Jerry O'Connel plays Quinn Malory, scientific genius who figured out how to travel or slide through parallel universes where Earth is different from the planet we know. Different alternate histories are shown in the pilot episode. He opens a sliding vortex in his scientific laboratory using a 'timer', which looks to us like a remote-control. He does this while actually attempting to create an anti-gravity device. Jerry O'Connel, is rather known to me, as the young 'Ultraman' with flying powers. Sliding through the wormhole, he lands back in his basement and thinks the discovery is a complete failure. He goes to his classes at University, and much to his amazement, he notices the world has changed! Green lights now mean stop, red lights mean go. Elvis and JFK are still alive, JFK is the US President and his mother married the gardener (Jake) and is expecting a baby! His timer pulls him through back to his world Going to the University, his professor, Maximillian Arturo (John Rhys-Davies) tells him what a nerve he has to show up again. Quinn cannot understand what's going on, but wants to inform Arturo of his discovery. The feeling of Arturo is that Quinn must be mocking him, so he dismisses class and storms out of the lecture hall. Leaving the university, still puzzled, Quinn heads to his part-time job in a computer store. He meets his co-worker and best friend, Wade Wells (Sabrina Lloyd) who asks him what he's doing there. A while ago, his boss fired him when Quinn told him off. Quinn cannot remember this, he says. Wade asks if he doesn't remember the kiss either. He doesn't and wonders why he would kiss his best friend. Wade is upset at this, and leaves. Quinn still confused heads home.

On arriving at his basement, he finds the formula for the wormhole, the Eisen-Rosenberg bridge to other gateways, which was unable to complete, ready and written on his blackboard. He cannot understand it. Quinn - another one - appears out of the shadows and explains to him what the discovery is about, and what had happened. The alternate-universe Quinn completed the formula, made Arturo very angry, got Quinn fired and kissed Wade. The Alternate-Quinn explains about some of the worlds he has 'Slided' to, and wars Quinn of a restriction of the timer, but Quinn doesn't manage to hear this warning properly, due to the noise made by the vortex. He invites Professor Arturo and Wade over for a demo. Arturo is amazed. How could such a 'boy' figure out this theorem, that he has worked over for so long. Wade is amazed by the whole concept and would like to try it. Quinn is eager to do so too. Arturo is more cautious. Quinn says he set the timer for five hours and they will just slide back. Quinn increases the power and dimension of the opening, they slide through but this causes the vortex to move out of Quinn's basement. It sucks in a car drien by a 60s rhythm and blues singer, Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown (played by Cleavant Derricks) who happens to be driving to sing at a baseball game. The original world of the Sliders is called later on, Earth Prime. You can read more about the sliders' characters in the review of episode 2.

The Sliders first slide is to an ice age world, they try to wait out the cold until the timer returns to zero and returns them to their own world. Quinn has a sister in this world and a dog that ran away when he was young. Many buildings are intact so it does not seem that the climate is due to a nuclear winter and could be due to a natural disaster. Unfortunately trouble happens - an ice tornado is on its way, thus they are forced to activate the timer early and "slide" to another earth. They think that they have returned home, seemingly to their own world, so Rembrandt leaves the others to hail a cab, to get to the park. The others head to Quinn's house. This isn't their Earth, it is a USA taken over by the Soviet Union, Wade is the leader of the revolution, who plans to free the States from Soviet rule. The sliders free the captured Rembrandt and Rebel-Alternate-Wade, giving the rebels hope that in another world the USA is free. They make it to the park before the police and army get there, hopefully Sliding back home. Back at Quinn's home, Quinn's mom makes them dinner, and suddenly, Quinn's father arrives. They realise they are not in their native timeline/earth. Quinn's father, on Earth-Prime, was killed when Quinn was 11 years old.

Upon leaving this timeline, the Sliders find themselves in another world which very similar to our Earth Prime, in all details except one - Quinn's father did not die. They could have stayed here, but they decide it's not home and leave. This is an interesting start to the Sliders, but the next episodes are even better.