Path: newsfeed.direct.ca!imci2!news.internetMCI.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!sgigate.sgi.com!news1.best.com!nntp1.best.com!shellx.best.com!not-for-mail 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: General Questions Followup-To: poster Date: 9 Mar 1996 21:17:52 -0800 Organization: 'Twas Brillig... Lines: 1154 Sender: edhall@shellx.best.com Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Message-ID: <4htom0$cuv@shellx.best.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: shellx.best.com Summary: This posting contains the answers to many Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the Fox TV series SLIDERS. Part one of three related SLIDERS posts. Xref: newsfeed.direct.ca alt.tv.sliders:2077 alt.tv.sliders.creative:414 rec.arts.sf.tv:16085 alt.answers:4831 rec.answers:5024 news.answers:15980 Archive-name: tv/sliders/faq Posting-Frequency: monthly or after each revision Last-modified: 9 March 1996 URL: http://www.brillig.com/sliders/ #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------# SLIDERS FAQ: GENERAL QUESTIONS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is Part 1 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! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT IS SLIDERS? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "SLIDERS is a one-hour action/adventure series with a touch of black comedy. The series chronicles the cosmic roller coaster ride taken by four eclectic characters who discover a "wormhole" between dimensions that transports them to parallel universes. Led by Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), a handsome physics grad student who accidentally creates the gateway while working on an experiment in his basement, the interdimensional travelers include Wade Welles (Sabrina Lloyd), a beautiful computer tech; brilliant but arrogant physics professor Maximillian Arturo (John Rhys-Davies); and former R&B singer Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown (Cleavant Derricks), who is sucked into the vortex by mistake as he drives by Mallory's house. Each week, the Sliders will travel to a different parallel universe in which they find themselves in present-day alternative versions of Earth. The Sliders might encounter, for example, worlds in which the Communists have won the Cold War; nuclear winter prevails or the male gender is considered the weaker sex. At each stop, the Sliders face the jeopardy, surprise and thrill of encountering worlds that may look familiar but are never quite what they appear to be. SLIDERS, created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torme, is produced by St. Clare Entertainment and distributed by MCA Television Limited. Tracy Torme, Jacob Epstein and Alan Barnette are the Executive Producers and Robert K. Weiss is Executive Consultant." --from a Fox Broadcasting press release ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHO CREATED SLIDERS? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SLIDERS was created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torme. Here is some information provided (in large part) by Fox Broadcasting's publicity department: Tracy Torme (Co-Creator/Writer/Executive Producer of SLIDERS) Tracy Torme began his career before his senior year of college had a chance to play itself out -- when he was hired as a staff writer for the much acclaimed Second City Television. From there he joined Saturday Night Live as a Writer/Filmmaker. He then became a member of the writing staff of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," writing some of that series' best-received episodes (including "The Big Good-bye", for which he won a Peabody Award). Torme also served as Writer/Producer on the Emmy-nominated mini-series "Intruders." In addition to his many television credits, Torme wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film "Fire In The Sky," which he also co-produced. At present, Torme is developing "Dark City," a ninety minute pilot for HBO, and is working on the script for a film based on Richard Matheson's classic novel "I Am Legend," which he will also produce. He lives in Los Angeles. For more information, check out Starlog's Science Fiction Explorer #7 (June 1995) for an interview with Tracy Torme written by Frank Garcia. Robert K. Weiss (Co-Creator/Executive Consultant of SLIDERS) Robert K. Weiss' credits as a film producer include the three "Naked Gun" films, "Dragnet," "The Blues Brothers" and "Kentucky Fried Movie." For television, he produced "Police Squad," the progenitor of the "Naked Gun" film series. As President of St. Clare Entertainment, Mr. Weiss presides over the development of network and cable television productions. St. Clare's many shows include "Dream On" and "Weird Science." A graduate of Southern Illinois University, Mr. Weiss has extensive experience in studio and location video production resources. He has served on the Board of IS Robotics, a Cambridge, Mass. company whose business is the design, development and manufacture of micro-robots for a wide range of applications, including extraplanetary exploration. He currently sits on the Board for The Center for the Study of the Environment, in Santa Barbara. Mr. Weiss lives in California. