The Sliders arrive at the conclusion of a political rally for President Jefferson Williams. Maggie is suddenly pushed into the arms of the President and the press goes wild, photographing their close encounter. Within a few hours, the newspapers are headlining their embrace and the media is speculating how long the affair has been going on. Meanwhile, an ambitious underground reporter, Bobby Hawks, realizes the public has not been paying any attention to the war in Switzerland since the scandal hit the press. Chief of Staff Chuck Pierson suggests to the President that they keep the American public in a feeding frenzy over the scandal. Mallory meets Hawks to report that the whole affair with Maggie is fake. But Pierson kidnaps Maggie and takes her to the President, who tries to obtain her cooperation. Maggie is unaware that their meeting is being recorded as the First Lady supervises the encounter. As the scandal brews, could Maggie become Barbara Walters’ next infamous guest?
Tabloid WorldMedia outlets are almost as big of a joke here as they are on Earth Prime. Almost? Well, at least here tabloids don’t take themselves seriously. |
Maggie’s double is a pregnant woman living in the Cajero Mobile Home Park and Campground in Pacoima. She has a daughter named Martha Lou.
The Sliders check into the ever-faithful Chandler Hotel, but it’s unknown if they paid for it.
Elected just six short years ago, President Jeff Williams has been a charismatic and popular leader. How’s this so? Well, the mass media on this world seems to chuck hard news by the wayside, turning respected newspapers such as the Los Angeles Herald into little more than a gossip rag. Reporters are more concerned about whether or not the President sleeps in the nude than ask about the stock market or the war in Switzerland.
War in Switzerland, you ask? Well, a couple of years ago, Swiss President Marcel Vache, affectionately known as the “Butcher of Bern,” nationalized the Swiss banks, which created an international economic crisis. The banking scandal deeply affected the United States, and Williams, prone to do something about it, sent ground troops into the country to try and stabilize the region, even without Congressional or United Nations support.
Under the world-wide depression created by the scandal, stock market values continue to plunge and the Swiss are blaming their woes on the French-speaking people in their country, and an ethnic cleansing of sorts in French-speaking parts of the country, much like Bosnia on our earth.
Despite United States military might, our nation is losing the war in Switzerland and a nerve gas called Noxin, banned by the U.N., is being prepped for use against Swiss soldiers.
Recently, the President has been involved in a sex scandal of sorts, but this may just be an isolated incident and is uninvolved with the President’s meeting with California governor Hovington.
“A fortunate economical turn for ‘A Current Affair’ came with the availability of a new set left standing next door on Stage One,” explains Keith Damron. “It had been built for a Columbo made for TV movie. They were finished with it and they offered it to our show. We graciously accepted. We needed a presidential suite for ‘A Current Affair’ and desperately wanted a new look. Frankly, we were getting pretty sick of The Chandler.”