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

which chatbot are you using?

482 (edited by RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan 2022-12-02 20:41:40)

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

Lego_Sliders wrote:

which chatbot are you using?

ChatGPT

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

Where's Wade?

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

Can SLIDERS learn anything from COBRA KAI, the highly successful revival of THE KARATE KID movies from 1984, 1986, 1989 and 1994?

Well, there is one thing that COBRA KAI does that I really like: COBRA KAI is extremely respectful and constructive will all aspects of THE KARATE KID movies. COBRA KAI has the Karate Kid, Daniel, express his longing and love for his now-deceased mentor, Mr. Miyagi, and has Daniel passing on the lessons his teacher taught him but with Daniel's own spin on his old learnings. COBRA KAI declares that all the story elements and characters of the original KARATE KID and its sequel are significant, meaningful events that are remembered with warmth and appreciation but also with some humour and the ability to poke fun.

But COBRA KAI is also respectful towards the parts of the KARATE KID franchise that are mocked and dismissed by fans. THE KARATE KID III is one of the most-loathed films ever made and described by its own director as "a terrible movie and a poor imitation of the first one."  And yet... COBRA KAI has made a meal out of it over the last four seasons of the show.

In the second season, COBRA KAI delves into KK3's clumsy storyline and has Daniel, the title Karate Kid, describe the plot of KK3 where he joined the bullies' karate dojo and unleashed a darkness in himself of which he is deeply ashamed. This plot point was, even to longtime fans, shocking; Daniel was so out of character in KK3 that most fans had blocked it out of their memory, but COBRA KAI even showed clips from KK3 to set this unfortunate part of Daniel's story in stone and mine it for characterization.

In KK3, the antagonist John Kreese received some brief references to his war trauma in Vietnam that were presented in a crass, cartoonish fashion where Kreese was simply an insane bully. COBRA KAI's third season also delved into this in flashbacks, showing Kreese's origins as a sweet and honourable kid whose Vietnam captivity and the betrayal of a commanding officer warped him into the twisted, cruel man who terrorized Daniel in the original KARATE KID movies. COBRA KAI took a very silly element of KARATE KID 3 and made it meaningful.

In KK3, the other antagonist was Terry Silver, a ridiculously thin character; Terry was a fortysomething Vietnam vet turned wealthy industrialist who inexplicably spent weeks and tens of millions of dollars trying to humiliate Daniel in a karate tournament in a convoluted and labyrinth plan, each step of which Terry carried out with bizarrely hysterical giggling. COBRA KAI brought Terry back in the fourth season and Terry expressed deep embarrassment over his obsessive need to humiliate a teenager back in the 80s; he confessed that he'd been traumatized by Vietnam and had been high on cocaine during the entire third movie.

However, Terry's buried demons soon resurface into a more disturbing form and he becomes the central antagonist for COBRA KAI's fifth season. Once again, COBRA KAI took an incredibly silly and clumsily written aspect of the KARATE KID mythos and took it seriously, infusing it with thought, awareness, tragedy and charm.

One other much maligned aspect of KARATE KID III was the character of Mike Barnes, a karate tournament contestant whose fighting style consisted of screaming deranged and racist insults at Daniel and his Karate Kid teacher. Barnes reappears in the fifth season of COBRA KAI and the moment he runs into Daniel, Barnes apologizes for his behaviour and for his terrible words and actions, saying that for his unsportsmanlike conduct, he received a lifetime ban from karate and lost his purpose in life which he realized he'd brought upon himself; he turned his hands to building furniture and he is relieved to see Daniel so that he can make amends. Daniel is deeply relieved that his old enemy is no longer an enemy and that he only needs to worry about the other two.

This is something I really appreciated about COBRA KAI; it declared that even the bad aspects of KARATE KID are still part of the story and they belong and that if regarded with love and care and interest and curiosity, they can become meaningful and vital and special.

A SLIDERS reboot would probably have to do this in a highly indirect way.

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

Season three only needed one redhead. -LSC-

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

Quantum Leap hanging in there - renewed for season two:

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/amp/news … -season-2/

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

Congratulations to all QUANTUM LEAP fans! I'm very happy for all of you.

And what if in Season 2, Ben looks up an old friend?

What if Ben goes to see someone he knows from Berkeley University? What if Ben's friend is a former classmate who washed out of the advanced physics program? What is this friend is a college dropout now in his late forties who fixes computers for minimum wage at the local Doppler Computers. a former boy genius turned overqualified big box staffer?

What if Ben's friend is a dreamer-turned-cynic who was dented and diminished by his failure to create antigravity back in the 90s? What if Ben's friend is a computer technician in a bad place who needs Ben to inspire him to take a leap of faith and slide into a new dimension of possibilities for the life he could still build?

What if... ?

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

ireactions wrote:

Congratulations to all QUANTUM LEAP fans! I'm very happy for all of you.

And what if in Season 2, Ben looks up an old friend?

What if Ben goes to see someone he knows from Berkeley University? What if Ben's friend is a former classmate who washed out of the advanced physics program? What is this friend is a college dropout now in his late forties who fixes computers for minimum wage at the local Doppler Computers. a former boy genius turned overqualified big box staffer?

What if Ben's friend is a dreamer-turned-cynic who was dented and diminished by his failure to create antigravity back in the 90s? What if Ben's friend is a computer technician in a bad place who needs Ben to inspire him to take a leap of faith and slide into a new dimension of possibilities for the life he could still build?

What if... ?


I love it

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

@ireactions
What you said actually happened. Quantum Leap/Sliders: The Great Divide was a four issue series that was scheduled for fall, unfortunetely the people publishing QL were more interested in T&L. However it was referenced in the backup story for Sliders issue #57, the Great Leap Forward.

This actually happened...?

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

I think you're referring to the QUANTUM SLIDE pitches: https://earthprime.com/sliders-comics/lost-comics/

Acclaim Comics fell apart in 1998 and ceased publication, making a brief return a year later only to cease once more. As far as I can tell, Acclaim had across the board distribution issues and were having trouble getting their books into comic shops. In addition, their parent company, video game manufacturer Acclaim Entertainment, were having serious financial difficulties in getting paid for their video games from licensors who'd commissioned their services. The entire company went down; I don't think they specifically cast aside SLIDERS.

That said, their stewardship of the popularity was... peculiar. For whatever reason, they hired superhero veterans to write and draw a property that was really more suited to DC-Vertigo style writing and artwork. They had deadlines that required some decent comic book writers to hack out scripts without any real familiarity with the series and no time to properly watch and absorb the existing episodes. They nonsensically had two excellent artists for NARCOTICA with two totally contradictory styles draw opposite halves of one story. This may have more to do with the haste and rushed licensing demands from Universal and less to do with Acclaim Comics themselves.

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

I was hoping for Iron Quinn, or Wonder Wade, but that's enough facetiousness out of me.

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

Well, former comic book editor Valerie D'Orazio has written some horrible, horrible stories about how she was harassed and threatened as a woman working in comic book publishing and administration. D'Orazio worked at Acclaim Comics during the SLIDERS licensing period and right up to Acclaim's shutdown, and... D'Orazio had absolutely nothing bad to say about the company.

D'Orazio is filled with fiery outrage and loathing for DC Comics and for a stint at Marvel, but with Acclaim, she notes that her boyfriend at the time was cheating on her and that she overindulged at the open bar at an Acclaim party and doesn't remember what happened next.

When D'Orazio got over her hangover and staggered into work, she was forced to attend an office meeting with every staff member present where Acclaim's chief, Fabian Nicieza, proceeded to lecture the entire office on being careful with alcohol consumption, looking out for each other, and ensuring that everyone came out of a party and made it home safely. He deliberately told the entire team to be more responsible and made sure not to single any one person out, giving everyone dignity while laying out their duty.

Acclaim is the only publisher to come out of D'Orazio's memoir looking like a good company of good people. I don't think Acclaim Comics failed; I think their parent company failed them.

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

90s nostalgia has begun: https://www.cbr.com/that-90s-show-nostalgia/

Let us once again take a moment to say PROPERTY FROM OVER 22 YEARS AGO is making a comeback, can a SLIDERS revival be far behind?

To which the answer is: of course the sliders will come back. There will come a time when we are faced with deadly ultimatums from armadas craving blood and splendor, when we are beset by narcotica-driven madness from false claims of deadly secrets. In our moment of greatest need, Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo will return to save us. I admit, I've been waiting a long time, but it's been 22 years, and I can wait a little longer.

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

Sliders will be back.  I'm less convinced that Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo will return.

495 (edited by Lego_Sliders 2022-12-29 22:31:04)

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

The question is, how much of the original show will remain?

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

Is anybody here familiar with Table Top Role Playing Games.   I knew of D&D ( i guess that qualifies?) but didn't really understand the market / active audience around this.

