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So, congratulations on shitting all over my comments by posting way more thinly-veiled words than I wrote, and have stopped writing?

You just spit out a four-page paper (971 words, 5,705 characters) across three posts to put me in my "place." Kudos!

Oh, I know - and you know I've done many new things. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that you can't be too precious about your ideas in the television industry. 

Well, I wouldn't say that indifference is not exclusively mine - there are plenty of fans of both franchises that have thrown up their hands and walked away. For "Star Wars," it's because it's a derivative mess; for "Star Trek," the spirit of the franchise has been subverted. I guess I'm unique in that I'm not filled with rage at these developments?

I won't argue with that.

I will argue with this. If Torme has a chance to get another shot with his property - something that VERY rarely comes along - the last thing he should do is impose a specific course of action during a pitch meeting. Demanding the return of Quinn, Arturo, Wade, and Rembrandt, played by the original actors, is bad jojo and could potentially eliminate the series for the fans that want to see it return. It's the very definition of selfish.

And yet the majority of the series, as shot, isn't even the SLIDERS you describe. It's hunting a serial killer, finding a superweapon, killing Kromaggs, and splitting Quinn Mallories. The original conceit got lost around episode 40, and there were 47 more episodes after that. How will that get reconciled?

I understand that. My series has superficial resemblances, but where you're working in the television medium superficial resemblances are all it takes to spike a project. Something I developed with Jon Povill vaporized when Hulu's series "The First" was announced (and subsequently cancelled for being shitty). Does our series have anything to do with Mars? No, but there's just enough tangential similarity that it's been tabled.

Transmodiar's worst nightmare isn't seeing the original Sliders. Just have the series start with the original actors who, after living on a parallel earth for 29.7 years, gather to decide whether or not to slide. Maybe Arturo and Quinn have a bead on how to return home after all that time, and they decide to give it a try. And they have a failsafe to return to this world - which, for Quinn and Wade, is more of a home than Earth Prime - in case their explorations fail. And, in the process, they rediscover the love of sliding that prompted their original journey.

It's not tough. I just don't think it will drive a big audience.

If Torme is going into a pitch meeting with that kind of demand, it will be over before it even starts.

I've said it before, but I'm really not interested in the further adventures at this point. The show Torme knew and created died in 1996; it's been 25 years. Let another parallel world series emerge without the baggage of seasons 3-5.

I say this as a fan and as one of the keeper of the flames. I love Sliders, but Sliders occupied a very specific place and time in my life that doesn't exist any more. I've got other things to prioritize; that's why you haven't seen updates to Earth Prime even though I've got plenty to share. The audience isn't there.

(That said, was there an audience for a Punky Brewster reboot?)

I haven't written Jacob but Jon Povill is not interested. He's perfectly happy living in Vancouver working on politics and sanding the everloving shit out of his patio.

One is a failure of plotting, while the other is a fundamental misfire of characterization. There's something in the production draft pf the script that lends a little extra air of desperation to Smarter Quinn's plan for Vanilla Quinn, and the ending makes things a little more explicit, but there are too many logic holes to create a coherent narrative.

If they'd spent five more minutes at the mountaintop and five fewer minutes with Rickman and Maggie and the hillbillies in town, it would have helped a lot. Smarter Quinn being humbled by his cocky donation of sliding to the Kromaggs is interesting, but it presumes two things: 1) the Quinns have met before, and 2) VQ knows about the Kromaggs.

Again, it doesn't take much - SQ could rant about how things were perfect, he was a genius, etc., and then he encountered a whole new species on another earth. The revelation would shock his world and pave his way to scientific greatness. But then the Kromaggs betrayed him...

A look of familiarity crosses VQ's face and SQ sees it. "You know of the Kromaggs?"

VQ can relate some of the story - "we barely escaped with our lives" (giving some backstory VO on top of Invasion scenes, maybe) - and the SQ apologizes. "Why are you sorry?"

"Because I gave Kromaggs the key to sliding."

