Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

TemporalFlux wrote:

I still think it would be genius marketing to have the Sliders just pop up in the background of other shows or even movies produced by the studio.  They don’t have to be prominent or obvious - just place them in as background extras with non-speaking roles. They would appear to be having arguments or amusing interactions or even running away in panic - maybe you could sometimes make out the timer in their hand.

It would create buzz with a Where’s Waldo type game.  From a story perspective, we would be left to debate and discuss.  How did the Sliders get there?  What happened to them in the end?  The Sliders series itself could even have a passing mention of a place or situation that seems to match what they may have been doing.

It would create a kind of living multiverse

I would LOVE that.

My dream project -- I have had dreams about it -- it would be a podcast where Spider-Man/Peter Parker regularly has coffee with Quinn Mallory and they talk about all the crazy crap they've been through as both Spider-Man and Quinn have had to contend with vampires, super-intelligent snakes, dinosaurs, intelligent living flames, remote controlled cars that shoot lasers, Dream Masters, zombies, walls of fog, brain-draining serial killers, murderous gameshows, and alarming revelations about their family histories.

I would want Spider-Man to be voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes from the 90s animated series and Jerry would be the voice of Quinn.

Slide Override wrote:
ireactions wrote:
Slide Override wrote:

Rant about how if you write a story Slide Override doesn't care for in concept or execution, you shouldn't have ever written it at all and your writing is therefore ludicrous and Slide Override's likes and dislikes are a universal restriction to be enforced upon all with no exceptions ever.

Now that's just childish.

Let me be perfectly clear about you and your future in the SLIDERS community.

If there is a revival/reboot and there are crossovers, I will carefully catalog them for you so that you do not have to watch them. I will set up a Wikia specifically so that crossovers are noted and you can avoid them and not have your (hypothetical) viewing experience marred by them. I will help you out with this. I would never, ever want you to have to watch something you don't want to watch and there is no limit to what I will do to assist you in this matter. I am on your side even if I don't share your tastes.

No Slidehead will ever stand alone. Know that you are among us even when you stand apart. We are with you. We go with God. We will not stopped.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:

If there is a revival/reboot and there are crossovers, I will carefully catalog them for you so that you do not have to watch them. I will set up a Wikia specifically so that crossovers are noted and you can avoid them and not have your (hypothetical) viewing experience marred by them. I will help you out with this. I would never, ever want you to have to watch something you don't want to watch and there is no limit to what I will do to assist you in this matter. I am on your side even if I don't share your tastes.

You know, since I survived everything that series 3, 4, and a head-in-a-jar Wade, threw at me, I believe that I wouldn't need your viewing protection from a hypothetical crossover. I'll watch and judge accordingly.

No Slidehead will ever stand alone. Know that you are among us even when you stand apart. We are with you. We go with God. We will not stopped.

Er, this is sounding quite like a white-robbed, "Jebediah with his 5 wives", cult here. I'll pass lol.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I was joking.

In other thoughts... I do think SLIDERS will eventually come back. I just don't know if it will be TRACY TORME'S SLIDERS when it does.

I would expect that a SLIDERS revival would be like the MACGYVER reboot: recast actors playing the original parts. The producers wanting the original actors to play the parents. Richard Dean Anderson was asked to play MacGyver's mentor (not necessarily his father) but Anderson declined. And MACGYVER had a very shaky start with episodes that ranged from poor to average, but it gradually found its feet and was a pretty great show by the end of Season 1 and it had a five year run with a less-than-satisfying finale because it had been filmed as a season finale in anticipation of a sixth season that didn't come. MACGYVER was consistently good by Season 2 and often great by Season 3. Season 4 was excellent. I haven't finished Season 5 yet, but it's been as good as Season 4.

MACGYVER had the original creator involved and he wrote a few scripts on the writing staff, but the showrunner was the (now-disgraced) Peter Lenkov and then Monica Macer.

That's what I'd expect for a SLIDERS revival: a new producer who loved SLIDERS and wants to do a reboot and start from the ground floor. It's not what I would personally want. It's not what Tracy Torme wants. But it's what I think a studio and network would believe they could sell.

I like Temporal Flux's AFTERLIFE model for SLIDERS.

One model of a revival that I do not like and found offensive in some ways was LONELYGIRL15. This 2006 web series went on permanent hiatus in 2008 due to funding issues and ended on a massive cliffhanger. In 2016, LONELYGIRL15 came back with new videos. The first one left the cliffhanger still unresolved. There were three more videos indicating a larger story was to come -- and then nothing, with the producer revealing that the project did not have funding yet and that releasing the four videos in total had been an attempt to draw in potential sponsors. It didn't work and LONELYGIRL15 once again ended/didn't end and it was inconclusive and confusing.

THE X-FILES ended in 2000, came back in 2016 and 2018 and also failed to address the unresolved cliffhangers of 2000 and also ended inconclusively and confusingly.

Having protested absolutes, I will say this: it is really unreasonable to ask audiences to invest emotional energy and loyalty into stories that creators don't end, so whatever form SLIDERS returns in should be a complete and satisfying product within the limitations. If SLIDERS in its revival is only guaranteed six episodes or, like LONELYGIRL15, four short webisodes, then it would ideally (at least for me) be a complete story with a beginning, middle and end, albeit an ending that leaves space for more should the opportunity present itself.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Sliders crossovers make for great fanfic.  They probably wouldn't make great television.  Still, an occasional crossover could be fun.  It certainly wouldn't be the end of the world.

305 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2022-03-19 18:12:57)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Yes, while I did say that crossovers generally happen when networks are out of ideas, I didn't say doing them is always the wrong thing to do.

For example: I would love to see an X-Files/Sliders crossover. That would be fun to watch. Mulder and Scully investigating the mysterious disappearance of four people into a vortex. I can picture Mulder with his trademark smirk: "Sounds like aliens, doesn't it?" A Sliders and Quantum Leap crossover could easily be done, with something going wrong during a slide that pushes them into a quantum transdimensional error that has Quinn leaping around while Sam finally returns to his physical form. That would be wild.

But here's the other general problem with crossovers - if they are not done correctly legally-speaking: and without consideration for legal issues with other shows from other networks, this could sink Sliders from a legal perspective, irregardless of where the writing ends up.

That's the only reason I see Sliders being limited in terms of crossovers and how they accomplish them. In which case, addressing legal issues where they exist and tackling them before they become problems with certain properties (such as in streaming formats or other syndication formats) this could be successful.

306 (edited by ireactions 2022-03-19 20:23:41)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I find this concern absolutely unfathomable.

If SLIDERS in its revival doesn't have legal clearance and a licensing agreement to do a crossover, they won't do a crossover at all. It is physically impossible for SLIDERS to do a crossover and then experience legal action for unauthorized use of copyright; studio lawyers simply wouldn't allow an unauthorized, legally questionable crossover to be filmed in the first place.

There are, of course, unauthorized but legally solid crossovers. For example, the General on SLIDERS in "The Return of Maggie Beckett" is meant to be Tom Beckett from QUANTUM LEAP, but it's never specified that he's Dr. Sam Beckett's brother, so it's fine. The sitcom TWO AND A HALF MEN featured a cameo from two characters who were supposedly Dharma and Greg from DHARMA AND GREG, but the show had no legal clearance to use Dharma and Greg, so the characters weren't named while still played by the same actors. The technical term for this is Lawyer Friendly Cameo: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ … endlyCameo

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

QuinnSlidr wrote:

For example: I would love to see an X-Files/Sliders crossover. That would be fun to watch. Mulder and Scully investigating the mysterious disappearance of four people into a vortex. I can picture Mulder with his trademark smirk: "Sounds like aliens, doesn't it?"

There are many great ways to tackle an X-Files crossover.  My thought was always that Mulder and Scully would be pulled into a murder investigation of someone who isn’t dead.