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America. During the first season of SLIDERS, Mr. Weiss was one of the three Executive Producers of SLIDERS. For the second season, his title has changed to that of Executive Consultant. Mr. Weiss has been known to post on both alt.tv.sliders and on America Online. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SLIDERS PROLOGUE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First season: "What if you could find brand new worlds right here on Earth where anything's possible? Same planet--different dimension." "I've found the gateway!" "SLIDERS" Second season: "What if you could travel to parallel worlds? The same year, the same Earth, only different dimensions." "A world where the Russians rule America, or where your dreams of being a superstar came true, or where San Francisco was a maximum security prision?" "My friends and I have found the gateway. Now the problem is finding a way back home!" "SLIDERS" A 346K audio file containing a copy of the SLIDERS prologue from the first season may be downloaded from: ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/edhall/pub/sliders/sliders.au ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTOR'S BIOGRAPHIES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Most of the following information is from a Fox Broadcasting press release: Jerry O'Connell (Quinn Mallory) As a young boy, Jerry O'Connell appeared in numerous television commercials and, at age 11, co-starred in the hit film "Stand By Me", directed by Rob Reiner. O'Connell's television credits include "My Secret Identity", "Camp Wilder" and "Olie Hopnoodle's Haven Of Bliss" for PBS and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of "The Room Upstairs." He has also starred in the TV movie "The Ranger, the Cook and the Hole in the Sky", and in the feature film "Calendar Girl" opposite Jason Priestly. His more recent roles include the Fox TV movie "Blue River" and the lead role in MTV's feature film "Joe's Apartment" in which he shares the screen with 3,500 cockroaches. A native New Yorker, O'Connell is currently a senior at NYU, where he is majoring in Film and Television. He is also a member of the university's sabre fencing team. He was born on February 17th, 1974. Sabrina Lloyd (Wade Kathleen Welles) Sabrina Lloyd knew at the age of 12 that she wanted to be an actress. She made her start in a local production of "ANNIE" in her hometown of Eustis, Florida. She continued to work in the local community theatre there, starring in such productions as "Grease", "Crimes of the Heart", and "The Wizard of Oz." Lloyd made her first feature film appearance in "Chain of Desire" and subsequently starred in "Father Hood" with Patrick Swayze. For television, Lloyd made a guest starring appearance in the series "Law & Order" and starred in television movies as "The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter" and "Off Limits." Lloyd currently resides in New York and her birthdate is November 11th. Cleavant Derricks (Rembrandt Lee "Crying Man" Brown) Cleavant Derricks decided to try his hand at acting when it occurred to him that while all his friends were playing sports, he was always playing in front of a camera. He began his career in the theatre, performing first with local tours, then Off-Broadway productions and later won a Tony Award for his performance in "Dreamgirls." His other Broadway credits include "Jesus Christ Superstar", "Big Deal", "I Have a Dream" and "Your Arm's Too Short to Box With God." Forging his way into television, Derricks has starred in "Drexell's Class", "Whoops", "Roseanne" and "Something Wilder." Derricks currently resides in Agoura Hills, CA and his birthdate is May 15th. John Rhys-Davies (Professor Maximillian P. Arturo) Acclaimed Welsh-born actor John Rhys-Davies is probably best know to film audiences for his roles in the blockbuster hits "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". He has also had leading roles in "Victor, Victoria", "The Living Daylights", and "King Solomon's Mine". Rhys-Davies, who was raised in England, Africa and Wales, credits his early exposure to classic literature for his decision to pursue acting and writing. He later refined his craft at London's renowned Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. His television credits include James Clavell's "Shogun" and "Noble House", "Great Expectations", "War and Remembrance", "Archaeology" and "The Untouchables." Rhys-Davies is also known for his roles in the radio version of "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and as one of the live action characters in the game "Wing Commander 3" and the voice of a recurring character in the animated series "Gargoyles." An avid collector of vintage automobiles, Rhys-Davies has a host of theater roles to his credit, including "the Misanthrope", "Hedda Gabler" and most of Shakespeare's works. He divides his time between Los Angeles and the Isle of Man. Rhys-Davies was born on May 5th 1944 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. Note: Stephen Bosch (sfbosch@acs.ucalgary.ca) has made the observation that it would be difficult for Mr. Rhys-Davies to be both "Welsh-born" and "born in Salisbury, England." Salisbury is nowhere near Wales. