Season 1

The original Sliders. From left to right: Wade Welles, Rembrandt Brown, Professor Arturo and Quinn Mallory

In the pilot episode of Season 1 of Sliders, Quinn Mallory, a graduate student of physics specializing in string theory, creates a device capable of opening vortices to alternate universes. With a little help from his double from another universe, he develops the technology to the extent that not only can he send items through the gateway he created, but also, with the use of a timer, to return them to their point of origin. He uses himself as his first living "guinea pig."

His best friend Wade Welles and his professor/mentor Maximillian Arturo join him on his second test. However, the wormhole grows unstable and spirals out of control. Singer Rembrandt "Cryin' Man" Brown, driving by Quinn's house, is accidentally sucked through with them. When the timer is activated ahead of time, more than four hours before it was scheduled to, it loses its original coordinates, and the Sliders cannot return home. This leaves them unable to control when the vortices open, or which universe they lead to. The Sliders continue moving from universe to universe, trying to find their way back home.

Common themes during this season include the exploration of political issues, and the appearances of recurring characters' alternate selves, showing how their situations had changed in various realities.

Season 1 Cast

• Jerry O'Connell - Quinn Mallory
• Sabrina Lloyd - Wade Welles
• John Rhys-Davies - Maximillian Arturo
• Cleavant Derricks - Rembrandt Brown

Season 1 Episodes

1. Pilot: Sliders
2. Summer of Love
3. The Prince of Wails
4. Fever
5. Last Days
6. The Weaker Sex
7. Eggheads
8. The King is Back
9. Luck of the Draw

Episodes aired out-of-order

The original filmed order for Season 1 episodes is as follows:

1. "Sliders" (two-hour pilot episode)
2. "Summer of Love"
3. "Prince of Wails"
4. "Fever"
5. "Last Days"
6. "The Weaker Sex"
7. "Eggheads"
8. "The King is Back"
9. "Luck of the Draw"

The FOX Network aired the episodes in a different order to best capitalize on potential ratings-winning episodes, thus causing some continuity errors. For instance, the Timer is first set to count down not in the pilot episode, but in "Summer of Love" — since FOX aired "Fever" after the pilot episode, though, many viewers were left confused as to why the Sliders suddenly had to leave within a very specific period of time. Similarly, the cliffhanger at the end of "Summer of Love" leads directly into the opening of "Prince of Wails" — which FOX had actually aired a week earlier.

When the show began airing in reruns on the Sci-Fi Channel, Sci-Fi restored the original filmed order for Season One. However, when the DVDs were released, Universal used the aired order for Season One and the subsequent seasons.

DVD

Season one was released on the Sliders - The First and Second Seasons DVD and the Sliders - The Complete Series DVD.