Path: newsfeed.direct.ca!hookup!news.join.ad.jp!news.imnet.ad.jp!usenet.seri.re.kr!news.kreonet.re.kr!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!newsxfer2.itd.umich.edu!newsf From: edhall@brillig.com (Ed Hall) Newsgroups: alt.tv.sliders,alt.tv.sliders.creative,rec.arts.sf.tv,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: Sliders FAQ: Alternate Earths Followup-To: poster Date: 2 Mar 1996 23:22:48 -0800 Organization: 'Twas Brillig... Lines: 306 Sender: edhall@shellx.best.com Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Message-ID: <4hbhc8$fj1@shellx.best.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: shellx.best.com Summary: This posting contains a complete list of all the different Earths visited by the Sliders in the Fox TV series SLIDERS. Part three of three related SLIDERS posts. Xref: newsfeed.direct.ca alt.tv.sliders:1909 alt.tv.sliders.creative:408 rec.arts.sf.tv:15937 alt.answers:4776 rec.answers:4943 news.answers:15735 Archive-name: tv/sliders/alternate-earths Posting-Frequency: monthly or after each revision Last-modified: 2 March 1996 URL: http://www.brillig.com/sliders/ #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------# SLIDERS FAQ: ALTERNATE EARTHS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This List of Alternate Earths is Part 3 of the three part SLIDERS Frequently Asked Questions posting. All three parts can be found on the Usenet newsgroups alt.tv.sliders, alt.tv.sliders.creative, rec.arts.sf.tv, alt.answers, rec.answers, and news.answers. The latest version of this FAQ is available via FTP from: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu//pub/usenet-by-group/alt.tv.sliders/ A version of this document also exists on the World Wide Web at the URL: http://www.brillig.com/sliders/ Please send additions, questions, comments, and corrections to this FAQ to Ed Hall at edhall@brillig.com. Thanks! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LIST OF ALTERNATE EARTHS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This list contains a short description of each alternate Earth the Sliders have visited. Other Earths which have been mentioned, but not visited by "our" Sliders, appear at the end of the first list. The name of the episode appears in [brackets] following each entry. Consult Part 2 of this FAQ, "Sliders FAQ: Episode Guide" for more information about each episode. 1. Earth Prime The Sliders' Earth of origin. [Pilot] 2. Elvis' Earth Elvis is alive, JFK is president and everthing you ever knew about traffic lights is wrong. Quinn's mom has married the gardener and is expecting a baby. [Pilot] 3. Winter Earth Generally a bad place to be--watch out for ice tornadoes. Based on a photo found in the ruins of alternate Quinn's house, his family on this Earth includes a sister he never had and a dog that ran away when Quinn was young. It's never established if this world's frigid climate is due to Nuclear Winter or to an Ice Age; since the Sliders never show symptoms of radiation poisoning and many buildings in San Francisco are still standing, I have to assume this is an Earth caught in the midst of an Ice Age. Cool! [Pilot] 4. Red Dawn Earth A world where the Domino theory became fact and the Soviets took over the world. This Earth's alternate Wade is a leader in the American underground. Alternate Rembrandt was killed twelve years ago in the Detroit Uprisings. Alternate Arturo is Citizen General (i.e. the warden) of a political prisoner camp in the local university. ("Alway a leader among men!") [Pilot] 5. Dad's Earth (a.k.a. Earth Prime + Dad) An alternate Earth very similar to Earth Prime in every detail but one: in this world, Quinn's father never died. [Pilot] 6. Oil Boom Earth Oil is discovered under the streets of San Francisco and in Quinn's own backyard. Unfortunately, the Sliders only have twenty minutes to enjoy their newfound wealth. [Fever] 7. Fever Earth An alternate world where penicillin was never discovered is a dangerous place to kiss a stranger. Alternate Quinn is Patient Zero, the first carrier of the "Q" disease and a $1,000,000 reward is offered for his capture. [Fever] 8. Cannibal Earth Exercise caution if invited over to a friend's house for dinner on this alternate Earth. This arid world might be a good place to become a vegetarian. [Fever] 9. Asteroid Earth A huge asteroid is is due to hit the west coast of this Earth's United States in two days; too