TV Review: Sliders
March 22, 1995
The Hollywood Reporter Online
By Diane Bailey

Technical mumbo-jumbo takes a back seat, decent storytelling occupies a front one, and sly humor rides on the running board in the two-hour premiere for the new Fox series ``Sliders.''

Quinn Mallory, a student physics genius, inadvertently creates a tunnel through which it becomes possible to ``slide'' between parallel worlds (think ``Stargate''). Each world is present-day Earth, but with a different set of historical circumstances: ``same planet, different space-time continuum.''

In one, for example, global cooling is the environmental threat-of-the-day, Mexico is whining about the influx of illegal aliens from the United States, and Elvis (not Costello) is playing Las Vegas.

In the main plot, Quinn, his physics teacher, his un-girlfriend, and a has-been R&B musician find themselves in an otherworldly fix on an Earth where the Russians have won the cold war, and PT&T (People's Telephone & Telegraph) is wearily plugging its ``Comrades call Comrades'' program.

The pace is lively and varied, and the writers deserve kudos for adroitly, and usually with a straight face, exploiting on the idiosyncrasies of American culture. What's more, there's actually material for future episodes: the infinite number of worlds poses infinite material for poking fun at Earth culture.

John Rhys-Davies does a particularly nice job of acting; the other leads are standard, but they work well together, and they seem to have the makings of a solid ensemble cast.

Special effects are limited but well-executed; production design stands out in the basement set. Otherwise, there's nothing overly spectacular about the production, but it's nonetheless nicely presented.

SLIDERS
Fox
St. Clare Entertainment
Creators: Robert K. Weiss, Tracy Torme
Executive producers: Robert K. Weiss, Leslie Belzberg, John Landis
Co-executive producers: Jacob Epstein, Tracy Torme
Producer: Steven Ecclesine
Cast: Jerry O'Connell, John Rhys-Davis
Airdate: Wednesday, March 22, 8-10 p.m.

© The Hollywood Reporter Online; hr322953

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