First, let's look at the all important "29-year rule" scene from the Summer of Love script. This scene unfortunately did not make it into the final episode due to the fact that Fox felt it would confuse viewers since they aired episodes out of production order. Special thanks to Ed Hall for originally finding this important piece of Sliders history and sharing it with us.
The Sliders FAQ and the Sliders FAQ Web Site are both copyright © 1995,1996 by Ed Hall. All rights reserved.
The setup is, after completing the calculations on the wall, Quinn hears Remmy singing outside and he ditches the FBI and runs after him. Then this occurs:
REMBRANDT (CONT'D)
Where's the Professor?
As if on cue, Arturo bursts out of the loft, running after them and trying to hold four guns at the same time. Scant
seconds later, the Feds also exit the building, sprinting
after him. Arturo spins, dropping three of the guns and
shooting the fourth one in the air as a warning that gets
the Feds to freeze.
Uncomfortable carrying any firearms, he flings the fourth
gun away and resumes running toward his friends.
ARTURO
Hurry up, get back in the car!
The Feds are scrambling to retrieve their guns as Quinn,
Arturo and Rembrandt hurry back to the Cadillac.
Rembrandt jumps behind the wheel, Quinn and Arturo dive into
the open back seat - Copeland and Yenn have retrieved their
guns, they OPEN FIRE. Rembrandt is driving and ducking, as
bullets whiz past the accelerating purple vehicle.
REMBRANDT
Seems like you two make friends
wherever you go! Why am I not
surprised?!
The Caddy screeches around the corner at breakneck speed and gets away - for the moment.
INT. THE CADDY - NIGHT - ARTURO IS IN THE FRONT
Quinn in the back; Rembrandt drives, keeping a careful eye
on the rearview mirror, while bemoaning his near brush with
domesticity.
REMBRANDT
Man, that is the _last_ time I do a
good deed. The Crying Man gave
that woman his all, and look at
the thanks he got.
(to Quinn, in mirror)
Now, what was that about the
timer?
QUINN
It's badly damaged. We can't open
the gate at will anymore. So the
Professor and I did some
calculating based on The Helix
Spiral --
REMBRANDT
-- Felix who?
QUINN
_Helix_. It's a ten dimensional
form of Witten's index theorum.
REMBRANDT
Oh. That.
QUINN
It suggests there will be a single
window of opportunity on each
Earth we visit. A moment in time
when the weakened powers of the
gizmo will still allow us to
access the gate.
ARTURO
The window he's referring to will
be different on each Earth - mere
minutes till it arrives on some,
several months on others.
REMBRANDT
So you're saying we may have to
wait _months_ on some of these
worlds before we can try and get
home again?
ARTURO
Correct. We've re-rigged the
timer to serve as a countdown
device, telling us how long till
the window on each Earth we visit.
REMBRANDT
What if the window comes and goes
and we never access the gate?
ARTURO
I'm afraid it's 29.7 years to the
next opportunity. So that's a
mistake we can not afford. We
must always be sure to be together
at the appointed time... or else.
QUINN
We're lucky we didn't miss the
window on this world.
He shows Rembrandt the timer: it reads 42 MINUTES, 16
SECONDS, and counting.
QUINN (CONT'D)
How far to the commune?
REMBRANDT
About forty-five minutes
(winks)
_If_ we obey the speed limit. That said, he slams on the accelerator.
That's the end of the scene. They have since mentioned the 29 year rule in 3rd and 4th season episodes.
The remainder of these are scenes from the January 3, 1995 Fourth Revision of the script for the episode Summer of Love written by Tracy Tormé. These scenes did not make it into the final episode due to time, story considerations and meddling by Fox.
The beginning of these enjoyable excerpts starts right off the bat...
SLIDERS
SUMMER OF LOVE
TEASER
INT. BENNISH LIVING ROOM - DAY
MACE MOON (O.S.)
Help! Somebody help! I'm being
robbed!