Arturo’s body is discovered in San Francisco in what appears to be a pretty cut and dried murder; but the X-Files come into play when Arturo is sighted in another part of San Francisco even though his body is in the morgue.  Mulder and Scully catch that one and begin interrogating when they get report that a third Arturo has been sighted.  Then another.  And another.

I see it as an Agatha Christie type mystery where everyone involved is Arturo.  And, of course, our Sliders land in the middle of it and get pulled in.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

TemporalFlux wrote:
QuinnSlidr wrote:

For example: I would love to see an X-Files/Sliders crossover. That would be fun to watch. Mulder and Scully investigating the mysterious disappearance of four people into a vortex. I can picture Mulder with his trademark smirk: "Sounds like aliens, doesn't it?"

There are many great ways to tackle an X-Files crossover.  My thought was always that Mulder and Scully would be pulled into a murder investigation of someone who isn’t dead.

Arturo’s body is discovered in San Francisco in what appears to be a pretty cut and dried murder; but the X-Files come into play when Arturo is sighted in another part of San Francisco even though his body is in the morgue.  Mulder and Scully catch that one and begin interrogating when they get report that a third Arturo has been sighted.  Then another.  And another.

I see it as an Agatha Christie type mystery where everyone involved is Arturo.  And, of course, our Sliders land in the middle of it and get pulled in.

I like how you think. smile

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Somewhere, Nigel Mitchell is kicking himself for writing a SLIDERS/X-FILES crossover where it's just Quinn and Arturo investigating the murders of their doubles and encountering Mulder and Scully when TF has now proposed a more complex and challenging path for the story.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Okay...in light of our Sliders/X-Files crossover discussion, I went ahead and created a new Sliders (Season 6) + X-Files crossover intro (meant to be used only for a crossover episode...). I thought it turned out quite good. What do you think?

Buwahahaha...

https://youtu.be/7jZLlrpSmvI

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

QuinnSlidr wrote:

Okay...in light of our Sliders/X-Files crossover discussion, I went ahead and created a new Sliders (Season 6) + X-Files crossover intro (meant to be used only for a crossover episode...). I thought it turned out quite good. What do you think?

Buwahahaha...

https://youtu.be/7jZLlrpSmvI


lol, I love it!!!!

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

The argument I would make for crossovers is that generally the network or studio might care about the franchise more because it is a way to create a shared cinematic or televised universe.   Universal hasn't really given a crap about Sliders.  That may have been different had they done crossovers.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Crossovers have a lot of potential. You could say that about any idea. Crossovers have a lot of potential problems. You could say that about any idea.

I am in favour of crossovers that are done well and I feel SLIDERS could do them well.

PROFESSOR: "I support the good things in life. I oppose the bad things in life."

QUINN: "Way to go out on a limb, Professor."

314 (edited by Slide Override 2022-03-20 10:25:12)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

The argument I would make for crossovers is that generally the network or studio might care about the franchise more because it is a way to create a shared cinematic or televised universe.   Universal hasn't really given a crap about Sliders.  That may have been different had they done crossovers.

I just wanted to highlight this as I've seen it mentioned a few times when discussing the concept of a crossover. The structure of a crossover back then is a lot different to how it would be structured now, in my opinion. Not only has the visual and viewer consumption landscape changed, but also both viewers and network's expectations. A crossover back then was usually quite simple - letting a character(s) briefly step into another show, usually aiding or propelling a plot forward, and then they would call it a day.

However, when talking about crossovers in today's landscape, everyone and their dog is looking to catch that MCU magic - to create that shared cinematic / television universe that you mentioned. If done now, I can't see it being that simple one-and-done structure. Networks are absolutely eager to create their own mini MCUs - with character(s) stepping in and out freely from one show to the next, all with varying degrees of relevance.

You know what I'm going to say - that very idea absolutely terrifies me on how they would apply that to Sliders and whatever other show they had rebooted / revived at the same time. That actually makes me wish for the types of crossovers that has been mentioned in this thread ... but I don't see that as what they would want to accomplish. Before the zeitgeist is over (and it doesn't look like it will be over any time soon despite so many minority but vocal outcries about the MCU's interconnected universe), that is the structure that I believe they most want to capture. To get viewers invested in every one of their shows.


Side note. It's also quite interesting that Whedon almost pulled this off himself. Buffy and Angel were one of those rare shows where the crossovers were more advanced - not only because they shared a set of characters due to the latter being a spin-off, but you sometimes had one storyline or arc continue directly into the other show. If both had remained on the same network, it has been stated that there would have been more characters going back and forth. Which would have expanded even further if the Watcher or Willow shows had gotten off the ground.

But I digress.

TLDR:

I would actually beg for the normal crossovers that you all have mentioned if the idea was to do them in a reboot / revival. But I can't help feeling we'd end up with that interconnected universe format. And I would hate it. Personally.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I don't know that SLIDERS lends itself to being directly interconnected in a shared universe. The sliders don't *stay* in the same universe; how often can they really crossover in such a fashion?

I think SLIDERS' hypothetical crossovers would be more like what TF suggested: the sliders are seen running through the background of various scenes of other TV shows on the same streaming service / network.

316 (edited by RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan 2022-03-20 15:55:05)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I think if Sliders did crossovers it would kick off the concept of sliding as available in all creative universes and then you would start to get crossovers between different properties outside of the one where Quinn etc came from.  But that's what marvel does now.  It's just not called sliding.  It's the multiverse.  I would love for it to be sliding instead.  Because then you would always have a property that is solely focused on a core group of travelers sliding around the multiverse as well.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

SAVED BY THE BELL REBORN has been cancelled on Peacock.
https://www.cbr.com/saved-by-the-bell-r … d-peacock/

NBCUniversal is clearly not in a great financial position right now.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:

SAVED BY THE BELL REBORN has been cancelled on Peacock.
https://www.cbr.com/saved-by-the-bell-r … d-peacock/

NBCUniversal is clearly not in a great financial position right now.

Definitely hard to make a hit out of a revivial.  Though I am not sure the batting average is worse than new shows.  Although a new show maybe you are more likely to find a triple or home run.

Peacock has been not a disaster but hasn't gone well, and they are certainly hemorrhaging money from that particular business unit.   We may see NBCU eventually merge with another company if they see declines with their other business units.  They certianly wont have a stand out product for streaming.

Their best IP is back to the future.... which isn't coming back.  What other IP do they have?  Paramount at least has star trek, HBOMax has Warner Bros movie and the tastemakers of HBO....

NBC isn't gonna go away so it's not like that network's stuff will ever premiere on streaming in the near future.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Crossover? Sounds doable.
Once the Team-Ups!!! are finished.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Looks like Quantum Leap has made the jump to NBC with a series order:

https://deadline.com/2022/05/quantum-le … 17782/amp/

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Great news about QL!

As for Peacock -- from what I can tell, Peacock operates on a model similar to Netflix where they spent huge sums on shows, present them without commercials -- and the hope is that the media reception and word of mouth will lead to new subscribers which allows the streamer to recoup its costs and earn a profit. However, existing subscribers don't produce profit; Peacock and Netflix need a constant influx of new subscribers. This is why Netflix cancels so many shows after 1 - 3 seasons because there comes a point when a show has gained as many new subscribers for the streamer that it will and there's no further financial gain in maintaining the series.

Whether that series is a new property or an existing IP may not be that relevant. Peacock is losing 2.2 billion dollars a year and SAVED BY THE BELL definitely had a loyal audience, but because Peacock doesn't have a very large subscriber base to begin with, that wasn't enough to keep the show going and it's hard to see if Peacock can keep going.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Prime doesn't count since their streaming budget is a drop in the bucket for a behemoth company.  Netflix has a big international business like Prime, they get rights from other streamers/networks and air that stuff overseas.  Disney+ likewise is a juggernaut thanks to well, Disney itself, but also MCU and Star Wars.  Beyond that, WarnerMedia has become an utter disaster, but HBO seems okay, but overall not sure where HBO Max is?  The DC content is nice, but who's really getting it for that?  Paramount Plus, CBS's offering, is also questionable like Peacock.  Honestly, beyond package deals for HBO, Disney/Hulu/ESPN, not sure how any other streamers survive?  Peacock's major draws are WWE and sports, as their original content flounders.

