A Time for Heroes
Before writer Steve Kriozere could wow Sliders producers with his take on zombies, he had two other ideas chambered. The first, To Bee or Not to Bee, turned the Spiderwasp mishap into a full-scale adventure with Rembrandt navigating an icy-cold militia and Quinn, Wade, and Professor Arturo working with a scientist to disrupt the migratory pattern of a swarm of killer bees.
The second pitch, however, reads like the origin story of the Fantastic Four. What if the Sliders had... super powers? And fought crime? And had a nemesis named Vipron?
"I got cut off midway by [Tony] Blake, who thought it was too much like a Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode," recalls Kriozere. "I think Blake was getting annoyed that my pitches were so long and detailed, but that was what I was told to bring in."
Fortunately, the nascent Sole Survivors came next. "After I pitched zombies, they obviously liked it because Peckinpah and Blake started asking me questions," he says.
Below is Kriozere's full pitch for Quinn and his ragtag band of crime fighters, the Vanguardians. If you make it to the end, congrats—you're officially more interested in how it turns out than the people creating the show!
Teaser
Sliders leave a big, gaudy casino in L.A., all smoking fine cigars. They comment on how they are grateful that Bugsy Siegel didn’t go to Las Vegas to build his Riviera Casino, but stayed in Los Angeles. The Sliders also comment on their good fortune on the roulette table (they have lots of money, but it will be useless in their next world because Bugsy’s picture is on it in place of George Washington’s). Rembrandt is dressed to the nines and looks great; he put his money to use. They give the money to a bum and play “roulette” one more time with their slide…
Quantum tunnel opens and they land in an alley. The walk out into the street and people pass them by looking down at the ground acknowledging no one and nothing. Rembrandt crosses the street to grab a newspaper. Suddenly, robotic police officers (the APF—Automated Police Force) appear. They arrest and sentence him (on the spot) to 7 years in maximum security prison for jaywalking! The citizens of this world just keep on walking as if nothing has happened, except for one BYSTANDER who looks at the Sliders as if he’s seen a ghost. It’s Rembrandt’s double!
Act One
The Sliders are about to intervene with Rembrandt’s arrest, but are stopped by Rembrandt’s double who can’t believe they’re back from the dead. He also advises them not to disrupt Rembrandt’s arrest because they will be arrested and sentenced for disrupting an arrest. Rembrandt is hauled off.
The Sliders go with Rembrandt II, who knows each of them by name. It’s obvious that he must know their “doubles.” Rembrandt II goes on and on about how happy he is to see them and how he thought them dead. Rembrandt II assumes they have amnesia from the explosion because they don’t remember who they are… the Vanguardians. The Sliders explain to Rembrandt II who they really are and ask what happened to their doubles.
Graveyard. Rembrandt II stands next to three headstones bearing the nan1es of Quinn, Wade, and Arturo. They all died on the same day. The three Slider-doubles were a crime-fighting group called The Vanguardians. They were all killed in an explosion during a battle with Vipron, a super-villain, who also died in the melee. Rembrandt II used to be the driver for the Vanguardians’ assault vehicle and witnessed their demise. The Sliders get the notion that he feels responsible for their deaths because he didn’t intervene. He’s now the caretaker in their Hall of Titanium, now a relic in the city. Rembrandt II will explain more later because they must leave the graveyard because it is illegal to visit the deceased. They are spotted by the APF, outsmart them and escape.
Meanwhile, Rembrandt is brought to the prison. He undergoes a series of strange computer scans and X-rays. He loses his sweet clothes in exchange for jail-issue threads. He is also charged with a laundry list of fabricated crimes against the city (obviously they assume him to be Rembrandt II) which extend his sentence from 7 years to 118. Rembrandt is put into a prison cell. He meets other prisoners of all different ages. They all have one thing in common; they were put in prison for ridiculous crimes such as “playing Frisbee in the street,” “riding a bike and not holding onto the handle bars,” etc.
Hall of Titanium. Rembrandt II shows the Sliders around the Vanguardian’s former secret headquarters. It’s quite rundown. He tells about the glory days of the Vanguardians and how they brought crime to a standstill in the city. When they lost lives in the battle with Vipron, crime escalated. The city created the APF to “take back the city,” but the APF overran their programming and now control the city, arresting virtually anyone. They still haven’t overrun their “thou shall not kill” command, but once that happens, it will be the end. All attempts by city officials at stopping them have failed. The Sliders question Rembrandt II as to Rembrandt’s whereabouts and possible return, Rembrandt II’s not optimistic. But then he gets a notion… Rembrandt II removes a cloth from a glass showcase revealing three super-hero costumes.
