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I've been getting a terrifying number of messages lately from young fanfic writers asking for feedback on their SLIDERS stories. I'm surprised that someone born after 1990 would be writing SLIDERS fan fiction. I tell them flat out: I don't know how to write a SLIDERS story and I send them to this thread.

I can write *the* sliders and I went to journalism school, so I can help with descriptions and dialogue. I read all the drafts and give notes and try to make sure I offer what others offered me. But when it comes to how to create a parallel Earth with a compelling alternate history and a relevant social and political scenario and a plot that explores this situation to create invites social commentary and satire and comedy -- I tell people I have absolutely no idea how to do that.

I send them to this thread and advise that they read the work and plot ideas here and learn from the Master. :-)

"New Gods for Old": the ending in HD. Amazing performances from everyone. A wonderful episode of SLIDERS.
https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

It's so strange that Season 5 is so poor. "It just got so bad in the end," Tracy Torme said. That confounds me because when you take a step back, Season 5 has amazing writers: Bill Dial and David Peckinpah have years of skill and experience. Robert Masello is a genius. Keith Damron did solid work in Season 4. Chris Black is a titan of TV screenwriting. Michael Reaves is a master of the TV and animation mediums. And in this episode, we have David Gerrold!

In the Rewatch Podcast before even getting to "New Gods for Old," Tom was commenting on a novel called THE MAN WHO FOLDED HIMSELF and how its parallel timeline story reminded him of SLIDERS and how he wished someone like the author of that book could work on SLIDERS. As he said that, I was working on the trivia for this episode for him in advance, and I put in my notes: "David Gerrold is the author of the incredible novel, THE MAN WHO -- oh, wait, you know this one! Never mind."

SLIDERS is a truly incredible show except it is so uniformly average to poor. But not this week. This week, we have ruminations on collectivism, individuality and free will. This week, we have trauma and grief and hope. It's more sci-fi technology than Tracy Torme would approve, but maybe he'd have made an exception for THE David Gerrold.

A reviewer called this episode "better than average," but I think it's splendid. I like this one a lot.

One of my favourite reviews Annie Fish did of SLIDERS was "Stoker" where they remarked, "We're still in 'not SLIDERS' territory."

I'm not sure what's going on in THE FLASH this week. I don't remember what happened last year. And last year's arcs weren't completed due to the pandemic shutdown, so they're finishing out their arcs from last year, whatever they were. I think I can safely report that I have a lot going on in real life right now because my brain no longer has space to remember the previous season of THE FLASH.

Anyway, I'd say we're still not back in FLASH territory. Barry has his superspeed back -- but the artificial speed force has altered his brain configuration and turned him into an emotionless weirdo to the point where I think he needs to go into a support group with the Season 4 version of Quinn. (There's an explanation for Season 4 Quinn that has never come to mind.)

Barry's brain is sped up, and as a result, he thinks at superspeed, but he no longer feels; he becomes dispassionate, manipulative and indifferent. In addition, he can now think faster than engineer Cisco and biochemist Caitlin, dismissing and working past them. I watch THE FLASH to watch a pleasant-natured geekboy (like Season 1 Quinn) work with his team to save people; this week turned Barry into a creepy robot who works alone.

To be fair -- that's the point. This is supposed to be an atypical episode. An episode where Barry is acting in direct opposition to the 19 - 20 episodes previous where he was acting normally. But this is not an episode coming at the end of the year. It's coming at the start.

I like who they're bringing in as the new Wells for Tom Cavanagh to play. That's cool.

THE FLASH is a professional product from a professional team working in a really awkward situation. The show and I are really out of sync as show and viewer and I'm not sure if we can get back. It's been two weeks and we are still dealing with last year's leftovers and I have no idea how much longer this is going to go on. I feel like I've lived ten years since the pandemic started and THE FLASH right now is a sequel to a movie I only vaguely remember from the last decade.

I really love pilight's idea.

I adore the idea of the audience identification point being some students trying to get into sliding, having no idea what they're doing -- and encountering Quinn Mallory.

In fact, perhaps in this situation, the students would be put in mortal peril and they are rescued by a 47-year-old Quinn Mallory played by a 47 year old Jerry O'Connell -- with some memory problems.

I really like Quinn's memory being QUANTUM LEAP swiss-cheesed too. It isolates the convoluted continuity that only a crazy person would care about (hi), but it allows it to come into play if Torme hires Chris Black or Marc Scott Zicree or anyone who might be familiar with those episodes.

The only 'concern' -- I wonder if it might be important for a 2021 audience to see Quinn Mallory as played by Jerry O'Connell discovering sliding for the first time and starting that journey with him (again). But I see how that sense of wonder could be assigned to the new kids. And I recognize that if Cleavant and John and Sabrina would only want to guest-star at most, this could be the way to go.

I wonder what Temporal Flux's DECLASSIFIED would be like if he'd had Jerry O'Connell signed to play Quinn for that fan film.

It sure is nice to read pilight's post and from that imagine Quinn in his late forties and coming back to save us and lead us back into the interdimension.

If DECLASSIFIED became SLIDERS 2021, I'd be a very happy fan. I'd love to meet Chase, Gibbs, Reese and be reunited with Bennish. It would be a joy to hear Reese describe sliding as the pages of a book.

**

It's true that the mid-90s is a long time in the past. Would SLIDERS in 2021 with Torme at the helm be dated and out of touch? I personally think he was ahead of the curve in the 90s and the world has either caught up or is slightly behind.