There  is a company called Free League that has licensed numerous properties (including Amazon's Tales From the Loop): https://freeleaguepublishing.com/

The games seem to be niche market, high priced producted ($50 to $100) that attracts a loyal "geek" audience who just loves this stuff.  Since SLIDERS has very high brand familiarity, and a choose-your-own adventure element, I am wondering if SLIDERS may be a good fit for a game publisher.

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

So, how is QUANTUM LEAP for everyone?

I am hoping to catch up with the revival some time in March. I hope everyone likes how it's shaping up. As SLIDERS fans, we must always wish revivals the very best in their content and fan response.

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

Quantum Leap is OK.  I like it being a continuation of the original series.  OTOH they're playing very fast and loose with the rules of leaping and characters seem to be keeping secrets just for the sake of keeping secrets, which is too much of a contrivance.

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

They were extending season 1 to more episodes right?

They haven't rolled out any new ones, have they?

The initial stuff I've seen is decent tv and I am glad to have it.  I can see why it has done well on streaming. 

I don't think it's anything incredible, it doesn't match some of the magic of the original, but that's OK.  Would much rather have it than not and will continue to support it via streaming.

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

Been watching some of the Paramount+ Twilight Zone reboot with Jordan Peele (also currently airing on SyFy).

The stories are kind of middling (the Apple TV Amazing Stories reboot was much better); but Jordan Peele as narrator is spot on perfect.  It’s basically a Rod Serling impersonation, but Rod’s character is what gave the series its identity.  Rod was in many ways the first Slider; we followed him each week as he traveled from reality to reality and encountered strange places and ideas.

That said, I was really struck by the penultimate episode of Peele’s season two, “Try, Try” starring Topher Grace.  It starts slow and is a bit too wordy, but it builds into something really interesting.  On reflection after the viewing, it improves more.  It was a refreshing take on an old sci-fi trope.

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

TemporalFlux wrote:

That said, I was really struck by the penultimate episode of Peele’s season two, “Try, Try” starring Topher Grace.  It starts slow and is a bit too wordy, but it builds into something really interesting.  On reflection after the viewing, it improves more.  It was a refreshing take on an old sci-fi trope.

agree...

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

With today’s nominations, we now we have a Sliders type movie that stands to sweep the Oscars.  How much longer can Universal ignore what they’re sitting on?

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

TemporalFlux wrote:

With today’s nominations, we now we have a Sliders type movie that stands to sweep the Oscars.  How much longer can Universal ignore what they’re sitting on?

They keep waiting on a prestige creator / showrunner

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

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:
TemporalFlux wrote:

With today’s nominations, we now we have a Sliders type movie that stands to sweep the Oscars.  How much longer can Universal ignore what they’re sitting on?

They keep waiting on a prestige creator / showrunner

I guess they’re not interested, but I still think Seth McFarlane / David A. Goodman would be perfect.  Seth has a development deal with Universal right now

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

TemporalFlux wrote:
RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:
TemporalFlux wrote:

With today’s nominations, we now we have a Sliders type movie that stands to sweep the Oscars.  How much longer can Universal ignore what they’re sitting on?

They keep waiting on a prestige creator / showrunner

I guess they’re not interested, but I still think Seth McFarlane / David A. Goodman would be perfect.  Seth has a development deal with Universal right now

I've said this in the past too.  And Orville's episode on the social media stuff was basically what a current day episode of Sliders on network tv would  be.   But there's got to be a desire to want to do things under the sliders brand (and it's brand got tarnished by schlock) or continue with the older characters (and nearly no prestige showrunner would have interest in that).

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

I think there is a lot making a SLIDERS revival difficult right now. Peacock is losing $3 billion this year. Revivals of existing NBCUniversal properties have proven to have a lot of misses, a few small successes, and not necessarily a lot of hits. MACGYVER and QUANTUM LEAP did okay. But SAVED BY THE BELL, PUNKY BREWSTER and pre-streaming revivals like KNIGHT RIDER and BIONIC WOMAN all had more cultural weight than SLIDERS and none of those were successful enough to stay on the air.

Then we have Tracy Torme who, for reasons I fully understand, pitched a revival that wasn't going to be a clean reboot like MACGYVER but instead called for using Jerry and Cleavant as the original sliders with paths to bring John and Sabrina in pending their availability. This next-generation approach was highly successful for GHOSTBUSTERS and BILL AND TED (on streaming services), but GHOSTBUSTERS and BILL AND TED were cultural phenomena. With SLIDERS, yes, people remember the pilot on FOX, but SLIDERS is in the position of really needing to start over and build the brand from ground-up.

Torme, however, seemed to want to build on a foundation that, fairly or unfairly, is viewed as shaky and a little inaccessible (if we're sticking to the theory that Torme was going to say that some time after "The Guardian", the sliders missed the window and hand to settle down on a parallel Earth and all the post-"Guardian" episodes were doubles/dreams and nightmares after the Professor had a bad taco). It wasn't a clean reboot, and NBCUniversal very understandably didn't want a SLIDERS that wasn't a clean reboot.

Torme might feel that the only version of SLIDERS worth pitching was the one he felt passionate about pitching and that was a next-generation pitch, whereas someone else could pitch the clean reboot. And maybe that's what needs to happen: someone like Seth MacFarlane has to pitch NBCU (and maybe Torme) on getting behind a reboot to SLIDERS featuring new performers playing Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo. It clearly isn't Torme's first choice, but it's called BROADcasting for a reason.

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

Night Court (2023) is one hundred percent cringe. The laugh track is used every other second, the bailiff is played as a spastic, the roles are reversed (Dan Fielding was a prosecutor in the original) and is now playing for the defense! The court clerk can't keep his mouth shut, and the actress playing the prosecution couldn't act her way out of a kosher pickle barrel!

I understand that most of the original cast has died, but to replace all of the main roles (judge, prosecution, bailiff, court clerk) with people who act more like attention seeking children than adults... it's just too much.

I really wanted it to make me laugh. It was one of the few american shows I was actually looking forward to watching.

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

Quantum Leap has been back for two weeks and nobody told me! Come on now. TemporalFlux, where are your Quantum Leap reviews???

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

QuinnSlidr wrote:

Quantum Leap has been back for two weeks and nobody told me! Come on now. TemporalFlux, where are your Quantum Leap reviews???

So it did come back.... didn't realize

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

PARTY DOWN is a cancelled two season show that's a bit like that reboot of SLIDERS that I pitched where Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo are running a mini hamburger restaurant called Sliders. PARTY DOWN is about a gang of misfits who are alternatively depressives or delusionals or some combination of both; they are caterers and wait staff for parties. Every episode features their hijinks and disasters at a different party whether it's a birthday, a corporate function, an orgy, a funeral, a wedding, or a mafia meeting.

PARTY DOWN features Adam Scott as Henry, a deeply depressed bartender/waiter/ex-actor whose miserable neuroticism is oddly reminiscent of Tracy Torme's original conception of Quinn Mallory before Jerry O'Connell was cast. There's also Ryan Hansen, an airheaded male model/actor whose dim-witted good-naturedness and strangely compelling talent is oddly reminiscent of Jerry O'Connell in his early 20s. Also present is Lizzy Caplan as Casey, a sardonic stand-up comedian with a certain wonky energy that's oddly reminiscent of Sabrina Lloyd but with a more cynical bent.

Rounding out the waiters is Jane Lynch as Constance, a bit-part actor who thinks she was more successful than she actually was with a certain hapless confidence that's oddly reminiscent of Cleavant Derricks. And then there's Ken Marino as Ron, the groundlessly arrogant 'team leader' who is vastly overconfident in his leadership and oddly reminiscent of John Rhys-Davies.

The show is noteworthy for how it is bitterly devoid of optimism. None of these would-be actors ever get a worthwhile role and even if they do, their scenes are cut from the movies. None of their business plans to escape their minimum wage drudgery go anywhere. None of their romantic pursuits are in any way a meeting of the minds and in fact just add a numbing effect to their mindless jobs as caterers and waiters. None of the supposed professional opportunities they find from 'networking' as caterers and waiters lead anywhere.

I'm not sure who even watched this show; there was a 20 episode order across 2009 - 2010 on STARZ and the show reportedly had an audience of around 100,000 viewers. STARZ rightly cancelled it in a vaguely optimistic 20th and final episode and that was clearly the end of that.

For reasons I cannot explain, PARTY DOWN had its Season 3 premiere this past week, 13 years after the Season 2 finale back in 2010. Everyone except Lizzy Caplan as Casey has returned for a new run of six episodes. (She had scheduling issues.) The show has had to come up with a reason for why everyone except Casey is still cater-waitering after 13 years. I'm excited to watch it.

Nobody watched this show. It was cancelled. It was over. Now it's back. Could this happen with SLIDERS?

511 (edited by SliderNum5 2023-02-27 14:23:07)

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

The season premiere of the hypothetical sixth season would have to be a collage of multiple versions of Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, Maggie, Colin, Diana and Mallory. They all exist in separate worlds and they all feel something from each other. Something ain't right. Their minds confuse the logic of each world and upends it accordingly. They understand that they shouldn't exist. This is something they all have to grapple with.

