I liked this show from the beginning, and I stuck with it, right up 'till they killed off the professer. Even then, I still watched, but by the middle of the new season, with that crazy army chick, I just quit.

I have a nit challenges the entire premise of the show.

Quinn creates a bridge between the worlds using, in essence, a wormhole (or Einstein-Rosen Bridge). Now, according to some "research" I've done the way a E-R Bridge works is you charge to "specail" metal plates with ALOT of energy. And you charge another set of "specail" plates with the same amount of energy, and you can, theoreticly, create a bridge between them. I assume this si what Quin does, on his end. The only problem is, the exit end ALSO must have a machine there generarting the other end of the wormhole. Also, the amount of energy required to open a wormhole is MORE than enough to destroy the earth.

Good show, none the less. Wish it would have stayed on network TV.

Didn't hesay that he tried to creat a machine that will creat artificual gravity?

Isn't this a REALLY strange accident? imean,it's like trying to build a plane and ending up creating a submarine!

And another one... One of the plots centers an equasion which should have a solution. now, I'm no scientist,but if u have an equasion,you find it's solution by one of three ways -

1. Calculation - if 2a = 6 , a =3

2. Experiments- you measure a lot, and then finda repeated pattern,like the third of Kaplen's laws.

or
3. a jump of logic - you suddenly SEE that something has to be relatedto something, likeNewton did with his second law.

But Quinn looks for a solution. If it's an equasion u cam calculate,how comehe can'tcalculate it? If he need measurements, why doesn't he take them? and if he hasn't have an intuitive leap, how come he's sure that there IS a solution?

Omer: Most of the great discoveries of our time have been accidental.

Yeah Brian- but there are accidents and than there are exidents. It's not like finding a mashroom has curing powers while studying mushroomw - it's like searching for a miracle healing tree and finding the cure in a mushroom. It's very unlikely. Makes for cool TV nonetheless :-)

How do you know that an artificial gravity and a sliding machine aren't really similar or something

well diffrentfields couild be connected, but creating a portal between worlds is not the same as creating artifitiual gravity! granted, they might be related, but I doubtyou could create a remote control for gravity that will be a remote control for sliding! It's just too unlikely

Quinn was dealing in theoretical physics and I'm pretty sure he didn't completely know what he was doing. Thus it's quite possible that he accidentally discovered sliding while trying to discover anti-gravity.

When Quinn builds the timer he tests it by throwing things into the vortex, and then after a certain time, they come back out.
I have a problem with this, because throughout the series, when they open the wormhole, they aren't pulled back in, they jump. But for the objects to return, they would have to be pulled in.

Supreme Trekker - yeah, ok, he might have discovered shifting... but building a timer? How can you build a timer 'by mistake'

Ed, I have been a Sliders fan since the beginning, and it is generally accepted, I think, that when Quinn activated the Timer early on the Ice World, he not only erased the coordinates to Earth Prime, where the Sliders call home, but also damaged other systems of the Timer, like its ability to suck objects in.

Omer...he didn't build the timer by mistake.
He created it AFTER he discovered how to create
the wormholes.

Here's a nit:
When he first goes into the wormhole and finds that world where his mom is pregnant and red is go etc.. the timer counts UP from 00:00 to 15:00
but after that, it always counts down TO 00:00

Either he messed with it, or someone in production screwed up big time

Kudos to the series for being one of the first to have introduced the dimensional notion that however you may be in one "version" may not be how you are in another. Almost frequently, the sliders would encounter doubles, or dimensional counterparts as I prefer to call them, that resemble them rather meticulously. In the episode "Double Cross," though, that was not the case. And when you cogitate it for a moment, the female chromosome for gender determines the sex of the resulting infant. It is a fifty-fifty chance that the infant would be either male or female, a ratio of which is quite basic when compared to most other ratios.
There was once an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Lt.Comdr. Worf was being transposed from one "version" of his dimension to another. If I were the creators/writers, I would have had Lt.Comdr. Worf be transposed to an alternate dimension that has him as a human! Despite all this, Star Trek reigns supreme as a sci-fi legend. Obviously, Star Wars is not far behind. With these prominent facts, it is rather arduous for a series such as Sliders to get its foot in the door. Furthermore, some episodes and characterizations are truly gratuitous (e.g., Capt. Margaret Beckett being obscenely carnal when she was infected with a tapeworm-like entity). Plus, with what military information to which I have access I can tell you now that Capt. Margaret Beckett is no military officer, particularly in the US Marine Corps. The way she acts and is appalled over something as little as a mouse (not to mention the way she dresses) furthers the misconception of this character. Also, has anyone noticed how her last name is Capt. Beckett which is similar to Quantum Leap's Dr. Becket, except for the inclusion of a tee in her last name? I intend to add more as time permits. Please feel free to share your own theories, perspectives, etc.