323 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2022-05-08 11:10:25)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Dr. Soong on Star Trek...Dr. Seong on Quantum Leap...they just don't even try to be creative anymore do they? I can imagine the writer's meeting:

"Just replace one o with an 'e'. Nobody will know the difference."

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

QuinnSlidr wrote:

Dr. Soong on Star Trek...Dr. Seong on Quantum Leap...they just don't even try to be creative anymore do they? I can imagine the writer's meeting:

"Just replace one o with an 'e'. Nobody will know the difference."

What a ridiculously racist, white-centric post.

The actor Raymond Lee is South Korean. The name of his character is Dr. Ben Seong. Seong is a South Korean name. Your accusation that the name "Seong" must be stolen from a white American's fictional character is patently absurd; the name "Seong" appears in Korean history as early as 1418. STAR TREK debuted in 1966, "Space Seed" featuring Khan Noonien Singh aired in 1967, "Datalore" which first introduced Dr. Noonian Soong as Data's creator aired in 1988.

Gene Roddenberry's characters of Dr. Noonian Soong (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION) and Khan Noonien Singh (STAR TREK ORIGINAL SERIES) were drawing on the name "Kim Noonien Wang," the name of a Chinese pilot whom Roddenberry befriended during his time in the Army Air Corps; Roddenberry changed "Kim" to a Muslim name, "Khan," and altered "Wang" to "Singh," a Sikh name. Later, Roddenberry referred to his friend again with the character name of "Noonian Soong," altering the spelling of Noonien to use an A and using an unusual transliteration of the Chinese name Sung to "Soong."

It is stupid, ignorant and racist for you to claim that "Dr. Ben Seong", a Korean character with a Korean name played by a Korean actor is somehow stealing from white writer Gene Roddenberry.

It is stupid, ignorant and racist for you to declare that a Korean surname that has existed since the fifteenth century is off limits because a white writer used a similarly-spelled name in a 1988 episode of STAR TREK.

It is stupid, ignorant and racist for you to declare that South Korean characters should not have South Korean surnames because it intrudes upon white characters written by white writers who use Asian names in their fiction.

White people did not create every word and name in the world and the name "Seong" existed long before Gene Roddenberry was born.

The only reason I can see for QuinSlidr to declare that it's fine for Roddenberry to use "Soong" but not fine for QUANTUM LEAP to use "Seong" is that Dr. Noonian Soong is a white character and Dr. Ben Seong is an Asian character and for QuinSlidr, white characters should always be dominant and Asian characters and names should not exist. There is simply no other reason for QuinSlidr to be so offended by an Asian name.

Furthermore, not every STAR TREK-reminiscent name or sound or idea originated with STAR TREK. There is more to the world than STAR TREK.

As someone who has been watching STAR TREK since I was 10, I never thought I would say to someone what I am going to say to you: get a life.

325 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2022-05-09 03:24:13)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions - I do apologize for that misstep: there were absolutely no racist intentions meant with my post. And I am sorry you took it that way.

And I agree with you: there is absolutely no reason why Quantum Leap can't have a similar character.

I am truly sorry you took my comment that way. And again: that was certainly not my intention.

I will be more careful in the future.

Addendum:

My comment was about Hollywood's latest trends of constant reboots, along with their own rehashing and stealing of other successful attributes from other more influential shows, and doing homages, to see what formula is going to stick and be the most profitable. Something that Sliders itself was very guilty of doing in the third season when David Peckinpah was brought on board.

The most egregious recent example being La Brea - in which Scott, one of the main characters, comments himself about the show, their "situation" being like an episode of Lost. Which was the first thing I thought of when watching La Brea. But I turned out to love the show and can't wait until it comes back.

I also agree that not everything should be attributed to nor should be thought of as having originated with Star Trek. But, Star Trek has been very influential in Hollywood when it comes to Sci-Fi, and has influenced a generation of writers.

Of course, I am a big fan of Star Trek also. And I have been watching Star Trek Picard until the last episode of the second season quite recently.

Addendum #2: It is also worth noting that the same showrunners for La Brea are also involved with Quantum Leap, and La Brea's  criticism from a number of people have been how similar it is to Lost, while being different as well. It's also not a stretch to say that there may be some similar but different types of homages being done with Quantum Leap too.

Again, I do apologize for how you took my comment but I also thought you would want to hear my point of view on the topic, and that I never intended for it to be read as "there can never be any type of this character on Quantum Leap," which is far from what I intended it to be.

Again: I'll be more careful in the future.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Thank God.

**

As for reboots -- I think it's simply a matter of doing them poorly or doing them well. Quality in writing, acting, cinematography, production, editing, season-long arc, characterization, social commentary and relevance are more important than whether or not the series is a revival of a pre-existing property or an original creation. Reboots can benefit from the mythic stature of their previous existence.

There is a certain weight, importance and cultural iconography to having MacGyver disarm a land mine with a paper clip that can't be replicated with an original character.

I would say that the CBS reboot of MACGYVER shows reboots at the worst (in the first season) and their best (in the second to fourth season) and their most mediocre (also in the fourth season)

MACGYVER's first season opened with a shallow recreation of MACGYVER's schtick from the 1985 now presented in 2016 and it looked clumsy and dated. MacGyver creates smoke bombs from cleaning chemicals, fingerprint equipment from office supplies -- which now makes him look unprepared in not simply bringing pocket-sized spy gear like smoke bombs and fingerprinting equipment in advance.

In addition, the 2015 reboot saddled MacGyver with an aggressive partner to handle the physical fight scenes and gunplay (which made MacGyver's supposed pacifist philosophy meaningless as he was just having an associate use violence) and a hacker teammate (which made MacGyver's encyclopedic knowledge unnecessary). Why was this show even on the air when MacGyver's brand of espionage was dated, ineffective and irrelevant? Because MACGYVER was a recognizable trademark and brand name.

But by the end of the first season, MACGYVER finally figured out how to make MacGyver's character work. MACGYVER finally realized that MacGyver couldn't just be sent into spy missions to retrieve MacGuffins or arrest villains; MacGyver was instead best as a problem solver.

MacGyver had to impersonate an assassin and perform assassinations and supply proof of death without actually murdering anybody; had to navigate in and out of a collapsed building with no exits and all his equipment lost; had to find a way to fly a plane without fuel to a distant landing zone; had to save a capsizing ship at sea without ever setting foot aboard. The show finally understood that MacGyver didn't benefit from simple spy missions but impossible problems that the character had to solve. As a result, MacGyver's brand of improvised solutions now felt modern and relevant and MacGyver was suited to facing down present day problems.

And MACGYVER then bit off more than it could chew: Season 4 sent MacGyver up against an unsolvable problem, the crisis of climate change where MacGyver was fighting ecoterrorists and forced to concede that MacGyver and his team were fighting on the wrong side (even though the ecoterrorists were certainly not the right side). It was riveting, gripping and ripped from the headlines. MacGyver, reviewing developments on climate change, had a crisis of faith in his mission and a nervous breakdown, fearing that the terrorists could be right to try to kill 90 per cent of the human population.

How could MacGyver triumph against fossil fuels and a depleted ozone layer and the inertia of human impact on a damaged planet?

Season 4 ended with MacGyver defeating the ecoterrorists from triggering a population-reducing catastrophe and then making a presentation to Washington lawmakers on the climate crisis which... I guess... solved climate change? Because MacGyver never mentioned it again and this 'solution' (a stirring speech and a secret dossier about impending global catastrophe) were apparently all that was needed?

