1

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

I feel like most streaming shows try to have the whole season completed before releasing the entire season all at once or releasing single episodes weekly.

Have no idea if that's the case with network shows, however I do get the sense that they are more organized than they were in the past, like if they're paying $ for a filming location or having a big celeb as a guest star, they'll film all of those scenes at once, even if they are spread out over the season, probably with alternate scenes we never see, just so the film editor has options.

2

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

I don't understand the need/want to air episodes out of order.  Maybe I don't understand enough about how television production works, but they usually produce episodes in a certain order.  So shows will write and film the premiere first and the finale last.  They don't usually start filming the finale until the premiere has already aired.

So if they filmed Summer of Love before Prince of Wails, I don't understand why Fox would hold a finished Summer of Love for weeks when they could've just aired it.  In later seasons with larger episode orders, I figure you'd air completed episodes as soon as you can, and airing out of order would mean completing episodes out of order.  Which doesn't make sense to me unless it's an FX/post production thing.  But wouldn't Torme control that?

It wasn't necessary, but if you happen to be a coked-out FOX exec with a short-attention span AND it's the 90's, you're going to have a predilection for meddling and trying to fix things that aren't broken.

At that time, FOX was still new to TV and was trying to cater to the Neilsen ratings.

In the grand scheme of things, had FOX just let the episodes air in sequential order, it probably wouldn't have made a huge difference, however there'd have been less strife behind the scenes and the morale would've been higher, so who knows?  That may've made a diffeence and been a tipping point in the right direction.

EDIT: Also, they were competing with new syndicated networks like The WB and the UPN channel.

3

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

On a related note, does anyone know if Torme/Weiss had planned any version of the whole, "Quinn being from another Earth, with secret parents, who hid him and his secret brother to protect them from the Kromags" plotline or was that wholly a Peckinpah thing?

Reason I ask is that whole storyline pretty much heavily ties Kromags to the show.

4

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

@ireactions - Thanks for the info and the script you wrote wasn't bad at all (easily better than the season 4-5 scripts), it's just that I was more interested in what Torme would have done.

To me, the most interesting thing about the Kromags is how they (and Peckinpah) ruined the show; as recurring villains, they're basically just warmed-over Klingons with vaguely defined super powers and, oh yeah, they're also serial-rapists.

Kinda surprised that FOX didn't want the Kromags; on a YouTube video, they talk about how FOX was pushing for the show to be more action-oriented.

Having said that, would not be at all surprised if the (probably coked-out) FOX execs were sending Torme contradictory notes about the show.

5

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

The Kromag Vs. Kromag thing is an interesting idea or at least as close to interesting as you can get while talking about Kromags.

6

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

What you're saying makes sense, but I'm still curious as to what Torme & Weiss would've done with the Kromags, had they been able to continue with their vision(s) either on Fox or the Sci-Fi Channel, presumably with less TV exec interference and/or budget issues.

Or another way to look at it is, what would the Kromags have looked like if David Peckinpah hadn't gotten involved with the show?

7

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Thanks, but that story is a fan-made extrapolation of Torme's idea. Maybe.

Robert Floyd is mentioned on the first page.

8

(0 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

In hindsight, I think the showrunners missed an opportunity to make this guy an epic villain.

With his whole face-shifting schtick, they could've had him as a recurring villain and played by a different actor each episode, like maybe having Michael York play Rickman instead of Dr. Vargas.

Or honestly, maybe it might've been possible to get Michael York to take on the role permanently?

9

(8 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

On the surface, the premise could work, but season 4 was already off to a rocky start.

Also, it didn't feel like a Sliders plot, so much as a rejected X-Files or Star Trek: TNG pitch.

No real multiverse-ties.

10

(8 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Hi Jim.  Yeah, sorry, just couldn't get into it.

11

(3 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Of all the recurring Sliders villains (Kromags, Rickman), Dr.Geiger is the least tedious.

12

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

It'd be interesting to know what Torme's plans (if any) were for the Kromags, instead of the super-advanced rapist cavemen that overstayed their welcome.

While I disagree with you on the replacement cast's acting chops (at that time), I do agree that they didn't have the best scripts, dialogue or directing to work with.

Also, I saw the recent Rob Floyd interview, where he was charming and engaging and remember thinking, "Where was that guy?"