Quinn figures it out the fix, naturally. The reason for this is Mallory and Colin. The unstuckness of it all has thrown a rock into an already cracked glass pane of multi-verse existence.

End of the episode is Quinn literally rebooting the events of the previous 5 seasons using some kind of new device he's created to make it right. End of episode: A new existence is created... but the fragments of these deleted pasts still linger in the minds of a group of new Sliders.

Something like that feels like the right approach in 2023.

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

If you were to do this story, you would probably have to premiere the 2023 show with the new sliders and put your revelation about the original sliders at the end of the first season to make it an entry-level story.

Maybe the sliders are four homeless people who choose to squat in the soon-to-be demolished Mallory house, they find Quinn's abandoned sliding machine and uncover Quinn's first-first timer (a MicroTAC 9800x rather than the UltraLITE model, presumably a prototype of the original timer that Quinn powered with double-As instead of the regenerative power chip). The new sliders trigger the timer by accident and are lost in the multiverse.

Throughout the new pilot and subsequent episodes, the new sliders encounter Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt, Arturo, Maggie, Colin, Diana and Mallory who appear as recurring doubles: Quinn is a tech support worker at a computer store, Wade is a journalist, Rembrandt is a music teacher, the Professor is the Professor, Maggie is a cop, Colin is an airplane mechanic, Diana is a doctor, Mallory is a thief.

Then in the season finale, the new sliders realize that these guest-stars they've met along the way were split across multiple realities as fragments, and the new sliders have to recombine these fragments in order to get Quinn's help to fix their broken timer.

513 (edited by pneumatic 2023-02-28 02:29:09)

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

I would like to see a "spiritual successor" type show that focuses on recreating the same production values as the original.  It should have just enough new ideas to keep it away from remake territory, but enough in common that you can tell it has the same soul.  Maybe some hidden "easter egg" hints that the characters are secretly reincarnations of the original Sliders, perhaps only in some philosophical sense, but never fully disclosed and left mostly to the imagination. 

But the most important thing to me is those 90s TV show production values. The storyboard, the writing, pacing & continuity, the grammar (the way people talk back then is very different to how people talk today) and the soundtrack - those Sliders theme songs which play in the end credits are superb imo.   It should also be shot in "4:3 safe" mode - a full 16:9 frame but all the subject matter is kept within the middle 4:3 zone.  So the framing/composition is still 4:3 but people can't complain about black borders (or you could even overlay borders yourself if so inclined and nothing important to the scene would get cut off).

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

pneumatic wrote:

But the most important thing to me is those 90s TV show production values. The storyboard, the writing, pacing & continuity, the grammar (the way people talk back then is very different to how people talk today) and the soundtrack - those Sliders theme songs which play in the end credits are superb imo.   It should also be shot in "4:3 safe" mode - a full 16:9 frame but all the subject matter is kept within the middle 4:3 zone.

This might happen for flashbacks or isolated sequences. SAVED BY THE BELL's revival had some comedy flashbacks to old episodes where everything was filmed in 4:3 with a filter over the image to mimic a fuzzy analog videotape.

But it's unlikely that any 2023+ production is going to mimic the limitations and dialogue and cinematography and lighting of a 1994 show for the entirety of running length. Why would any TV show spend more money to look cheap and dated beyond individual scenes?

515 (edited by pneumatic 2023-02-28 06:17:52)

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

Yeah I agree the general public won't accept 4:3, but I don't think they will notice if there are no black borders.   All it does is change the artistic framing/composition of scenes, eg. actors will be standing in the middle of the frame instead of being spread out over the full width of the frame.   

I'm watching Charmed HD remaster (1995 season 1) and it looks to be 4:3 safe with framing of the shots and text overlays being kept within the centre 4:3 zone.  I think it was mostly in that transition period in the 2000's when half of viewers didn't have 16:9 TV's yet so they shot stuff as 4:3 safe to ensure everyone's screens were filled.   

ireactions wrote:

Why would any TV show spend more money to look cheap and dated beyond individual scenes?

Does Sliders looks cheap and dated to you?   Certainly the video quality of the DVD's is cheap and dated (especially season 1 and 2) but if it was rescanned in HD that would still retain the "90's TV show production values" imo.

516 (edited by pneumatic 2023-02-28 06:23:34)

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

Oops, it seems I've completely misused the term "production values" which seems to refer to only the technical things like video and sound quality, costume and set quality, special effects quality etc.   I meant to refer to the artistic side of things, the way the stories are written, the dialogue, the plot pacing, the plot devices, the personalities of characters, their grammar, the composition of the music (instead of its technical aspects like sampling rate, bit depth, number of channels etc.).

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

While I love SLIDERS and am obsessed with upscaling it, SLIDERS is a product of a bygone era. It was written and filmed when TV was a visual format that was paradoxically driven by dialogue.

TV started as pre-recorded stage theatre. Stage theatre is driven by dialogue because audiences can't necessarily see facial expression or minute physical action. You couldn't necessarily see facial expression or minute physical action too well on cathode ray tube TVs, either.

TV, even in the 90s, was still stepping away from stagework on a screen to becoming a dynamic visual experience with stories told by moving images rather than being a radioplay with pictures. SLIDERS was closer to the end of this transition than, say, KUNG FU: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, but SLIDERS clearly prioritizes dialogue over visual storytelling without always achieving a synthesis of both.

Compare the SLIDERS pilot to, say, the pilot episode of THE FLASH, and you'll see how television has sped up significantly and employs visual information far more than a 1994 pilot movie. We don't see Barry Allen describing his forensics job; we see him doing it in a short scene with visual details that are crisp and clear on a 16:9 HDTV but would be difficult to make out on a 20 inch CRT of the 90s.

A lot of SLIDERS is written and filmed with the expectation that CRT SD broadcast means viewers can't see everything clearly. SLIDERS in 1994 uses a slow pan across all the set dressings in Quinn's room; it's slow because video editing was slow in 1994 and because it was made for SD broadcast. Any faster and you couldn't read the posters and book titles and see the dinosaurs in the haze of diodes.

From a scripting standpoint: SLIDERS introduces Quinn's job, boss, and has him pass by a TV commercial for a lawyer and a homeless man. This is to establish Hurley, Ross J. Kelley, and Kenny; this way, we have a contrast with the doubles of Hurley, Kelley and Kenny on the Soviet Earth. SLIDERS also has Quinn go on a solo-slide and meet a Quinn-double. This is all expository and gently paced for an audience that has yet to fully embrace small screen visual storytelling.

A 2023 SLIDERS done with the speed of THE FLASH likely has characters like Hurley, Kelley and Kenny made into classmates or faculty at Quinn's school and Wade is likely in Quinn's class to avoid needing one introductory scene per character. There is likely no solo-slide for Quinn; instead, his first slide is with the other three sliders. Quinn wouldn't rattle off the titles of Arturo's papers out loud; we'd see him reading them in a montage with flashes of text and authorship.

The 1994 pilot is slow because the era was slow. 1994 TV production was a slow process on a fast schedule. After shooting on film, film had to be copied to videotape and then copied again from videotape source to videotape recorder with effects done in a separate suite. Overly complex edits were too time consuming to produce on videotape. Film meant only so many shots and takes could be recorded.

Dialogue and gentle pacing were achievable on TV. Teleplays of the era used dialogue over imagery because dialogue was reliable. Visual storytelling could be shaky or not capture the scripted intent due to having only so much film for the day.

Andy Tennant directed the SLIDERS pilot in 1994. Since then, his style has leapt forward. Compare his work on the 2005 romcom HITCH and his 2018 - 2021 episodes of THE KOMINSKY METHOD, and you can see that Tennant in 2021 is clearly not Tennant in 2005 or 1994. Digital cameras mean faster setups; digital editing means more intricate presentation.

Hire Tennant to direct a new SLIDERS pilot and he would use montages, visual information and rapid-fire cuts to get through exposition and introductions. He would, of course, slow down to 1994 speed for scenes of emotional intimacy and gravity. In the 90s, there wasn't much choice in speed.

The 1994 Pilot performances are also done with SD broadcast on small TVs in mind. One of the most common criticisms from a post-2000s viewer of SLIDERS: Sabrina Lloyd's line deliveries and acting are criticized as being stilted and some of SLIDERS' biggest fans call Lloyd the worst actress of the original quartet. This is because stylistic markers in acting have shifted since the 90s.

SLIDERS was made at a time when dialogue-driven storytelling and limited takes necessitated actors hyperemphasizing the information in their lines. It was important to hear dialogue clearly as visuals could be small, hazy or both. Today, the priority is delivering dialogue as though the words have just come to mind for the actor/character.