This conclusion to Season 4 did not work. This did not work at all. Season 5 felt truly awkward with MacGyver not dealing with that ecological nervous breakdown of Season 4. There was no on camera explanation for why MacGyver wasn't worried about climate change any more.

(The only rationalization I can offer: the COVID-19 pandemic is said to have happened between Season 4 and Season 5. It's possible that MacGyver was heartened by how during the 2020 lockdowns, ecological damage began reversing itself and this buoyed him up for Season 5 and we never saw him deal with the climate crisis again because the show didn't make it to Season 6.)

However, none of these victories or successes had too much to do with MACGYVER being a reboot. Yes, Season 1 was a reboot of a 1980s property that was painfully outdated in 2015, but that was less about MacGyver's gimmick being 30 years old and more a failure to craft stories that were specifically challenging to the MacGyver character. Then MACGYVER succeeded by presenting MacGyver as a problem solver rather than merely a spy and the series began giving him increasingly impossible problems to solve.

Then MACGYVER failed because it threw MacGyver into problem of the climate emergency which was something MacGyver, being a fictional character, could not actually solve (and his 'solution' in the show was nonsensical).

Quality is far more important than whether or not the property is a revival or an original.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:

Thank God.

**

As for reboots -- I think it's simply a matter of doing them poorly or doing them well. Quality in writing, acting, cinematography, production, editing, season-long arc, characterization, social commentary and relevance are more important than whether or not the series is a revival of a pre-existing property or an original creation. Reboots can benefit from the mythic stature of their previous existence.

There is a certain weight, importance and cultural iconography to having MacGyver disarm a land mine with a paper clip that can't be replicated with an original character.

I would say that the CBS reboot of MACGYVER shows reboots at the worst (in the first season) and their best (in the second to fourth season) and their most mediocre (also in the fourth season)

MACGYVER's first season opened with a shallow recreation of MACGYVER's schtick from the 1985 now presented in 2016 and it looked clumsy and dated. MacGyver creates smoke bombs from cleaning chemicals, fingerprint equipment from office supplies -- which now makes him look unprepared in not simply bringing pocket-sized spy gear like smoke bombs and fingerprinting equipment in advance.

In addition, the 2015 reboot saddled MacGyver with an aggressive partner to handle the physical fight scenes and gunplay (which made MacGyver's supposed pacifist philosophy meaningless as he was just having an associate use violence) and a hacker teammate (which made MacGyver's encyclopedic knowledge unnecessary). Why was this show even on the air when MacGyver's brand of espionage was dated, ineffective and irrelevant? Because MACGYVER was a recognizable trademark and brand name.

But by the end of the first season, MACGYVER finally figured out how to make MacGyver's character work. MACGYVER finally realized that MacGyver couldn't just be sent into spy missions to retrieve MacGuffins or arrest villains; MacGyver was instead best as a problem solver.

MacGyver had to impersonate an assassin and perform assassinations and supply proof of death without actually murdering anybody; had to navigate in and out of a collapsed building with no exits and all his equipment lost; had to find a way to fly a plane without fuel to a distant landing zone; had to save a capsizing ship at sea without ever setting foot aboard. The show finally understood that MacGyver didn't benefit from simple spy missions but impossible problems that the character had to solve. As a result, MacGyver's brand of improvised solutions now felt modern and relevant and MacGyver was suited to facing down present day problems.

And MACGYVER then bit off more than it could chew: Season 4 sent MacGyver up against an unsolvable problem, the crisis of climate change where MacGyver was fighting ecoterrorists and forced to concede that MacGyver and his team were fighting on the wrong side (even though the ecoterrorists were certainly not the right side). It was riveting, gripping and ripped from the headlines. MacGyver, reviewing developments on climate change, had a crisis of faith in his mission and a nervous breakdown, fearing that the terrorists could be right to try to kill 90 per cent of the human population.

How could MacGyver triumph against fossil fuels and a depleted ozone layer and the inertia of human impact on a damaged planet?

Season 4 ended with MacGyver defeating the ecoterrorists from triggering a population-reducing catastrophe and then making a presentation to Washington lawmakers on the climate crisis which... I guess... solved climate change? Because MacGyver never mentioned it again and this 'solution' (a stirring speech and a secret dossier about impending global catastrophe) were apparently all that was needed?

This conclusion to Season 4 did not work. This did not work at all. Season 5 felt truly awkward with MacGyver not dealing with that ecological nervous breakdown of Season 4. There was no on camera explanation for why MacGyver wasn't worried about climate change any more.

(The only rationalization I can offer: the COVID-19 pandemic is said to have happened between Season 4 and Season 5. It's possible that MacGyver was heartened by how during the 2020 lockdowns, ecological damage began reversing itself and this buoyed him up for Season 5 and we never saw him deal with the climate crisis again because the show didn't make it to Season 6.)

However, none of these victories or successes had too much to do with MACGYVER being a reboot. Yes, Season 1 was a reboot of a 1980s property that was painfully outdated in 2015, but that was less about MacGyver's gimmick being 30 years old and more a failure to craft stories that were specifically challenging to the MacGyver character. Then MACGYVER succeeded by presenting MacGyver as a problem solver rather than merely a spy and the series began giving him increasingly impossible problems to solve.

Then MACGYVER failed because it threw MacGyver into problem of the climate emergency which was something MacGyver, being a fictional character, could not actually solve (and his 'solution' in the show was nonsensical).

Quality is far more important than whether or not the property is a revival or an original.

We are both on the same page. It's a matter of doing reboots, homages, and the like well with quality writing and production. That's one of the best parts of La Brea - it's a fresh take on an older "Lost" formula. While some suspension of disbelief is required it's not something that requires too much suspension of disbelief, like you mentioned about the MACGYVER reboot. You care about the characters, the writing and production are quite good, and it's certainly not a terrible implementation of time travel sci-fi.

The problem with older homages of certain Hollywood films on Sliders, for example, is because the production took a significant dive in the latter half of season 3. As a result, they ended up being in one of those situations where the lack of quality caused a lack of legitimacy as well. And Sliders just didn't work as a homage-heavy show. The point of parallel universes is they are supposed to be different than our own, not rehashing the same things from ours. That is where the writers ended up committing a few errors in judgment on their part, I think. The writers kind of just stopped thinking and phoned it in.

Quality certainly improved with season 4, and it would have been amazing to see Jerry and Charlie make it through to season 5. But it seems that wasn't going to be in the cards there. All in all they did what they could to make it work, and I respect what the writers were able to do with the things they were given during each season. Ultimately, the main thing that harmed Sliders was the lack of quality overall.

The showrunners did things quite well with La Brea, however, and I have no reason to suspect they won't do something similar with Quantum Leap - and take it to new heights.

Clearly they are today's up-and-coming star producers as well with a lot of clout in today's Hollywood climate.

Could they be the ones to pick up Sliders in a reboot too and give Tracy the power he needs to do his own thing?

With Sliders being featured on NBC's Peacock streaming service...anything's possible.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Eventually, it comes back around to series Universal has a stake in; and there’s not a huge list of those that had value at one time.  Currently, there’s Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park.  In the not so distant past, it was Battlestar Galactica.  Knight Rider is another Universal keeps going back to.

Sliders will have its time.  It’s just a question of whether it will be a good one.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

In 2000, Temporal Flux said that SLIDERS would have its time again. I believed him then. It's now 2022 and 22 years later, I still believe him and think that we're 22 years closer to TF being right.

**

Seasons 3 - 5 of SLIDERS suffered from two areas. The first is that SLIDERS from 1994 - 2000 was produced at a time when television was not taken very seriously as an art form. The second is that the creators did not treat the sliders like friends.