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RECURRING CHARACTERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No matter where the Sliders travel, they keep running into some of the same people again and again. I've broken up this list based on whether or not the character has shown up in more than one episode as well as on more than one alternate Earth. These lists are sorted by number of appearances. Recurring Characters (Multiple Episodes) Michael Hurley (Gary Jones) * manager of Doppler Computer Superstore on Earth Prime [Pilot] * member of resistance on Red Dawn Earth [Pilot] * British army officer on British Earth [Prince of Wails] * "Smarter" Quinn mentions that Hurley is a "putz" on every alternate world he (Quinn) has visited. Quinn's Mom (Linda Henning, Deanne Henry) * a widow on Earth Prime [Pilot] waiting for her missing son to return [Into the Mystic] * married to Jake the gardener (and pregnant) on Elvis' Earth [Pilot] * happily married (never widowed) on Dad's Earth [Pilot] * it's mentioned that she has moved "back east" on Egghead Earth [Eggheads] Mace Moon (Gerry Nairn) * owner of Moonatic Electronics on Asteroid Earth [Last Days] * owner of Moonatic Electronics on Hippie Earth [Summer of Love] * assumed to be the owner of Moonatic Electronics on Spiderwasp Earth (we see his store but never see him) [Summer of Love] * assumed to be the owner of Moonatic Electronics on Water Earth (we see his store but never see him) [Summer of Love] Pavel Kurlienko (Alex Bruhanski) * a taxi driver on Red Dawn Earth [Pilot] * a taxi driver on Dad's Earth [Pilot] * a taxi driver on Fever Earth [Fever] * a taxi driver on Halloween Earth [Into the Mystic] Conrad Bennish Jr. (Jason Gaffney) * a student in Professor Arturo's class on Earth Prime [Pilot] and a friend of Quinn's. [Summer of Love] * a physics graduate student who helps build the Bomb [Last Days] * the president of Young Republicans *For* the War. [Summer of Love] Ross J. Kelley (John Novak) * Attorney-At-Law on Earth Prime who sells his "services" via TV commercials using the slogan "I'm Ross J. Kelley and I won't take 'No' for an answer! I'll fight for you!" [Pilot] * An interrogator for the Soviets on Red Dawn Earth, he tells Rembrandt "I'll fight for you!" [Pilot] * A lawyer on Halloween Earth who promises in his TV commercials that "I'll fight for you!" [Into the Mystic] Gomez Calhoun (William Sasso) * Motel 12 manager on Fever Earth [Fever] * Motel 12 manager on Crying Man's Earth [The King Is Back] Policeman (Mike Dobson) * Policeman on Asteroid Earth [Last Days] * First Policeman on Hippie Earth [Summer Of Love] Wing (Yee Jee Tso) * a student in Professor Arturo's class on Earth Prime [Pilot] * tells Quinn about oil well in Quinn's backyard [Fever] Recurring Characters (Single Episode) Crazy Kenny/Senator (Frank C. Turner) [Pilot] * A bum ranting in an Earth Prime park about the imminent rise of communism over capitalism. He warns Quinn: "Join the Revolution or suffer the consequences!" * A Senator speaking in a Red Dawn Earth park about the plight of the Proletariat * A bum sleeping behind the Lincoln statue in the park on Dad's Earth Mr. Gale (Hrothgar Mathews) [Into The Mystic] * A farmer on Cliffhanger Earth; Gale also appeared as an Undertaker in Quinn's nightmare * the sorcerer's aide on Halloween Earth (although he prefers the title "executive assistant) * Mrs. Mallory's new gardener on Earth Prime Four FBI Agents [Summer of Love] * investigating the Sliders' disappearance from Earth Prime * attempted to capture "subversive" Quinn and Arturo Jake [Pilot] * the Mallory's gardener on Earth Prime * apparently married to Quinn's (pregnant) Mom on Elvis' Earth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- RUMOR MILL (MINOR SPOILERS) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A *very* alternate version of Mel Torme (the father of SLIDERS Co-creator and Executive Producer Tracy Torme) will make an appearence in an upcoming episode. [Greatfellas] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael Hurley (Gary Jones) will be back as the manager of Doppler Computer Superstore during the second season. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The first SLIDERS novel is in the works. Brad Linaweaver (MOON OF ICE) is working on a novelization of our heroes' adventures on Red Dawn Earth. The working title is "THE SECRET OF LENIN'S STATUE." