Davis (Tembi Locke), a scientist who attempts to help them reverse the process. (Wiki)
I think the many cast changes made it difficult for the show to not become a massive cult hit show like Stargate, Farscape or Babylon 5. The stories were also uneven, some great stories but also a number of average at best stories, and the last season is not to be considered one of its best. Still, it deserves to be remembered, it deserves to be rewatched. Sliders has a small but very dedicated fanbase, but for a SCI-FI show that ran five seasons, it’s popularity could have become much bigger indeed.
What didn’t help was that FOX aired episodes from the first and second seasons in the wrong order, which caused some continuity errors. When the show began airing in reruns on the Sci Fi Channel, Sci Fi restored the original filmed order for season one. When the DVDs were released, Universal used the aired order for all seasons.
Final Word:
I didn’t want to ‘skip’ the 30th anniversary of Sliders simply because my knowledge of the show is limited, so I felt that I needed to acknowledge its 30th anniversary and that’s why you are now reading this blog. As I said, it needs to be remembered, a show that ran five seasons has made an impact, has created a fanbase, who loves this show. I hope I can start my rewatch this year, but I have many shows planned so I am not sure when I will start watching it. Anyway, happy 30th anniversary Sliders!
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