Just for contrast: THE X-FILES revival had the original cast and creator. But despite returning to air in an age of serialization, Carter insisted on 1994 style standalones and refused to rewrite his staff's scripts to have consistent continuity. Mulder and Scully would go from living together as a couple in one episode to amicably separated the next, urgently searching for their son in one week to not mentioning him next week -- the show couldn't even figure out which cars they drove; in one episode, Mulder was taking rideshares while Scully drove the SUV that Mulder had owned a week before. It was alienating for a serialization-familiar audience.

That said -- THE X-FILES is Chris Carter's creation and these were his choices. I find the results baffling, he even recently did a podcast apologizing for the cliffhanger of Season 11 -- but ultimately, he created THE X-FILES and it was his show to make.

I doubt Tracy Torme has the same power as Chris Carter. But if Torme got the same chance as Carter, I'd feel optimistic about a hypothetical SLIDERS revival being up to speed with the times. Torme as a TV writer seemed a decade ahead of the 90s to me. He wanted to present characters who were misfits before or past their prime instead of aspirational magazine models. He wanted running plotlines and recurring guest-stars and returning villains. He wanted gradually evolving characters and regular conversations about how their previous adventures had changed them. He wanted to replace the Professor with an impostor. He wanted to do LOST-style TV before LOST existed.

Even if Torme is still stuck in 1994 as a teleplay writer, he'd just be normal today.

On casting: I'd be disappointed if what ultimately ends any chance of a Tracy Torme led revival/reboot is Torme refusing to recast the original sliders. But -- I fully respect Torme's (supposed) view that the only SLIDERS that he wants to do is SLIDERS with *the* sliders -- and that doing a show about alternate histories with other interdimensional travellers is a job for somebody else.

I'd personally be okay with Ally, Reese, Gibbs and Bennish becoming The Sliders; they have won me over. They wouldn't replace the originals in my heart, but they stand next to them. I'd be okay with a recast quartet of the originals.

I'm getting the (reported) sense that Torme would not be okay with it. I don't agree with that -- but I would accept it and thank him for the effort in trying to bring back the only version of SLIDERS that he wholeheartedly wants to do.

I'd be excited to see new SLIDERS from him. I don't know if the odds are good. I'm sure Jerry and Cleavant are game. But John Rhys-Davies is 76. Sabrina lives in Kenya.

It seems impractical, but even contemplating the possibility stirs something in me. A longing. A curiosity. Jerry O'Connell is 47 years old. Who is Quinn Mallory at age 47? My personal vision of Quinn is influenced by superhero comic books and acts as an attempt to turn into the swerve of Seasons 3 - 5. It's just fanfic. Torme's Quinn would be the *real* Quinn Mallory and the real Quinn never fought dragons and super-intelligent snakes and breeder parasites and intelligent flames. Who is the real Quinn today? Who did he become? What is he doing now?

It may be crazy for Torme to try to find out. But in 2021, it's a gift to be encouraged to think about it.

I'd be thrilled to see new Torme episodes in 2021. I'm happy to hear that Torme is pursuing his vision. And if it leads a confusing 16 episodes that ends on a cliffhanger like THE X-FILES or if it leads to absolutely nothing due to an insistence on casting -- I'd be disappointed. But I respect that SLIDERS is Tracy Torme's show for Torme to pursue in his way or not at all.

It's nice of you to say that, but I am sure that if I hadn't converted the "Slide Effects" story into a script, you would have still gotten the story out of the Torme interview in which he gave the plot.

I couldn't understand the specific words you and Agata were saying in your separate interviews, but love is a language unto itself and a love for SLIDERS even moreso.

Thank you.

I totally agree with you about Charlie entirely and fully -- but I'm just in a really good mood with SLIDERS right now. It's nice to see everyone again. Colin. Maggie with the Betty Page hair. Cleavant fully shaven. Just now, I caught myself looking forward to watching "Roads Taken" in HD tomorrow and I've never been able to stay awake for the whole thing.

I am, of course, also very excited to get back to Seasons 1 - 2 after getting through the last upscales of Seasons 4 - 5.

"Lipschitz Live": the ending in HD. Also at Tom's request! He said, quite reasonably, that it was the first appearance of a Colin double and therefore a significant and critical moment in SLIDERS history.
https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

In another odd turn, I watched another Charlie O'Connell centric episode of SLIDERS and I'm not sure what's happened, but I really enjoyed Charlie's performance and found Colin highly endearing and full of charm. The performance is technically unpolished and clumsy; Charlie's overly over the top overt efforts to distinguish Colin from Colin-2 are workmanlike. But... there's just something to his screen presence that's so pleasant, so affable, so approachable.

I did watch an episode of FEMME FATALES once where Charlie was playing a sleazy college girl pornographer and he was unpleasant and alienating -- although his performance was solid.

It reminds me of Brent Spiner saying he gets lots of fan mail from people who write to him but seem to be writing to Data and that he understands that because Data is such an accessible personality.

For a long time, I felt that it might be best if SLIDERS didn't return or would be best as an echo in a separate series about parallel universes. My reason for that: I didn't believe Jerry, Sabrina, Cleavant and John could or would return; I expected a studio would want a new cast -- and if the characters were recast, they would effectively be new characters with the same names. Is it really SLIDERS if it's not the original quartet? And if it's new characters who aren't *the* sliders, how is it really SLIDERS?

However, TF presented a few things that made me change my mind and realize I would accept a recasting and new characters (even though that isn't what Torme seems to be pursuing).

