Sliders

Sliders premiered on March 22, 1995, on Fox, created by Robert K. Weiss and Tracy Tormé. The premise was pure sci-fi fantasy: a group of travelers use a wormhole to "slide" between parallel universes, each one a different version of Earth. Armed with a handheld timer device that counts down to the next involuntary slide, they race to find their way back to their home dimension while getting tangled up in increasingly bizarre alternate realities. The chemistry and humor kept the stakes grounded even as the worlds got wilder.

Fox's support lasted three seasons through May 16, 1997, but the show had built enough of a cult following that the Sci-Fi Channel picked it up for two more seasons, running from June 8, 1998, through February 4, 2000. All told, the series produced 88 episodes across five seasons. The core cast included Jerry O'Connell as boy-genius Quinn Mallory—the one who invented the device—alongside John Rhys-Davies as the erudite Professor Maximilian Arturo, Sabrina Lloyd as tough-minded Wade Welles, and Cleavant Derricks as Rembrandt "Cryin' Man" Brown, an R&B singer trying to make sense of it all. The show was filmed in Vancouver for its first two seasons, then relocated to Los Angeles. Though its network-hopping kept it from reaching the mainstream success it might have claimed on a more stable home, Sliders became the kind of show devoted fans still discuss decades later.