Over five exhilarating seasons of SYFY’s Sliders (now streaming on Peacock), I found myself journeying through countless alternate realities as Quinn Mallory (Jerry O’Connell) and the team did. From exploring a world teeming with fire-based creatures to narrowly escaping an Earth about to be obliterated by a pulsar, we stumbled upon an Earth inhabited predominantly by robots.
In the Season 3 episode “State of the A.R.T.”, when the Sliders emerge from their portal onto the deserted city street, it appears like a phantom town. The buildings are neat and tidy, but there’s not a soul in sight. The only thing out of order is a jumbled pile of metal and wires scattered across the road. Just then, two individuals appear to be rushing towards them, pursued by an armored vehicle discharging laser weapons.
For More on Sliders
Did you know that Rembrandt Brown was actually the main character in the TV series Sliders, and it turns out there were more adventures for him in a 1990s spin-off comic book? Also, did you know that Sliders utilized a cellphone, universal remote, and SEGA controller to develop their sliding timer technology?
Midway through Season 3, it was the original Sliders who were all still in the game – me, Sabrina Lloyd, Cleavant Derricks, and John Rhys-Davies playing Quinn, Wade Welles, Rembrandt “Crying Man” Brown, and Professor Maximillian Arturo respectively. In this episode, we had Eddie Mills as D.E.R.I.C., short for the Delta model Emotional Response Intelligence Chip unit, Kathleen McClellan as E.R.I.C.A., or the Emotional Response Intelligence Companion unit, and horror legend Robert Englund joining us as Dr. James Aldohn.
Robert Englund, from Elm Street to the multiverse of Sliders
It’s widely recognized that Englund shone brightest as the terrifying Freddy Krueger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” but what many may not realize is that he received formal training as an actor, having studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art based in Oakland University.
His acting journey commenced on the theatre stage, eventually shifting to cinema in 1974’s “Buster and Billie”. Englund made a splash in popular genre productions with his role as Willie, an alien technician who was part of the resistance in the iconic sci-fi series “V” (1983). The following year saw him deliver a performance that would become synonymous with much of his future career.
Between 1984 up until the mid-’90s, Englund’s career was largely defined by his role in the ‘Elm Street’ series. Even after Freddy Krueger was supposedly defeated, Englund continued to be a staple in horror movies and entertainment as a whole. With over five decades of experience under his belt, Englund has amassed close to 200 credits, featuring in projects like ‘Galaxy of Terror’ (1981), ‘Bones’, ‘Chuck’, ‘Criminal Minds’, and many more. Interestingly, he also made an appearance on ‘Sliders’ to portray a completely different kind of monster.
Remembering Robert Englund as an alternate Earth roboticist on Sliders
Following the incident on the street, it became apparent that the victims were robots. They then retrieved one of them and brought it to their makeshift shelter. It was there they encountered D.E.R.I.C., a robot manufactured by Aldohn Robotic Technologies, which happened to be humanoid in design.
As a dedicated follower, I recognize Dr. Aldohn as the paternal figure behind each intelligent robot on this planet. When the relentless RPP (a robotic law enforcement unit) appears, the group scatters, leaving chaos in its wake. Wade, Arturo, and D.E.R.I.C., our escape artists, manage to flee, but Quinn and Rembrandt fall into enemy hands, getting dragged back to the factory – a place of origin for all robots, where Dr. Aldohn resides.
He’s the sole surviving human on Earth, surrounded by replicas he made himself, and he refuses to let Quinn or Rembrandt depart. Initially, robots took over jobs that people found unappealing, eventually taking over all jobs. Humans rebelled against this, but a fight for robot survival led to the extinction of humanity. Dr. Aldohn requires the intellect of Quinn and Rembrandt to test a technology capable of transferring living minds into a digital form. This would enable Dr. Aldohn to live indefinitely, reuniting with his children. However, nothing on this planet is as it appears; neither the robots nor Dr. Aldohn can be trusted completely.
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2025-06-09 21:01