I would go even farther than that. I would say that the parts of SLIDERS that make it special and worth pursuing aren't just the brand, but legally specific to the brand and cannot be reproduced by a different show about parallel universes.

The concept of being lost in the multiverse trying to find home is so relatable, creating a poignant sense of longing balanced against the joy of exploring a new parallel Earth every week. The plot device of the timer is so perfect as a dramatic ticking clock that's also a prototype assembled in a college kid's basement.

The juxtaposition of two adventurous twentysomethings and two older people in their forties and fifties adds contrast and perspective. The deliberate choice of characters who are civilians heightens the sense of danger and threat. All of this could survive the recasting or new hiring that might be needed to move SLIDERS into 2021 and beyond.

And then, of course, there is the satirical, comedic tone of the show as it pokes fun and societal, political and economical conventions. TF's SLIDERS DECLASSIFIED demonstrated on this is not tethered to Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo; it's in the plotting, dialogue and descriptions and even without the original sliders, TF was able to reproduce the original style.

I am not entirely sure if the brand is tied to the style.

SLIDERS is a truly unique show. It is a very special concept and a very unique brand property. It spoke wonderfully to an audience in 1995 and it could do so again. I really hope that it will be revived.

Transmodiar and I had an exchange over in "The Return of Sliders" which ended with him saying, "Bye for now!" I think it would be best if he didn't come back. This is not a ban; I'm not saying that as an administrator. I'm saying that as his friend.

I love Transmodiar. When he became friends with me, it was like when Quinn discovered he had a brother. That hasn't changed, but my brother has crossed a line.

A SLIDERS fan posted on a SLIDERS message board that the SLIDERS creator was pursuing a SLIDERS reboot with the original cast of SLIDERS. As the fans in that thread were touched by the news and hopeful of a revival, Transmodiar declared in that thread that he didn't want SLIDERS to come back and that there could be better shows to fill SLIDERS' place, perhaps his show -- a remark I found ungracious, ungrateful, inappropriate and inconsiderate.

I mock SLIDERS all the time, but to say that it should stay dead when the creator is trying to revive it? That is unprovoked cruelty. Anyone who can't at least respect the fact that people love and miss Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo should not be here.

The reason Transmodiar behaved this way: he has been trying to sell a legally dis-similar series about parallel universes. It'd be hard to sell if SLIDERS itself came back. Transmodiar feels threatened by SLIDERS potential return.

If Transmodiar's reaction to a potential SLIDERS revival is to declare it shouldn't happen and that he doesn't care about SLIDERS himself and that it's not worth his time to update his SLIDERS website anymore -- he could say that to me privately. Or put it in the Writer's Room thread. I see his argument that there should be more to life than servicing tired, old, corporate copyrights. I sympathize with his creative situation.

I don't sympathize with putting those feelings into a SLIDERS thread about a SLIDERS revival.

I was furious with Transmodiar's behaviour, but because we are friends -- and because my niece has told me that my fits of incendiary invective frighten her -- I transmuted my rage into a lengthy standup comedy routine where I 'joked' that I too was upset that STAR WARS was preventing me from selling a legally dis-similar INTERSTELLAR SCUFFLES, that DIE HARD meant I couldn't do LIVE PLIABLY, that ROBOCOP would stop me from selling SYBER SERGEANT, that my pitches for JUNKY STEWSTER, CONDEMNED BY THE KLANG, PSI ARCHIVES, ALABAMA SMITH and PACER: WISCONSIN TROOPER would be curtailed by PUNKY BREWSTER, SAVED BY THE BELL, THE X-FILES, INDIANA JONES and WALKER, TEXAS RANGER and snarked that surely fans of those franchises should simply recognize the brilliance of my knockoff.

I was very angry. I'm still fuming a little.

It is morally and ethically wrong to declare on a SLIDERS message board in a SLIDERS revival news thread that SLIDERS should stay dead when SLIDERS' fans are hoping it will live again. It declares that despite Transmodiar's signature declaring his site to be "Earth Prime | The Definitive Source for Sliders™," he doesn't really care about the show and doesn't even like it; it was just something to mine for connections to Hollywood writers and producers and for his own film and TV career.

Maybe he didn't mean it that way. I sometimes say things with implications I didn't intend. Or maybe he absolutely meant it. It's not a crime to not be a fan of SLIDERS -- even on a SLIDERS message board. But it was a hurtful and insulting declaration when posted it in a space designed for SLIDERS fans to share their hopes for a revival.

I am shocked that he would do that. He was always so very kind to me with SLIDERS REBORN. Since then, I have followed Transmodiar's example fully with other people's projects, treating Temporal Flux's SLIDERS DECLASSIFIED and Cez's LEGO SLIDERS -- and a couple other fanfic writers -- with the same interest and care he showed me.

I see now that Transmodiar pitied me. I am a deeply damaged person, and he saw that helping me with my SLIDERS writing would help me heal. My mental health shortcomings brought out a kindly gentleness in him that he has declined to share with this board.

I'm going to give Transmodiar's project the same consideration he gave mine: he is a very good writer. Transmodiar's writing is to SLIDERS what INDIANA JONES is to JAMES BOND. Indy originated as a legally dis-similar version of Bond that Spielberg and Lucas made their own. Transmodiar claimed that his parallel universe series concept is "superior" to SLIDERS. I have read his scripts and series bible and I can assure you that it is spectacular -- but neither superior nor inferior. SLIDERS and his project use similar tools, but they're not doing the same things.