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sliders will visit a world where crime is so rampant that *huge* super prisons are created. In fact, they are transported into the middle of "San Francisco Federal Prison." [El Sid] The following message relating to "El Sid" was posted to USENET and will be of great interest to Sliders fans. I have taken the liberty of removing the poster's name so as to not affect her chance of being cast as an extra again at some time in the future! :-) Newsgroups: alt.tv.sliders Subject: I worked on Sliders last week Date: 26 Nov 1995 08:41:29 GMT Hi there Thought people in this newsgroup might be interested in the following. I do extra work in Vancouver and a few days ago I did an episode of Sliders. In this episode San Fran is a giant penal colony, but very upscale--i.e. everyone dresses well, etc, so you wouldn't know it aactually a jail. I was in a scene with about 30 other women and the actress who plays Wade. In this penal colony, inmates are required to go to daily therapy sessions, and that's what we did. We wore barcodes, and bracelets that glow red when you break a rule. If that happens, you and your 'bracelet buddy' are immediately killed. Very Big Brother. John Rhys-Davies and the Rembrandt-guy was there as well. Lots of fun! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sliders will visit a world where J. Edgar Hoover was President and San Francisco is now more or less crime free. Reading the (now suspended) Constitution of the United States is an offense punishable by death. J. Edgar always was a little strict, but he was *such* a snappy dresser... [Time Again And World] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following message was posted on the alt.tv.sliders newsgroup: > From: rkweiss@aol.com (R K Weiss) > Newsgroups: alt.tv.sliders > Subject: Re: back at home? > Date: 9 Jul 1995 05:52:04 -0400 > > Re: >when his 2 guests arrived and never came back out of the garage and > >they are presumed missin on Earth Prime,I'm sure the Government is > >Paying the bill till he gets back to answer questions. > > Not only is the government paying the electric bill, they are vigorously > investigating the whole affair. In addition they are...wow, I just caught > myself from leaking some spoilers. Better Slide on out of here before I > give away some secrets from next season ;-> > > Best, Bob Weiss, Executive Producer, SLIDERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is for all the little bits of trivia which don't really fit into any other section of the FAQ. If you think of something which gets asked all the time in the alt.tv.sliders newsgroup and yet isn't here, drop me a line at edhall@brillig.com and I'll try to include it in the next version of the FAQ. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Has SLIDERS been cancelled? A: Absolutely not! Thirteen brand new episodes are airing Friday night on Fox starting March 1st 1996. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Where is SLIDERS filmed? A: SLIDERS is primarily filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, although a few establishing exterior shots have been filmed in San Francisco and on the University of California at Berkeley campus. Most studio work is done in Vancouver at the studio where M.A.N.T.I.S. was filmed. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: What are SLIDERS fans called? A: People have been kicking this one around since the show first aired and dozens of suggestions have been made on alt.tv.sliders. Star Trek fans are called Trekkers or Trekkies, X-Files fans are called X-philes, so it's only fair that SLIDERS fans have their own name. It seems that the name which has gotten the most support among fans is the obvious one: "Sliders." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Quinn has a cat on Earth Prime. What is the cat's name? A: The cat's name is Schrodinger and is named for Erwin Schrodinger, a quantum physicist famous for (among other things) formulating a "thought experiment" involving a cat, a geiger counter, a piece of uranium and a loaded gun. For more information regarding Schrodinger's Cat, refer to Michio Kaku's book "Hyperspace" or take two years of college physics. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Is there a SLIDERS Fan Club? A: There aren't any *official* SLIDERS Fan Clubs. Not *yet* anyway. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Are there any SLIDERS toys? A: Not yet, but I've heard that there are finally some in the works. Wouldn't you love to have a Timer or a little four inch tall Arturo action figure? :-) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Is Earth Prime *our* earth? A: Of course not. If the Sliders were to visit our Earth, they would be surprised to discover their alternates were all actors in a Fox TV show! Further evidence that the Sliders aren't from our Earth can be found in the first few episodes. The University which Quinn attends looks exactly like the U.C. Berkeley campus but seems to be located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. (Berkeley is across the bay from San Francisco, about 30 miles away.) More proof is that in the episode Summer of Love, it is mentioned that Wade Welles attends Northshore Junior College--there is no such college in *our* San Francisco. