Sliders: Seasons 1 and 2 [DVD] [1996] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Quinn Mallory accidently discovers a key to opening wormholes when he creates a device to defy gravity. Unfortunately, he, Wade (Sabrina Lloyd), his physics professor (John Rhys-Davies) and a washed up r&b singer named Rembrandt (Clevant Derrick)who happens to be passing by on his way to sing at an San Francisco Giants game get sucked into the wormhole when a power surge causes it to go out of control.

They discover that there are other worlds with intelligent life. Most of those other worlds are alternate Earths that have followed very different paths than our world. Unfortunately, Quinn has no way for them to get back home so they must keep sliding (the portals open on an unpredictable time schedule allowing them only so many hours in each world)from alternate universe to alternate universe hoping they'll eventually slide home.

Created by Tracy Torme (who was a staff writer on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and for trivia buffs the son of singer Mel Torme)and Robert Weiss, the series started off with a lot of potential. Although the quality varied a bit from year to year, the best stories were always interesting and the performances were, for the most part, very convincing.

We get the shortened first and second season here in a box that is packaged in a half cardboard half clear plastic box with the DVDs suspended by a foam core. It creates the illusion that they're suspected in the middle with out any means of support. It looks quite cool. The picture quality is very good with few blemishes and the sound has exceptional mastering as well. I didn't detect a lot of compression or distortion. So the show looks great and tastes great, too.

The extras are lean. We get a featurette on the making of the show and a stills gallery but that's about it. On the back is a one sheet with info on the DVD when you fold it out it has an episode guide but without any cast listing or crew credits. When yo pop in each disc and select an episode you get an on screen symposis similar to that on the "Quantum Leap" first season set. I have to give Universal praise for putting both the first and second season in one set (unlike "Quantum Leap") although the price is a bit high especially when compared to another release from the same day, "Knight Rider". That set retails for about 1/3 less than "Sliders" and it has more features (although the design of the box isn't quite as sharp). Clearly Universal has the impression that this series is going to appeal to a cult audience and, as such, as tried to make it as attractive looking as possible.

We only get a commentary track on the pilot by Torme and Weiss. While it's interesting and provides fascinating tidbits about pre-production, production and post-production problems the crew ran into, I would also have liked to hear from the original cast members as well. The show has aged surprisingly well although not all the CGI effects have held up but then again that's true of most movies and television shows. The CGI effects work at moving the story forward and that's their purpose. I would have liked to have a featurette on the CGI visual effects, more commentary on the various directions the show took over time, etc. Perhaps that'll be on the next couple of sets.

While I like the unique design, the box can be a bit of a pain to put back together and it might not withstand wear and tear as much simpler sets. I'd suggest buying a couple of amray DVD containers and putting them in there and keeping your box as a colletible. It almost looks cool enough to put on display.

There's been lots of discussion about the varied quality of the show over the years. It doesn't matter. The best episodes are worth viewing again and again. Although there might be more memorable ones in this set than another, there's always something memorable about even the weakest episode of the series. Pick it up today but try to avoid paying retail full price if you can.