SLIDERS fans talking about a SLIDERS revival in a SLIDERS revival thread on a SLIDERS message board should not have to bear the brunt of Transmodiar's difficulties in selling a legally dis-similar SLIDERS replacement just as SUPER MARIO fans shouldn't have to listen to me groan about my failure to get FUNGI PLUMBERS off the ground.

Transmodiar and SLIDERS fandom have done a lot for each other and had a great run. I think it'd be best if he didn't come back and left proud and with his head held high. I'm not forbidding him from returning, but he obviously doesn't want to be here any more. He's working on a really terrific project that we would all enjoy and if it gets off the ground, I'll certainly promote it here on his behalf (in the appropriate threads).

And I will gather myself and then I'll once again be happy to support him in all his creative endeavours just as he supported my SLIDERS creative endeavours -- but over Google Hangouts.

In other news, I recently complained in a WALKER, TEXAS RANGER forum that the show should not have been rebooted because it curtailed my efforts to sell a legally distinct derivative analogue I had titled PACER: WISCONSIN TROOPER by taking all my WALKER, TEXAS RANGER fanfics and changing all the names and altering the underlying mythology. I then explained that PACER: WISCONSIN TROOPER was in every way superior to a WALKER, TEXAS RANGER reboot. And I humbly proposed that the forum retitle itself PACER: WISCONSIN TROOPER in recognition of my hypothetical project's obvious supremacy.

I now have a legion of Jared Padalecki fans calling for my head and could be a in a lot of trouble, so I'm not able to give your concerns my undivided focus as I'm trying to upscale SLIDERS while temporarily relocating to a bunker in an undisclosed location.

I will also take some time to protest that new NINJA TURTLES cartoon. RISE OF THE NINJA TURTLES has made my own legally dis-similar project, AIKIDO AARDVARKS unsellable. I shall convey my frustration to NINJA TURTLES fans in a NINJA TURTLES forum and see how that goes.

We are done with the HD upscales of the Season of Hell (S3). We are now into the Season of Despair (S4).

As per Tom's request, here are Colin's key scenes from "O Brother Where Art Thou," which has one of the most obnoxious characterizations of Quinn ever: Quinn brings his innocent, naive brother sliding and promptly forgets about him in a hotel bar to flirt with an extra. It's yet another in a long lineup of moments that showed how the Season 4 writers had never held any firm grip on Quinn's character once Marc Scott Zicree left the show.
https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

It's strange, though -- "O Brother" does present the traditional Quinn-intelligence quite well with the villains outwitted by some improvisational thinking -- except that it's Colin who demonstrates this cleverness, not Quinn Mallory. It shows the writers were perfectly capable of writing Quinn correctly, but for whatever reason did not do so.

In addition, Charlie O'Connell isn't as talentless some would claim: he has a gentle openness and warmth and sweet charisma that Jerry used to bring to the show but stopped around the time he moved into the LA nightclub scene. Charlie is quite good in showing Colin's muted astonishment and interest in a new world and it's bad when Jerry's inexperienced, unequipped nepotism hire brings more of Quinn to the show than the actor who actually plays Quinn. I can see why Colin was popular (especially in audience test screenings pre-Season 5) despite the fan irritation with Charlie. I really must reconsider my frustration with his presence in the SLIDERS mythology.

In other upscaling notes -- I'm watching some of the later upscales in progress. I can report some points of interest with regards to archive footage and doubles:

"Young and the Relentless" had Cleavant and Clinton Derricks-Carroll playing Rembrandt and Rembrandt-2 with Cleavant always taking the role whenever either Rembrandt was the focus of each shot, and with Clinton carefully angled so that any visual discrepancies between the two non-identical twins would seem due to the point of view.

As a child, I remember studying my VHS recording of "Young and the Relentless," staring at the cathode ray tube TV, trying to figure out how two Rembrandts were onscreen together and finding the differences between them small and subtle. However, in high definition on an LCD screen, it's pretty clear that Cleavant is sharing the screen with his non-identical brother no matter what the angle.

"Requiem": Cory of REWATCH PODCAST said that it was obvious from his slightly upscaled playback of "Requiem" that the body double in the teaser is not Sabrina Lloyd. I'm looking at the HD version frame and it looks like Sabrina Lloyd to me (even though it is, of course, body double Maria Stanton). It looks like a wig on a short haired woman, though.

"Eye of the Storm" featured Jerry O'Connell's ghostly image appearing over Robert Floyd's face. It was very hard to see it in standard definition. However, in the upscale, you can see Jerry's face very clearly (and his head is a bit too big to fit on Robert Floyd's neck).

I was also really impressed by how the sitcom scenes didn't just apply a filter and crop the image; they actually used period-equipment to film the black and white sequences for their pastiches of THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW and BEWITCHED.

I also liked how Slider_Quinn21 was at least somewhat correct that we were overfocused on Evan Peters' casting (or at least I was).

On another note...

Cez and I recently had a chat and he has elected to not go forward with the DVD box set contest? Why? He barely got any responses to the T-shirt contest.

I'm sorry to see that. It is likely that the people who enjoyed the Lego and shared the posts did not necessarily read the stories; they just liked the way the Lego illustrated the stories even if they didn't have any context for the scenes -- but it's thanks to Cez that there was something to illustrate and it's his creative direction that sets the parameters for the visuals.

But regardless, LEGO SLIDERS is a success. It's a success because the actors who were in the show enjoyed and supported this fan project, it made a wonderful social media splash, it created some delightful imagery in the format of Lego, and Cez and Agata have accomplished something wonderful -- something I myself could not do. My material had a much smaller audience than LEGO SLIDERS; to date, I only know of 25 people who actually read SLIDERS REBORN.