bad the Sliders' timer is set for three days. This world's Quinn had tried to tinker together a time machine; it's unclear if his research was successful or not. [Last Days] 10. Water Earth The oceans of this world have risen several hundred feet, probably due to the melting of the polar ice caps. San Francisco is covered by so much water that only the upper twenty feet or so of San Francisco's Transamerican Pyramid is projecting out of the water. [Prince of Wails] (Note that when the Sliders arrive on Water Earth they are wearing the clothes they were wearing when they slid out of Hippie Earth in Summer of Love. This makes sense since Prince of Wails (episode SL-104) was filmed after Summer of Love (episode SL-103). I assume that the tidal wave we see at the end of SOL causes the flooding we see here on Water Earth.) 11. British Earth Here the American Colonies lost their Revolutionary War against the British and George Washinton is just a footnote in the history of the British States of America. Harold the third, Prince of the Americas and heir to the British throne has a private game preserve where Oakland is on Earth Prime. Alternate Arturo is the Sheriff of San Francisco. God save the King! [Prince of Wails] 12. Spiderwasp Earth On this world a potential form of pest control, the South American Spiderwasp, escaped from the lab where it was genetically engineered in 1987. A hybrid with the worse attributes of spiders and wasps, its swarms have spread to cover all of South America and it is now invading North America. The first swarms reach San Francisco about the same time as the Sliders... [Summer of Love] 13. Hippie Earth The peace movement of the 1960s lives on here--right down to the communes and war protesters in San Francisco. These protestors however, are protesting a protracted war against Soviet controlled North Australia. Ollie North is President. Alternate Rembrandt is a henpecked Sergeant First Class in the Army who never had a musical career. [Summer of Love] 14. Egghead Earth A world where the super-intelligent have fans the way athletes do on our Earth, gangsters speak Latin, and public libraries have longer hours due to popular demand. Nikke (our Nike) uses the slogan: "Just think it." Alternate Quinn is the captain of the University of California's MINDGAME team (the Eggheads) but he's also $1,000,000 in debt to a gangster. Alternate Arturo is a Chairman at the University when he isn't on the lecture circuit at such places as the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. In addition, alternate Arturo's wife has filed for divorce. (Arturo's wife on Earth Prime, the same woman, died when they were in their twenties and he's still very much in love with her.) Both alternate Quinn and alternate Arturo disappeared several months ago, supposedly on a slide, but our Sliders were never able to confirm that fact or locate their equipment. [Eggheads] 15. Women's Earth Women wear the pants on this world. Women here fly planes, hold public office, play professional sports, and are the captains of industry. They can even become Pope, just ask Jane Pauley! Men stay home and take care of the kids or, maybe, get a job as a receptionist. Hillary Clinton is president. One wonders if Elizabeth Dole will run against her in '96? [The Weaker Sex] 16. Tahiti Earth A nice place to spend nine days, sipping Singapore Slings beachside. [The Weaker Sex] 17. Law and Order Earth On this world, the crime of spray painting a freeway overpass carries the death penalty. Not only that but, due to Proposition 199, the "Instant Justice Initiative", the appeal process only takes a moment--long enough for the judge to say "Request denied." Sliders visiting this world are advised to keep off the grass. Since Quinn is convicted of this crime based on eyewitness and fingerprint evidence, I think it's safe to assume that this world's Quinn is a bit of a criminal, or at least a rebel. It's also worth mentioning that the judge who sentences Quinn bears an uncanny resemblance to Judge Lance Ito. [The King Is Back] 18. Crying Man's Earth Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown was the King of Rock and Roll on this Earth until a tragic sponge fishing accident in the Gulf apparently ended his life at the peak of his career. Now, years later, there are Crying Man impersonators and a shrine to his memory in Memphis. Imagine this world's surprise when the Sliders