Please Press One
- Written By // William Bigelow
- Director // Paul Lynch
- Music // Danny Lux
Reviews
// Earth Prime
// External Reviews
Worlds Visited
Data Universal World
I’d call it just Data World, but that one’s taken.
Details
- The sign above the dumpster reads “Data Universal is there for you in every way.”
- The Dodge Stealth they pass has a bar code license plate (makes sense, since they’re using the Back to the Future Hill Valley lot).
- The stores in downtown Hill Valley include Data Universal Hardware, Data Universal Pharmacy, Data Universal Travel and Data Universal Bank.
- The following items are available for sale in the machine Maggie tries to buy food from:
- Rold Gold pretzels
- Hostess Ho-Hos
- Suzy Qs
- Hostess Twinkies
- Lemon custard, cherry and apple pies
- Cupcakes
- Frito-Lay Cheetos
- Sliders Rule #11: Never rule out the weird no matter how obvious.
- Data Universal also has chip, coffee and snack machines.
- Maggie’s temporary ID is 360-416-88-A.
- The newsstand customer’s ID s 491-5381-66-B, and he pays $2.95 for a copy of the Los Angeles Dispatch andForbes magazine.
- The mind scan has an 87% survival rate.
- The scoop the Sliders commandeer is vehicle 775.
- Maggie runs down corridor 135, section 2.
- No Greenpeace on this world. Instead, it’s Greenvoice.
- The American Provincial Bank Master Credit card is quite valuable among collectors.
Character Information
- Maggie used to live in San Francisco with her husband Steven, in a house with a beautiful garden. She recalls it as her favorite home.
- Maggie’s double lives in San Francisco and is currently in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Arlo used to be an employee of Data Universal.
- James has been at Data Universal for 6 years.
- Mallory used to hotwire cars for sport, use them and then return them, sometimes with the tanks topped off.
- Mallory spent five years in a wheelchair.
- Rembrandt had a cousin with no job, no prospects. “Looking after him was like a full-time job.” He died one month after Rembrandt went to pursue his dream.
Notable Quotes
- “Scan this.”—Maggie.
- “Open the pod bay doors, HAL.”—Diana, to the DU vending machine.
- “Yo’ mama!”—Rembrandt.
- “Just like that? You have no idea where it goes, and you’re just going to jump in and slide to who knows where?”
“Actually, we do it all the time.”—Arlo and Rembrandt, inside the Data Universal plant.
Money Matters
No money spent. It ain’t allowed. Maggie tried.
Nitpicks and Errors
- Watch Mallory jump on the scoop. There is no way the initial jump he had would have carried him that far above the scoop. It looks like he’s going to hit the side but lands on top after the cut.
- Why does Sector Control look around as if there’s something shifty going on? He’s on a monitor, and there’s no other human around at DU.
- The bar code on the scoop should be read by the laser from top to bottom, not left to right. That way the laser reads the whole thing. Also, how many times does a laser need to pass over the bar code? Once.
- Why is there so much dust is 5579-A’s room? It’s never used, and without any people there or any open window with plenty of dirt flying in, there is NO way any dust should be in the room.
- Just how many people can 5579-A “assist” at one time?
- What happens in the case of identical twins? They delete them?
- If that bomb can vaporize a door, wouldn’t it do a little more damage to that little remote control zapper?
- Sector Control’s office looks way too much like Diana’s at Geiger Applied Research.
Neatpicks
- Maggie’s reference of bone grafts is a throwback to Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
Guest Starring
- Maury Ginsburg as 5579-A/Guy
- J.D. Cullum as Arlo
- Reno Wilson as James
- Richard Fancy as Sector Control
Script Archive
Click on the links below to download rare scripts, outlines, and memos associated with this episode.
November 25, 1998
1st Yellow Revisions
The Inside Slide
“Please Press One” is one of several season-five scripts that I believe harken back to the type of Sliders worlds explored by our heroes in the first and second seasons,” says Keith Damron. “That is, a parallel Earth where a societal trend has taken an oblique turn, resulting in some kind of cultural aberration. Typically, this aberration caricaturizes a current trend in our own society and somehow our main characters are swept into it.
“Though rather clinical-sounding by description, these episodes tend to be the most fun to write.”
· · ·
The story and script were assigned to writer William Bigelow on September 18, 1998. The first draft was submitted on November 6 and went into pre-production on November 18.