FADE IN ON MACE MOON
a hyperactive guy with wild eyes and a crew cut, pacing in front of his store logo: a man in the moon face with a big open mouth...
MACE MOON (CONT'D)
You know me - Mace Moon, The
Moonatic - owner of Moonatic
Electronics --
- PULL BACK TO SEE that his image is on a TV SCREEN. JAPANESE SUBTITLES quickly flash across the screen as he roars on...
MACE MOON (CONT'D)
-- and my prices are so low, you
customers are STEALING ME BLIND!!
- ANGLE TO INCLUDE BENNISH, the deadhead physics student (Quinn's friend and Arturo's nightmare). He's sitting on the couch, absently fiddling with a Rubic's Triangle while watching The Moonatic's high blitz commercial.
MACE MOON (CONT'D)
I'm the Moonatic! Don't be a
lunatic! Come and steal from me
today!
THE COMMERCIAL ENDS AND WE SEE A STATION IDENTIFICATION:
This is CHANNEL 73, THE JAPANESE CABLE STATION, and Bennish is checking out his favorite new cult show, SUMO WRESTLING FROM TOKYO. As two massive sumos collide, Bennish is surprised by the sound of SOMEONE RAPPING ON THE FRONT DOOR.
Bennish moves to answer it, executing a final twist of the Rubic's Triangle - leaving it perfectly solved - then tossing it into a corner where a dozen other cubes, octagons, etc. have been identically conquered.
And the scene finishes as we saw it from there...
And a small line missing when the FBI begins to interrogate Bennish...
COPELAND
(hushed)
*This guy's a genius*? You sure we
got the right Bennish?
YENN
How many Conrad Bennish Juniors
could there possibly be?
Yenn nods at the waiting agent, who dims the lights and projects an image of Quinn (recent driver's license photo) on the wall in front of Bennish.
And did you ever wonder what happened when Remmy didn't show up to sing the Anthem like he was supposed to?
YENN (CONT'D)
Rembrandt Brown, also known as The
Cooking Man --
COPELAND
-- Crying Man --
YENN
(shoots her a look)
-- Whatever. A neighbor claims to
have witnessed a screaming person,
fitting his description, drive a red
Cadillac into a *huge blue whirlpool*
that emanated from this house. She
says... well, she says it "vanished
like a ghost."
BENNISH
Cool.
YENN
Brown was last seen heading to
Candlestick to sing The National
Anthem... but he never arrived.
COPELAND
Huey Lewis had to be brought down
from the stands to take his place.
Bennish grimaces.
YENN
If you have any information
regarding these events you'd better
speak up now.
BENNISH
Look, I don't know *anything* - the
cute little poet, the Cryin' Dude,
never saw 'em before in my life.
And the tape of Quinn showed to Bennish? What would have been his last recording...just after he returned from Red light means go world...
YENN
(leaning in)
But you do know about the bridge.
Yenn nods and a snippet of Quinn's September video diary appears on the wall: a highly excited Quinn is pacing before the camcorder, having just returned from red light/green light world...
And Bennish had a cut line at the end of his conversation with the FBI...
BENNISH
(still reeling)
It's a hypothetical thing. A
connecting point between universes.
(close eyes, intense)
If they're crossed the bridge - if
that's why they're missing - it
means they may've journeyed to a
parallel Earth! Good grief, that's
*unreal*.
Bennish moves toward the wall, spiritually speaking to the image of his former classmate, Quinn Mallory...
BENNISH (CONT'D)
Man, I am insanely jealous.
Wherever you are right now Quinn...
(big sloppy grin)
... I just know you're having the
time of your life!
SMASHCUT TO:
EXT. CITY STREET/ DOWTOWN SAN FRAN - DAY - CLOSE ON QUINN
lying chest down on asphalt; he's just landed with a heavy thump. He GROANS as he slowly gets to his feet.