It doesn't really matter, though. What really matters with this sort of project is producing and completing it. We don't write SLIDERS stories for fame or notoriety or popularity. We write them because Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo are our friends and we want them to get home and Cez gave the sliders a good closing adventure and a happy ending. However many people read the content, however many participated in a contest around that content -- it doesn't matter. What matters is that the content was created that it exists and that it is available.

My only regret is to not give a DVD set to this contest. I made the offer because in many ways, LEGO SLIDERS and SLIDERS REBORN are competitors. And in many ways, LEGO SLIDERS' has dwarfed SLIDERS REBORN. But in recent years, I have made a decision to never be threatened by other people's achievements, but to instead champion and celebrate them, to be inspired by them, and to let their successes show me how to overcome my own shortcomings.

I made this decision when observing that Temporal Flux's SLIDERS DECLASSIFIED was a better SLIDERS story than any I could ever write myself -- and helped him convert it from the comic book plot format into the screenplay format. I made that decision again when I observed that LEGO SLIDERS was getting acclaim from Jerry O'Connell and John Rhys-Davies and offered Cez an additional contest prize.

And out of appreciation for LEGO SLIDERS' success, I am going to give Cez and Agata each a special SLIDERS gift that I won't describe here, but I think they'll be happy with it and I hope they will see that it is to acknowledge their extraordinary contributions to SLIDERS.

Congratulations. You should both be very proud.

I really like this! The original ending strikes me as the one to use. It used the previous story, "Ticking Clock," to have the sliders already having made it home only to leave again. As a result, the series finale could do a short and sweet homecoming where the sliders make it back and are there to stay this time. The presence of the alternative sliders, in my view, clutter the clean, simple clarity of the original, so I'm glad the original was the one that was used.

Having the sliders get home was always a narrative hurdle. The original series faced it with "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome," daring to ask what would happen after the sliders got home while acknowledging that so long as the series continued, this could never be allowed as that would end the show. "Genesis" attempted to move the goalposts with an alien invasion. SLIDERS REBORN devotes six screenplays to what happens after getting home and creates a San Francisco that's an interdimensional hub so that the sliders remain sliders even after getting home. But Cez identified a solution that is deft, clever, effective and simple -- and Quinn Mallory would be proud of that kind of problem solving.

I personally have enjoyed all of STAR TREK and STAR WARS in recent years.

Well, I'm a fan of SLIDERS and what I want most is to see Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo as played by Jerry, Sabrina, Cleavant and John. They are the reason I came back to SLIDERS fandom; they are why I wrote six screenplays trying to create an approximation of their performances on paper.

If someone wants to bring SLIDERS back, these are the faces I want to see. I completely agree that it sounds impractical and unlikely, but I'll assume positive intent and that Torme has a plan of some sort.

I fully concede that Torme's previous plans saw him driven off his own show.

I'm speaking about the SLIDERS brand concept. Four friends lost in the multiverse. It is effective, clear, straightforward, immediate, simple and beautiful. You are never going to beat the crystalline perfection of that brand concept with some legally dis-similar SLIDERS knockoff and in my view, you wisely didn't try and created something of your own. Transmodiar's _____________ is never going to be a better version of SLIDERS. And SLIDERS is never going to be a better version of Transmodiar's _____________.

Anyone disinterested in SLIDERS' potential revival is absolutely free to not engage with it and do some original work that meets their current interests.

I'll just reiterate my personal fondness for Temporal Flux's and Transmodiar's SLIDERS REDUX which I will continue to update every year.

I think Transmodiar's disinterest in SLIDERS says more about Transmodiar than it does about SLIDERS. I have made the same mistake myself, conflating my personal feelings about SLIDERS with SLIDERS' worth, value and future.

In pretty much every thread on a reboot or revival, Transmodiar has alluded to how he was/is/will be working on some SLIDERS-esque series; he doesn't want a new version of SLIDERS to compete with his own properties. As Transmodiar's friend and the beneficiary of his generosity and kindness, I sympathize with that and support his endeavour -- but Transmodiar's SLIDERS-adjacent projects really have no bearing what a revived SLIDERS would look like; any SLIDERS fan who wants a revival wants all the aspects of SLIDERS that are under copyright: Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, the timer, random sliding, four civilians thrown together by circumstance to explore a new parallel world every week. That's the brand.

Temporal Flux said that a legally dis-similar SLIDERS-inspired show could possibly be good, but it would never replace SLIDERS for him. I feel the same way too. And for those who don't -- well, as JWSlider3 said, "If you're not interested, don't watch." (Not that there's anything to watch yet.)

Moving on from that -- I agree with Transmodiar when he says that insisting on the return of the original cast is probably a non-starter for any studio. While I am heartened by Tracy Torme's devotion and loyalty to Jerry, Sabrina, Cleavant and John, I don't think it is realistic. SLIDERS is not SAVED BY THE BELL or PUNKY BREWSTER or THE X-FILES, following up on a long and successful legacy. SLIDERS in 2021 can't court only fans; it has to appeal to a general audience and that means starting over. Studios generally don't want to revive a property unless it produces a large amount of content for revenue; how much content could we likely from Jerry, Sabrina, Cleavant and John if Sabrina is retired and John is not keen to do a long run?

