Recovered fragments of Dominion, MCA etc

Date: 01/16/2002
From: Blinker

As promised, here are the goodies yielded by the Web Archive:

First, the MCA Netforum. The complete topic listing from 1995 to 1997 -- covering approximately the Pilot to This Slide of Paradise -- is 2,800K uncompressed. You can view it in this form if you like:

http://web.archive.org/web/19970509064213/http://www.mca.com/tv/netforum/topics/mca.tv.sliders

...but I recommend downloading the 448k zipped version, from which I stripped the redundant portions of the now-useless post URLs. It's a lot quicker to get onto your computer and also less likely to crash it.

http://slidersweb.net/blinker/hall/netforum.zip

Now, to the Dominion. The Web Archive didn't start recording us in earnest until after the last great Purge, but post listings for most of June 1999 did manage to slip through the CRACKs:

http://slidersweb.net/upload/june99.htm

A lot of good stuff in there. Hmm... S' original Very Long Sliders Rant was posted on June 8, 1999 at 545/6928, to 14 replies.

And the real way-back trip... who knew that ANYTHING still survived of the TV Guide Sliders board? Well, here's a peek...

http://slidersweb.net/upload/tvguide.htm

Somehow, it figures that with only eight thread summaries preserved, there'd still be an Executive flame war among the bunch.

Haven't finished exploring records of the other boards yet, but results look mixed: the recently-decimated story game board was largely ignored, while the even-more-battered JOC board may actually still exist in large part (with post content and all).

If the restored pieces spark any recollections (fond or otherwise), I'm sure we'd all love to hear them. Mine will follow as time permits...

- Blinker 7:-/
http://slidersweb.net/blinker

"Would someone please fire Danny Lux!" - HurriKain, 6/17/99

A few musings

Date: 01/16/2002
From: TemporalFlux

May write more later, but here's a brief recollection. Most will notice near the top of the MCA archive a series of posts that refer to King TemporalFlux, Queen JCBruss, etc. All of that was part of the "Kingdom of Moronia". This was something JC started (I believe based on an off handed comment by me) to counter an enormous troll on the board going by the handle of "Rickman".

Rickman's catch phrase as it were was to call everyone a "moron", so we adopted the strategy of making his phrase so ridiculous that he would get frustrated and hopefully move on. As such, the Kingdom of Moronia was born. A mythical land inhabited by many members of the then MCA Netforum in which we were all morons, and those who were not morons had the problem. It was a fun little diversion (we developed this whole infrastructure to the kingdom - I seem to remember something about a war with Bill Cosby and his pudding loving denizens too), and it turned out to be pretty effective in helping to shut down Rickman (who would be revealed in late 1997 to actually be the poster named syrup - he admitted to it finally).

We had already tried several other methods of getting rid of Rickman, though. In fact, my first ever post on March 15, 1997, was ironically one in which most everyone told me to leave. Why you ask? Well, I had posted the suggestion of ignoring Rickman if he bothered everyone so much...that he only had as much fuel as everyone gave him. Most of the regulars immediately responded saying that I didn't understand anything about the place and I should leave. With time, I began to see why situations like Rickman couldn't be left unaddressed...and, of course, I didn't leave.

Some will notice a small gap in posting around the time of May 2, 1997, as well. The board was experiencing severe problems around that time (problems that never fully corrected until it became the Studios USA board). If you think are problems are bad, that place would just go off line for *days* at a time. In fact, to my memory this is probably why the archive leaves off around the time of May 8, 1997. Around that date (just as Fox announced cancellation), the board died for about a week and a half. Many of us thought this went along with the cancellation notice...that MCA was giving up on Sliders. But in another bit of irony, we coordinated our letter writing efforts to save Sliders over on the Fox board (which stayed active the whole time). Ultimately those efforts would help along a plan that was already in motion by Sci-Fi Channel to purchase Sliders.

In any case, that's a few initial thoughts from skimming over it. I may have more to say later on...

Tf
temporalflux@hotmail.com
http://dimensionofcontinuity.com

Correction

Date: 01/16/2002
From: Blinker

Beginning Text must be corrected!!