arrive. [The King Is Back] 19. Ice Cream Earth All we know of this world is that Quinn and Rembrandt got jobs as street venders selling ice cream (King brand ice cream of course!) [The King Is Back] 20. Lottery Earth Society on this world keeps the population down to a mere 500 million through a variety of means including birth control drugs in cola and a lottery system which usually proves fatal to the winners. The president of this world's United States is Jocelyn Elders. The Sliders are joined by two others from this world: Ryan and a dog named Henry. [Luck Of The Draw] 21. Cliffhanger Earth Quinn was shot in the back by the Lottery Police when escaping Lottery Earth. The sliders spent their three days on this world here taking care of Quinn; Ryan helped by digging the bullet out of Quinn's shoulder. Ryan, and presumably Henry the dog, stayed behing on this world. [Luck Of The Draw; Into The Mystic] 22. Halloween Earth A world where interaction with the paranormal is very normal and the CEO of the world's most successful corporation is known as "the Sorcerer." When visiting this world, be sure to see the Golden Gargoyle Gate Bridge -- from a safe distance of course. One other piece of advice: never *ever* skip out on a bill owed to a licenced shaman, not ever the great lawyer Ross J. Kelly could help you if you did! [Into The Mystic] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER ALTERNATE EARTHS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other worlds which have been mentioned but never visited by "our" Sliders include: * "Smarter" Quinn's Earth The Quinn of this world was able to figure out the final equation which made sliding practical. He also invented the term 'Slider' and was married (perhaps to an alternate Wade?). "Oh yes, and one more thing about the timer, whatever you do, don't ever..." *whoosh* [Pilot] * Utopia Earth Visited by "Smarter" Quinn during one of his previous slides. [Pilot] In the December 1995 issue of "Sci-Fi Entertainment", there is an interview with Robert Weiss (Co-Creator of SLIDERS) where he indicates that Utopia Earth may be the same as the Lottery Earth seen in the episode "Luck Of The Draw." Since then, Tracy Torme (SLIDERS Executive Producer) has said that in a future episode, the Sliders may visit a world which fits "Smarter" Quinn's description of Utopia a bit better: "I once stepped onto an Earth just this side of paradise. Where there was no pollution, no crime or hate. People were happy and a stranger was welcomed with love. No one was afraid there Quinn--think about that. No one was afraid. I had set the timer for twenty hours before I left home that day. Not nearly enough time in a world like that. I hope I find it again; I'll always keep looking." -- "Smarter" Quinn * Cubs Earth A world where the Cubs have won the World Series for the last three years. Visited by "Smarter" Quinn during one of his previous slides. [Pilot] Note: The Cubs of our Earth haven't won the World Series since 1908. * five other earths "Smarter" Quinn mentions that his visit to Earth Prime is his eighth slide so there must be five other worlds he's visited which we know nothing about. [Pilot] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COLOPHON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sliders FAQ consists of three postings: 1. Sliders FAQ: General Questions 2. Sliders FAQ: Episode Guide 3. Sliders FAQ: Alternate Earths (this one!) These are posted on a regular basis to the alt.tv.sliders, alt.tv.sliders.creative, rec.arts.sf.tv, alt.answers, rec.answers, and news.answers newsgroups. The latest version of this FAQ is available via FTP from: ftp://rtfm.mit.edu//pub/usenet-by-group/alt.tv.sliders/ The HTML version of these documents can be found at: http://www.brillig.com/sliders/ Comments, suggestions, and contributions are always welcomed by the maintainer of this FAQ: Ed Hall (edhall@brillig.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright (c) 1995,1996 by Ed Hall. All rights reserved. This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, or BBS as long as it is posted in its entirety and includes this copyright statement. This FAQ may not be distributed for financial gain. This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections or compilations without the express written permission of the author. Ed Hall (edhall@brillig.com) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#