I just don't think that Torme's insistence on the original cast is plausible or economically achievable. But I am really touched and moved to hear that it's what Torme cares about most... because when it comes to SLIDERS, that is what I care about most too. Quinn Mallory as played by Jerry O'Connell, Wade Welles as played by Sabrina Lloyd, Rembrandt Brown as played by Cleavant Derricks, and John Rhys-Davies as "Arturo." The second thing I care about most is Temporal Flux's brilliant ideas.

**

For a long time, I felt a bit... threatened... by the idea of SLIDERS returning. Because I have a place in SLIDERS history. I wrote the last SLIDERS story. I wrote SLIDERS REBORN which is really SLIDERS: THE END, the final adventure for Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo. So I understand that feeling of not wanting a reboot or a revival -- but I've come to decide that, at least in my case, that is selfish and I have let that go. Regardless of what comes next for SLIDERS, I will always be the writer of SLIDERS' twentieth anniversary special which was the ending that was needed for 2015 - 2016.

And Transmodiar -- his work is good. We would all like it. It is not SLIDERS. I feel -- and Transmodiar doesn't -- that his work would be better if SLIDERS were revived; his property would become *his* property instead of being a SLIDERS-analogue. He will always be the person who created... whatever it is that he's creating that I won't discuss beyond his self-posted vagaries -- whether or not his work exists in the same world as a SLIDERS revival.

And Temporal Flux will always be *the* SLIDERS expert and authority on the series even if he made me take that off the DECLASSIFIED title page. And JWSlider3 will always be a very nice person for sharing all this with us. Thank you for that. It was very kind of you.

This is interesting, but I'd point out, we've been here many times. Robert K. Weiss, when talking about a SLIDERS feature film in 2000, wasn't making it up; he just couldn't find studio support. This time, it's the other co-creator engaged in talks. But revivals are happening a lot and if even Punky Brewster can return, so can SLIDERS. That said -- what would actually come back?

A number of people have said they don't want a SLIDERS revival and would prefer a new property about parallel universes. But others have made a point that branding matters; SLIDERS is a brand and a legally dis-similar show about parallel universes would never capture SLIDERS' appeal because the things that made SLIDERS special are protected by copyright.

Could a revival, even with Torme and Epstein, be the show we fell in love with in 1995? The cast is a question. To me, SLIDERS is Jerry O'Connell, Sabrina Lloyd, Cleavant Derricks and John Rhys-Davies. SLIDERS in 2021 would, for me, ideally feature these actors playing older versions of their original characters on an Earth where they never went sliding back in 1995 -- where Quinn failed to create anti-gravity and only manages to open the gateway today at an older age, bringing along our three old friends and then losing the way back home.

But would a studio support that? I don't think so. It's true that THE X-FILES and SAVED BY THE BELL and GILMORE GIRLS and PUNKY BREWSTER all brought back the original characters and actors -- but all those shows had become immortalized with those performers. In contrast, SLIDERS would really be starting all over again -- in which case, a studio would likely want Quinn and Wade in their early 20s and Rembrandt and The Professsor in their early 50s -- hoping to get a good 5 - 7 season run. It wouldn't make sense to re-hire John Rhys-Davies when he himself says he'd only want to do a year or two on a revival.

You could get Jerry and Cleavant. But I don't think you could get Sabrina Lloyd. Sabrina seems to be semi-retired from acting and just not that interested in SLIDERS. I don't think it's impossible that she'd be won back by John Rhys-Davies and Cleavant given her love for them, but she'd likely want to maintain her life in Africa. Would you recast Sabrina Lloyd with Kate Mara?

I suspect that it would likely be a reboot. Corey Fogelmanis as Quinn Mallory, Isabel May as Wade Welles, Levar Burton as Rembrandt Brown and Victor Garber as the Professor. I think Jerry might produce and direct episodes; John might write and produce; Cleavant might write all the original songs with Tracy -- and Sabrina might guest star -- and they could all play the parents of Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo. It's not my favourite scenario, but it seems the most plausible if NBCUniversal and Peacock actually want a SLIDERS revival.

For months, I waited urgently for the season premiere of THE FLASH. And... I'm still waiting because what aired as Season 7, Episode 1 is clearly not a season premiere of any kind. To be honest, this isn't a review because I genuinely don't remember where we left THE FLASH in Season 6 except that Iris was trapped in a mirror dimension and the Flash had lost his speed while Caitlin was away for Reasons (the actress was pregnant) and Cisco was away for Other Reasons (can't remember why). Now Ralph is also away for Other Other Reasons.

Look, I watch THE FLASH because I want to see the Flash running around engaged in superheroic supersaves at superspeed while working alongside his team: a tempermental genius (Wells), a tech-driven engineer (Cisco), a compassionate biochemist (Caitlin), an intrepid reporter (Iris) and a conniving wildcard (Ralph). And I simply I can't remember who Allegra and Chester are or what they're doing at STAR Labs. What I do see, however, is that Barry is largely passive throughout the episode, not being the lead, not being the Flash -- and it's ultimately Wells once again sacrificing himself to restore the Flash's powers.

At this point, Tom Cavanagh dying or supposedly leaving is fairly meaningless. We know he's on contract and that the writers are too enamoured with him to let the actor ever leave, so that's an emotional point that's been played so many times over six seasons that it's fairly pointless for Season 7.

So what we have here is a season premiere of THE FLASH where the Flash is mostly not being the Flash while other characters (who could be great, but I had trouble remembering their names) seem to be doing all the work. We have Iris continuing to be trapped in the mirror dimension. We have the lead villainess making shocking discoveries that aren't particularly relevant to the Flash and his friends.