Act Two
Rembrandt II tells each of the Sliders about their costumed identities: Arturo was “Behemoth,” strongest man in the world. Wade was “Spark,” who controlled electricity, while Quinn was “The Green Comet,” who soared like a shooting star. The Sliders examine the costumes and see that integrated in the costumes are mechanisms/inventions that provided each of their super-hero talents. Rembrandt II suggests that by using the power-suits they can free Rembrandt and defeat the APF’s. They Vanguardians can live again!
Quinn, Wade, and Arturo exit “dressing rooms” wearing their costumes. They practice their new abilities. Quinn’s gravity belt give him flying capabilities, Wade’s wand feeds off ions in the air and creates electrical bolts and Arturo’s exo-skeleton give him amazing strength. They are a bit unaccustomed to these powers, but Rembrandt II is excited to see them back. The Sliders ask Rembrandt II why he never donned one of the costumes to fight the APF’s; he was too afraid. Rembrandt II reveals the Vanguardian Cruiser, the team transport vehicle.
Rembrandt, along with other “innocent” prisoners, is led to a cryogenic freezing chamber. Rembrandt is forced into a coffin-type freezing compartment and sealed in to be released in 118 years, when his sentence expires.
The Vanguardians hit the streets in the Cruiser, Rembrandt II drives. People on the sidewalk look at the vehicle in awe. Are the Vanguardians back? They emerge from the vehicle and rescue an innocent from persecution from the APF. A battle breaks out between the Vanguardians and the APF. The Vanguardians destroy the robots. For the first time in a while, the citizens show signs of hope and happiness.
In an armored bunker, an ominous figure sits in a chair watching the Vanguardians on closed circuit television monitors. This room is revealed to be the APF central command. We see the watching figure, his skin has been seriously burned and parts of flesh have been replaced by metallic matter, he looks like a cyborg. The cyborg sits next to a Robo-Technician. The cyborg tinkers on a computer board and smiles. He informs the Robo-Technician that it’s a success: the “thou shall not kill” APF programming has been disabled. The Robo-Technician calls him: Vipron.
Act Three
Back at the Hall of Titanium, the Sliders plan out an attack on the prison to rescue Rembrandt. The Vanguardians are on television (taped) showing their heroics and a brief interview with the stammering Green Comet. Wade ribs him. Funny commercial. Special report interrupts, the APFs are on a killing spree. Arturo runs to get Rembrandt II. He is working on something and we don’t really see what it is, but he’s embarrassed and quickly hides it. The Sliders have to put rescuing Rembrandt on hold because lives are at stake.
The APF are roaming throughout the city opening fire on harmless citizens. The Vanguardian vehicle arrives and the Sliders battle the APFs, no gloves on. The Sliders destroy the robots, but Vipron and more robots show up, and defeat the Sliders. Rembrandt II escapes, too scared to attempt anything.
At the Hall of Titanium, Rembrandt II stares at a photograph of him and the original Vanguardians. A tear comes to his eye. On television, Vipron announces that he is going to broadcast the extermination of the Vanguardians “live” in order to regain his supremacy over the city. A peculiar look comes over Rembrandt II’s face.
Act Four
At Vipron’s lair (APF Command Center), he has the Sliders (or Vanguardians, as he assumes) at his mercy. He doesn’t want to kill them right away, but rather disfigure them so they may suffer like he does. A blowtorch approaches Wade’s face. Suddenly, the Vanguardian Cruiser crashes into the APF Command Center. Out steps Rembrandt II as a costumed avenger. He valiantly fights, using his super-hero ability, amplified sonar power. With verbal assistance from the Sliders, he destroys the APF’s mainframe control, immobilizing the robots. Rembrandt II frees the Sliders and they combine fighting efforts against Vipron who apparently gets destroyed in an explosion. Rembrandt II and the Sliders must rush off to the prison because the life-support system for the cryogenics was destroyed in battle by Vipron as a last ditch effort.
At the prison they free Rembrandt and other innocents from the cryo-chamber, but he has not regained consciousness yet.
They travel back to the Hall of Titanium, where the timer is. Rembrandt regains consciousness, surprised to see himself and the Sliders dressed in flashy costumes. Happy to see Rembrandt back, the Sliders remove their costumes, preparing to slide.
Klaxons sound—someone has breached the defenses of the Hall of Titanium. Vipron (still alive) attacks and the battle moves outside and back into the city. Onlookers watch as Vipron subdues the costumeless Vanguardians.
Meanwhile, Rembrandt II doesn’t think he can battle Vipron alone. After getting a pep-talk from Rembrandt (and a name to go with his costumed identity, The Crying Man), Rembrandt II uses his sonar-power to single-handedly defeat Vipron and save the Sliders and the city. The onlookers go nuts for The Crying Man as a new hero for the city has been born. The Sliders slide.