I loved this show until Sci-Fi, but then as the quality dropped, my interest did also. I now have very little interest in it.

No...it's no Sci-fi that ruined Sliders, but
it's Fox. In season 3, they screwed it up
with monsters and weird diseases. Season 4 is
a definite improvement over season 3. But I'm
a bit worried about season 5, without Quinn.

D. Stuart:

This isn't the first series to show ' to have introduced the dimensional notion that however you may be in one "version" may not be how you are in another' If I understand you correctly, then you are saying that double may not physically resemble you. That misses the point, because it means that the double isn't a double!

The episode 'Double Cross' (if I'm thinking of the right one) has a heat scan of Quinn and his female double coming up the same. What? This is nonsense. The shape of the scans would have to be different, and anyway, how is she a double. She isn't the same person. She may share some of his genes, but that doesn't make her a double. It would make her more like a sister he never had.

The female chromosome does not determine the gender. That statement makes no sense! Your chromosomes determine your gender. Your chromosomes are not male or female. They are X or Y. Males have an X and a Y, and females have two Xs.

BIOLOGY LESSON OVER

Actually your point about Sliders being good with 'doubles' isn't right either. Every series that does alternate universe stuff always buggers it up. If the universe is very similar, then yes, you may have a double. However, if a universe is substantially different than it stands to reason that there won't be a double. In order for a specific person to be born, the right parents have to procreate at precisely the right time. Otherwise a different sperm may fertilize a different egg (MORE BIOLOGY!), leading to a different person (like in Red Dwarf's Inquisitor).
It is possible, but highly improbable.

I'm sorry but your point about Worf is nonsense. How could he be human in a different universe? There might be a human who looked like Worf, but it couldn't be Worf.

Also your point about Star Trek being the supreme sci-fi legend with Star Wars not far behind is only your opinion, and is actually open to debate which is more successful. After all, did Insurrection get as much hype as Phantom Menace?

I don't see how it is 'arduous' for Sliders to get its foot in the door. There have been loads of other sci-fi shows since Trek, Sliders is just a more recent one that had some problems. Trek and Star Wars don't really affect it. Badpisodes and characterisations do, and they are Sliders main problems.

And for the record, it's Dr. Sam Beckett (with 2 Ts).

Sorry for that rant, I know some of the points were a bit nitpicky. No actual offence intended, but you'll probably flame me anyway.

>Also your point about Star Trek being the supreme sci-fi legend with Star Wars not far behind is only your opinion, and is actually open to debate which is more successful. After all, did Insurrection get as much hype as Phantom Menace?>

In defense of Star Trek, Insurection was the most recent of 6 good Star Trek films. As of today, SW has released 2 good movies.

If you are refering to Empire Strikes Back, then it is good. The other too are really amazingly excellent. But ESB was good.

And also 6 out of 9
And 2 out of 3
both give a two-thirds good score.

And also there may have been 6 good Trek films, but were they all as successful as SW?

And Insurrection was rubbish anyway :-P

But Star Trek ha made more movies total. Also, the number of good Star Trek movies out numbers the total number of Star Wars movies. (In Kentucky, 6 is more than 3.)

(Note: I like Star Wars, but I like Trek a little better.)