WIDEN ANGLE TO INCLUDE THE OTHER SLIDERS, also recovering from a rough landing. Arturo is in a bad mood, wincing as he prods the side of his chest.
QUINN
What's the matter, Professor?
ARTURO
You kicked in the ribs, that's
what's the matter! Next time you
Slide, watch where you flail!
And you know how it continued from there...
And a missing Arturo line during the discussion about the Spider Wasps...
REMBRANDT
That supposed to make me feel
better, girl? That these spiders
can *fly* and sting my head off?!
ARTURO
(rubbing neck)
I'm uh... not too fond of wasps
myself. Got stung in the ear once,
looked like Ross Perot for a week.
It's clear from the professor's uncomfortable glance at the sky that he's just about as scared as Rembrandt.
A frowning Quinn holds up the smoking timer, shaking his head.
And Wade tells Remmy about a promise she has already made to Quinn, even by this second episode.
EXT. COMMUNE - DAY - WADE AND REMBRANDT
are looking back to the spot where the gate closed up behind them. Wade is saddened to the point of tears.
WADE
They're not coming, are they...
They never made it through.
(fighting back tears)
I promised Quinn that if we ever got
separated while sliding... I would
try to look ahead... and try not to
be too sad.
(exhales sadly)
I don't know if I can that
promise, Rembrandt.
Rembrandt puts his arm around Wade, and the hippies come up just as we saw...
Some missing dialogue from this scene explains what relevance the music had...and why the hippies thought our Sliders were gods...
INT. COMMUNE/MAIN TENT - NIGHT - THE TENT
is lit by candles and features a picture of President North turned into a bulls-eye target. Members of the commune are spread out on the floor, waiting for the word from the just arrived Seeker, Skidd and Fling. They include a black man wearing tinted sunglasses called TEMELO, and a gaggle of pretty young waifs, FLOWER, DEXX and FAITH.
SKIDD
They prophecy has been fulfilled.
TREMELO
Which prophecy this time, man?
SKIDD
The one we've been waiting for.
TREMELO
There's quite a few that fit that
category. Didn't you say the world
was gonna end last Friday?
SKIDD
Hey, this time I'm right on the
money. I'll just let the music do
the talking.
Skidd puts on a CD. A raspy-voiced TROUBADOUR is singing a Dylanesque folk-rock song in the Woody Guthrie tradition.
TROUBADOUR (SINGING)
The Gods will come down from the sky
Just two months after July
In the summer of love
They'll descend from above
And men will no longer die
And our brothers will no longer die
SKIDD
September. Down from the sky. What
more do you want?
FLING
It's true Trem, we all saw it, the
three of us.
Everyone's impressed by this - believing the flighty Skidd is one thing, but Fling and Seeker are not to be discounted.
TREMELO
Okay... so we got two unearthly
prophets disguised as humans
sleepin' in our tents. What're we
supposed to do when they wake up?
And that's where we came in in the final ep...
As Remmy was driving around the purple Caddy (before finding his funeral), he was supposed to be listening to a radio newscast...
EXT. SAN FRANCISCO STREETS - DAY - CUT TO REMBRANDT
at the wheel of the commune car of his choice: a convertible Cadillac, colored a deep Jimi Hendrix purple. He's cruising Cheney street, keeping an eye out for Quinn and Arturo as he stops at a red light. NATIONAL NEWS is playing on the radio.
NEWSCASTER (O.S.)
The President called the massive
peace demonstrations "anti-American"
in nature and denied reports that
the war has spilled over into New
Zealand. And on a campaign stomp
through the South, Vice-President
Gingrich spoke of the need to win
the "hearts and minds" of the
Australian people.
The light changes and Rembrandt drives off. PAN OFF THE CADDY AND ONTO A BAKERY SHOP where a grungy-looking Quinn and Arturo exit, munching on danish and sipping hot coffee. Quinn scans the street but the Caddy is already a half block past and neither side sees the other.