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Where do I send fan mail? A: The new and improved address to send fan mail is: SLIDERS c/o Fox Broadcasting P.O. Box 900 Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900 Fox had an e-mail address (sliders@delphi.com) during SLIDERS first season but it doesn't seem to be working anymore. Perhaps it will be hooked up again now that the second season has started. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Where can I get copies of the SLIDERS scripts? A: The first draft of the script for the SLIDERS' pilot (dated January 14th 1994) is available for $19.95 from a company called Script City. Script City is in Hollywood, California and can be reached at (213) 871-0707. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: Were the First Season Episodes Shown in the Correct Order? A: Not even close. For some reason, Fox decided not to show the episodes in the order they were filmed. I don't know why this was done, maybe Fox wanted to group what they thought were the better episodes together or maybe some episodes weren't quite ready to be aired so others were shown in their place. Assuming that the production number assigned to each episode represents the order in which the episodes were filmed, here is a list of the episodes as they were filmed and as they were aired. As Filmed As Shown ---------------- ---------------- 1. Pilot (2 hours) Pilot (2 hours) 2. Summer Of Love Fever 3. Prince of Wails Last Days 4. Fever Prince of Wails 5. Last Days Summer Of Love 6. The Weaker Sex Eggheads 7. Eggheads The Weaker Sex 8. The King Is Back The King Is Back 9. Luck Of The Draw Luck Of The Draw Just to confuse matters a little bit more, Fox decided to air the repeats of of the first season episodes in yet another order. The episodes appeared as repeats in the following order: 1. Pilot, part 1 2. Pilot, part 2 3. Fever 4. The King Is Back 5. Last Days 6. Eggheads 7. The Weaker Sex 8. Summer of Love 9. Prince of Wails 10. Luck Of The Draw ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMER OF LOVE: THE LOST SCENE ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Originally, in "Summer of Love" there was a scene which explained a bit about the fuctionality of Quinn's timer and explained why it is so important for the Sliders to not miss the next opening of the gate out of the current Earth. Unfortunately, this scene just didn't make sense once "Summer of Love" was bumped from episode #2 to episode #5 and the scene was cut from the episode. That said, here is the original scene as it appears in the "Summer of Love" script and, presumably, as it was filmed: ----------- REMBRANDT (CONT'D) Where's the Professor? As if on cue, Aurturo bursts out of the loft, running after them and trying to hold four guns at the same time. Scant seconds later, the Feds also exit the building, sprinting after him. Arturo spins, dropping three of the guns and shooting the fourth one in the air as a warning that gets the Feds to freeze. Uncomfortable carrying any firearms, he flings the fourth gun away and resumes running toward his friends. ARTURO Hurry up, get back in the car! The Feds are scrambling to retrieve their guns as Quinn, Arturo and Rembrandt hurry back to the Cadillac. Rembrandt jumps behind the wheel, Quinn and Arturo dive into the open back seat - Copeland and Yenn have retrieved their guns, they OPEN FIRE. Rembrandt is driving and ducking, as bullets whiz past the accelerating purple vehicle. REMBRANDT Seems like you two make friends wherever you go! Why am I not surprised?! The Caddy screeches around the corner at breakneck speed and gets away - for the moment. INT. THE CADDY - NIGHT - ARTURO IS IN THE FRONT Quinn in the back; Rembrandt drives, keeping a careful eye on the rearview mirror, while bemoaning his near brush with domesticity. REMBRANDT Man, that is the _last_ time I do a good deed. The Crying Man gave that woman his all, and look at the thanks he got. (to Quinn, in mirror) Now, what was that about the timer? QUINN It's badly damaged. We can't open the gate at will anymore. So the Professor and I did some calculating based on The Helix Spiral -- REMBRANDT -- Felix who? QUINN _Helix_. It's a ten dimensional form of Witten's index theorum. REMBRANDT Oh. That. QUINN It suggests there will be a single window of opportunity on each Earth we visit. A moment in time when the weakened powers of the gizmo will still allow us to access the gate. ARTURO The window he's referring to will be different on each Earth - mere minutes till it arrives on some, several months on others. REMBRANDT So you're saying we may have to wait _months_ on some of these worlds before we can try and get home again? ARTURO Correct. We've re-rigged the timer