In regard to Mr. Jefferson's comments, I wish to declare that everyone has the right to their own opinion and that I shall now defend myself.
For starters, I did not say Sliders was the first; I said it was one of the first.
Secondly, Quinn Mallory's dimensional counterpart in "Double Cross" could in fact be his double, as well as vice versa. For example, a pair of fraternal twins consisting of a male and female. However, most lore claims males and females as being separate entities and not one of the same. Plus, I agree with you in the sense that Logan Sinclair would be more of a "sister" to Quinn Mallory and if he had inseminated her, their child would contingently be retarded.
Thirdly, I stand corrected. The sex chromosomes determine the gender of a resulting infant and more specifically by the reception of either an X or Y chromosome from the male parent's gamete, not female as I previously indicated. I do commendably well in biology, and my head was somewhere else as I was typing that segment of my post.
A word of advice, Mr. Jefferson. Do not be quick to deem someone as being wrong or something as implausible. My notion regarding Lt.Comdr. Worf in Star Trek may be "nonsense," as you so kindly put it, but it is something that could occur. We have no means of proving it to be one way or the other.
And finally, I was merely presenting a fact that Star Trek and Star Wars are two veteran sci-fi series/movies and that Sliders has not captivated enough audiences to become as permanent.
These are all my opinions and I thus have a right to them. Good day, Sir.

D. Stuart-

Sorry if I was being unfair, but I was tired from the previous night when I wrote that post.

I'm still little unsure of what exactly you meant by ' to have introduced the dimensional notion that however you may be in one "version" may
not be how you are in another', so I'll leave that.

The "Double Cross" point about whether or not Logan Sinclair is a double depends on what you regard a double as. There is a complicated argument which has more to with transporter accidents than alternate universes in "The Metaphyics of Star Trek", an excellent book which I highly recommend, but I digress. The argument is to do with personal identity. In the Star Trek episode where Riker finds his transporter duplicate, the author discusses which one is the 'closest continuer' of the original Riker, the idea being that this person is the real Riker. He comes to the conclusion that they are equal continuers of him.

Back to Sliders- I personally believe that the term double should be used to define a person whose life was identical to yours, up until some point where your lives diverged. This could be during pregnancy, or only a few weeks ago. I do not believe that Logan Sinclair comes under either of these, as she has always had a completely different life from Quinn, even in pregnancy. However, going back to the continuers, in that universe Sinclair is Quinn's closest continuer. Now you may chose to define double as something else, but personally I think the term can only count when the person is physically identical (barring surgery of some kind). This is reinforced by my earlier point that they were the same until at some point their lives diverged. You may have a different opinion on what counts as a double, and I would be interested to here it.

I'm sorry if I seemed to be a bit harsh on your point about Worf, but it would be a very implausible thing to happen. Think about what makes a person a person. Going back to the closest continuer argument, this 'human' Worf could not be a continuer of our Worf. He would be born of different parents, raised differently, and live a different life. He would probably not be called Worf. I suppose theoretically you could say a human version of Worf was born to the Rozenkos (sp?), happened to look like Worf, be raised in the same way (what about all his childhood experiences of being different?)etc. etc.

However this would not be a double as I see it, as he would not have had the same experiences from conception. This was why I said it was 'nonsense. That was a bit harsh but I still feel that it is
implausible. I can't prove that it could not happen, but what I believe a double (or counterpart)to be makes it impossible. Also within the context of the episode you mention, The idea was that Worf physically moved to the place of his counterpart. Someone would have noticed that he looked like a Klingon!
I suppose that it is hard for a series to become as permenant as Trek or Star Wars, I miss understood your point.

And finally I respect that everyone has a right to their own opinions and I would be interested in your opinion of what a double is, and I did say that I was not delibarately trying to offend you.

Sorry for any misunderstanding.