INT. CADDY - DAY - REMBRANDT IS CRUISING
concerned about the missing Sliders, but still enjoying the car, the blue sky, the feeling of freedom. The setting brings back memories; he drives on, relishing the sun-splashed realities of the summer of love in this San Francisco.
Rembrandt's attention is captured by a street corner sign; Camden Drive. He slows, drawn to it like a magnet... and makes a left turn onto Camden.
And so we are led to Rembrandt's past house...
And now for a never before seen, all important missing scene. You want to know why they could no longer slide at will? Check it out...
Conservative Bennish has just walked off, and Quinn is checking out the pamphlet...
Quinn checks out the pamphlet which reads: SUPPORT HONEST OLLIE NORTH! GIVE COMFORT NOR QUARTER TO THE OUTBACK CONG! BRING BACK THE CAPITOL GAINS TAX AND PRAYER IN SCHOOLS! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Dazed from the meeting with Bennish's polar opposite, the two Sliders continue on, stopping by an alleyway. Quinn has been steadfastly working on the insides of the timer, now he closes the lid and points it toward the mouth of the alley...
QUINN
It's time for a test.
Quinn pushes the button. Nothing. Not even a whimper. The Sliders exchange worried glances - Quinn reopens the device and makes more adjustments as Arturo leans back against the alley wall, arching his aching back.
Soon he is approached by a BLACK RADICAL with a huge Afro, cool psychedelic garb and mirrored shades, who is attracted to the Professor like a moth to flame. The stranger slowly circles the indignant Arturo, checking him out.
RADICAL
You the man?
ARTURO
Obviously I am a man.
RADICAL
Wanna fly?
ARTURO
I flew yesterday, thank you. In ways
you can't begin to imagine.
This impresses the radical. He steps back, looking at Arturo with new found respect.
RADICAL
Killer-groovy. I'll be watching
you, slick.
The radical circles the frowning Arturo one more time, then moves on down the block. The mud-stained Professor goes to Quinn, who is looking increasingly grim. Quinn shuts the device, looks up at his mentor and shakes his head...
QUINN
It's what I was afraid of. The
second stage micro-processor chips
are fused beyond repair. Bottom
line - the ability to create the
gate at will is gone. History.
A Honda Prelude full of hippies drives by - they are hanging out the windows, HONKING THE HORN and HOWLING at the sky.
QUINN (CONT'D)
Better get used to this place
Professor. Looks like we may be
stuck here. Forever.
MOVE IN ON ARTURO horrified by the prospect.
Then it cuts back to Remmy's house where he's telling Cezanne how he's really from another dimension. And once that scene is over, we cut back to Quinn and Arturo who discuss the Helix Sprial as a solution (just as we saw).
There was also originally much more to Wade's conversation with the hippies...
INT. COMMUNE/MAIN TENT - MORNING - WADE IS SITTING
inside the big tent, wearing a colorful change of clothes and picking at a variety of health foods that have been laid out before her for breakfast.
The hippies are gathered around, watching her eat and rapt attention, waiting breathlessly for any pearl of wisdom she might toss their way. Wade looks back at them, amused and confused...
WADE
So... you want me to tell you where
the universe ends?
They nod expectantly; Skid and Seeker have notepads, ready to write down her answer. She shrugs and offers a flippant, joking response...
WADE (CONT'D)
I don't know... just past Mars I
guess.
Seeker and Skidd huddle excitedly, the other hippies lean in to hear their WHISPERED analysis.
SKIDD
Do you realize what she's saying?
The universe only reaches to Mars,
the rest of the galaxy must be a
cosmic illusion! Fantastic!
Wade is watching their huddle with a slight frown - she shakes her head and goes back to eating. The huddle breaks and all eyes are on here once again...
TREMELO
Who really killed JFK?
WADE
It was Nixon, if you ask me.
SKIDD
I *knew* it.
SEEKER
What happens when you die?