I think nowadays, he'd be a good side character on just about any show; maybe he just needed the seasoning.

I understand that Temi Locke has found success in other areas and good for her.

Kari Wuhrer, I dunno.  I saw Eight Legged Freaks and don't remember having ANY thoughts about her or anything else I may have seen with her in it.

Slider_Quinn21 wrote:

It is fascinating, though.  I think most Sliders fans think that season 5 is better than season 4 from a storytelling perspective, but I don't think season 5 resembles the Torme years much more than season 4 did.  I feel like they had more artistic control - Peckinpah was less active (right? am I misremembering?) and Jerry's influence was gone.  They moved away from being Kromagg heavy, but they stayed with more Sci-Fi concepts and less alternate history concepts.

I think there was an opportunity to do what they wanted, but it feels like they made a conscious decision to just do more of the same.

(Disclaimer: it's been forever since I've seen any of Season 5).

Currently I'm midway through season 5 and what I've noticed is that aside from Cleavant, the other 3 cast members are boring and terrible actors, often getting outacted by the show's guest-stars.

IMO, the scripts were never great, but the OG cast were good actors and the 4 of them had strong chemistry, so they could elevate the material.

There are moments where two the OG cast are just sitting down, having a conversation and it's great and tonally seems disconnected to the rest of the episode - I'm inclined to think that the director just told them to improv a scene to fill out the episodes and they're great at it.

15

(21 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Thanks for the info!

16

(3 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

So far, I've noticed that Dr. Geiger likes to stand behind a shadowy screen while his silhouette delivers cryptic monologues to his subordinates.

17

(8 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

DieselMickyDolenz wrote:
Chuck wrote:

And currently trying to get through the season 4 episode, "The Chasm" and it hasn't been easy.

The struggle is real.

The bubble universe one after that, "Roads Taken" was slow and tedious as hell and the one after that, "Revelations", started off strong with the giant hand reaching out of the wormhole, but then turned to crap.

I get that at this low point in the show's history that the writers were allegedly and routinely stealing ideas from movies, but it looks like they tried to adapt Schindler's List, with an underground railroad to save persecuted Kromags.

18

(21 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

pilight wrote:

Didn't she come back for Requiem as a favor to Cleavant?

If true, that's interesting.

I wouldn't blame her for holding a grudge against Jerry & Cleavant for not fighting for her to stay and/or change the direction of the show away from whatever Peckinpah was aiming for.

Sabrina basically threw Peckinpah an opportunity to get himself out of the predicament he wrote himself into and, somehow, he just made it worse.

19

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

DieselMickyDolenz wrote:

I don't know that they really killed the possibility of a reboot, though. Reboots take many forms. Look at Ron Moore's BSG reboot. It was definitely BSG, but jettisoned several aspects/characters from the original show. I don't see any reason why they'd have to be a part of a reboot, or even a continuation, if one was ever considered.

Yeah, reboot was the wrong term; I meant that I don't think the show could continue with the OG cast or set in that iteration with the Kromags.

As I'm watching the last of series now, when they talk about the Kromags, the breeding camps are brought up; Peckinpah really doubled down on that - the 2 are pretty much inseparably linked and really poisons the well.

A complete reboot with a new cast and no Kromags could definitely work.

20

(24 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

An army of multi-dimensional cavemen armed with super-advanced technology AS WELL as having formidable telepathic and shapeshifting powers and, in spite of all this, these guys seem to lose more than they win.

As I wrote this, it occurs to me that I'm making Kromags sound more interesting than they EVER were on the show.

And even getting past how poorly written they and their dialogue were and the fact that it seems like most of the actors had trouble speaking through the clumsy mouth prosthetics, then there's all the very, very distasteful "breeding camp" stuff, that REALLY has not aged well.

Obviously the intent was to make them the big baddies, like the Klingons or Borg, but, IMO, they were a HUGE misfire and besides helping kill the show, have killed chances for a reboot.

Any other thoughts out there?

21

(8 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

And currently trying to get through the season 4 episode, "The Chasm" and it hasn't been easy.

22

(21 replies, posted in Sliders Bboard)

Hey all, does anyone know what Sabrina Lloyd's reaction (if any) to how her character was written out?

Also, what motivated her to return to voice her character in Wade's final episode?

New here and thanks.