Within the 90s style, Jerry O'Connell's performances have a few instances of stilted delivery for expository purposes ("Just a little light reading"), Cleavant Derricks could disguise it with his lyrical voice and John Rhys-Davies would hide it with bombast.

Sabrina, however, has a very sharp tone to her voice when speaking at a higher-than-natural volume. Unnatural overenunciation is hard for her to mask. 90s-style expository performance doesn't suit Sabrina whose naturalism was a little ahead of the era.

As a result, there are a lot of lines in Season 1 where Sabrina's delivery sounds forced because the emphasis is on enunciation rather than conversation. Season 2 shows marked improvement in Wade being scripted and Sabrina being directed to be more conversational; Season 3 is very hit and miss for her. Sabrina would not play Wade with 90s-style expository-performance today; she would aim for the illusion of being unscripted. Tell Sabrina to characterize Wade like she did in 1994 with a 1994 script and she would tell you where to shove it.

Even a 90s-era, dialogue-driven filmmaker like Kevin Smith uses modern visual storytelling and editing techniques in his recent films. JAY AND SILENT BOB REBOOT and CLERKS III are very 90s-style dialogue driven, but there are still individual sequences that use quick cuts, montages, onscreen text, anamorphic lenses, HD-dependent visual details and short shot lengths -- techniques that Smith couldn't use in the 90s because he was using comparatively primitive film editing and only had so much money to buy film.

The SAVED BY THE BELL revival proved that it's possible to recreate a 90s-look and scripting style, to mimic the lighting, the expository dialogue, the 4:3 framing, to degrade the image to look SD -- but SAVED BY THE BELL did it for flashback sequences, not the entire revival. No one would ever agree to do it for an entire production.

Yes, limits spur creativity. 1994 was a time when TV creators had to work a lot harder to get characterization and plot information to the viewer. But I can't see a 2023 production crippling itself to mimic a style of scripting, dialogue, performance, filming, cinematography and editing based in 1994 - 1999 limitations.

Writing and filming in 2023 already has its own challenges: pandemic protocols, location access, stitching together distanced extras, production pods, relighting digital video in post, union regulations for intimacy, matching digital stunts to practical effects, malfunctioning drones. What producer wants to add 1994 limitations on top of that?

What would be the point of producing a 4:3 product for a world of 16:9 televisions? Who in 2023 would write and direct like it's 1994? Even THE X-FILES in 2002 didn't look like its 1994 episodes.

Fairly or unfairly, SLIDERS is a TV show that was first made in 1994 and uses a 1994 style of writing and filming within 1994 - 1999 limitations that no creator or actor or zero-budget film student would tolerate today. No studio or broadcaster is going to ask that a 2023 show look like or be written as a 1994 show nor would anyone be willing to make it that way.

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

Great post - I enjoyed reading it.

ireactions wrote:

What producer wants to add 1994 limitations on top of that?

In my view the limitation can function as its strength.  An example might be retro video games - why would anyone play around with simple blocky 2D graphics when you can have massive 3D worlds?   Because those limited graphics and sound have a certain charm to them.   

ireactions wrote:

What would be the point of producing a 4:3 product for a world of 16:9 televisions?

The way I see it, the 16:9 frame is like a canvas and you can put whatever you want in there.  Framing and composition within the 16:9 frame doesn't necessarily have to be 16:9.   Again, I'm not proposing to put black bars down the sides, I'm only talking about the composition/framing of shots.   What if the director wanted to use a wider aspect like 1.85:1 - is this allowed?

But ultimately it comes down to this: I've never seen a remake that wasn't a shadow of its former self.

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

Limits spur creativity, I'll never disagree. I would theorize that retro games of 2D are easier to create on a low budget and a short schedule and there's a market for low budget nostalgia. But it wouldn't be cheap or quick to make a 2023 TV show in SLIDERS' 1994 style, it would cost more to recreate the shot-on-film/edited on video look; it would take more time to script dialogue-driven storytelling over visual information. Who would want to put in more work to achieve less?

No present day screenwriter, director, producer or network would say, "We need this reboot of a 1995 property to mimic how it looked when it was first filmed in 1994, it needs to be framed for 4:3 televisions (even though everyone will watch it on 16:9); it needs to be scripted as though people are watching it on diode-distorted standard definition CRT televisions (even though no one will); it needs to have performances that are expository instead of naturalistic (even though it's distracting and unnecessary in 2023)."

Saying a 2023 show needs to use 1994 style 4:3 framing and scripting are such arbitrary limitations. Why would anyone working in television today try to frame shots for 4:3 screens that aren't even being manufactured or sold except in used stores? Why would a creator decide that even though they have a widescreen 16:9, they'll only use the center 4:3? Why would a screenwriter decide that they won't rely on visual storytelling in a visual medium? Why would someone making a TV show in 2023 try to make it look primitive and backward instead of current and innovative? And why would someone put all that extra work into not using all the benefits of modern widescreen high definition cameras and displays?

SAVED BY THE BELL did it for new sequences that were flashbacks to the 90s era and it made sense visually, so I can see that effort being put in for brief bursts of nostalgia. But for a whole show? No one will do that. No one will spend the extra money to do that outside of specific sequences meant to call back to a past era.

Awhile ago, some X-FILES fans were complaining that the Season 10 - 11 episodes had too many references to current events and complained that it would date the show.

To me, that isn't a valid criticism: TV is always a product of the era in which it's made and it's unreasonable to demand that TV be totally timeless and reflect the present day years or decades after its original airing. TV is watched in binges or weekly, but the appeal of TV is that its extended span of episodes allows characters and situations to progress with us. The appeal of bringing back QUANTUM LEAP, MACGYVER, GILMORE GIRLS, THE X-FILES, PARTY DOWN, WILL AND GRACE, FULL HOUSE, PUNKY BREWSTER and others is that we get to catch up those shows and concepts in the present of today, not in the past of when they were first broadcast.

This complaint has manifested with more validity with STAR TREK. Fans complained, not unreasonably: the 23rd century of DISCOVERY in 2017 didn't look like the 23rd century of STAR TREK in 1966. The 1966 show had established that the 23rd century was shot in 4:3 with 60s pop art colours of bright yellow, red and blue, that technology looked like wood and cardboard, not 3D printed plastic and metal. The creators protested that they could not be expected to use 1960s technology, some of which didn't even exist anymore, to create a 2017 show. Fans pointed out that the creators were the one choosing to set their show in the 23rd century.

DISCOVERY ultimately took itself out of the 23rd century, but not before setting up the 23rd century companion show STRANGE NEW WORLDS in which we see the Enterprise. The new version of the Enterprise is clearly a 21st century rendition of the 1960s ship -- but it still maintains certain visual identifiers: the orange highlights remain even though the ship interiors are steel and glass. The bridge has the seats in relatively the same places, but it's been arranged for a widescreen 16:9 layout rather than 4:3. The ship exterior has a different texture and altered proportions, but the saucer and nacelles are still familiar and the nacelles remain a familiar but not identical red.

A hypothetical SLIDERS reboot can certainly do some of that. The visual iconography of SLIDERS can be maintained: we could see Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo (recast) backlit at night, their four silhouettes running towards the camera. We could still keep the original Motorola timer (it's supposed to be a homemade device made from discarded parts). We could keep Quinn in flannel and jeans, Wade in her sweaters and leggings, Rembrandt in his reflective suits (as a dated showbiz icon) and the Professor in his three-piece finery. We could keep the sound effect of the vortex and even keep the vortex itself.

But the Season 1 - 2 tunnel would likely look more like the Season 3 tunnel, a layer of energy effects rather than the flat animation of the first 22 episodes. A new SLIDERS would use expository montages, onscreen text, quick cuts of news footage, rapid-fire talking heads, CG effects to graft San Francisco location footage onto Vancouver-shot scenes, CG set extensions to add scale and extras -- and it would be high definition, paced to a modern TV speed and filmed for 16:9 TVs. A 2023 show is going to look like it was shot in 2023. Even a period piece made right now is going to reflect the 2023 technology that made it. That's simply the nature of television.

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

Well, as long as it doesn't have "millenial writing" I could probably still enjoy it.

521 (edited by ireactions 2023-03-04 12:40:40)

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

Watched the QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 premiere episode -- and it speaks to what I was saying about how TV has sped up. The 1989 pilot (the only episode of QUANTUM LEAP I've seen) was a two parter.

In 2023, we don't get two episodes to set up the premise of QUANTUM LEAP and the characters of Ben and Addison. In 2023, if a TV show hasn't laid out the premise and characters by the first episode, it won't make it to a second episode. QUANTUM LEAP has to start fast with Ben almost immediately leaping and it has only one leap to establish the entire leaping concept. Thankfully, QUANTUM LEAP makes effective use of Ben's swiss-cheesed memory to lay the foundations of the show and the continuity of the series through Addison as an expository device.

