A Current Affair

In “Please Press One,” the show took the familiar route of taking a bad idea to its logical extreme in order to reinforce just how bad the idea is. But in “A Current Affair,” they make the bold decision to just look the audience dead in the eye and just show our world as it truly is. No satire, no extremes. Just the hard reality of an America with a corrupt government and a useless press. You know, home.

Think I’m being too cynical? Let’s examine the evidence, starting with the government as it is portrayed. Would I believe the president would lie? Yes, I would. Would an administration fabricate a scandal to its political advantage? Sure thing. Would it cover up an illegal war? Let me count the ways. Would it go so far as murder someone to keep its secrets? I’m certainly not ruling it out!

As for the press, it is portrayed as a bunch of mindless hacks asking stupid questions and accepting any statement as established fact without doing a modicum of research. It flits from scandal to scandal, blowing each out of proportion while it ignores anything of real importance. There are a handful of outlets that try to do a decent job, but no one pays them any attention. Again, exactly like home.

The Sliders get entangled in this mess when they slide into a press conference being held by President Jefferson Williams (Eric Pierpoint), a perfectly normal presidential name for any random white man who would seek the office. When he stumbles into Maggie’s arms on the receiving line, the press is off and running. And so is Chuck Pierson (John Vargas), his scheming Chief of Staff. In a smart twist, he decides the administration should use a sex scandal to distract from a disastrous war instead of the other way around.

How to pull this off? In yet another bold move by the show, it decides to go right back to the well of Sliders Formula #1, where Maggie again plays the captive and the others left to break her out in time for the slide. Even though we did this exact same thing last week.

Or will we? Once Maggie disappears, Rembrandt sensibly tells the others that all they need to do is wait at the Chandler for her to come back. And he’s absolutely right. For Maggie does manage to escape and return to the Chandler. Had the show really gone for the brass ring, it would have intercut Maggie’s adventure with scenes of Rembrandt and Diana playing cards. It wouldn’t have changed anything and we may have learned something about Diana, like what her favorite fruit is. Does she enjoy going to the zoo? Alas, the opportunity is lost as they follow Mallory on a side quest with Bobby Hawks (Michael Manasseri), the last honest reporter in Los Angeles. A reporter they ultimately corrupt, but like I said, that’s reality.

Meanwhile, Maggie is exposed to the day-to-day operations of a presidential administration. There are the extramarital affairs, the doctored photographs, and, of course, the house arrests. Maggie manages to switch places with a maid before the obligatory murder, but is re-captured immediately upon returning to the Chandler. Yes, it’s the Sliders formula so nice, they abduct her twice.

Unlike “Please Press One,” they see the formula through to the end and expose the President and his administration’s malfeasance. Alas, it does no good. They err by sliding out in the press’ presence, and that becomes the only thing reported on. Exactly as it would play out here.

You may be asking, why go through the trouble of just doing a regular story about a world everyone is familiar with? Well, they do manage to inject some humor into the proceedings. For starters, it’s hysterical they think anyone would give a damn about their intrepid Seymour Hersch-type reporter, howling into the void about war crimes. The way you can see his heart break as his legitimate concerns are laughed off by the press hoard tells me Manasseri has a future in romantic comedy.

The shenanigans with the president were a lot of fun too. The bumbling of his staff wasting time staging pictures of Maggie and the president, only to then create doctored photos anyway was really clever. And mistaken identity comedy is always a winner. Did we kill the wrong woman? Oopsie!

And who could forget Kari Wuhrer’s turn portraying a trailer park trash version of herself? “I said put that damn dog down!” Wuhrer, as our Maggie, pretending to be embarrassed by such a sight just killed. While used primarily as an action star, Wuhrer has serious comedic chops that should be employed more frequently.

Given the stock situation of a presidential affair (yawn), I had low expectations going in. But they really turned this one on its head with the truly brilliant idea to just play it straight. Sometimes the most terrifying world is our own.