Ed Jefferson
:-)

Mr. Jefferson, my perception of a "double" is something by which I stand. However, I am willing to listen to theories proposing otherwise. You see, I consider a "double" to be a parallel dimension's "version" of oneself. For example, let us say I was born on October 7, 1923, at 4:38am. In a myriad of other coexisting dimensions a similar infant is born on October 7, 1923, at 4:38am. My name is Albert Hawking; the other coexisting dimension's grown infant's name is Stephen Einstein. I have blue eyes; the other coexisting dimension's grown infant has brown eyes. I am 5'7"; the other coexisting dimension's grown infant is 6'1". I came into this world at that approximate moment in time and space (i.e., October 7, 1923, at 4:38am), as did a myriad of other infants in coexisting dimensions. Although the infants from day one may be slightly or entirely different (e.g., a different gender) or even make different decisions during their lifetimes than I, we are all technically one and the same. Furthermore, there is the perplexed function and ramifications of time-travel. What if I journeyed back in time and caused my father to inseminate my mother two weeks earlier than when he had previously? What if it results in me being born a female? Would this make that infant not my "double?" And what of myself? I return to my present and discover that I am now a female. Was the male "version" of me that had descended into the past to begin with not a prior yet now nonexistent "double" of me? In fact, time-travel and parallel dimensions are rather intertwined when you stop to cogitate it for a moment. There are crucial moments in our lives that may lead us in one direction but could have led us in multiple directions with distinct results accordingly. So in conclusion, I see no reason why there could not be a female "version" of me in a parallel dimension. And from her perspective, I would be a male "version" of her. Think beyond conventional comprehension and be more clairvoyant. There is much that shall remain unanswered if all individuals are inclined to believe only what they may observe with their two substantial eyes or what they identify as being most "plausible." Retain my words and then propose another theory. Thank you.

Well, D. Stuart, you're really getting into questions that science (or science fiction) may not be able to answer-- what makes you a person.

You seem to be saying that all that makes someone your "double" is that they are born in about the same place, at about the same time, as you. Maybe you could call them a "double" (though this is a rather artificial term), but by that definition, your identical or fraternal twin might as well be a "double"-- they have as much in common with you as the double in the situation you described.

That's why it seems to be stretching it to call Quinn's female version a double. She's really no different from a fraternal twin of his-- a sister born to the same parents, at the same time as Quinn.

In every universe, Quinn encounters people. Some of them look exactly like him. They may have had slightly different or very different lives from him. But they are not Quinn; they are just people from other universes, and some of them happen to be very similar to him. I think the category of "double" is an artificial one; it's just used to describe the people who are similar to Quinn. A character like Quinn's female version is in the gray area; it's hard to tell whether she should be put into that category or not.

D. Stuart, this would assume that the development of the parellel dimension had been more or less identical up to the present. Suppose, for example that sometime in the past, your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfather had been killed before he had a chance to conceive. And that as a result, your Great-Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother had conceived with someone else. They had a child and that child then conceived with someone other than your Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother. This went on until by the present, your double would be completely different. As for that last comment, I have found that what I can observe is far more reliable than what I can guess.

Fascinating notions both Nathan K. and Mr. Croteau have presented, and I wish to further what may have otherwise been interpreted as something not intended. By arguing when another "version" of oneself is born or is not born at all, it brings us into a whole new array of conversation. I introduced the situation of one and his/her "doubles" being born on the same day at the same time so that we could avoid the following issue, but it is something that best and exigently be included. Now that the definition of a "double" has been questioned, we must place in account the nature and effect of a celestial realm from which we may all emanate. Perhaps this celestial realm arranges separate "versions" of the same individual--whether or not he/she sought to be conceived as male or female initially--throughout the many and feasibly relentless alternate dimensions. For example, the significance of true soul mates may assume a new meaning with the aforementioned concept in mind. Please feel free to share your own theories, perspectives, etc.

It appears that your response to the question, "How do you define a double?" is "You just do."

Hi if you know the answer to this please can you e-mail me directly as well as posting here thanks.

Why is it that the Sliders must always leap to another dimension when the timer reaches zero why not before or after? In the pilot Quinn appears to create the wormhole any time he wants and sets a time for when he wants a wormhole to take him back. So why must they wait to create an entirly new wormhole into the unknown. In the Exodus they appear to become able to leap at will with a new timer so why have they stopped doing so? I don't have Sky or Cable so I'm about 2 seasons behind and rely on the ocassional new episodes from friends so I might have missed some information regarding the new timer.