I really enjoyed it. It wasn't great, but as a series premiere that had to entertain and establish in a very constrained timeslot, QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 made its debut as a professional, enjoyable product. A lot of story elements are rushed like Addison relaying quickly that desperate diamond thief Ryan somehow avoids criminal charges and pays his wife's medical bills. There are strong setpieces like Ben using a waltz in public to prevent the criminals from gunning him down.

Ben's combat skills are peculiar as is his entire mission of vagueness, and there isn't a lot of time to sell the sentiment of Addison's grief that Ben doesn't remember that her or that they are in love and engaged to be married, but the acting makes more of it than the script has space to address it.

Raymond Lee's Ben is thoughtful, a fish out of water, yet quick-witted and it's fun to watch him improvise on his feet. Caitlin Bassett conveys with a few glances that Addison is a soldier, a highly trained special operative formerly of some sort of military or black-ops division, the intended leaper for this time travel project, now reduced to being the handler rather than the operative and going crazy from it.

This is what I mean by visual storytelling. We don't need to see workout gear or medals in Addison's bedroom; the performance makes it clear from the way Addison assesses threat and violence and escape scenarios: this woman is a former-if-not-current espionage agent who is acclimatized to combat and life and death situations.

The QL2.0 premiere made me realize: a SLIDERS pilot in 2023 might have to start with Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt and Arturo already sliding into a parallel Earth, having already been sliding for at least a little while, and the entire origin story of how they ended up as interdimensional nomads might have to come later on in the series. I don't think a 2023 audience will sit through an episode of Quinn going to class and work and home and then an initial slide and then the real first slide with all the sliders.

522 (edited by ireactions 2023-03-04 21:53:26)

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

pneumatic wrote:

The way I see it, the 16:9 frame is like a canvas and you can put whatever you want in there.  Framing and composition within the 16:9 frame doesn't necessarily have to be 16:9.   Again, I'm not proposing to put black bars down the sides, I'm only talking about the composition/framing of shots.   What if the director wanted to use a wider aspect like 1.85:1 - is this allowed?

But ultimately it comes down to this: I've never seen a remake that wasn't a shadow of its former self.

Episode 1.02 of QUANTUM LEAP 2.0, "Atlantis" is a pretty fun TV budgeted APOLLO 13. There is still a hyperemphasis on problem solving that Temporal Flux pointed out and a deliberate de-emphasis on intrigue with Addison not allowed to give Ben any biographical details of his own life. But the acting really sells it with Addison's longing, need, loneliness and loss and Ben being clueless yet a gifted improviser. The episode does seem to forget (or didn't budget for) more than a few shots of antigravity inside the spaceship, and there are too many shots where gravity is obviously present as astronauts walk.

There is a beautiful shot of Ben in his spacesuit and Addison in her business casual wear standing in the vacuum of space. A stunning widescreen shot of Ben and Addison standing at opposite ends of the 16:9 frame.

I don't understand how it could be reasonable to (hypothetically) expect QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 to film this shot for a 4:3 ratio in 2023 when nobody in 2023 would be watching it on a 4:3 TV, just because the original QUANTUM LEAP was broadcast in 4:3 back in 1989.

I don't understand how QUANTUM LEAP in 2023 could somehow be (hypothetically) considered "a shadow of itself" for not looking like it did 34 years ago; I also don't see how a version of SLIDERS made today could (hypothetically) be found wanting for looking like it was made today.

It would be fair to call QL2.0 "a shadow of itself" because its writing doesn't inspire or because it's characters lack flair and fun or because its mystery lacks a sense of the mysterious. Many people have made those comments about the earlier episodes of QL2.0. But whatever QL2.0's issues (and it has issues), I don't think it would be (hypothetically) fair to say that a 2023 QUANTUM LEAP is "a shadow of itself" for not looking like it was filmed during the Bush Sr. administration.

I don't think we can ever ask any revival of any property also revive the era in which it was made. That's too much to ask of any TV show. Instead, we should ask that the revival demonstrate that the concept -- whether it's GILMORE GIRLS or THE X-FILES or SLIDERS or QUANTUM LEAP or iCARLY or PARTY DOWN or PUNKY BREWSTER -- be presented as current and relevant today.

pneumatic wrote:

Well, as long as it doesn't have "millenial writing" I could probably still enjoy it.

What this YouTuber terms "millennial writing" already has a commonly used term of reference called "Buffy Speak".

Buffy Speak is where characters deliver expository dialogue with a distinct adjectival-noun structure ("Pointy-stick thingy of pointiness") or incomplete simile ("That happened a long time ago, like so long ago that I can't remember how long ago it was.") and uses deliberate oververbosity and acknowledgement of overdescription, indicating that characters are having trouble expressing their emotions or the situations at hand.

It is a style of dialogue popularized (but not created) by disgraced fake feminist Joss Whedon on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. Buffy Speak is a TV version of adjective-noun arrangement found in William Shakespeare's plays (16th century) and Charles Dickens' novels (19th century), so for the YouTuber to claim it's exclusive to "millennials" (1980 - 2004) is... less than accurate.

To associate recursive adjective-noun descriptions, self-aware overelaboration and incomplete comparison with "millennials" reveals an unfortunate reactionary reflex. It makes the complainant seem like someone angry that the world moved on, that stylistic markers shifted, that phones no longer use rotary dials, angry at anything new to the point where they don't recognize when something is actually quite old (and merely in semi-modern, colloquial English).

Grandpa Simpson: "I used to be with it, now what I'm with isn't 'it' and what 'it' is scares me."

Yes, Buffy Speak can be poorly written, but that doesn't make the style worthless. And yes, it's human nature to gravitate to artistic styles that reflect what we became familiar with in our formative experiences, but that doesn't mean that styles outside our comfort zone should not exist.

TV can use different writing styles and no one style is 'bad'. TV may aim for melodramatic exaggeration (ARROW, THE FLASH), it may attempt hyperverbose procedural deliberation (THE WEST WING), it may offer expository sincerity (SLIDERS in its first two seasons), it might go for grounded minimalism with one hyperexaggerated character (THE BLACKLIST) or it might offer hyperstylized comedic banter (COMMUNITY).

The question is whether the style is used appropriately and effectively. Relentless witticisms of tangential observations might be great for an office comedy like PARKS AND RECREATION but ill-advised for a murder mystery show like CORONER. Dour assessments of conflicts might be well-suited to an FBI procedural like BLINDSPOT but poorly applied to a mother-daughter dramedy like GILMORE GIRLS.

It's vain to claim that any style of linguistic arrangement and expression we don't care for is objectively bad. We might instead ask: is this particular style is being executed to its full advantages? Is the style well-matched to the concept and characters? Instead of blaming the tools, we are better off asking how well the tools were used.

And since SLIDERS slides into a different genre in every episode, there is no reason why any one style of writing could be ruled out. It would simply be a matter of whether it is done well or done poorly which is the case for any style in any TV show.

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

The new Quantum Leap does finally recapture the old formula, so stick with it.  I’ve enjoyed it.  And this Monday’s new episode guest stars Brandon Routh as a past version of Addison’s father.  Given the connection, it could easily be a recurring role

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

I am currently on Episode 1.04 of QUANTUM LEAP 2.0. I didn't plan on watching more than 1.01 - 1.02 in the gym (to be ready to listen to REWATCH PODCAST cover it) -- but I was so enamoured with the series that I kept watching while I did my laundry and made dinner. I totally see and agree with pretty much all of the flaws that Temporal Flux and others pointed out in the show during these episodes. But... I find that the actors are really strong and are adding all of the elements that the scripts themselves are lacking.

Caitlin Bassett is a very strong actor; her exhaustive collapse and heartbreak in the boxing episode and the way she makes Addison struggle to keep it together as a hologram is really stirring. The scripts are a little clumsy, oversentimentalizing with guest-stars whom we barely know. I'm not super-intrigued by Ben's secret mission because it's just a blank space with no cluing for the audience to drive further speculations.

I think, just from what I've seen so far, QUANTUM LEAP is theoretically a show about holding up a mirror to our society and casting a critical eye on our societal faults and failings and how they've taken different forms in previous eras. In practice, QUANTUM LEAP is a sci-fi undercover 'spy' show about Dr. Ben Song taking on different identities. The mirror is a little unpolished and unwieldy.

But Bassett's strong performance and Raymond Lee's gleeful joy are both highly compelling. The actors are making these somewhat vague characters absolutely riveting to me. Even though I recognize that what is on paper is a little lacking, the actors are bridging the gap of content and I feel connected to the characters and their plight. Bassett and Lee make me feel for Addison and Ben (although, of course, I recognize that QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 is Ben's show, not Addison's).

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

Great analysis, ireactions and spot-on. The latest episode of Quantum Leap is always a highlight of my week.

I wish Deborah Pratt would reprise the voice of Ziggy. That would totally complete the experience for me. I hope she will at least consider doing so for one episode. And maybe a glitch occurs in the project that takes away Ziggy's voice again.

