Was the Dominion overexposed?
Date: 11/20/2001
From: Recall317
The hotel, not this bboard.
One of my major criticisms of Seasons 4 and 5 is the excessive use of the Chandler Hotel. It got so bad that entire episodes were taking place inside it ("The Alternateville Horror", "Data World", "To Catch a Slider", etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...) Not only that, but the Chandler kept showing up in bizarre episodes it had no place in ("Net Worth", "The Dying Fields"). And finally, the Sliders' uncanny ability to slide in within a few blocks of it EVERY FREAKING EPISODE just irked me considering the massive radius.
But was Season Two, a season I am known to admire, all that much better with the Dominion Hotel and its accompanying bar, the Lamplighter? To my surprise, the hotel or bar appears in 10 of the 13 episodes, and it is at least mentioned in "El Sid." The only two it is truly absent from are "Invasion" and "In Dino Veritas", the latter for obvious reasons.
Did Tormé and co. have some deal that required the use of the hotel in virtually every episode in order to film there? Otherwise, why constantly be there? "Post Traumatic Slide Syndrome" does not need the Lamplighter. If I just got home, I don't think I'd be hanging out in an unexceptional hotel bar that I must be sick to death of.
Yet the Dominion (and Lamplighter) are remembered quite fondly and they absolutely dominate fanfiction. What made it superior to the Chandler? Or the Motel 12? There's nothing remarkable about the building or its bar. The Chandler is technically a more interesting set. Or is that just it. The Dominion was real.
Thoughts?
R317
Hmmm...
Date: 11/20/2001
From:
ThomasMalthus
It might be a good idea if beginning text were destroyed!!
Nothing else. Just hmmm...
Well, maybe a few things. For one, an obvious reason (which I'm sure you considered) for why it was featured in so many episodes is how cost-effective it is to use the same set over and over. From a "let's-pretend-the-show-is-real" perspective, it could be that the sliders wanted some continuity in their slides and since they couldn't always stay in their doubles' homes, the Dominion offered them that.
With regards to the Dominion's frequent presence in fanfiction, I think it just has to do with Season Two's popularity. The hotel was used only in the second season and so setting a story at the Dominion immediately gives it a Season Two feel like nothing else could, or at least so the author hopes.
Of the alternatives for setting stories in hotels featured in the show: the Chandler was, as you mentioned, clearly overused; the Motel 12 was, if anything, underused; and the Royal Chancellor was a product of Season Three, which is quite possibly the least popular season of all. Inventing a new hotel for the sliders to stay in is an option (I've done it quite a few times) but it's an abstract setting. When you mention the Dominion, you get a clear picture in the reader's head.
One option they could have explored on the show (but never did) was to make their hotel what Elston Diggs was supposed to be; an architectural chameleon, if you will. An interesting concept. And one that could so easily be worked into fan fiction...
ThomasMalthus
The thing aout the Chandler
Date: 11/21/2001
From: Slider_Sarah
Die beginnign text, evil creation
was they used it for entire episodes in order to save money. I'm sure that was in an article.
Now the Dominion was a much more subtle addition. Perhaps sometimes it was a little strange, but I would probably choose to drink somewhere I knew, just for a little continuity in my life.
Oh, I don't know! I haven't watched Sliders in a while, and I only have one tape with me (season 1 though, so I mght watch that)
Sarah.
slider_sarah@hotmail.com
Dominion=meeting place, Chandler=stupid!
Date: 11/22/2001
From: Grizzlor
The dominion hotel, san fran. was just a meeting place most often for the Sliders. They found it very comforting to go there almost every episode. I guess it was like home to them. Why was it seen so often? Because interior sets are reused! They have to be. I had no problem with it, it was merely a hotel.
The chandler, however, you are right, was in like every single episode of S4-5, because the budget was so damn bad. Actually, Season 4 was worse, it seemed like they were always there. The DIFFERENCE is that The Chandler was not a hotel, like in Season 3, it was the CENTER OF THE DAMN WORLD! That is why it was so lame, because particularly in Season 4, everything went on there. Too much. I could see if it was Times Square, but come on, a hotel in the middle of California. Why would it be so special????? because of cheap producers and bad writers
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