"Sliders" was one of tv's greatest ideas...

[techs]

"Sliders" was one of tv's greatest ideas...and worst executions ever.

Below are spoilers. Don't read if you don't want to be spoiled:


I was going thru some old dvd's and found Sliders. It was a great idea. Sliding from one parallel world to another. Some of the shows were about a world where women were dominant as men are in this one, a world where the British monarchy still ruled America, a world where intelligence was admired like athletes or rock stars.

But the writing was awful. The actors were decent with John Rhys-Davies and Sabrina Loyd who both were excellent in other roles. The dialogue was atrocious. The situations were laughable.

From a network point of view the show was cheap to make since most of the worlds were identicle in appearance to our own. Unlike, say, Star Trek where the same types of social issues were found on other worlds that needed elaborate sets made, Sliders could be done quite cheaply.

Even the actors themselves bailed, one by one, obviously in fear of contaminating their careers by staying on the show.

So, networks, here's a suggestion. Remake Sliders with decent actors and realistic portrayals.

 

[TheVrolok]

Agreed. I loved the concept. Really enjoy the first season or two (ignoring some of the awful acting), but the show got bad really fast and the last few seasons were just abysmal.

 

[sandorski]

Ya, it and Quantum Leap were interesting ways to explore very divergent ideas. I never really watched a lot of either one, but the concepts were great.

 

[Rakehellion]

 

[Rakehellion]

 

[Rakehellion]

 

[Rakehellion]

 

[dighn]

ok that's enough out of you!

always thought the show was a bit corny but it was watchable until they changed the cast.

 

[Kaido]

I probably watch it once a year, love that show!

But yeah, and it got worse over time. I think they should have saved the Kromaggs until the final season - hinted at them along the way, but saved them for the final season. The show pretty much jumped the shark at that point. I'm not a GoT watcher, but I hear everyone popular gets killed off - they could have done something like that so that only Remy was left & you really cared about him, but half the time I was hoping he'd get killed so that the show would just end

And yeah, the writing...the story ideas were fun, but with a little extra effort it could have been a TNG-level of good. Some of them are very thought-provoking, like where the Mexicans were the primary Americans and the English-speaking white people were "the help", or where women were the patriarch of families & societies instead of men - stuff like that that made you look at the world differently & consider what would have happened had history changed. Plus, endless story ideas!

 

[disappoint]

 

[nageov3t]

I liked the idea, but I have a very, very low tolerance for episodic tv shows that aren't sitcoms... every episode was basically just the "gimmick of the week."

 

[Printer Bandit]

After 2 minutes and I can already smell the cheese

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jdrNNKYBMXM

 

[Rakehellion]

After 2 minutes and I can already smell the cheese

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jdrNNKYBMXM

The concepts and execution are equally bad. Glad I missed this one.

 

[ultimatebob]

The concepts and execution are equally bad. Glad I missed this one.

Wow. It wasn't THAT bad, I promise

 

[Maximilian]

I remember the one where money was free and despite this everyone was homeless and poor because the biggest winner i.e. the person who withdrew the most money from a free cash machine was killed for shits n giggles.

Fucking weird but cool :thumbsup:

 

[Rakehellion]

Wow. It wasn't THAT bad, I promise

They stop at green lights and go at red! Wow, brilliant writing!

 

[PingSpike]

I'll agree that the writing was bad but that it was a decent concept. There were definitely some likeable episodes in the mix though. I actually thought Quantum Leap was a pretty good show though, so much drag.

 

[waggy]

lol i loved the show at least the first 2 seasons. then it got so bad...

 

[techs]

I'll agree that the writing was bad but that it was a decent concept. There were definitely some likeable episodes in the mix though. I actually thought Quantum Leap was a pretty good show though, so much drag.

The show does have a similiarity to Quantum Leap in that it puts the protagonist into a new situation every week. Sliders, imo, is a more interesting idea since you have mulitiple people traveling and you have the ability to change not only the situation but all aspects of the situation you put the travelers into.

 

[Newell Steamer]

Great series indeed.

I wish it was ongoing, but, with different characters jumping from universe to universe.

Like, an entire skyscraper of people get dumped into the parallel worlds, and we see various types dealing with different parallel worlds. Themes (a particular world) can run for episodes and entire seasons. Even have characters bump into one another from the original world, as they jump from world to world.

Eventually, they get to the point where they all join up and choose to allow their building to be dumped into the universe nexus,.. or keep the universes seperate,.. but, in doing so, they all lose the experiences and adventures they had (some of whom have suffered....). And, a mini war of sorts breaks out between them all. Where 2 to 3 factions want to stop it, keep it going or just cause havok - and, they use weapons and tactics they all picked up from the universe hopping.

The benefit of allowing the dump to happen, is that they hope to get themselves back home and share their discoveries (cures for diseases, new weapons, new tech, new ideas, new theories, new medicines),.. but, again, that means that some people will have to suffer (those who fell into unpleasant parallel worlds).

 

[KB]

I remember that show very fondly, but wow I hadn't remembered how bad the acting and production were. It really could use a remake.

 

[Koing]

Ya, it and Quantum Leap were interesting ways to explore very divergent ideas. I never really watched a lot of either one, but the concepts were great.

Sliders and Quantum Leap I enjoyed when they were on tv.

Koing

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

liked them both when i saw them. not so sure if they would hold up anymore.

 

[Shadowknight]

I liked the show, despite being cheesy at times, but I stopped caring once Arturo died.

 

[techs]

I liked the show, despite being cheesy at times, but I stopped caring once Arturo died.

As bad as the writing was before Arturo died, after John Rhys-Davies left the show it got worse. Rhys-Davies was a constant critic of the writing and he at least got them to make some improvements.