One can dream...

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

QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 continues to be, for me, highly enjoyable mediocrity. It's clearly a difficult situation for the writers. Each episode has to introduce a new set of guest characters and a new setting for the duration of one episode and balance that with the Project Quantum Leap scenes in the present day. As a result, either the Project QL gets underserved or the guest characters and setting are underdeveloped.

The original pilot, repurposed as Episode 1.06, for example, doesn't really give enough for Ben to do during the earthquake scenario: he's mostly running and lifting things. It's okay. It's mediocre. I can't say why NBC and Martin Gero elected to make this 1.06 instead of 1.01, but the equally mediocre broadcast series premiere offered Ben a wider variety of situations to broaden the character: he's a getaway car driver, he's a criminal blackmailing other criminals, he's an undercover cop, he has a dance floor setpiece. Of course, 1.06 may have had just as much range for Ben before it was revised and reshot.

Episode 1.07, the EXORCIST-homage, is a perfectly adequate and at times enjoyable episode of QUANTUM LEAP. However, the writing is still struggling a bit. Ben is supposed to be a genius level intellect, yet he doesn't instantly spot that he started hallucinating immediately after drinking the gin. Ben is supposed to be an engineer and physicist and expert computer programmer, yet he doesn't recognize that the visual representation of the 'demon' coincided with Addison's hologram misfiring and is a holographic anomaly rather than a supernatural one.

The issue here: the writers are providing the audience with clues and making them obvious, yet Ben doesn't spot them which means the audience is ahead of Ben and the audience feels smarter than Ben when it's supposed to be the other way around. The script tries to have Ben notice the gin subconsciously in a dream sequence, but it's Ben catching up to the audience. This sort of thing may happen when there's been some upheaval in the writing staff with the original showrunners replaced and the incoming team is still getting a feel for the characters and actors.

QL2.0 has, however, cast the characters extremely well. Ernie Hudson as Magic is a pleasure: his voice has such weight and charm to it that it's enjoyable to hear him speak the same way it's wonderful just to listen to John Rhys-Davies' voice. Raymond Lee is really strong as a viewpoint character who seems like a blank slate but displays surprising bursts of knowledge and ability. Caitlin Bassett is an incredibly strong screen presence who commands attention and the acting is making up for a lot of the scripting weaknesses. Bassett makes me feel like Addison and Ben have an deep connection; Lee convinces me that Ben's a genius even when the script isn't totally on his side.

The scripts are also effective in their use of past continuity. The grim observation that Sam Beckett never made it home is a powerful way to highlight the disappointment of the original QL cancellation and creates a dire sense of peril for Ben Song. The revelation that Project Quantum Leap was shuttered and closed down after losing contact with Sam in the original QL finale is very, very sad. There's a palpable sense of loss that Al died in 2021 never reuniting with Sam, never knowing what became of him.

However, the presence of Beth Calavicci and her daughter Janis reminds us that Sam succeeded in reuniting Al and Beth in the final episode of QUANTUM LEAP 1.0, reminding us that Sam made a difference in Al's life that reverberates into the present. I've never even seen QUANTUM LEAP 1.0 past the original pilot episode (and my awareness of its continuity here comes from listening to REWATCH PODCAST cover it), and I could still feel that sense of history and legacy.

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

I really enjoyed the nuclear explosion + timeloop episode of QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 (1.11). "Leap. Die. Repeat" was a fun puzzle and it kept me guessing as to what set off the disaster. And I was just thrilled to see Robert Picardo. QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 has such great guest stars: the soulfully earnest Justin Hartley, the wonderfully strong Carly Pope, the joyfully charismatic Deborah Ann Woll.

Then we come to 1.12, "Let Them Play", the transphobia episode and... I liked it and hated it in so many ways. The 1.12 script is possibly the most 90s style of QL2.0 made to date. It is written in a densely didactic manner with nearly every line of dialogue being a transgender community talking point about transgender inclusivity and alienation and statistics and transphobia. It is a lecturing episode of television.

Let's be blunt: this world is in dire need of lectures. This world is shockingly transphobic whether it's JK Rowling or that alt-right Nazi who used to post here. This world is shockingly hostile towards any identity that isn't straight, white and male: there were some weird bursts of outrage when QL2.0's star was a South Korean actor playing a South Korean character with a South Korean name (that got altered from Seong to Song). If didactism is the brick needed to hammer some respect for people's identities into a few brains, so be it.

That said, the resulting episode has the writing style of a 90s episode of television: everything is severely overstated with every point of argument or information laid out slowly and piece by piece with the (lack of) speed and (slow) pacing of the SLIDERS pilot episode.

In the 90s, character and sociological information came slowly because television was a small, blurry, fuzzy image and interrupted by commercials and the viewer was expected to be distracted real life without any simple way to pause. 90s viewers needed their hands held. In 2023, this style implies the creators don't trust the audience to follow the emotional arc and statistics and details to convey that transphobia is bad.

I'm not sure that the didactism is unneeded; people don't seem to be widely aware that transphobia is bad.

And yet, there is a certain craft to screenwriting to at least disguise the lectures into something resembling human conversation. TV conversations are in not realistic, of course; no one in real life talks like the characters on COMMUNITY. However, TV can create the illusion of naturalism by tricking the viewer's brain into accepting that what's being said out loud is being spontaneously voiced and conceived on the spot by the characters (if not the actors and writers).

QL2.0 has generally been able to maintain some illusion of spontaneity, but for "Let Them Play", it doesn't, not because it can't, but because it chooses not to. "Let Them Play" overstates nearly every point it has to make because it doesn't trust its audience to reject cruelty, hatred, bigotry and harassment.

I am not sure if that mistrust is unwarranted.

528 (edited by ireactions 2023-03-15 09:35:14)

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

Didn't season 5 of sliders have a tranny episode? 'To catch a slider'

Hi, ireactions here. As a moderator on this forum, I apologize for this poster's use of this derogatory and hateful slur towards transgendered individuals and communities. Further instances of this will not be permitted. Sliders.TV is not a place of transphobia.

529 (edited by QuinnSlidr 2023-03-15 07:07:03)

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

ireactions wrote:

I really enjoyed the nuclear explosion + timeloop episode of QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 (1.11). "Leap. Die. Repeat" was a fun puzzle and it kept me guessing as to what set off the disaster. And I was just thrilled to see Robert Picardo. QUANTUM LEAP 2.0 has such great guest stars: the soulfully earnest Justin Hartley, the wonderfully strong Carly Pope, the joyfully charismatic Deborah Ann Woll.

Then we come to 1.12, "Let Them Play", the transphobia episode and... I liked it and hated it in so many ways. The 1.12 script is possibly the most 90s style of QL2.0 made to date. It is written in a densely didactic manner with nearly every line of dialogue being a transgender community talking point about transgender inclusivity and alienation and statistics and transphobia. It is a lecturing episode of television.

Let's be blunt: this world is in dire need of lectures. This world is shockingly transphobic whether it's JK Rowling or that alt-right Nazi who used to post here. This world is shockingly hostile towards any identity that isn't straight, white and male: there were some weird bursts of outrage when QL2.0's star was a South Korean actor playing a South Korean character with a South Korean name (that got altered from Seong to Song). If didactism is the brick needed to hammer some respect for people's identities into a few brains, so be it.

That said, the resulting episode has the writing style of a 90s episode of television: everything is severely overstated with every point of argument or information laid out slowly and piece by piece with the (lack of) speed and (slow) pacing of the SLIDERS pilot episode.

In the 90s, character and sociological information came slowly because television was a small, blurry, fuzzy image and interrupted by commercials and the viewer was expected to be distracted real life without any simple way to pause. 90s viewers needed their hands held. In 2023, this style implies the creators don't trust the audience to follow the emotional arc and statistics and details to convey that transphobia is bad.

I'm not sure that the didactism is unneeded; people don't seem to be widely aware that transphobia is bad.

And yet, there is a certain craft to screenwriting to at least disguise the lectures into something resembling human conversation. TV conversations are in not realistic, of course; no one in real life talks like the characters on COMMUNITY. However, TV can create the illusion of naturalism by tricking the viewer's brain into accepting that what's being said out loud is being spontaneously voiced and conceived on the spot by the characters (if not the actors and writers).

QL2.0 has generally been able to maintain some illusion of spontaneity, but for "Let Them Play", it doesn't, not because it can't, but because it chooses not to. "Let Them Play" overstates nearly every point it has to make because it doesn't trust its audience to reject cruelty, hatred, bigotry and harassment.

I am not sure if that mistrust is unwarranted.

Yes, I agree. This world needs to stop the rallying cry of the white male base to attack something that doesn't need to be attacked. Everyone's identity should be respected without fear of reprisal or anything else that goes along with that. Sadly, the Rupert Murdoch media empire thrives on the hatred of white males, and uses it as a galvanizing tactic to further its agenda. And sadly, republicans have made white supremacists their base, for better or worse in this country. Sadly, it's worse.