This isn't a season premiere. Maybe, if it had played as a penultimate episode, it would have been acceptable, but as it's presented, it's a mediocre lead up to a season finale that never aired. And this is a terrible place for a season premiere. The season premiere should set the tone for what's to come, re-establish the series and its characters and concept, clear the slate of the past to lay out the future.

Instead, this episode seems to be meandering around whatever happened last year and I don't remember and while I don't blame the episode for that, this episode is devoid of the flair, spectacle and purpose that one expects to open a new season of a TV show.

And for your viewing... revisitation: the death of Professor Arturo, a traumatic event that left me fundamentally damaged in so many ways at age 12 -- and also forced Transmodiar to spend two and a half years of his life reviewing SLIDERS REBORN with me as we worked through outline after outline. By my count, Transmodiar quit seven times but he kept coming back and I have no doubt it's because he saw what "The Exodus" did to me and he couldn't stand idly by when helping me would alleviate my suffering even as we both came to recognize that grief is sometimes love that refuses to die.

Oh, there's also the cartoon scarab from "Slide Like an Egyptian" which seems to be oddly in demand from Cez and Tom of REWATCH PODCAST.
https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

For your viewing, uh, endurance... the cliffhanger ending of "Exodus" (1) and the ending of "Common Ground" in upscaled HD. God help us. I look at what's ahead and feel fear. What horrors.

https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

According to SUPERGIRL, Kara was 13 when she landed on Earth and Superman found her and 25 when Kara put on the Supergirl costume. Winn in the Season 2 premiere notes that Superman looks to be mid-30s when he should be in his mid to late 40s; Superman says that as Kryptonians get older, their aging slows. From that, I'd say Clark is supposed to be at least 15 years older than Kara even if he doesn't look it.

This is somewhat emphasized when Lana in SUPERMAN AND LOIS says that Clark still looks just like he did in high school (which doesn't appear to be true as they had a young actor play the character in the flashbacks), but it may be commenting on how Clark is in his mid-40s but is played by the mid-30s Tyler Hoechlin. I'm not sure Hoechlin even really looks that young; he has a complexion where even the slightest bit of stubble is highly distinct and makes him look unshaven and removes any youthful boyishness from his face.

It's odd that Kara wasn't at Martha Kent's funeral. She wasn't there partially because of the pandemic and mostly because Melissa Benoist was pregnant and on maternity leave when the pilot was filmed. I'd probably assume that Kara was at the funeral but was called away unexpectedly for an emergency or was handling any and all emergencies so that Clark could shut off his superhearing for the duration.

**

It's a bit odd that the last time we saw Clark in CRISIS, it was a scene that established that Clark has no idea who his teenaged sons are -- which should theoretically mean that Clark has no idea who this Jordan kid is and that Jonathan was an infant -- and Clark has now missed out on at least 13 years of his sons' development and has no familiarity or rapport with them. SUPERMAN AND LOIS has Clark recounting Jordan's anxiety and Clark's struggles as a father -- and I initially wondered if part of that was due to Clark having trouble relating to two strangers as his son.

The Arrowverse Wikia proposes that J'onn restored Clark's Earth-1 memories in CRISIS Part 7. Perhaps, due to all the family difficulties, Clark asked J'onn to undo the restoration. Alternatively, it's possible that Clark's 'core' memories are the Earth-1 version but the Earth Prime memories are a supplement -- which may have also contributed to his difficulty in bonding with Jordan. It would be an interesting mind screw situation if Jordan found out that beginning one year ago, his father lost all memory of his existence.

I don't think they're going to do that, however. It's just too convoluted to have Clark remember a different continuity from the TV show he's currently in.

Temporal Flux shared a guide to writing SLIDERS stories awhile ago.
http://sliders.tv/bboard/viewtopic.php?pid=10285#p10285

I've engaged with it and studied it and thought hard on it -- and I've come to the conclusion that I can't do it. It's just not how I think. I don't think of ideas the way Temporal Flux does. When I think of SLIDERS, I think of *the* sliders. Recently, someone asked me for help with some SLIDERS writing and my main advice was: have something to say about the sliders or SLIDERS that has never been said before. Don't just reiterate what we already know. Reveal something about SLIDERS. I don't mean reveal that Professor Arturo killed Michael Mallory in a hit and run. I mean reveal an insight or an idea about SLIDERS.

I think that Professor Arturo was well on his way to becoming a villain; that he was jealous, bitter, angry and dis-spirited and was probably going to steal his students' research to present it as his own or go work for a foreign power to build nuclear weapons or do something horrific to satisfy his own ego or he was going to start coming into work drunk and get in a car accident while under the influence -- but sliding saved him. It forced him to be the leader and father figure to a wayward adult man and two college kids, it demanded that he get his act together and drew out the best in him.

I think Rembrandt is suffering from severe trauma, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder -- none of which manifests outwardly because he is so ridiculously fond of Quinn, Wade and Arturo that all these psychological issues just get frozen in his psyche -- but all of which will emerge and manifest when Quinn, Wade and Arturo aren't around. I have no idea how it didn't happen in Seasons 3 - 5, and I cannot explain it except to say I consider Seasons 3 - 5 a corrupted timeline.

I think that Quinn knew all along that Wade was crushing on him and for Reasons (repression, self-loathing, wanting to keep his sliding research secret, a sense of being unable to relate to people after Daelin) -- Quinn pretended to be unaware. I think that without sliding, Wade would have come to view as Quinn being cruelly indifferent to her feelings and would have come to despise him -- and that without sliding, Quinn and Wade wouldn't even be friends anymore. I also think that "Last Days" making Wade realize Quinn was aware of her crush all along had an effect -- one where she was so troubled by his avoidance and withdrawal that she herself took a step back to figure out who this athletic nerd really is.