WADE
(shrugging)
Can't say. I've never died.
They huddle - more urgent WHISPERS.
SEEKER
She's immortal!
SKIDD
Of course she is. I could've told
you that!
Then Wade segues into astrology and the scene fades just as we saw it...
A missing line from Arturo explains why the FBI agents weren't directly behind him when he ran out of the hotel...
ARTURO
Now... if you would all kindly slide
me your guns... and lie face down on
the floor.
In this 4th version of the script, the Cadillac Ride to the compound that explains the rules of sliding (seen at the top of this page) was deleted...the same explanation was found later in this version though. However, there were some revelations omitted from when the Sliders first arrive at the compound...
The Caddy screeches around the corner at breakneck speed and gets away - for the moment.
CADDY RIDE OMITTED
EXT. EDGE OF COMMUNE - NIGHT - THE CADILLAC
screeches to a halt on the outskirts of the commune grounds.
REMBRANDT (O.S.)
Man, that is the *last* time I do a
good deed. The Crying Man gave that
woman his all, and look at the
thanks he got.
Rembrandt kills the engine and the Sliders rapidly exit the Caddy, the three men hurrying across the rolling commune grounds... They come to a stop as Flower, Fling, and Seeker race up to them, throwing themselves on the ground before Rembrandt in worshipful fashion.
REMBRANDT
(to Sliders, hushed)
These people are all huge fans of
mine. Don't be surprised by how
much they love me.
FLING
Welcome back, my Lord.
ARTURO
Oh that's a little much, don't you
think?
Rembrandt doesn't mind it at all.
REMBRANDT
Seeker, my man, why're you crying?
Seeker looks up, tears on his cheeks - we can see a little green ram has been painted on his forehead (Fling has a blue bull, Flower on orange crab).
SEEKER
These are tears of joy, master. I'm
an Aries, the best sign of the
zodiac. And I'm not worthy of it...
I'm just not worthy.
QUINN
(to Fling, with urgency)
Can you tell us where to find Wade?
FLING
Mistress Wade is with Skidd. He's
beend drafted, and she's spiritually
advising him on what to do.
He shows Rembrandt the timer: it reads 8 MINUTES, 16 SECONDS, and counting.
INT. MAIN TENT - NIGHT - ANGLE ON WADE
WADE
It's an undeclared war, a war run by
politicians playing for a stalemate.
It's likely to go on without
resolution for a long time and a lot
of good people are going to be
killed.
(deep breath)
I'm not advising you not to go, I'm
just urging you to follow your
conscience.
QUINN
How 'bout that, fellas. Leave the
girl alone for a day or two and she
becomes a full fledged guru.
And from there you should know the rest...
And that Caddy ride discussion about how the timer works now? It was moved to this point...
WADE
Some truths are universal. If we
can bring a few of the things we've
learned on our world to parallel
cultures, I say go for it. We can't
just Slide from place to place
aimlessly, we have to get *involved*.
Arturo is surprised when she punches him in the arm - it's mostly playful, but there's a message behind it.
WADE (CONT'D)
And don't tell me what to do. I'm
not your student.
The indignant Professor is rubbing his arm and preparing to give her a piece of his mind, when Quinn steps in.
QUINN
Save it, you two. We have more
important things to discuss.
(opens timer)
The timer is badly damaged. We
can't open the gate at will anymore.
So the Professor and I did some
calculating based on The Helix
Spiral --
REMBRANDT
-- Felix who?
QUINN
*Helix*. It's a ten-dimensional form
of Witten's index theorem.
REMBRANDT
Oh. That.
QUINN
It suggest there will be a single
window of opportunity on each Earth
we visit. A moment of time when the
weakened powers of the gizmo will
still allow us to access the gate.
ARTURO
The window he's referring to will be
different on each Earth - mere
minutes till it arrives on some, up
to several months on others.
WADE
So you're saying we may have to wait
months on some of these worlds
before we can try and get home
again?
