Alternate Leap

[Joe Washington]

How about this for an idea of a sci-fi TV show?

It's called Alternate Leap. Sliders and Quantum Leap merged together.

A scientist who has been working on a device meant to transport oneself to alternate realities becomes a victim of a terrible malfunction when a field test goes horribly wrong rendering him unconscious. When the scientist wakes up, he finds himself in an alternate reality in the body of his alternate self!

The scientist soon comes to the conclusion that the device somehow transported his consciousness to his alternate self's body. But, because his consciousness is unattached from his body, the scientist will be constantly leaping from one alternate self's body to another. Since he set the device to open the AU (Alternate Universe) Window for a period of 1 hour, that's as much time as the scientist has in each alternate reality he travels to. If his alternate self is dead or in a coma, the scientist would be transported into the body of someone in relation to him.

His only friend during these travels is the AI of his computer who somehow got attached to his consciousness. The AI manifests itself to the scientist in the hallucinatory form of a woman from his past.

Meanwhile, his actual body is in a comatose state watched upon by his family and friends.

I see Alternate Leap as this personal epic in which the scientist explores the possible different directions his life could have taken as well as the possible different directions society could have taken.

Coinciding with the stories of the scientist's alternate reality travels will be subplots revolving around his family and friends. How they are dealing with the scientist's condition and the impact it is having on their lives.

I see this show lasting for a season or two. Any more would overstretch things and slowly ruin its quality like how it happened with Sliders.

 

[Morpheus 02]

Hmm...this is a possibility.

The AI is too much of a ripoff of Head Six & Al.

Also, the original self being unconscious? No...that's boring. Trading places with either the person he's inhabiting...or better yet, the previous person he took over, would be far more interesting. So at first, it's person A jumping into person B, ad person B goes back to "Earth Prime."
OK, i am not sure if that works out...but it'd be interesting if the inhabited person doesn't get their "soul" back right away.

Personally, though, i would like to see another Sliders series. There are a lot of possibilities that just need to be explored, and issues that need an alternate history context to help us think outside of the box.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Personally, though, i would like to see another Sliders series.

It already exists - they call it "Stargate Universe". But since the part of Sliders they copied was the travelling from wormhole to wormhole at random intervals while hoping to get home, rather than the alternate history aspect, I doubt that'll be what you're looking for.

 

[Checkmate]

Uh. Stargate Universe is not even close to what you just described. Like, not at all.

It could be, and probably should be, but it isn't.

 

[Australis]

You know what would happen?

A thread would start up in here with someone complaining "Alternate Leap is just a ripoff of Quantum Leap and Sliders!" and the ensuing flame wars that would follow.

Sad but true.

 

[RandyS]

Roughly six episodes in, the network would order changes to render it incomprehensible.

 

[Brent]

I'd watch it, if it were done right, I'd prefer the time period where this experiment happened to take place in the late 19th Century or early 20th Century, similar to "The Time Machine". That way, our traveler going between realities will really be out of his element when he encounters modern day technology and even far future type technology in these other realities, would give him another aspect of exploration. Also, drop the AI bit.

 

[Tom]

Well if I were writing episodes I would chenge 2 things at least.

- Unless your going for some time of real time show like 24, I would make the window at least a day, maybe 2 or 3. One hour does not give enough time for an episodic story and solution unless it part of a bigger arc like 24.

- Don't leap him into other bodies, even those close to him, the device would only send him to a universe where he is alive.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Uh. Stargate Universe is not even close to what you just described. Like, not at all.

It could be, and probably should be, but it isn't.

Yes, it is. They travel in the ship and never know how long they will be travelling until they get there. Then, they have access to a stargate (wormhole) through which they can visit a new world for a seemingly random period of time, after which the ship takes off to take them to the next stargate. And the whole time, they're trying to figure out how to survive and get home.

It's like what if Sliders and the new Battlestar Galactica had a love child, and they made Stargate carry and give birth to it.

 

[Pingfah]

Since he set the device to open the AU (Alternate Universe) Window for a period of 1 hour, that's as much time as the scientist has in each alternate reality he travels to.

So, it's actually a mix of Sliders, Quantum Leap and 24...

 

[The Comedian]

One hour's too short. Make the timing random. That way you can have him leap into someone who's about to die from a raging nuclear war or something and leap right out again. Could give you some intriguing glimpses into some horrific alternate worlds.

Also, have there be some time variations because it's possible that time in alternate universes might run slower or faster than hours (as explained in the novel "Timeline", where they didn't go into their own past, but into an alternate universe where time ran slower and history lagged behind ours, or something...my head hurt from reading the explanation). You could have some fun with that, too.

 

[gastrof]

An hour in each reality isn't long enough, and ending up in someone else's body if his alternate self is dead or doesn't exist isn't the way to go.

Probably he'd just skip over that reality, since there's nothing there for him to get attached to.

As for the AI, too much of a steal from Quantum Leap, and not enough reason for the AI to get attached to him. It appearing as a woman is a little out there.

Since it's so similar to Quantum Leap, I think something should be said to establish it's in the same universe as that show. Possibly even an outgrowth of Sam Beckett's project.

 

[gastrof]

Uh. Stargate Universe is not even close to what you just described. Like, not at all.

It could be, and probably should be, but it isn't.

Yes, it is. They travel in the ship and never know how long they will be travelling until they get there. Then, they have access to a stargate (wormhole) through which they can visit a new world for a seemingly random period of time, after which the ship takes off to take them to the next stargate. And the whole time, they're trying to figure out how to survive and get home.

It's like what if Sliders and the new Battlestar Galactica had a love child, and they made Stargate carry and give birth to it.

You claimed that Alternate Leap would be what Stargate Universe already is.

You're wrong.

The two are nothing alike.

SGU is in some ways like 2nd Galactica series in tone, but they don't visit alternate realities, and I don't believe the stopovers are for random periods of time.

This show the OP has suggested is exactly what was described, a combination of Sliders and Quantum Leap. It's in no way like SGU.

 

[John Picard]

You know what would happen?

A thread would start up in here with someone complaining "Alternate Leap is just a ripoff of Quantum Leap and Sliders!" and the ensuing flame wars that would follow.

Sad but true.

I like this idea. Be prepared to give a full presentation to The Network Suits at 2:00.