I copied the wrong URL for the bloated online version of the complete topic listing. The right one is:

http://web.archive.org/web/19970509121402/www.mca.com/tv/netforum/thread/mca.tv.sliders

But the Zip version is still better.

- Blinker 7:-P
http://slidersweb.net/blinker

Thoughts on June '99

Date: 01/16/2002
From: Chaser9

June '99 there was no BT! BT MUST DIE!!!!

Looking back over the missing month of June brings back quite a few memories.

I remember i was sick with mono and couldn't work for 2 months. All I did was sit in front of this computer and work on sliders realted projects. It was funny, because some people kept wondering if I had a life or job cause I WAS ALWAYS ON-LINE!

Then came the S5 premiere and the bungee posters arrived. It seemed all our efforts were in dealing with new flamers and a new darker board.

Who can forget Blinker's Farewell post? Wish Sci-fi would restore that bad boy . . .IT HAD 37 REPLIES! WHY DID IT GET PURGED?

I just wish SCi-Fi would add these post to the archive. And while they're at it reinstate the old balck and yellow color scheme.

That's all that comes to mind right now, maybe more later.

--Chaser9

Thanks Blinker...

Date: 01/16/2002
From: SlidersRocks

That ziped version rocks! I used to be KingQuinn under that MCA board. Wow that was 5 years ago...damn.

Dean

Thanks to Blinker and the rest...

Date: 01/16/2002
From: Wrong_Arturo

...for all their help. It's too bad that none of the actual posts are there. It's kind of like discovering the lost city of Atlantis and finding that you can't get past the gates, or looking in the windows of a candy store that'll never re-open. Oh, well. You all did a lot more work than I meant for you to, and I appreciate it.

At any rate, looking at the post titles has been interesting in itself. "New episode on 3/28" in particular jumped out at me. What's significant about that, you say? Well, I don't know how many people remember this now, but Sliders was almost cancelled from Fox BEFORE This Slide of Paradise. Ratings had been so bad, Fox was ready to pull the plug midseason--specifically, after March 14. However, there was a small spike up in the ratings with "The Breeder." I guess the promise of T&A caused a few more people than usual to turn in. Unfortunately, that only encouraged Fox into thinking the show was going in the right direction. They seemed to miss the fact that, after people actually saw the awful episode, they didn't come back for more.

But anyway, Fox made a last-minute decision to keep the show on the air, and the following week (3/21) was a rerun of "The Guardian," presumably to set up the mention of Arturo's illness in "Last of Eden." We weren't sure when the next new episode was going to air, so the fact that there was a new episode on Mar. 28 ("Eden") was a big deal.

Sorry if this is all obvious to all of you. I just don't know how many people still remember that Sliders was saved from cancellation even DURING its third season.

So, just think...if Fox hadn't pulled the plug early, the final episode of Sliders would have been The Breeder. Ugh. And just think, we would have never seen episodes like Last of Eden or Slither or...

Hmm. Maybe Fox didn't do such a great thing after all.

BTW, I can't help but note the bizarre juxtaposition of following The Breeder with The Guardian. Talk about night and day! Hardly even recognizable as the same show.

Oh, and TF was right about the board crashing all the time. How could I have forgotten? All those times I banged my head on the wall in frustration 'cause I couldn't get in again... Anyway, the board had many redeemable aspects, but the constant crashing is one thing I DON'T miss.

If I think of more comments, I'll post 'em. Thanks again, guys. And while I'm disappointed that I haven't got access to the posts -- hey, for two years I thought I'd never see the NetForum at all again. So, to quote Tom Hanks in Cast Away, who knows what the tide will bring in tomorrow?

Off to go to talk to a volleyball now... ;-)

W.A.

That is a cool site, damn purges!!!!

Date: 01/17/2002
From: Grizzlor

I must say, I am surprised that kind of site would exist and be so complete. I know of some very old web sites I would like to see again definitely! Of course, the unneccessary purges seem to be nearly eternal at this point. we were caught off guard and may never get them back.

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/545/27312
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