A few more moments where they digest this revelation; VQ says that can't be possible - they encountered an invasion fleet, were interrogated in a prison on another world... then SQ says they were already advanced. Instead of stumbling onto sliding, they perfected anti-gravity.

They enter the cave - the equation is on the wall.

"All I gave them... was a little push."

Now we have motivation for SQ wanting to help the Sliders. They've suffered unintentionally by his hand. SQ's world is ruined, the first world conquered by the invading army that now has the ability to slide at will. But he will help Quinn and his friends in ways he couldn't help his own. Maybe it leads to his salvation.

It was all right there, just slightly off the page, and they went for titillation and bag CGI. A shame, really - it had a lot of potential. Would love to read Scott Miller's original draft that made Peckinpah lose his lunch.

It'd look even better if this scene was in it!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cip33f0ebaxxg … r.mp4?dl=0

There's a name for people like you. I'll let you figure out what that name is.

His punches have the power of KICKS.

Why does Torme hate the ending of Season's Greedings? What a grump!

You can apply as much lipstick to this pig as you want, but it's still a pig at the end of the day.

I watched this clip and I still, to this day, have no fucking idea what happens in this episode. The Writer's Draft, for all its faults, at least makes a bit of sense.

Honestly, I think it was just a matter of asking at the right time. I think I contacted the SCIFI offices while they were in the process of moving/downsizing and were more than happy to take their box of crap and get it off their hands. As you said, it was mostly garbage, but it did come with season 4 and 5 press kits (including slides, etc.) and some other stuff that hasn't surfaced on Earth Prime but is scanned. At least you are an independent confirmation that I did get the box and was not talking out of my ass, as was inferred in days gone by.

What software do you have access to? I've thought about doing upscaling too - the DS9 tutorials look pretty cool - but don't have a PC with the right software available.

You're welcome.

Marred? How DARE you. Pasadena is a wonderful city with wonderful people! (At least until 2023, when I move and it all goes to shit.)

There was a point when Recall and I were hammering out the beats of an alternate season 4, where "Mother and Child" actually resulted in the rescue of Wade. Our version was "Mother and Child" in name only (if that; I can't remember), and the nature of the breeding camps was changed dramatically as well.

The idea was that, instead of it being a place where Kromaggs can get their rocks off, it was a highly technological and sterile facility  where the human subjects were not raped, but were "incubators" of Kromagg children. The women are barely even aware it's happening, since they're in suspended animation/stasis throughout the ordeal. The Sliders stage a daring infiltration of the facility and rescue Wade - but the cliffhanger reveal is that Wade has been successfully implanted.

Successive episodes dealt with Wade struggling to get an abortion on another world while trying to acclimate herself to sliding again. She would have paired off in an unlikely friendship with Colin, who could lend a sympathetic ear to her plight since he was a stranger. Quinn would have to slowly earn her trust again, since she blamed him, in part, for her predicament.

In any case, there would have been no rape. It was clinical, surgical, and showed how little regard the Kromaggs held for humanity. That's the way it could have been on the series as well, but, well... David Peckinpah is a perv!

One party does control everything. Just because it has two names doesn't mean it's not one entity, out to screw us all.

Plus, LEGO fucking rules. (It especially rules at fucking destroying the soft underside of my feet.)

Nothing fundamentally changes on the part of our leaders. Does society change? Yes - but only by fighting against establishment laws and rules. Gay rights, trans rights, black rights, etc. - none of that was the result of sweeping national reforms. It was grassroots movements fighting for years to inch their way toward acceptance. The biggest obstacle was leadership.

This isn't an observation I made because I'm "privileged, middle class, Caucasian, heterosexual and male." It's an observation made by watching the shit storm brewing for decades and being able to point decisively to the elected officials who ignore their constituents and vote along party lines or with the money. I don't need to be a white guy to see that; in fact, I'd argue that people in my position are more inclined to stick to the status quo and ride white privilege as long as humanly possible.

I voted this week. Voted my conscience. No apologies.

Hahaha! Those pictures are great. I know ireactions will likely get the first one tattooed across his back.

I just want to be crystal clear on something: Trump is a boob. I am not voting for him and I do not support him.