And sadly, the election of the worst President in U.S. History, Donald J. Trump (Hitler), reinforced to these Nazis that it is okay for them to be bigots, a**holes, and terrible people. Where would we be if Hillary Clinton had been elected like we deserved instead of the electoral college cheating us out of her? She won the popular vote. Sigh.

One can only hope that his re-election does not happen in a similar vein to when Hitler was re-elected. Hopefully, his 20-30 years in prison for masterminding a violent insurrection will come sooner rather than later. Sometimes I wish I was in Hillary Clinton universe. Perhaps that universe never got covid and never had to experience falling victim to Q-Anon and the right wing extremists. Perhaps that universe never heard of Donald Trump (Hitler). Perhaps that universe is thriving and far more progressive. Sigh.

But, back to the Quantum Leap discussion:

Episode 1.11 was fantastic. And introduced a new type of time loop that we haven't seen before in Quantum Leap. It's nice to see the show take a "leap" into the unknown with a new thing and execute it beautifully. I also truly enjoyed this episode.

I enjoyed and hated episode 1.12 for many of the same reasons you talk about. And yes, I'm left wondering if that mistrust is unwarranted as well. On the one hand, I love that there's an inclusive episode of Quantum Leap talking about modern problems that people should never have to face. But, hated it with the style being overly-90s and overstated arguments. Everyone who cares is already going to know about these arguments. And, I suspect those who are not open to anything in this regard are still going to remain their close-minded bigoted selves and skip the episode once they find out what it's all about.

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

Such hate and vitriol. Never would have expected ireactions to call for forced education. That is a a tactic out of Stalin's playbook. Ask yourself why you always hear the name 'Hitler' and never hear the names of Stalin (13 million dead), and Mao Zedong(11 million dead).

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

Lego_Sliders wrote:

Such hate and vitriol. Never would have expected ireactions to call for forced education. That is a a tactic out of Stalin's playbook. Ask yourself why you always hear the name 'Hitler' and never hear the names of Stalin (13 million dead), and Mao Zedong(11 million dead).

The words of a Trumper: always calling the other side "hatred" for not tolerating their own transphobic, racist, and anti-semitic views. What about your intolerance of other groups of people based on their sexual orientation? Explain to us why that's not hatred. We'll wait.

You'll excuse me for hating Trumpism (aka Naziism). It's a cancer of society and should be hated and eliminated. Nazi ideals should never be given the chance to rise again.

It SHOULD NEVER be tolerated. That's why we had World War II.

532 (edited by ireactions 2023-03-15 18:05:35)

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

QuinnSlidr wrote:

The words of a Trumper: always calling the other side "hatred" for not tolerating their own transphobic, racist, and anti-semitic views. What about your intolerance of other groups of people based on their sexual orientation?

When we say "Trumper", I think of someone who is racist, anti-semitic, homophobic and engages in anti-vaccine pandemic denialism. In reviewing Lego_Sliders's post history, I have not seen racism, anti-semitism, homophobia or vaccine misinformation. I feel gratitude and appreciation to Lego_Sliders for cautioning me about signing up for an experimental sixth dose of COVID-19 vaccine (that got shut down).

Unfortunately, looking at the post history, I see what looks like transphobia and it fills me with grief.

There's this post where Lego_Sliders posted a panel of a JOKER comic where the Joker is pregnant:

Lego_Sliders wrote:

We really are living in clown world:
https://arkhavencomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/image-5-1024x480.png

On its own, that might have been commenting on the biological absurdity (which we could also say of Rembrandt being pregnant in "The Prince of Slides").

But then we have this post where Lego_Sliders uses a transphobic slur:

Lego_Sliders wrote:

Didn't season 5 of sliders have a tranny episode? 'To catch a slider'

"Tranny" is a derogatory pejorative for transgender individuals, specifically to attack and deride people for their gender identities. Could it be an accident? People here misgendered supervillain Ezra Miller without any malevolence. Sometimes, we're not aware that common parlance has become offensive.

As moderator, I edited the quoted post to apologize for the use of this slur from a poster and I apologize again. Hate speech is not permitted here.

Then we have this over my QUANTUM LEAP 1.12 review where I called it overwritten but said that its message was necessary yet "overstated":

Lego_Sliders wrote:

Such hate and vitriol. Never would have expected ireactions to call for forced education. That is a a tactic out of Stalin's playbook. Ask yourself why you always hear the name 'Hitler' and never hear the names of Stalin (13 million dead), and Mao Zedong(11 million dead).

It's an absurd leap of non-logic to declare that 24 million people will die because I said transgender people have human rights.

I don't mind when people insult me or my writing, opinions or analytical style. People are welcome to do it. There's this special episode of REWATCH PODCAST where Tom and Cory call out all the plotholes and errors in my fanfic. They're reading a script; I wrote that script.

But this has gone beyond attacking me personally. The broadcast of an anti-transphobia episode of television that nobody has to watch is not "forced education". A review of that episode is not "forced education". Furthermore, the review being cited expresses (joking) 'hate' and vitriol towards an overly lecturing writing style for scripted conversations and calls that style dated and out of touch.

It's downright odd that someone would be offended by me saying that society needs to learn that transgendered individuals should have human rights, to accuse me of calling for "forced education". People are educated to learn that assault is wrong, that theft is wrong, that talking in a movie theatre is wrong, that stealing someone's Lego is wrong. Lego_Sliders would never call that "forced education".

So what we have here: offense towards a comedic drawing of a pregnant man; the use of a transphobic slur; calling respect for transgender identity to be "forced education".

In totality, all of the above examples demonstrate a focused and extreme anger towards transgender individuals having human rights. A level of anger that overrides sense and reason. There doesn't seem to be any other motive for why my decidedly mixed review of the anti-transphobia episode of QUANTUM LEAP would prompt this mania:

Lego_Sliders wrote:

Such hate and vitriol. Never would have expected ireactions to call for forced education. That is a a tactic out of Stalin's playbook. Ask yourself why you always hear the name 'Hitler' and never hear the names of Stalin (13 million dead), and Mao Zedong(11 million dead).

I'm going to dismiss your insults towards me. Even the very best of friends will say the wrong things at the wrong times. But I can't dismiss transphobia.

Now, I don't fully grasp transgender identity and community. Those are life experiences I will never have. But I don't need to understand someone's personal identity to respect it so long as that identity isn't based in transphobia or bigotry towards how people were born. No one was born a fascist.

I don't know what you got away with before you came here, but this is Sliders.TV. Thinly-veiled or unveiled, Lego or no Lego, transphobia has no place here.

As someone who appreciates you, I am going to ask you to reach into yourself. I will ask you to find the generosity of spirit and that warmth of character that inspires you to create with Lego and share your delight and joy with us. I'm going to ask you to commit some of that generosity -- of which I know that you have a great deal -- towards people who find that due to brain chemistry and genetics, they were born in a body that doesn't suit them and that they need to change in order to live as themselves.

There are some transgender fans of SLIDERS reading this thread and post right now and wondering if Sliders.tv is a safe space for them or if they're going to regularly see hate rhetoric directed at them for their gender identities. They shouldn't have to wonder.

I feel like in this situation, a moderator would issue warnings or lay out consequences, but I can't do that right this moment. After all that Lego, surely Lego_Sliders is our friend. For now, I'm instead going to say:

Lego_Sliders, I am deeply hurt and heartbroken by these transphobic remarks from a friend and fellow SLIDERS creator. As your friend, I'm asking you: please don't do this again.

And as Lego_Sliders's friend, I would say that if Lego_Sliders were to make no further transphobic remarks in this community, I would have to conclude that Lego_Sliders was temporarily poisoned by dropping some Lego on a stove burner that someone forgot to turn off, that the fumes were eroding Lego_Sliders's good judgement and inherent love and respect for humanity, and that all these were just unfortunate glitches that two friends can set aside going forward.

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

ireactions, I wanted to say so many things. You have given me a lot of useful information on the sliders universe. Your criticism helped me build a few show accurate vortex's. Your friendship is a great hing to have, and being honest with each other is good too. We won't see eye-to-eye on every political issue. I'm glad that we could hash this out now.

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

I've spoken to you as a friend, now I'm speaking to you as a moderator: if you want to keep posting here, there can be no further transphobia in your posts. No slurs, no claims that transgender rights advocacy is "forced education" or akin to mass murder, not even the veiled remarks from before. Transgender fans of SLIDERS (and I know of at least three with accounts here) have the right to be here without seeing themselves, their community and their rights attacked in any way for what are personal choices in how they address their own mental health and self-image and bodies, choices that do not physically or practically affect anyone but themselves. We mustn't hurt people for that. We can't treat people that way here. We have to be better than that. We have to be kinder than that.

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

What makes this worse is that your being nice to me? Makes no sense. You should be pissed off.