to serve as a countdown device, telling us how long till the window on each Earth we visit. REMBRANDT What if the window comes and goes and we never access the gate? ARTURO I'm afraid it's 29.7 years to the next opportunity. So that's a mistake we can not afford. We must always be sure to be together at the appointed time... or else. QUINN We're lucky we didn't miss the window on this world. He shows Rembrandt the timer: it reads 42 MINUTES, 16 SECONDS, and counting. QUINN (CONT'D) How far to the commune? REMBRANDT About forty-five minutes (winks) _If_ we obey the speed limit. That said, he slams on the accelerator. ----------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FURTHER READING ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Books and stories having to do with parallel universes. Fiction "Time Patrol" (and sequels) by Poul Anderson "Ox" by Piers Anthony "Virtual Mode" (and sequels) by Piers Anthony "The End of Eternity" by Isaac Asimov "Eon" (and sequels) by Greg Bear "Fireball" (and sequels) by John Christopher "Lest Darkness Fall" by L. Sprague de Camp "The Wheels of If" by L. Sprague de Camp "The Infinite Worlds of Maybe" by Lester Del Rey "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick (won the 1962 Hugo award) "The World Next Door" by Brad Ferguson "The Difference Engine" by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling "Replay" by Ken Grimwood "Job: A Comedy of Justice" by Robert Heinlein "The Number of the Beast" by Robert Heinlein "The Proteus Operation" by James P. Hogan "Thrice Upon a Time" by James P. Hogan "Worlds of the Imperium" (and sequels) by Keith Laumer "Einstein's Dreams" by Alan Lightman "The Dark Tower" (and sequels) by Stephen King "Alternities" by Michael P. Kube-McDowall "At the Narrow Passage" (and sequels) by Richard C. Meredith "Elric of Melnibone" (and sequels) by Michael Moorcock "All the Myriad Ways" (short story) by Larry Niven "Crossroads of Time" by Andre Norton "Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen" by H. Beam Piper "Para-Time" by H. Beam Piper "The Coming of the Quantum Cats" by Fred Pohl "Trips" (short story) by Robert Silverburg "The Probability Broach" (and sequels) by L. Neil Smith "The Guns of the South" by Harry Turtledove "Crosstime Traffic" (short stories) by Lawrence Watt-Evans "The Universe Next Door" (and sequels) by Robert Anton Wilson "Nine Princes in Amber" (and sequels) by Roger Zelazny Non-Fiction (!) "Hyperspace," by Michio Kaku Required reading for all would-be Sliders. Quinn was reading this book in the pilot before his first slide. "The Fourth Dimension," by Rudy von Rucker Covers the basic concepts of the Einstein-Rosen bridge, with cartoons. "Parallel Universes: The Search for Other Worlds," by Fred Alan Wolf Explains the quantum physics theories behind the concept of parallel universes, then moves on to some speculation about parallel universes. "'Relative State' Formulation of Quantum Mechanics," by H. Everett III, Reviews of Modern Physics 29, pg 454-462 (1957) [also see Hugh Everett III's Ph.D. thesis submitted to Princeton University on March 1, 1957] Everett's theory introduced the original concept of parallel universes as a real scientific theory, entirely consistent with quantum mechanics. I'm sure these lists (especially the first one) will grow over time. Contributions are always welcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OTHER SOURCES OF ONLINE SLIDERS INFORMATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- World Wide Web sites: Universal cHANnEL's Official SLIDERS page: http://www.mca.com/tv/sliders/ Ed Hall's SLIDERS FAQ web page: (the WWW version of this FAQ) http://www.brillig.com/sliders/ Tim Lucas' SLIDERS page: http://www.xtc.net/~lucast/sliders/sliders.html Robb Potter's SLIDERS page: [New] http://www.iii.net/users/robbp/sliders.html Mike Harrison's collection of SLIDERS sounds in WAV format: http://www.interlog.com/~mharris/sliders.html Vincent V. Juodvalkis' WWW archive of alt.tv.sliders.creative: http://gossamer.eng.ohio-state.edu/sliders/ John R. Potter has constructed a SLIDERS word search puzzle: http://www.NeoSoft.com/~jrpotter/puzzles.html Joe Reiss' SLIDERS Spoiler-free Opinion Summary (S.O.S.) page: http://hci.ise.vt.edu/~jreiss/cgi-bin/sos.cgi KOKH FOX 25 Virtual TV Station: http://www.kokh.ionet.net/ Aaron Greenhouse's Fox Broadcasting page: http://www.eden.com/users/my-html/fox.html The Usenet Alternate History List, maintained by R.B. Schmunk: http://www.panix.com/~rbs/AH FTP sites: The latest version of this FAQ and a few images and sound files are available at: ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/edhall/pub/sliders/ Vincent V. Juodvalkis' FTP archive of alt.tv.sliders.creative ftp://gossamer.eng.ohio-state.edu/pub/archive/sliders/ USENET Newsgroups: alt.tv.sliders This is *the* newsgroup for SLIDERS fans. Robert K. Weiss (Co-Creator/ Executive Consultant of SLIDERS) has been know to post tidbits of information regarding future episodes