In the 90s, TV was filler between commercials. There was no way to present shows on a home video market when NTSC VHS cassettes could only store four hours of standard definition video. Shows would be syndicated if sufficient episodes were made, but the concern there was again, quantity for more commercials. Quality was a ninth or tenth place priority. TV was not required to be a captivating visual product or a model of capable screenwriting. And because VHS recording was glitchy and you had to be in front of a TV at the same time each week to follow a show, the average viewer only watched maybe one-quarter of each season's episodes.

As a result, the people who made television were not particularly aware of the artform's impact on the audience. It was only in the 2000s that psychology entering the mainstream made it clear to the majority of TV creators: audiences relate to TV characters like they are friends. Following a TV show regularly triggers the same brain activity produced by seeing a dear acquaintance or beloved family member.

The average 1990s-era TV producer did not understand this; wasn't aware of this. To them, SLIDERS was 'only' a TV show; they didn't realize that executing Professor Arturo so horrifically was like killing our dad in front of us; didn't see that raping Wade Welles was like raping our baby sister. They weren't supporting murder and rape; they didn't see it as murder and rape because it wasn't real.

I don't believe there are many producers working in TV today who are unaware that TV characters are like friends to the viewer and so long as whoever reboots SLIDERS is emotionally invested in the characters and has the storytelling and production skill to run a TV show effectively, we'll be in a good place.

But of course, a creator can be overinvested. Going back to MACGYVER (sorry): the fourth season is a perfect example of creators becoming too confident in their character. From Seasons 2 - 3, MACGYVER's creators had thrown MacGyver into impossible situation upon impossible situation: having to scale a mountain with a shoelace, having to quench thirst with only contaminated water, having to recharge a solar panel that had been buried underground, having to pass through a nuclear disaster zone with no radiation shielding.

MacGyver triumphed again and again; the creators believed in MacGyver, believed that MacGyver's ingenuity and cleverness could solve any problem and then they had him take a run at global warming and MacGyver was defeated by the fact that MACGYVER is not real life and only a TV show.

I admit, I'd rather SLIDERS' failures be from being too passionate about the characters instead of being uncaring.

(I can't promise not to bring the MACGYVER reboot up again while we talk about reboots.)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

These are all great points and frankly I would add that the amount of shows in a season back then got writers to the point of caring less because they had to crank out so much product.  As you pointed out the business model was more so ad supported back then.

I personally am not a fan of a fair amount of reboots that don't continue with or honor the original characters.  I feel like the original actors and characters literally get dumped.  It seems though hard to get revivals green light vs. reboots.  Old shows have baggage and tend to be dated because it happened 20 or 30 yrs ago.  It is less "cool" for a programming exec to green light them.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

While media casually refers to any property returning after a long hiatus to be a "reboot," there are actually multiple categories of IP relaunches:

Reboot
A reboot is where the continuity starts over again with no acknowledgement of previous productions, and the term is drawn from turning off a computer system and turning it back on. Reboots include THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB (2020), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2012) and THE PRISONER (2009).

THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB would not have benefited from actresses in their 40s reprising roles they played 20 - 25 years previous to have their characters resume jobs they held as adolescents. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST was unlikely to secure Ron Pearlman and Linda Hamilton to reprise their roles in a TV sequel, so recasting and starting over made sense, as did rebuilding the entire concept of the show (a highly civilized lady police officer and a savage warrior fighting crime) in the context of 2012 society. Rebooting both made sense and I would call these two examples of successful reboots.

However, THE PRISONER reboot is my example of a failed reboot where the PRISONER reboot eliminated nearly every point of distinction about the original 1960s show. The original show was defined by characters known by number instead of name, a strong espionage-conspiracy thirller concept, a daring action-adventure formula and a acidically satirical vein of social commentary. The reboot had characters known by name, no spy elements, little action, no adventure and no social satire at all; it wasn't THE PRISONER except in name.

I would say that reboots are successful when the concept and character templates (if not the characters themselves) can be reintepreted and rebuilt to be relevant to the present day and market. Batman has been relentlessly rebooted and can be made darker or lighter as needed for each era. However, reboots fail when the concept is out of step with the needs of the audience or if the production is incompetent or if the reboot is so disconnected from the original that it may as well not use the same name.

Revival
A revival is where the production is set in the original continuity as a sequel to the original production. THE X-FILES, GILMORE GIRLS, SAVED BY THE BELL, PUNKY BREWSTER, GIRL MEETS WORLD and SCREAM all benefitted from being revived when the stars of these properties were working actors and the right age to play older versions of their original characters. They also benefitted from their original storylnes being extremely opportune for sequels.

However, THE X-FILES was a creative failure because despite being a revival, it contradicted or ignored its original (and unfinished) storylines and failed to bring Mulder and Scully to the next stage in their personal and professional relationships the way the other revivals listed above did for their cast. THE X-FILES didn't accomplish the goals of a revival, instead skipping back and forth between ignoring continuity and tying into it, and the results were confusingly impenetrable.

I would say that revivals are successful when the original storylines and characters benefit from resumed exploration, but they fail if the original storylines are too dense, contradictory or confusing for a casual audience who may not have seen or remember the original. They also fall apart if the revival doesn't feel like a new chapter of the original.

THE X-FILES was a peculiar case where the original storylines were too dense, contradictory and confusing for the *writer* attempting to produce a sequel that didn't require the audience to remember much; the writer ended up confusing both the long-time fan and the unfamiliar viewer. And THE X-FILES also put Mulder and Scully exactly where they had been back in the 90s; despite the age of the actors, they felt like they hadn't made any progress.

Rebootquel
A rebootquel is where the continuity starts over but acknowledges the previous productions through time travel. Examples include the STAR TREK 2009 movie and TERMINATOR GENYSIS.

I'd say STAR TREK's rebootquel series was a mixed bag. The first movie was strong, enabling long-time fans to accept an altered continuity while being accessible to new fans. The second movie, however, got hopelessly entangled in continuity and callbacks that were obnoxious and clumsy for long-time fans and nonsensical to new fans. The third one was a strong action story that unfortunately couldn't overcome the audience's dismay with the second movie and make enough money in ticket sales.

And TERMINATOR GENYSIS was truly puzzling and counterintuitive; it rewound back to the 1984 time period of the original movie, but then cast off the 1984 setting as quickly as it could, rendering the rebootquel approach pointless.

This tells me that for a rebootquel to be effective, it needs to embrace the specific time period to which the franchise is rewinding but also embrace that it is a new story, not a remake or sequel to an old story.

Deboot
A deboot is where the continuity rewinds itself to a previous installment and ignores some previous sequels but not the original and possibly a select number of sequels. Examples include TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, HALLOWEEN (2018) and others.

HALLOWEEN's new movies ignore all but the first film; TERMINATOR: DARK FATE ignores all but the first two. HALLOWEEN's sequels were a strong distillation of the original concept and an effective update for a new era. TERMINATOR: DARK FATE was... I liked it well enough, but ticket sales were poor and it's possible that after two bad sequels, an unfinished TV show and long periods where the TERMINATOR franchise had been absent, the audience had atrophied.

In this case, a deboot is an exercise in reverting to the original storytelling template after numerous deviations. HALLOWEEN succeeded because the back to basics, non-supernatural horror of the first film had been lost with the sequels becoming increasingly magical; the deboot felt like a return to form. In contrast, the original TERMINATOR and each sequel had generally featured humans on the run from robots and TERMINATOR: DARK FATE, despite being a deboot, was more of the same and the audience had tired of it and stopped going.

In Conclusion
Reboots: Effective when the concept is timeless but the original storylines don't necessarily need sequels.

Revivals: Effective when the characters and storylines of a past TV show benefit from new exploration and can be made relevant in the present day.

Rebootquels: Effective when the franchise has a large audience but also impenetrably dense continuity in need of a new entry point for casual viewers.