QUINN
Correct. We've re-rigged the timer
to serve as a countdown device,
telling us how long till the window
on each Earth we visit.
WADE
What if the window comes and goes
and we never access the gate?
ARTURO
I'm afraid it's 29.7 years to the
next opportunity. So that's a
mistake we can not afford. We must
always be sure to be together at the
appointed time... or else.
QUINN
We're lucky we didn't miss the
window on this window.
He shows them the timer. It reads 5 MINUTES, 16 SECONDS, and counting.
EXT. EDGE OF COMMUNE - NIGHT - A BLACK SEDAN
jolts to a stop beside the purple Caddy - Copeland and Yenn exit the car with the other two Feds who are now wielding semi-automatic rifles. They clearly mean business as they head out toward the heart of the commune.
EXT. COMMUNE GROUNDS - NIGHT - THE SLIDERS
are preparing to attempt to open the gate. Quinn checks the timer - when the counter reads ZERO, he points the device toward open space and presses the button.
To his great relief, the gate begins to form.
It continues from there with the six million worlds comment and the FBI running up just as we saw...
And when they first arrive on the next world after Quinn tells them have 48 minutes there...a distant rumble is heard and Rembrandt makes a discovery...
WIDE ANGLE to reveal the Sliders are back on Cheney street. The buildings look preety much the same, but once again there is an eerie absence of pedestrians and street traffic. Not a creature is stirring.
REMBRANDT
(spotting something)
Hey! I think I know where we are!
He moves to the picture window of Moonatic Electronics, nestled on the north side of the street, right where it should be. The man in the mmon face has recently been redrawn - it is now under water, eyes closed, tongue hanging out of its mouth as if it had drowned.
The other join him as he indicates a ton of graffiti all along the abandoned buildings shop windows.
REMBRANDT (CONT'D)
Just look at all those Jewish stars.
This must be the Israeli planet!
ARTURO
(worried frown)
Those aren't Stars of David,
Rembrandt. They're *pentagrams*.
Rembrandt's weak smile is replaced by a weak-kneed frown as we WIDEN ANGLE to reveal several pentagrams scrawled in red alongside a couple of screaming skulls. Some of the accompanying script seems to signify a graffiti-bound battle between pro-God and pro-Satan forces: Doomsday... The black hour of judgment is at hand... R.I.P.
Mother earth... God is crying, the Earth is drowning... Repent... 666... *Prepare to meet your maker!*
Meanwhile, the DISTANT RUMBLING is getting steadily louder.
WADE
This doesn't look too promising,
does it?
REMBRANDT
Are you kidding? East St. Louis is
the French Riviera compared to this
berg!
ARTURO
Do you hear that rumbling noise?
It's coming this way, from the west.
REMBRANDT
Well, whaddya say we just wait right
here? Whatever it is, it'll be here
soon enough.
The other three are staring him down - they want to see what's causing it. Rembrandt SIGHS irritably, then reluctantly nods - the four Sliders head down the street in the direction of THE GROWING RUMBLE. Rembrandt is spooked and grumbling, getting himself all worked up...
REMBRANDT
Maybe the folks who live on these
worlds know we're coming. Maybe
that's why the city keeps gettin'
deserted. Maybe they're afraid
you're gonna zap 'em with the gizmo
like you did to me --
He cuts off as the Sliders round a corner and freeze in their tracks. They are looking to the west, and whatever it is they see has them aboslutely paralyzed, with a mixture of wonder, awe and terror.
Rembrandt starts crying, his voice a tiny squeak...
REMBRANDT
There's something y'all should know.
CUT TO THEIR POV: an incredibly monstrous tidal wave, forty stories high, is rolling straight toward them! It is a blue sheet of water that seems to stretch to the sky...
REMBRANDT (O.S. CONT'D)
I can't swim.
SLOWLY FADE TO BLACK.
THE END.
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