That said, I disagree that my comments are "ill-matched to the moment." From my perspective, I have three choices next month:

• I can vote for Trump.

• I can vote for Biden.

• I can vote for someone I ideologically align with.

Under the second term of a Trump presidency, the United States could very well implode. A Trump presidency could also be the wakeup call the Democratic Party needs to understand that the country rejects its policies and compromise candidates, and that it offers nothing to the overall health of the country as a whole.

Under a Biden presidency, the United Staes could very well "heal". Alternatively, it could also fracture further as all of the smug, entitled shitheads that permeate the Democratic Party see this as confirmation of their agenda and not a refutation of Trump's policies. (That will really calm down the alt-right turds propping up Trump.) It empowers hypocrites like Pelosi to continue their own sad business-as-usual nonsense for four years, and it destroys the chances a real progressive candidate will run on the Democrat ticket in 2024.

I'm not interested in civil war. I'm also not interested in status quo. We desperately need something to happen to move the needle on our national discourse. Biden won't do that.

Trump's behavior doesn't matter. His inability to lead in crisis or act like a sane adult does not matter. The hand-wringing on display by all of the various Democratic leadership does not matter. At the end of the day, it is ALL theater.

• Republicans fight dirty. They recognize that's what you need to do in politics. Is it ethical? Of course not. But there's no one out there to call them on their BS and fight back. The opposition party just silently adopts their tactics until the Republicans dream up new ways to shaft the system

• Democrats love the righteous indignation. It makes them money. It also makes them feel better about themselves because they can't point to Trump's failures and say, "hey, that's not us!" Except when it is, like when they prop up bad bills, or give up Scalia's seat on the Supreme Court because they figured RBG's replacement would come under a Clinton administration, or when people like Biden ram shitty legislation through Congress for decades and just ignore it ever happened during an election cycle.

• The parties benefit from the chaos. This isn't the goddamn "West Wing" - the parties aren't staffed up with noble political warriors who will do what's right when the time comes. They're filled with self-serving assholes who love it when the masses focus on stupid partisan issues.

I refuse to vote for the lesser of two evils. If that means Rome burns, so be it. As you mentioned further up in this thread, my station in life hasn't been impacted by Trump and his mind-boggling policies/actions. I still have a job, I still have a home. But I would gladly give up some of that safety if it meant this nation moved toward something that ensured basic freedoms for people. For a nation that gave one iota of a shit for the vast majority of people that are not comfortable. The federal government is not designed to care. It is designed to insulate the wealthy from everyone else. It's worked in that respect for a long time. It needs to change. That is very much of this moment.

As someone who read and loved THE BOYS, you will likely find the television series (at least the first series, haven't watched the second yet) palatable because the writers have taken how dark and fucked the comics are and watered it all down and out. The show takes great pains to humanize the Seven, or at least Queen Maeve and The Deep. Even Stillwell. It's a good interpretation, but it is not foundationally the same as what Ennis wrote. Which is a shame, because I was really looking forward to Blarney Cock's chest getting caved in on screen.

You do know there are other definitions for pitching a tent, right?

This hits hard because he is my age (a few months younger) and I was recently diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, my medical outcome looks a little rosier.

Dude was badass. He will be missed.

:-O

What does it say that Trump has to have failed SO badly in managing the COVID-19 crisis for Biden to have any shot unseating him in November?

Biden having things "locked up" in many states doesn't mean he's a good candidate. He's a shitty candidate for reasons I've mentioned upthread, and younger voters - the kind that might be influenced by a registration drive - aren't going to turn out for him. They just aren't - look at how big of a disparity there was between Sanders' perceived influence among young voters and how many actually voted. Younger voters see how Sanders was treated (twice) and prefer platforms like Andrew Yang's. There's nothing of substance in a Biden presidency for them. If they turned out, they might vote for a third party candidate, which would hurt both party's bottom line. So they're happy to sideline half the electorate and pander to the partisans. That's what I mean.

