Slidecage

The genesis of “Slidecage” came in a bit of inspiration when another Universal property, the TV show Timecop, was cancelled.

“While I was on the set of World Killer, I heard that the series Timecop had just been cancelled,” explains writer and producer Marc Scott Zicree. “Their standing sets were on the next soundstage over. I went over to Stage 16 and saw these incredible futuristic sets. On the spot, I thought up the story for “Slidecage” to utilize these sets. I then went back to my office and told my assistant to get me those sets.

“They were just going to tear down these great futuristic sets,” he adds. “I walked around them and came up with the storyline. The costumes came from 12 Monkeys andWaterworld.

“So the episode looks like a feature film, the sets alone cost $500,000.” All adding up to high-quality production values on a low, low budget.

“The budget is lower, but we can still do FX and action and alternate worlds; we don’t feel limited or constrained at all. You just have to be very inventive.”

· · ·

Does the lower budget and smaller amount of FX hamper the series?

“You don’t want the tail wagging the dog; you want the FX to support the story,” says Zicree. “For instance, in ‘Slidecage,’ they get to a place they can’t slide out of, this labyrinth structure on an alternate Earth where the atmosphere is radically different and you can’t go outside. So it’s basically the prisoners running the prison, and there are Kromaggs, there are humans and it’s very nasty. They’re wandering around trying to figure out where they are, they look out a window and see an alien terrain. That will be a computer-generated image, but it serves the story, which is about a group of characters in this pressure cooker situation. Then you always look for how does this open up our characters, and how do we explore them in a new way?

“Actually, I was glad we didn’t have a huge FX budget, because I think that can be a crutch,” he adds. “My real interest in Sliders was exploring who these people were, what they felt, how they cared about each other.”

· · ·

Does Quinn really have the tracking device implanted in him, or is it another Kromagg lie?

“You’re gonna find out that we’re going back to two seasons ago when we first ran into the Kromaggs, and when we finally escape, one of us has been implanted with information,” Cleavant Derricks explains. “That information will not materialize until this particular episode. The diehard fans who are with us will know what I’m talking about when I say that we’re going back to the beginning. Everyone left thinking it may have been the Professor and it may have been Quinn, but we’re going to find out that it was Rembrandt.”

· · ·

So what’s the deal with Thomas, and how could he possibly know about Beauty and the Beast when he’s been trapped in the Slidecage for over a decade? Little throwaway lines like that were written by Marc Zicree for the original actor for the role—Armin Shimerman (who played Pascal on the show).

“The character in the walls was originally going to be played by my friend Armin Shimerman,” notes Zicree. “Armin agreed to do the role, but my episode of Deep Space Nine (Far Beyond the Stars) was shooting that same week and—as he played Quark—he was unavailable.”

The role was recast with Kelly Connell. As for the problem of losing your guest star to another show which you also wrote? “It’s a good problem to have,” jokes Zicree.