Deboots: Effective when the concept has been distorted and a return to the original idea is welcome.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

books, audiobooks and audio dramas have always been the best way for a sliders revival.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I 100% agree with the audio drama as being one of the best ways to revive Sliders! What's your take on this being the best format to do a revival?

JWSlider3

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

As someone who is hearing impaired, the audio drama would be out for me as an inaccessible medium. So I would have to disagree.

I'd want my favorite TV show back. One season, if that is all we can get. At least the vast majority of the original cast returning. No Kari Wuhrer. Tracy Torme` in charge.

Full stop.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Why not Kari?

336 (edited by RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan 2022-05-15 16:20:10)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

JWSlider3 wrote:

I 100% agree with the audio drama as being one of the best ways to revive Sliders! What's your take on this being the best format to do a revival?

JWSlider3

Whatever Tracy wrote for the failed tv pitch would be utilized is my preference.

Audio drama would be a bit more expensive than audio book due to SAG rates and one actor vs multiple so I am as bullish on audio book format as it lowers the cost barrier th at might otherwise get in the way.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

QuinnSlidr wrote:

As someone who is hearing impaired, the audio drama would be out for me as an inaccessible medium. So I would have to disagree.

I'd want my favorite TV show back. One season, if that is all we can get. At least the vast majority of the original cast returning. No Kari Wuhrer. Tracy Torme` in charge.

Full stop.

The audio book format could come with.a written form of course!  And I am sure if  audio drama happened some fans would be willing to translate it into script format as well.

Of course like you I would prefer television the most but also have to account for our audience not being large enough at this point, especially for a revival vs. a reboot.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

pilight wrote:

Why not Kari?

I would like to wager that Tracy Torme doesn't even know who Kari is.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:
pilight wrote:

Why not Kari?

I would like to wager that Tracy Torme doesn't even know who Kari is.

And that's just fine with me.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

A few stills from the first footage of the new Quantum Leap:

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/nbc-show … evival?amp

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

TemporalFlux wrote:

A few stills from the first footage of the new Quantum Leap:

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/nbc-show … evival?amp


good lord

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

TemporalFlux wrote:

A few stills from the first footage of the new Quantum Leap:

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/nbc-show … evival?amp

This is getting exciting. And it sounds like Raymond Lee is going to do a wonderful job as Dr. Seong.

I'm surprised they haven't leaked the trailer yet.

I can't wait.

343 (edited by RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan 2022-01-27 08:15:40)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Peacock lost 1.7b last year...

https://deadline.com/2022/01/comcast-pe … 234920844/

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

Peacock lost 1.7b last year...

https://deadline.com/2022/01/comcast-pe … 234920844/

Dang. That's not good...

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

QuinnSlidr wrote:
RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

Peacock lost 1.7b last year...

https://deadline.com/2022/01/comcast-pe … 234920844/

Dang. That's not good...

it's why they cant throw 20 million at sliders..

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Maybe it's for the best that Peacock doesn't revive SLIDERS only to cancel it 1 - 2 seasons in like PUNKY BREWSTER or SAVED BY THE BELL due to internal financial issues that have nothing to do with the show.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:

Maybe it's for the best that Peacock doesn't revive SLIDERS only to cancel it 1 - 2 seasons in like PUNKY BREWSTER or SAVED BY THE BELL due to internal financial issues that have nothing to do with the show.

Those are some good points. As much as I would love to see a mainstream station pick up Sliders for a reboot, I would much rather see Netflix or Hulu pick up Sliders if it means we get an additional 3 - 5 seasons and Tracy and the majority of the original cast gets to be involved for all seasons.

The thought occurred to me. If Quantum Leap takes off, perhaps Sliders will follow with a full pilot/series order? They were, after all, always erroneously compared to Quantum Leap by TV Guide reviews/online media in the late '90s.

Perhaps if the Quantum Leap reboot takes off successfully, Sliders won't be far behind.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I think Ireactions makes a great point because things that get canned after a season or two in a revival format gives the lasting impression and feeling that it was a mistake to ever come back.

That said, I certainly am grateful for the good material we got in S10 & 11 of X-Files, and I am a sucker for nostalia.  So bring back our team, a season or two be damned.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

The thing about PUNKY BREWSTER and SAVED BY THE BELL is that it was not the end of the characters' world that they got cancelled. Punky, Zack and Slater have been off the air before and clearly survived it. PUNKY BREWSTER and SAVED BY THE BELL were cancelled, but their de-facto series finales were effective as jumping off points (unlike whatever the hell that was with THE X-FILES leaving poor Skinner run over, maybe dead, maybe alive).

PUNKY BREWSTER ended with Punky starting the adoption process for her little girl; while Season 2 could have shown all the difficulties after that, the Season 1 finale left you knowing that Punky had taken a good step forward. SAVED BY THE BELL ended with the students saving their school and Slater the gym teacher and Jessi the guidance counselor kissing; while a third season could have explored all the problems that would follow; as a final episode, it was a very happy romcom ending.

FAKING IT producer Carter Covington shot Season 3 of FAKING IT concerned that the show might not make it to a fourth year; Covington wasn't willing to end the show with Season 3, so he prepared cliffhangers. However, he described them as "happy cliffhangers" where something nice happened to each character; a fourth season could explore it further, but if there were no fourth season (and there wasn't), the audience would feel that the characters had been left in a good place.

MACGYVER also ended on a 'happy cliffhanger' in Season 5 due to an unexpected non-renewal, but in a rare change of events, I can't talk about it because I have not yet seen it (and now you may sigh with relief).

All this is in stark opposition to Quinn Mallory bleeding out in a field after being shot by the lottery police or the Kromaggs having implanted a slider with a tracking device that would mean any homecoming would be followed by invasion or Quinn and Maggie having "slid into the future" or Quinn nonsensically not bothering to slide to Kromagg Prime despite having the means to bypass the slidecage or Rembrandt jumping into an unstable vortex, fate unknown.

And one of the issues with SLIDERS: it is difficult to give SLIDERS a 'happy cliffhanger' because the sliders are lost in the multiverse. They're either home or they are not home.

I admit, I am sure that no cancellation-induced Peacock revival cliffhanger with Tracy Torme at the helm could possibly be as bad as "The Seer" (which I sometimes argue wasn't necessarily that bad as it enabled a lot of fanfic). I can't be sure of that because Torme did, as previously noted, leave Quinn bleeding out at the end of Season 1.

350 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2022-05-17 18:27:55)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

I'm just thinking out loud here, but that's because I've been out of the fanfic game for awhile. Perhaps The Seer could end on this note, because I am pretty sure in The Seer there was at least one or two instances where he admitted he could not see everything:

Working Title: Sliders Reborn

As Rembrandt is sliding in the vortex, the timer malfunctions. Rembrandt is somehow pulled back into the same universe but in a different location (somewhere around 5 miles away). Turns out he ends up landing in the home of someone who has already solved everything - the Kromagg virus issue, all that. Rembrandt is cured. The scientist responsible for solving all of it? Professor Maximillian P. Arturo.

Shortly thereafter, they find the home of a rather technically advanced whiz kid who is...Quinn Mallory as always. He is an advanced physics student and electronics engineer, and kept hiding on this world after the Sliders adventures were discovered. So he has kept to himself, and him and Arturo have kept a very low profile. Such a low profile, in fact, that he developed a very large living enclosure bunker that would hide them from The Seer, for however long it took.

Throughout sliding, the new Quinn somehow ran into Dr. Geiger. They became friends, until Quinn figured out what his real intentions was. He figured out a way to hide from Dr. Geiger, and ended up making a home on Seer world.

