Some series have ardent fanbases that will never give up hope of seeing their favorite casts come back together, the passage of time be damned. Sliders, which ran on Fox and later the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy) for five seasons between 1995 and 2000, is one such series. A recent petition, however, is trying to change that.
For those who don’t remember, Sliders followed the adventures of Quinn Mallory (Jerry O’Connell), who created a “sliding” technology that allowed him and his friends, Professor Maximillian Arturo (John Rhys-Davies), Wade Welles (Sabrina Lloyd), and Rembrandt “Cryin’ Man” Brown (Cleavant Derricks) to travel through parallel universes of Earth through a vortex-like wormhole. However, much like Quantum Leap, a popular time-jumping series from around the same time period (which is also begging for a reboot), the travelers become trapped in the cycle, unsure how to return home.
Following an interview by Sliders series co-creator Tracy Tormé in July of 2021, a Change.org campaign was launched to try to renew interest from streaming platforms such as Netflix. The petition makes a good case for a revival while acknowledging some obvious challenges:
“Sliders went through a lot in five seasons. Actors left the show, plots drastically changed at times, and the series ended on a cliffhanger. Nevertheless, Sliders still had very high ratings and kept continuity in its fifth and final season. Some would call the Sliders story a trainwreck that could never be put back together. If Universal Studios leaves it a mess, it’s essentially a cheap shot to its fans. Let me explain. Co-Creator Tracy Tormé saw the need for viewers to be ‘in the know’ about cliffhangers from one season to the next. The season one finale told the story about Quinn getting shot and the FOX Network felt no explanation was needed to show Quinn on his feet in the season two premiere episode. Essentially as Tormé puts it FOX wanted to ‘alienate the audience’ and tell them you don’t matter, nor does the story. We do matter and we’re here to tell you that.”
Unfortunately, one of those challenges, as the petition also points out, is that John Rhys-Davies unfortunately isn’t getting any younger.
“Time is of essence. The prolific actor John Rhys-Davies is getting up in age along with the Tony Award winner Cleavant Derricks. Why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to bring back a show with John Rhys-Davies? The man has been a staple in blockbuster movie franchises such as Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, and even 007. It would only take time to tie up a loose end that co-creator Tracy Tormé was never able to finish and that’s the wrong Arturo who slid with the sliders after the episode ‘Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome.'”
The petition is currently just over 700 signatures away from its goal, but Tormé sounded confident in July that it was happening.
“We’re right in the middle of rebooting it right now as we speak,” Tormé said at the time. “If you would’ve talked to me about this six months ago I would’ve said ‘Oh yeah, that’s a rumor’. Cause there have been a lot of rumors over the years but they were never real. But this one is real, we are actively working on it.”
There you have it. Will 2022 be the year that Sliders is finally given a proper farewell, at least as far as fans are concerned? We’ll surely find out.
In the meantime, all five seasons of the original show are currently available to stream on NBC’s Peacock.
