Proposed Season One Episodes
In the first season of Sliders, we saw Quinn, Wade, Rembrandt, and Arturo team up with scrappy rebellions looking to overthrow the evil Soviet and British empires. Three episodes in and the series started to feel a little redundant; multiple Arturo doubles in improbable positions of power, American exceptionalism taking the bull by the horns, Wade making out with handsome rebels...
But what if that was just the start of the historical what-ifs? How would you like to have seen a first season line-up that also included the Sliders getting involved in rebellions against both the Nazis and the Confederacy? What if Tracy Tormé created a series absolutely stuffed to the gills with parallel earth tropes? If the original pitch materials to FOX had come to pass, your Harry Turtledove-inspired dreams may have just come true.
In addition to the now-infamous Twisted Cross, Tormé and Robert K Weiss came up with some fleshed out ideas you'll see elsewhere in the Lost Episodes section of Earth Prime. But a few were just teasers—quick elevator pitches to whet the whistle—so we've consolidated them here for your enjoyment. These may have been nothing more than filler ideas to entice executives, but they were selected by the creators of the show, so they hold a special part in the canon of its creation.
Stars and Bars
The Sliders find themselves in The Confederate States of America, a strange world where 89-year-old Colonel Sanders is President and Roy Clark stars as MacGyver in prime time.
They are near the border with the United States, a neighbor nation that the Confederates have been at war with (on and off) for over a hundred years. The Sliders are swept up into a conscripted army and given the gray uniforms of "their country." Needing to survive another thirty-two hours, they find themselves on the front line as the Yankees prepare to launch a bloody attack.
1995
The Sliders find themselves in an America that's ruled by a dictator with an iron fist.
Modern technology has become the government's main tool: surveillance equipment is everywhere, prying into people's lives through the telephone, the TV, the fax machine, and more.
There is no resistance movement here—freedom of thought and expression are unthinkable.
Until the Sliders arrive and dare to change things.
Native Americans
Our Sliders find themselves on a beautiful beach near the Pacific. There is no San Francisco, no sign of civilization, just pristine seaside wilderness. After so many eventful slides, they each relish the tranquil respite.
For the moment. the timer reads 34 hours to the next gate, so the Sliders decide to enjoy the peaceful sun, sand. and surf.
As the others bask in the sunshine. Rembrandt momentarily thinks he spots movement in the surrounding brush. He heads into the woods—and finds himself surrounded by strange painted Indians holding long feathered spears against his neck. MOVE IN ON the distressed Crying Man...