Spending time with Dr. Geiger, Quinn figured out Dr. Geiger's machinery. It turns out that Quinn has solved all of the issues with Dr. Geiger's "recombinator." He is able to reconstitute Quinn Prime, and separate both Mallory and Quinn back to their usual selves. He is also able to unstuck Colin. Colin magically slides back as himself.

The next scientist on our list: one Wade Welles. She has become a biologist and very experienced one at that. She is able to make sure that Rembrandt has no trace of the virus, and make it so that Rembrandt is cured, unable to take the virus to the next world. This is the second step in Rembrandt's being cured that needs to happen. Turns out that all 3 Sliders were able to come up with a viable solution to their problems together.

With that, with a brief cameo of around 1 minute, Mallory, Diana, and Maggie all decide to stay on Seer world, letting the original Sliders depart and leave that world, continuing their quest to find home. Colin joins the original Sliders on their quest for home for a couple of episodes.

It's goodbye to not only Seer world, but the old Sliders as well. Now to say hello to the latest, brand-new Sliders who are all in Torme's universe now, and the original cast.

Haha. I had to...

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Why is the title of your story Sliders Reborn?

**

"The Seer" provides a very simple explanation for the Seer's vision: the Seer's premonition of death immediately after the sliders stepped through the vortex was not their deaths, but the Seer's own demise. This has always been, at least to me, a very obvious back door to avoid really killing Rembrandt off.

And because "The Seer" does not specify what world Rembrandt will slide to, does not have the Season 5 sliders join Rembrandt, does not show what's on the other side of Rembrandt's gateway, and also has Rembrandt take the broken Egyptian timer with him, there is absolutely no limit to what could be waiting for Rembrandt when he emerges after the end of "The Seer." Perhaps he makes it home; that's Temporal Flux's view as established in his SLIDERS DECLASSIFIED series. Perhaps the gateway is actually the end of a timeloop that rolls back in terms of plotting if not in-universe to Season 2 as suggested by "Slide Effects." Perhaps Rembrandt encounters the Quinn Mallory of the Azure Gate Bridge world as proposed by Slider_Quinn21.

Or perhaps Rembrandt came out of the other side of the vortex to find Quinn, Wade and Arturo waiting for him, miraculously and impossibly alive, somehow restored through the infinite possibilities of sliding, somehow able to locate their friend, somehow ready to lay Seasons 3 - 5 to rest and restore the status quo and sorry, why is your story called Sliders Reborn?

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:

Why is the title of your story Sliders Reborn?

**

"The Seer" provides a very simple explanation for the Seer's vision: the Seer's premonition of death immediately after the sliders stepped through the vortex was not their deaths, but the Seer's own demise. This has always been, at least to me, a very obvious back door to avoid really killing Rembrandt off.

And because "The Seer" does not specify what world Rembrandt will slide to, does not have the Season 5 sliders join Rembrandt, does not show what's on the other side of Rembrandt's gateway, and also has Rembrandt take the broken Egyptian timer with him, there is absolutely no limit to what could be waiting for Rembrandt when he emerges after the end of "The Seer." Perhaps he makes it home; that's Temporal Flux's view as established in his SLIDERS DECLASSIFIED series. Perhaps the gateway is actually the end of a timeloop that rolls back in terms of plotting if not in-universe to Season 2 as suggested by "Slide Effects." Perhaps Rembrandt encounters the Quinn Mallory of the Azure Gate Bridge world as proposed by Slider_Quinn21.

Or perhaps Rembrandt came out of the other side of the vortex to find Quinn, Wade and Arturo waiting for him, miraculously and impossibly alive, somehow restored through the infinite possibilities of sliding, somehow able to locate their friend, somehow ready to lay Seasons 3 - 5 to rest and restore the status quo and sorry, why is your story called Sliders Reborn?

Like I said. Been out of the fan fic game for awhile. Even my title writing skills are rusty. smile

Indeed. There is truly a multiverse of possibilities here.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

Peacock lost 1.7b last year...

https://deadline.com/2022/01/comcast-pe … 234920844/


Almost all the streaming services are struggling.  The main exception is Hulu, which is largely ad-supported.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Looks like Comet TV is airing sliders 1a and 2 a eastern most nights, they are mid season 3, so I'm guessing they are a month in, must of started late April, we need to write in and thank them for

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

sliders5125 wrote:

Looks like Comet TV is airing sliders 1a and 2 a eastern most nights, they are mid season 3, so I'm guessing they are a month in, must of started late April, we need to write in and thank them for


yes.

it got bumped due to X Files and Quantum Leap priority.

I am hoping it comes back at a normal hour but you are right we shouldn't assume it will stay in the lineup.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Caution: this post suggests a Crossover for a SLIDERS revival series premiere (dun dun dunhhhhh!).

What if... the QUANTUM LEAP revival had an episode that served as a backdoor pilot for SLIDERS? What would it be like?

What if... Dr. Ben Seong needs an outside perspective on Project Quantum Leap? What if he decides to go to his local Doppler Computer Chain and talk to the Repair Squad clerk behind the counter, an awkward grad school dropout named Quinn Mallory (played either by Jerry O'Connell or... I dunno, Corey Fogelmanis (genius eccentric on GIRL MEETS WORLD) if it's a young version).

What if Dr. Seong think fondly of his old classmate Quinn as a brilliant, clever scientist who was more interested in practical engineering than quantum mechanics?

What if we learn that Quinn was a well-regarded grad student until his foolhardy effort to build a quantization field generator in the faculty basement accidentally burned the building down, but Dr. Seong still likes to meet up with Quinn now and then and bounce ideas off him and offer him freelance work (as Quinn's lack of credentials has reduced him to fixing computers at the Doppler Electronics chain for minimum wage).

Perhaps Quinn alludes to his own projects that he's been working on.

Perhaps Quinn brings Dr. Seong back home to The Basement show him his attempts at anti-gravity to solve an immediate problem Seong is having in trying to retrieve the long-missing Sam Beckett.

Perhaps Quinn's demonstration knocks out the power to half of the Western coastal area of America.

Perhaps the last we see of Quinn on the QUANTUM LEAP revival, Dr. Seong is grimly waving goodbye to Quinn as the police march Quinn out of The Basement.

Perhaps later, Dr. Seong realizes Quinn's idea sparked something in him that lets him resolve the issue of the week, and in gratitude, Seong has Project Quantum Leap pay off Quinn's legal bills and get him out of jail.

Perhaps Project Quantum Leap Administration declares that Seong is to never involve Quinn in Project Quantum Leap again and pre-emptively declares that Quinn will be shot on sight should he ever be within half a city block of the building. (Shot with paint, but still.)

Perhaps this leads into a SLIDERS pilot where Quinn is further disgraced in the scientific community and now hated by his neighbours (he knocked out the power during an important game of sportsball, I'm sorry, I don't know sports, but people seem to care about them). Quinn helps his neighbour, Stephanie, retrieve her runaway dog. Stephanie proceeds to set her dog on Quinn because Quinn made her miss the super... plate... something. (I am sorry. I don't know sports, but people really care about them.)

Perhaps after a mild mauling, Quinn is now ready to give up on science, take everything in the basement to a landfill and call it a day on Science.

Perhaps, as Quinn is packing up, he accidentally reboots his hardware and then something appears in Quinn's basement. A burst of light. A light that does not fade but remains suspended in the air. The light begins to widen. What could it be?

Perhaps it is split in the very skin of reality itself. A split that becomes a gateway.

And perhaps the adventure begins again...

357 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2022-07-03 23:06:47)

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

ireactions wrote:
Caution: this post suggests a Crossover for a SLIDERS revival series premiere (dun dun dunhhhhh!).

What if... the QUANTUM LEAP revival had an episode that served as a backdoor pilot for SLIDERS? What would it be like?

