FOX (ended 2000)
| Kynch88 wrote: |
| Because he only wanted to star in half of the season and be Executive Producer for the rest, they denied it so he left. Charlie O'Connell was only on the show coz his bro was on it so he left too... |
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| Why Did Jerry and Charlie O'Connell Leave Sliders? To fully understand this, one must go back to the Summer of 98. After an unexpectedly successful season four of Sliders on Sci-Fi Channel, the Channel was left in somewhat of a quandry. Their strategy was to run Sliders for a season with the intention to pull over around half of the fans to Sci-Fi programming. This is why there was such a long period of reruns from around October of 1998 until March of 1999. Sci-Fi was wanting to "encourage" Sliders fans to try out their other programming (Welcome to Paradox) while waiting for new eps, and also hold the last quarter of season four to air with the new series they had planned (Farscape, First Wave and Poltergeist the Legacy). The problem? It didn't really work as they hoped. In fact, "Welcome to Paradox" (their anthology series) was a failure and soon cancelled even though it was Sliders companion piece. In kind, First Wave and Poltergeist failed by holding ratings akin to "Welcome to Paradox" until the end of its first season (well after Sliders was cancelled). So, how does this weigh on Jerry and Charlie leaving their characters of Quinn and Colin to no resolution? Well, Sci-Fi hadn't planned on doing a season five. In fact, they had allocated their money out thinking there would be no season five. This money went out to acquire/begin Farscape, Poltergeist, First Wave and Sci-Fi's complete makeover. But when the reports came in on ratings, Sci-Fi began to realize they couldn't let Sliders go. Sliders was still their number one show (with Farscape nipping on its heels). But, Sci-Fi had to find the money and see what they could do. This took time. In fact, the deliberation ran over the end of the Sliders actors' contracts by about 3 weeks. During this time, the actors were free to go to other projects with no obligations to Sci-Fi. And, during this 3 week layover, Jerry signed up for another project. An NBC miniseries named "The '60's" that was to begin filming the same week Sliders season five production was to later be slated to start (near the end of September 9  . Jerry did offer to come back, however; but for a price. Since the middle of season four production, Jerry had wanted to be Executive Producer of Sliders. And Jerry took the opportunity to use the leverage the contract situation had given him. Jerry put forward that he would only come back for Sliders season five if they made him Executive Producer. The powers that be did not feel Jerry was experienced enough for this position, however. After all, Jerry had just become a regular producer the year before (i.e. one year's experience). Also, production had already bent over backwards for Jerry by allowing him to write, direct, star, produce and even "slide" a family member into a job when there were other people at the gate. Production was still offering all of these things to Jerry along with a raise (just as they gave Cleavant and Kari), but Jerry would take no less than Executive Producer.Lines were drawn and neither party would budge; so Jerry decided to leave; but Jerry did offer to do three episodes to close out his character. Production said that wouldn't be enough; and then mentioned how with Jerry leaving, they really had no use for his brother any more either (since Charlie was only there because of Jerry anyway). Jerry wanted Charlie to stay for all 18 episodes of season five, though. So, negotiations continued. Finally, an agreement was reached that Jerry would do six episodes of season five, and production agreed. But they also then told him that his brother would only be doing six as well, and would only stay on as long as Jerry did. This was not what Jerry negotiated for since he wanted his brother in all 18 episodes, so both he and his brother left the table and Sliders. But our story doesn't end there. Production was then left with the problem of wrapping up Quinn and Colin without the actors. Their first idea was to use unused footage from season four to show Quinn and Colin morphing into Kromaggs (presumably showing they had been replaced by Kromaggs sometime in season four). Jerry caught wind of this, and had his lawyers place a legal block on the use of his image and voice from prior seasons (it was a simple contract issue - they only had permission to use those in season four...not five). And so, this is how we ended up with stunt doubles and a voice obviously not Jerry's in the season five premiere "The Unstuck Man". After much more negotiation through Jerry's agent, Jerry did finally allow the use of his image in the next to last episode of the series, "Eye of the Storm", but he still refused to appear personally. Officially, Sci-Fi Channel says that Jerry and Charlie moved on to pursue movie careers. On the other hand, Jerry offficially says at an October 1999 AOL Chat that he left because Sci-Fi substantially cut the budget and he felt the show could no longer be done for that amount. Which is strange...since season four and five had comparable budgets...Cleavant and Kari were even given raises when Jerry was still being accounted for as being on board. Jerry also added that he left because "Mission to Mars" was around the corner. Another strange mention, since M2M didn't begin production until early 1999 - long after Sliders season five production began in October of 1998 (thus meaning Jerry could have made at least one appearance...if he wanted to). Also, Cinescape reported that Jerry was still not even on board with M2M on April 15, 1999. Sliders season five production ENDED the first week of April, 1999. |
| thewiseman wrote: |
| He should have done it for the fans. |
I agree but I guess egos can get the best of any of us, and I think they hurt his ego when they wouldn't let him be executive producer which honestly was a very stupid idea by the studio in not letting him get that title.
Think about it now you have the main STAR of the show taking more reponsibilty, and being tied to your product you are selling.
The fans would have kept coming, and would have stayed happy, and the ratings would have gone up! Especially since Jerry was getting very popular again around the late 90's even came out in Scream 2 so it was a chance to keep your lead, and have him take more interest in the show... How that could hurt the show I dont know.
Universal Studios, USA, SciFi, Fox or who ever was at fault should have the people involved fired, and never to be worked with again because they simply don't know what they are doing.
| Q-Ball-77 wrote: | ||
I agree but I guess egos can get the best of any of us, and I think they hurt his ego when they wouldn't let him be executive producer which honestly was a very stupid idea by the studio in not letting him get that title. Think about it now you have the main STAR of the show taking more reponsibilty, and being tied to your product you are selling. Universal Studios, USA, SciFi, Fox or who ever was at fault should have the people involved fired, and never to be worked with again because they simply don't know what they are doing. |
| Kynch88 wrote: |
| Because he only wanted to star in half of the season and be Executive Producer for the rest, they denied it so he left. Charlie O'Connell was only on the show coz his bro was on it so he left too... |
| victoriak68 wrote: | ||
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