I think that Wade is bisexual and that Diana Davis is gay. There is no onscreen evidence for the former, some indication for the latter.

I think that Kromaggs are not actually individuals. I believe that Kromaggs are actually a single hive mind spread out across multiple clone bodies and that the entire Dynasty is just one individual mapped to multiple forms. I also believe that the Season 4 Kromaggs are an alternate version from a corrupted timeline or a corrupted memory experienced by Quinn in a dream state.

I think that Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo have been alive and well since 2000 and made it home by 2001 after erasing the Kromaggs from existence.

I think that in 2015, Quinn Mallory met Peter Parker from the 616 Marvel Comics Universe and that they have a monthly podcast where they discuss dealing with all the weird things they've both encountered (clones, dragons, alien invasions, dinosaur attacks, breeder parasites, killer robots, giant slugs, becoming unstuck in time, becoming merged with another person as a secondary consciousness, getting married in a parallel timeline that was erased, fighting giant beetles, fighting twisters, befriending living intelligent flames, becoming a zombie... )

Here are some sequences from "Slide By Wire" (Quinntar the Sorcerer!) and "The Unstuck Man" (all of the scenes of Robert Floyd playing the Jerry-version of Quinn). https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

We will unfortunately be taking a step backwards in the next few days to show scenes from "Genesis," "Prophets and Loss," "Common Ground," "The Exodus" (1 & 2) and then "Requiem" before getting back on track "Applied Physics," "New Gods For Old," and "A Current Affair" at which point we'll finish off with the misery of "Eye of the Storm" and "The Seer" before finishing out with the unconverted episodes of Seasons 1 - 2. I'm not thrilled with this, but I suppose it gives me a reason to re-read SLIDERS REBORN in Google Docs and give the formatting another pass.

Watching it tomorrow!

I remember as I was working on "Net Worth: The Quinn and Wade Edition," you remarked, "I don't even need to ask you why you'd go to all this trouble for such a nothing episode. I already know why. You're a loon!"

In this case -- I feel that as a fandom, we must take opportunities when they arise to recognize extraordinary contributions to SLIDERS that went above and beyond merely watching it. Such people have earned extraordinary consideration and recognition.

You are one of those people. As are RussianCabbie (for his phone call with Torme), Grizzlor (for sharing his meetings with cast members), Recall317 and Nigel Mitchell and Slider_Quinn21 (extensive contributions to SLIDERS fiction), Annie Fish (the lengthy blog of all 88 episodes), Blinker (for slidersweb.net), Chaser9 (for lighting the first spark of post-"Seer" creativity), intangirble (for the Wade Welles roleplay), JWSlider3 (for script and document sharing) and, of course, Temporal Flux (for being the most Temporal Flux of everyone around here).

Now, I have had some creative reservations about LEGO SLIDERS. (Zercurvians. Oh, the Zercurvians.) But -- let us never conflate personal taste with objective success. John Rhys-Davies loved the Lego so much that he wanted his own set. Jerry, Cleavant, Kari and Sabrina have all hailed LEGO SLIDERS. Cez and Agata -- like you -- have earned whatever the SLIDERS equivalent may be of the Presidential Medal of Freedom is for doing so much to free Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo from the shackles of Seasons 3 - 5 and if Cez wants all eight opening title sequences in HD, I will crawl across broken glass to get him nine.

I asked Cez (of LEGO SLIDERS fame) if there were any scenes he'd ever wanted to see in HD and he said he'd like the "Stoker"' scenes of Wade because of her singing. I swore at him and invoked a blood curse upon him to be attacked by electric bolts fired from a magic guitar for daring to ask me to do this.

Here are the Wade scenes: https://mega.nz/folder/5E1WnZxJ#Zgg_4d2jHZTolIin-iSevw

Look, he did LEGO SLIDERS. He earned this.

Although, to be fair, I've actually rewatched "Stoker" a few times. It's a dangerous and deadly practice, but there's a sequence in SLIDERS REBORN where Quinn-2 summons the Season 3 monsters to attack San Francisco. While Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo are busy with dinosaurs and dragons and zombies and whatnot, Quinn's daughter Laurel is menaced by the rock star vampires.

I had to rewatch "Stoker" to describe Morgan as "a tall gentleman in a velvet suit jacket and a high necked shirt with a cravat. His crisp cheekbones frame a predatory smile" who looks like "a reject from a Victorian romance novel." And to describe Harker as "a sunglasses-wearing man with bleached and frosted hair, a dark leather duster" and a "feral snarl in his glee" who "looks like an escapee from an 80s rock concert." They feed on Laurel but poison themselves in doing so because she injected herself with pureed garlic before that.

I actually don't know if the human circulation system would work that quickly, but I was originally going to have Laurel defeat them with high intensity sound until Transmodiar reminded me that the rock star vampires are rock star vampires. Transmodiar suggested using sunlight, but I pointed out that Harker kills the music critic during the day, then wondered if maybe "Stoker" had forgotten about using a day-to-light filter for the shots. "Filter!" Transmodiar chortled. "When a show stops caring, they don't care about time of day!"

This episode made me really upset and angry when I rewatched it for SLIDERS REBORN and I remain somewhat comforted to have written a scene where the vampires are dispatched by some spices in a kitchen.