SLIDERS - THIRD SEASON

Sliders - Third Season

Starring: Jerry O'Connell
Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Box set, Dolby
Number of discs: 4

Movie:
Discs:
 

Parallel universes is a fascinating concept that is unfortunately underutilised when it comes to sci-fi movies and television, the two mediums usually preferring to focus on time travel, which is similar, but not quite the same.

One TV show did however centre around parallel universes was the cult mid-1990s TV show Sliders, which followed the adventures of a group of people who ?slide? from one parallel universe to the next, trying to find the one from which they originally came from. (This made it similar I suppose to Quantum Leap in which the hero played by Star Trek Enterprise's Scott Bakula tried to get back to his own time.) Except, unlike Quantum Leap it is always the same year, but each parallel universe is somehow different from the previous one and the one which we inhabit.

The only familiar face (well, the only one I recognised) the show featured was that of Jon-Rhys Davies, the character actor best known as Indy's Arab sidekick in two of the Indiana Jones movies. The special effects are obvious and cheap - then again, it is television.

This particular box set which contains the entire third season is perhaps not the best place to start if you've never seen the show before - according to most accounts the show started it's, erm, slide into mediocrity with this season. The episodes I watched weren't that bad, but they weren't particularly good either. Occasionally the show lapses into what I call the sun always shines on TV syndrome: resolutions are too pat, and endings and emotions too sappy.

THE DISCS: You get four double-sided discs ? and some awkward packaging with a plastic flap that looks neat (I suppose) but annoyingly always gets in the way when you try to remove discs from their casings. No extras except for two Earth 2 and Cleopatra 2525 ?bonus? episodes.

WORTH IT? If you're a fan of the show, check it out. But even fans seem to complain about this particular season.

RECOMMENDATION: Sliders - Season Three is watchable, but not particularly great or anything. Still, if you get the box set I suppose watching an episode now and when there is absolutely nothing on is an option.