Sliders: Or Why I Don't Write for TV

 Or, I am almost a hundred percent positive the Spoony One did this one. 

Been on a retro kick lately where I rediscovered the FOX sci-fi show Sliders. This you can mark this down as 'loved the idea, hated the show'. Young genius Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), Professor Maximillion Arturo (John Rhys-Davis), Quinn's best pal Wade Welles (Sabrina Lloyd) and soul singer Rembrandt "Cryin Man" Brown (Cleavant Derricks) go from world to world. Same planet, different dimensions. 

So, what was the problem? Given that it aired on FOX, I think the answer should be self-explanatory. One problem I had was the episodes tended to not just formulaic but lazy:

1. Group goes to different Earth. One thing changed everything (America still part of the UK, 60's never ended, etc.)

2. They hook up with local resistance group, attempt to change status quo

3. They leave

Plus they tended to be a bit blatant when ripping off a film, so yeah. So, what would I do?

Season 1: Quinn is working on what will become the sliding tech. He's close but he just can't get the final part finished-that's when Quinn shows up. Yeah, it's him; slicker and more professional looking but it's him. He gives Quinn what he calls the Timer before vanishing. Quinn invites his best friend and his favorite teacher over but during their first leap, singer Brown is sucked into the vortex with them. 

From there, each episode would be them just exploring. Arturo, however, is growing suspicious. he knew Quinn was smart but this smart? For the finale, Quinn comes clean but he insists it's ok. He did build it after all, right? But Arturo points out, if Quinn got it from someone else, who was the person who first invented the timer?

Season 2: The timer goes crazy. During this point, they end up on a world where Col. Rackman (Roger Daltry) becomes very much aware of the group and starts to chase them. They manage to fix the timer enough, but Rackman follows them.

Season 3: They get home but they find Rackman is busy merging with all his alternative selves. He's getting powerful and crazy. They try to save the other Rackmans, but who is the other Quinn working with him?

Season 4: Rackman and the other Quinn were working together the whole time. Why? Because the Multiverse is chaos and Rackman can't stand chaos. There will be order across all of time and space and if he has wipe out a few planets, eh. Broken eggs and such. Quinn was given the timer so they could map the Multiverse and see which Earths would be good fodder. 

Season 5: Our heroes strike back and stop Rackman for good. They retrace their steps and gather allies from the other Earths and finally stop the mad colonel for good.