What if... Dr. Ben Seong needs an outside perspective on Project Quantum Leap? What if he decides to go to his local Doppler Computer Chain and talk to the Repair Squad clerk behind the counter, an awkward grad school dropout named Quinn Mallory (played either by Jerry O'Connell or... I dunno, Corey Fogelmanis (genius eccentric on GIRL MEETS WORLD) if it's a young version).

What if Dr. Seong think fondly of his old classmate Quinn as a brilliant, clever scientist who was more interested in practical engineering than quantum mechanics?

What if we learn that Quinn was a well-regarded grad student until his foolhardy effort to build a quantization field generator in the faculty basement accidentally burned the building down, but Dr. Seong still likes to meet up with Quinn now and then and bounce ideas off him and offer him freelance work (as Quinn's lack of credentials has reduced him to fixing computers at the Doppler Electronics chain for minimum wage).

Perhaps Quinn alludes to his own projects that he's been working on.

Perhaps Quinn brings Dr. Seong back home to The Basement show him his attempts at anti-gravity to solve an immediate problem Seong is having in trying to retrieve the long-missing Sam Beckett.

Perhaps Quinn's demonstration knocks out the power to half of the Western coastal area of America.

Perhaps the last we see of Quinn on the QUANTUM LEAP revival, Dr. Seong is grimly waving goodbye to Quinn as the police march Quinn out of The Basement.

Perhaps later, Dr. Seong realizes Quinn's idea sparked something in him that lets him resolve the issue of the week, and in gratitude, Seong has Project Quantum Leap pay off Quinn's legal bills and get him out of jail.

Perhaps Project Quantum Leap Administration declares that Seong is to never involve Quinn in Project Quantum Leap again and pre-emptively declares that Quinn will be shot on sight should he ever be within half a city block of the building. (Shot with paint, but still.)

Perhaps this leads into a SLIDERS pilot where Quinn is further disgraced in the scientific community and now hated by his neighbours (he knocked out the power during an important game of sportsball, I'm sorry, I don't know sports, but people seem to care about them). Quinn helps his neighbour, Stephanie, retrieve her runaway dog. Stephanie proceeds to set her dog on Quinn because Quinn made her miss the super... plate... something. (I am sorry. I don't know sports, but people really care about them.)

Perhaps after a mild mauling, Quinn is now ready to give up on science, take everything in the basement to a landfill and call it a day on Science.

Perhaps, as Quinn is packing up, he accidentally reboots his hardware and then something appears in Quinn's basement. A burst of light. A light that does not fade but remains suspended in the air. The light begins to widen. What could it be?

Perhaps it is split in the very skin of reality itself. A split that becomes a gateway.

And perhaps the adventure begins again...

That is quite the creative multiversal branch there. I can dig it. Dr. Seong and Quinn Mallory being acquaintances in that universe...

This fall TV season cannot come soon enough for this Quantum Leap fan.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

The crossover episode concept is a great way to have sliders get some airtime again. 

I am pretty disappointed though that Quantum Leap went the route it did and totally rebooted.  It's so disrespectful.  But the MacGyver reboot worked out so maybe it will work out for them.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

I am pretty disappointed though that Quantum Leap went the route it did and totally rebooted.

That is... less than accurate. From NBCUniversal:

It’s been nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished.
Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Seong (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.

Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it.

QUANTUM LEAP 2022 is a revival. It is not a reboot. The lead character is investigating the disappearance of Sam Beckett from the 1989 show.

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

The crossover episode concept is a great way to have sliders get some airtime again.

It was the SLIDERS writers intention that Maggie Beckett is Sam's niece. The General in "The Return of Maggie Beckett" is supposed to be Tom Beckett, the brother Sam saved from death in Vietnam via time travel. Possibly more an in-joke than a direct crossover.

In my head canon, the Quinn we met in the Pilot and the Quinn we met in "World Killer" had one key difference: the Quinn we met in the Pilot spoke with Dr. Sam Beckett in his childhood, but the "World Killer" double didn't.

I imagine that when Quinn was 11, Sam gave a lecture on engineering and quantum mechanics at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Sam brought along his niece, 17 year old Margaret-Allison, as she'd recently had a fight with her father over something or other and needed some time away.

Both versions of Quinn attended this lecture. Afterwards, 11 year old Quinn rushed up to Sam as he was leaving with a question.  Margaret-Allison instinctively jumped in front of Quinn to block Sam from a perceived threat. 11 year old Quinn smashed right into Margaret-Allison. Both toppled over. Margaret-Allison's bottle of water drenched her white T-shirt rendering it near-transparent.

The "World Killer" version of Quinn tried to take control of the situation by saying something grotesquely oversexual to Margaret-Allison. Margaret-Allison shoved Quinn in disgust. He landed on his ass and crawled to his feet. Sam restrained his niece from beating up a 11 year old and told Quinn to run before Maggie killed him. "World Killer" Quinn fled.

Our Quinn didn't make a joke. Our Quinn got up and immediately pulled off his brown jacket and offered it to Margaret-Allison to wrap around herself. Our Quinn yanked off his flannel shirt as well to let her wear it (Quinn had a T-shirt underneath). Our Quinn apologized with each article of clothing he handed over.

Maggie was furious, but Sam intervened, saying it was obviously an accident as Quinn was sorry and Quinn was literally offering Maggie the clothes off his back. Maggie softened, recognizing that Quinn was a child.

Sam asked Quinn why he had been running. Quinn said he had a question for Sam but had been to shy to ask in the lecture. Quinn said he wanted to study quantum chromodynamics but didn't have the equipment for a physical Lagrangian gauge model. Could Sam give advice to a boy wanting to do science in his basement?

Sam said that as a boy, Sam developed his interest in string theory from the nearly two-dimensional shape of his brother's guitar strings. Sam suggested that rather than attempt a full size model, Quinn could instead use analogues: a football dangled from a hockey stick above a kettle, perhaps.

"Good scientists start small," Sam explained to our Quinn. "World Killer" Quinn never received this advice and made a sliding machine that slid away the entire planet's population.

I'm sure that the QUANTUM LEAP revival (which is a sequel) will focus entirely on the complex relationship between Quinn Mallory, Sam Beckett and Sam's beloved niece, Maggie.

I am certain that the catalyst for Dr. Ben Seong to locate Sam will be Quinn Mallory himself. I can't see how a QUANTUM LEAP revival would be about anything other than the secret and shared history between two science heroes, Dr. Sam Beckett and grad school dropout Quinn Mallory, eventually bringing in Mr. Spock, Sherlock Holmes, MacGyver, Dana Scully, and Dr. Miles Hawkins from MANTIS.

**

On a more serious note, one of my favourite shows in recent years was KEVIN CAN **** HIMSELF, a sitcom/drama where we get two different versions of the same reality: one a sitcom with a laugh track, one a bleak HBO Max style drama of desperation and pathos.

Raymond Lee is one of the high points of the show, putting forward a truly excellent performance in his role. He's very good and I'm glad he'll be the lead of the new QUANTUM LEAP.

I feel like fans might prefer that Scott Bakula be the lead, but creatively, there seems to be the sense that without Dean Stockwell as Al, the Sam character can't work in quite the same way and Bakula might be best as the former generation appearing to pass the torch.

I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about, I've seen very little QUANTUM LEAP. However, I did listen to all the REWATCH PODCAST episodes covering it, so I can bluff through any conversation about it.

Re: Reboots: The Return of Sliders (?), Quantum Leap, and Other Properties

Aahhh yes. RIP Dean Stockwell. sad

But with A.I., couldn't they replace Dean Stockwell's face on another actor and re-create his voice to be almost identical? We have the technology. One particular freelance Elvis impersonator on YouTube (look up Luigi Leppo) is already doing that with Elvis by creating brand-new songs that Elvis was never recorded on video performing. Done with his exact face, and his exact voice. As I said, we have the tech. We just need a TV show to implement it successfully.

There is also a mobile app that does this (the consumer-grade non-professional version) called Re-face.