here. alt.tv.sliders.creative Have a piece of SLIDERS fan fiction you'd like to share with the rest of us? Post it here or just read the offerings of others while waiting for the second season to begin. Incidentally, if you post any SLIDERS fan fiction to this group, you should also mail a copy of it to Vincent V. Juodvalkis at juodvalk@ee.eng.ohio-state.edu so that he can add your work to the alt.tv.sliders.creative archives he maintains. (see above) rec.arts.sf.tv All science fiction shows, not just SLIDERS, are discussed here. alt.history.what-if soc.history.what-if These two newsgroups are not for SLIDERS related postings! We have our own newsgroup (alt.tv.sliders) for that. These groups are for serious discussions regarding alternative history, not science fiction TV shows. Of course, if you want to discuss what the world would be like if the American Revolution had never occurred or if the United States had lost the Battle of Coral Sea, these are the newsgroups for you! SLIDERS Mailing Lists: Sliders Mailing List A mailing list for the descussion of all aspects of SLIDERS. To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message to the address majordomo@stargame.org and in the *body* of the message type either "subscribe sliders" or "subscribe sliders-digest" without the quotes and without your name. This list is run by Alicia Mowlai-Ashtiani (mowlaial@ucunix.san.uc.edu). Sliders Creative Mailing List [New] A mailing list for SLIDERS fan fiction and the discussion of SLIDERS fan fiction. To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message to the address slfic-request@xmission.com and in the *subject* of the message type "subscribe" without the quotes and without your name. This list is run by Kyrie Daniels (kyrie@deltainet.com). SLIDERS Internet Relay Chat (IRC): SLIDERS fans gather in the #sliders channel on IRC after each episode airs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SLIDERS NEWS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 March 1996 SLIDERS' SECOND SEASON BEGINS! 31 January 1996 SLIDERS TO AIR FRIDAYS AT 8:00 BEGINNING MARCH 1 Thirteen new episodes of SLIDERS will return to Fox starting March 1st at 8pm. The first episode aired will be "Into the Mystic" will will resolve the first season's cliffhanger. 10 December 1995 NO AIR DATE YET Fox Broadcasting has still not selected an air date for the second season of SLIDERS. Since they've waited so long, it's now only 50% likely that new episodes of SLIDERS will begin to air in January as had been previously announced here. If SLIDERS doesn't begin in January, it will be delayed until March of 1996. SLIDERS COMIC BOOK SERIES Work is continuing on a three-part SLIDERS comic book mini-series, targeted at adults and expected to hit store shelves around March. Acclaim/Armada Comics is behind this project with the full backing Tracy Torme and the SLIDERS creative team. D.G. Chichester is the writer, comic book legend Dick Giordano is on the pencils, with the inks being done by Mike DeCarlo. Look forward to plot lines which just can't be done on television due to budgetary limitations. 14 November 1995 D.G. Chichester (dgchi@aol.com) posted the following to alt.tv.sliders: > To coincide with the new episodes, Acclaim/Armada comics will be doing a > special two part comic book featuring the characters and concepts from > the show (plus a few that were developed and haven't yet been approved > for on air)! This will not mirror the new programs (not just adaptations) > but will be all new adventures, and is being done with the cooperation > and supervision of the Sliders' creative head honchos. If response > warrants, this would lead to an ongoing Sliders comic. > > Hopefully this will be as succesful as the X-Files comic books so Sliders > can get a little more exposure. 13 November 1995 The exact air date for the first episode is still up in the air. It most likely will be a Sunday in January but which one is unknown until an offical date is set. I've heard anywhere from the 7th to the 21st of January mentioned. Filming of "Time Again and World" has been completed. Filming of "El Sid" has begun. 1 November 1995 Filming for the second season of SLIDERS begins on schedule. 29 September 1995 Filming for the second season of SLIDERS is scheduled to begin on Wednesday, November 1st. A *tentative* airdate for this episode has also been scheduled: Sunday, January 21st 1996. The Executive Producers for the second season of SLIDERS are Tracy Torme, Jacob Epstein and Alan Barnette. 18 August 1995 Robert K. Weiss, Executive Consultant of SLIDERS, reports that all four principal actors (Jerry O'Connell, Sabrina Lloyd, Cleavant Derricks, and John Rhys-Davies) will be returning for the second season of SLIDERS. 29 July 1995 Robert K. Weiss announces that the Executive Producers of SLIDERS (himself, John Landis and Leslie Belzberg) have all stepped down from that post. Weiss will be remaining at St. Clare Entertainment with the title Executive Consultant. 