What if it results in me being born a female? = What if it results in [my] being born a female? Typo.

Mr. Parker, if memory serves me correctly, Col. Rickman's timer was the one Quinn Mallory confiscated and later activated so that he and Margaret Becket may flee from the human/animal hybrids approaching. Unfortunately, this timer abides by the timed programming we observed in the first three seasons.

One odd thing about this episode:
the newly assembled cast slides several times in this episode, whereas in all future shows they only appear to slide twice (at the beginning of the show and at the end) if it is depicted at all.
A fascinating series, actually.

IMHO, that's not a nit, it's human nature. When you get a new toy, you tend to play withit alot, but start to use it less and less.

Referring to a comment near the top about an equation with no solution, such a thing is possible. Arturo mentions that Quinn has solved the Unified Field Theorem (The "theory of everything"). Well, guess what! If this theory is based on String theory (and it does given the Professor's and other's remarks), then it having no solution is correct. Quite simply, the mathematics do not exist today to solve it. Solving string theory has been called attempting to solve a "21st century theory with 20th century mathematics." So, if Quinn (or rather the alternate Quinn) did solve the UFT, it was quite a feat.

I should add that dividing anything by zero is impossible and considered "undefined." In other words, there is no solution.

i.e., 8/0 is undefined and has no solution.

Actually Einstein talked about keeping a wormhole open. It would require exotic matter and alot af anti-gravity to keep the center from collapsing on you and killing you. Thats why Quinn discovered this while trying to create an anti-gravity machine.

Was the male "version" of me that had descended into the past to begin with not a prior yet now nonexistent "double" of me? = Was the male "version" of [myself] that had descended into the past to begin with not a prior yet now nonexistent "double" of [myself]? Typo.

Although this debate has extinguished nearly a year and a half ago, attempting to define "doubles" in scientific terms may inevitably find their probable answers in other philosophies or beliefs, such as religion. A fascinating article in Newsweek roughly two years ago featured numerous references to how science and religion can be and are connected and various discrepancies that are acceptably solved by applying one of the two fields (i.e., either science or religion). In addition to all this, the true definition for and explanation of "doubles" can be summarized in this Latin phrase: ignotium per ignotius. It means explaining the unknown by means of the more unknown.

Would you stop correcting your typos in that manner? It's so annoying.

When the professor discusses the differences in history between this world and their world, he begins discussing the history of Earth Prime by saying, "In reality, on our world..."

"In reality" makes it sound like their world isn't real.

Eureka! Now I know why your name looked familiar, Rene. This is where and when you bashed me for correcting my typos. However, take a peek inside X-Files: The X-Files: Fight the Future (movie), or something along those lines. There was a relatively large amount of time and energy put into rectifying individual typos. Even ScottN was present (by the way, ScottN, I salute your vast engineering/physics knowledge).

Yay, Sliders on DVD at last!!

I just noticed a really nice touch at the beginning of the pilot - Quinn fell asleep reading Hyperspace by Michio Kaku, a book that's rather appropriate to the subject matter.

"The Summer Of Love" is the real second episode of the first season. In the beginning of that episode, like this one, the Sliders slide randomly. But, just like this episode, the timer gets fried when sliding randomly.

In "The Summer of Love", you can see Quinn and the Professor make complicated calculations and then Quinn talks about a window of opportunity. Apparently, the window allows minimal power to be used do they can use the timer and not have it get fried everytime.

When Quinn first slides, he arrives on "Red is Go, Green is Stop" world. Anyway, he arrives in his basement where the camera is also filming. Presumably, the Quinn of this world was testing sliding at the same time as our Quinn. Problem is, there should be another wormhole in the room : the one Quinn2 used.

ParallelQuinn can't seem to make up his mind about how many Earths there are. He first says there may be hundreds, maybe thousands of Earths. Then in the very next sentence talks about a roulette wheel with an infinite number of slots.

Well, crud... just started watching this series on DVD with my friends, am partway through season one (just finished the Lottery) and wanted to check out the discussion for the episodes I'd seen... and the first post after the pilot synopsis spoils the whole series remainder! Yeesh! :-(