536 (edited by ireactions 2023-03-17 17:17:21)

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

Lego_Sliders wrote:

What makes this worse is that your being nice to me? Makes no sense. You should be pissed off.


This is a very interesting question. The answer is in this thread title. This thread opened on March 4, 2021. Two years later, it has 535 replies and it will have more to come. Why is that? Because this thread represents a universal human longing for a second chance.

What happened to you with your first chance? I don't know. I don't know your story. But what would be the point of me verbally assailing you? QuinnSlidr seems to have that covered. Did QuinnSlidr make you reconsider your attitude to transgender identity? Or did it just put you on the defensive?

I don't know what drove to you consider it "hate and vitriol" when I reviewed an episode of QUANTUM LEAP and said that transgender rights are human rights.

Maybe you grew up in an environment where authority figures spoke derisively of gender-nonconformity and you've internalized that as a societal norm and because of that bad influence, you unravel when that norm is identified as a prejudice.

Maybe you weren't trained by parents and teachers for exposure to people with differing belief systems and practices that have no direct impact on you; they didn't prepare you to manage social shock, and so you react with fear and accusation that you regret.

Maybe you've been sexually assaulted and you associate non-heterosexual and non-genderconforming individuals with deviant perpetrators of sexual violence because you've been traumatized.

Maybe you've suffered rejection and felt powerless and clung to gender identity (and who knows what else) to feel value, and your instinct is that deriding other identities will give you a (false) sense of power.

Maybe at some point in your past, you were in a troubled and vulnerable state and received no sympathy, no understanding, no empathy, but were instead met with derision and anger -- and now that's how you react to certain concepts of identity that make you think of deeply disturbing memories.

Maybe you've had some other experience entirely that is too mundane and straightforward for me to imagine.

Maybe whatever happened to you was neither mundane nor straightforward but some ghastly and horrific event or sequence of events that you haven't even begun to process.

Maybe what you said isn't who you really are and you said what you did because you've been triggered and you're upset and you're not thinking clearly and you're in pain.

Maybe you just need some sympathy and understanding and a chance to change course.

Or maybe nothing happened to you. I don't know everything inside you, I don't know your life. But people don't set aside prejudices when they feel under attack; they cling to them more tightly because it's their security blanket and the way they feel they can put the world in order.

However, they may set them aside if they're asked to treat others better and given some assurance that the new behaviour they're asked to give is also what they'll receive.

Is there anyone reading this who wouldn't like a chance to start over with the benefit of what they know today?

Every SLIDERS fan knows what it's like to regret how things went and wish that they had done things differently. Every fan of SLIDERS wishes that they could redo the last five seasons of life with better script editing, tighter continuity, stronger performances, healthier relationships, fewer dead actors, lower cost overruns, more location filming, and a wholehearted commitment to treating others well. Who here would deny you -- or themselves -- the opportunity to start over and do better?

Who here wouldn't ask for a reboot?

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

SCREAM is an interesting example of a reboot/revival and SLIDERS might be able to learn something from it. The original SCREAM film in 1996 subverted teen slasher horror movies by featuring characters who'd watched slasher movies, knew all the tropes of the formula and would comment on them between fleeing getting knifed to death. It was a cultural sensation for its witty dialogue and the way it turned all the horror cliches on their heads.

Its $15 million budget earned $173 million at box office, 11 times its budget. A film needs to earn three times its budget to turn a profit, so this was a small investment for an excellent return. Naturally, a sequel was in theatres a year later with SCREAM II (1997) with a bigger budget ($24 million), bigger setpieces, Jerry O'Connell on break from SLIDERS, a very rushed scripting and shooting production that led to some sloppiness and urgent rewrites -- and it made $172 million.

While still a terrific return on investment (seven times the budget), the series had not grown its audience. The studio hurried into a third film, but it couldn't move as fast as before: cast contracts had to be redone, a school shooting made the studio hesitant to make as bloody a film as before, the original star (Neve Campbell) was unavailable, the original screenwriter wasn't willing to write a less violent sequel and had to be replaced.

Campbell eventually signed on but only for 20 days of filming, a new writer hacked out a draft, SCREAM III hit the cineplex in 2000 and... its $40 million budget saw $162 million. It made back four times its budget, so it turned a small profit, but SCREAM had clearly had its day: the budgets from rising cast salaries had made it difficult for a SCREAM film to turn a great profit again.

Eleven years later, the studio thought enough time had passed for nostalgia to bring in ticket sales again and commissioned a fourth film on a $40 million budget. With inflation, SCREAM IV was actually being made for about 25 percent less than SCREAM III. SCREAM IV would have to earn $120 million at box office to enter profitability; if it could make it to $200 - $250 million, SCREAM IV would be as worthwhile as SCREAM II. The studio was able to get the original actors back at reasonable rates as nobody had become Tom Cruise since 2000 despite working steadily.

SCREAM IV had the original screenwriter back who turned in a script with a cliffhanger ending to lead into a fifth film. The studio greenlit it... but abruptly backtracked in preproduction and mandated rewrites from another writer to make it a standalone film. The rewrites led to an incoherent, awkwardly plotted film that seemed to be introducing a new generation of SCREAM characters only to kill them off and negate the movie's own purpose. The film only made $90 million at box office, not even twice the budget. SCREAM IV was a loss and the series seemed to stop dead in 2011.

SCREAM came back in 2022 with a new movie that this time had the benefit of being coherent. The original screenwriter produced and gave guidance to a new team of writers and directors who this time committed to bringing in a new cast (although the originals still had small roles).

SCREAM V was made for $24 million -- effectively less than half of the SCREAM IV budget with inflation and less than the budget of the first movie. The budget was low with a tight shoot, a short shooting schedule, limited shooting days for the original actors (as they were expensive). SCREAM V was a success, making almost six times its budget at $139 million. Adjusted for inflation, this was $106 million in 2011 dollars, not much more than what SCREAM IV had brought in. But the budget was suited to the ticket and streaming sales. There was a solid economic argument to making SCREAM levels at this financial level.

That and positive reaction led to SCREAM VI in 2023 with a $35 million budget that looks to be on track to earn at least six times its budget back again. The low production rates, however, saw original star Neve Campbell receive an offer that she considered insulting and that she refused to take.

SCREAM VI was the first film in the series where Campbell didn't appear. Given how Campbell's appearance in SCREAM V was welcome but a bit tokenistic, however, it seemed fine that she wasn't in SCREAM VI.

The case for a reboot, in this instance, was that new SCREAM movies could be made cheaply enough that modest box office earnings would still offer a high return. That's  been the argument behind most long-running horror franchises; even if FRIDAY THE 13th and HALLOWEEN movies are bad, they cost so little to make that they easily  become profitable.

Can SLIDERS be as cheap as SCREAM V and SCREAM VI? (Scaled to TV, of course.)

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

THE REWATCH PODCAST reviewed episodes 5 - 6 of QUANTUM LEAP 2.0.
https://therewatchpodcast.blogspot.com/ … 05-06.html

They don't think that the plotline of Ben trying to connect with his mother was part of the original Episode 6 back when it was meant to be Episode 1. Yes, the plotline mirrors the original premiere of the 1989 QUANTUM LEAP. But Tom and Cory note: QL2.0 starts with Ben's memory having been erased. He doesn't know who he is. He doesn't know who Addison is. The later episodes are scripted around Addison deliberately avoiding any triggers for Ben's memory. Would Ben even remember anything about his mother in the original QL2.0 pilot?

Tom also presented my theory and then Temporal Flux's theory for why QL2.0 has no Waiting Room. https://sliders.tv/bboard/viewtopic.php … 888#p13888

My theory was written to assist Tom and written before I had actually seen the show and I was just filibustering with technobabble. I was impressed and horrified by how Tom in the podcast reads out my theory and demonstrates a shocking gift for delivering my unreadable, unsayable paragraphs of convoluted impenetrability. Tom offers Temporal Flux's theory after mine and TF's theory is actually fit for human consumption.

Anyway. I had to take a break from QL2.0 to enjoy the epic EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE over a few days, but I am getting back into QL2.0 tomorrow!

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

I just found out about this. This is fantastic news that the new Quantum Leap has been renewed for season 2!!

https://deadline.com/2022/12/quantum-le … 235197219/

I love Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. The entire cast is just fantastic.

Now if we can just get Ziggy speaking again...

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

While I've only ever seen the first two episodes of QL1.0, I understand from REWATCH PODCAST that Deborah Pratt as the voice of Ziggy is a cultural touchstone, a critical pillar of the QUANTUM LEAP iconography akin to MacGyver with his paper clip, Batman with his batarang, Spider-Man with his webbing, Xena the Warrior Princess with her chakram, and the Doctor with his police box.

I wonder why they haven't had Pratt do the voice. She is working on the show as a producer. Has her voice aged too much? Or do they want Ziggy to be gender-neutral for 2023?