26 June 1995 Fox issues a press release which makes it official: Sliders has been picked up as a 1995-96 mid-season replacement series! 16 June 1995 Fox Broadcasting ordered thirteen new episodes of SLIDERS as a mid-season replacement. The new episodes will begin filming in October of 1995 with an expected air date of early 1996. Congratulations to everyone who took the time to tell Fox that you wanted to see more episodes of SLIDERS! 1 June 1995 Fox announced that SLIDERS re-runs will be aired starting Sunday June 25th at 7PM (6PM Central.) Repeats will continue until a new series, SPACE, ABOVE AND BEYOND takes over the timeslot in the fall. Fox also said "a decision on SLIDERS as a fall backup is still pending." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE MUSIC OF SLIDERS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All songs written by Tracy Torme except "Cry Like a Man", written by Tracy Torme and Paul Kelly. "Cry Like A Man" [Pilot] ---------------- My friends ask me why I cry It's 'cause I feel I wanna die These tears fall from my eye Ever since you said goodbye I'm gonna cry like a man Hard as I can And if you had a heart Maybe you'd start To understand. See me walking down the street And everybody that I meet They say hello, goodbye And tears spring from my other eye. Whoa I'm gonna cry like a man Hard as I can And if you had a heart Maybe you'd start To understand. "Tears In My 'Fro" [The King Is Back] ------------------ I've got tears in my 'fro 'Cuz I'm standing on my head over you Got a long way to go Will this crying stop... I wish I only knew. At first I thought our love was never-ending Together, you and I till eternity But now I realize I'm just pretending I'm only half the man I used to be. I've got tears in my 'fro 'Cuz my world is upside down over you. I should wash them out, I know But that's the saddest thing I'll ever half to do. I've got tears in my 'fro 'Cuz I'm standing on my head, girl... Oo-ver yoo-oou. "Purple Hawaii" [The King Is Back] --------------- I'm surfing on an ocean of tears Feels like I've been... Weeping for years. My little island girl Set my mind awhirl Now I think I need... To sink a couple of beers. "Library Rap" [Eggheads] ------------- Yo Homes, what's up? What up with you? Whatcha' gonna say? Whatcha' gonna do? Where you gonna go? What we gonna see? We're goin' to the li-bra-ree. I'm moving down the aisle with my Homeys in tow We're grovin' through the home of the librarian Ho She checks us out from behind thick glasses We walk right past and we wiggle our asses Hemingway... Lawrence... Checkhov and Miller Fitzgerald was a freak, Mailer is a killer... Quiet pleeease! Quiet pleeease! The silence is golden To books I am beholden I know I'm bad 'Cuz of the knowledge that I'm holdin' And I give you one warnin' There will be no repeats Get out of my face While I'm readin' my Keats "Library Rap" performed by MC Poindexter & The Study Crew "Comrade Rap" [Pilot] ------------- Comrades, Comrades, get on down Get that grain right into town You got to serve the State And feed the people Because the in-div-i-du-al is evil! "Comrade Rap" performed by MC Hammer & Sickle "Summer of Love" [Summer of Love] ---------------- The Gods will come down from the sky Just two months after July In the Summer of Love... They'll descend from above And men will no longer die And our brothers will no longer die. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COLOPHON ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Sliders FAQ consists of three postings: 1. Sliders FAQ: General Questions and Answers (this one!) 2. Sliders FAQ: Episode Guide 3. Sliders FAQ: Alternate Earths 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) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My thanks to the following people who, in one way or another, helped make this a better FAQ: Stewart M. Clamen (clamen@cs.cmu.edu) Brian Eirik Coe (bcoe@trumpet.aix.calpoly.edu) Kyrie Daniels (kyrie@deltainet.com) Darren "PromoGuy" Denham (kokh@ionet.net) Ed Dravecky III (dsheldon@netcom.com) Beth Epstein (epsteinb@carleton.edu) Frank Garcia (fgarcia@direct.ca) Mitch Gold (goldm@rpi.edu) Vincent V. Juodvalkis (juodvalk@ee.eng.ohio-state.edu) C. Daniel Kinser (70004.146@compuserve.com) Tim Lucas (lucast@etsu.east-tenn-st.edu) J. Brett Martinson (u9010521@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca) Will Mengarini (seldon@eskimo.com) Nigel G. Mitchel (Zikzak23@aol.com) David Playle (dplayle@ins.infonet.net) Robin Reid (rmreid@opus.freenet.vancouver.bc.ca) Scott W. Roby (roby@oswego.oswego.edu) Mark Schey (mark_schey@delphi.com) Stephen Sisk (sjsisk@islandnet.com) Ford A. Thaxton (FordaT@aol.com) Larry Trujillo (ltrujillo@cctr.umkc.edu) Special thanks to Francesca Redwine. And of course, thanks to Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Torme for creating SLIDERS in the first place! Thanks for everyone's comments, suggestions, and answers! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------#