Biden IS totally senile. Biden IS one of the key reasons why our society has such bias and animous toward the black community. He's not a good guy, and I'm absolutely not interested in him as a candidate, or in a "hard reset." Younger voters want more than status quo, they want something legitimately progressive. We're not getting it, and people are tired of waiting four years for the next "savior." Obama was a shit-show in his own way; just because he was more erudite and polished doesn't mean he didn't commit war crimes, or shaft the black community. It's time for some real change, damn it.

Recall suggested I listen to the "West Wing Thing" podcast recently - it's a recap podcast where comedians Dave Anthony and Josh Olson watch the show. I highly suggest you tune in. Listen to the pilot, listen to the season two premiere if you want insight into the Hollywood writing process, and then skim ahead to season three. I never watched TWW but it turns out that's irrelevant because these two are highlighting the current dystopic landscape and drawing parallels to the "Camelot"-style reverence people have for a show steeped in misogyny and inaction. Definitely worth a listen.

Congrats - if you make it past that POS you've officially outlasted me. Talk about a tortured and ham-fisted plot.

And the K1811 JWSlider has isn't even called "Net Worth;" yes, it involves the internet but it's very very different. As for "Slider's Ark," I asked Paul Jackson about it and he had no recollection of it. John Scheinfeld couldn't recall anything either, per JWSlider.

We were all wrong - TemporalFlux was wrong, I was wrong, and you were wrong. James has the docs that give a very specific breakdown of what "Onliners" or whatever the hell you want to call it was before it was shelved. And if I ever get the time, it'll likely make its way to Earth Prime. But just so there's no miscommunication, what was designed for season three in NO way resembles what appeared in season four, and it wasn't a simple case of changing the names in the script.

Just like "Raging Quinn" wasn't about Smarter Quinn, it was about a murderous dolphin and Arturo and Quinn beating the daylights out of each other. You live, you learn. TMYK!

Someone's ALWAYS working on something with Transmodiar.

I'm the guy who wrote a political column for years trumpeting every kind of conspiracy imaginable. I also was and am a fan of 60IF (look it up). While I'm a journalist at heart, I absolutely would not have given two shits about the veracity of a bunch of Internet comments and their authorship. In fact, you bringing it up makes me want to read your analysis again. And, frankly, I want to see the exchange between you and Harmon about this. Where is it?

ENQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW.

"Castle" failed (for many, many seasons?) because it very rarely hinged on its own premise. The conceit was a Patterson-esque crime novelist worms his way into working with real detectives as inspiration for a new protagonist. To do so, he has to juggle his life as a father, son, celebrity, and love interest for his new partner. The murder-of-the-week stuff should inform those relationships.

For the first season or two, it hewed closely to those tropes. But Castle's daughter was too evolved a character to be a 15-year-old girl; it was impossible to suspend disbelief. It's also the continuation of an exasperating trend in media to make dads just insufferable with their ignorance; I get that its comic to watch the kid parent the parent at times, but Castle himself dotes all over his daughter. He's not an absentee by any stretch (I think the mom left early on? Been a while.).

Then you throw in the weird subplots with the precinct captain, the bro-tastic adventures of the two junior detectives on the squad, and other nonsense and it just becomes hyperbolic. It's even worse when the show's tone veers off course and tries to do edgy, dark topics like the serial killer and who killed Stana Katic's mom. You see the same thing in the recent "iZombie," which went FAR up its own ass in the last couple of seasons. Just keep it light-hearted, let the leads have will-they, won't-they? chemistry, and keep in mind that the whole reason Castle is there is to grind out storylines for his books. That's what they were trying to accomplish. And they dropped the ball, and it got agonizing.

It's almost like... the writing was kind of sloppy!

I didn't make it to the end. But you don't have to watch past season one to know the show doesn't give two squirts about timing, pacing, or focus. It hopes you like Nathan Fillion or Stana Katic; everything else is incidental.

If you keep watching, just skip over every scene with Castle's daughter or mother. With the exception of the contractually obligated A-story episode they get each season, they add literally nothing to the series. Nada. Bupkus. ZERO.

And if you make it past the episode where the sidekicks get caught in a burning building, I'll buy you a soda.