Dr. Tom Mason (George Newbern) and Cat (Anne Le Guernec) in Martin's promising alternate universe hopping pilot for ABC-TV.

The story behind the celebrated SF author's unsold alternate universe pilot

Acclaimed science fiction print, screen and TV writer George R. R. Martin (NIGHTFLYERS, TWILIGHT ZONE, BEAUTY & THE BEAST) called it "the last virgin territory" for mass market TV science fiction. "We've seen space travel", he said, "we've seen time travel, but apart from a few rare instances like the BBC production of AN ENGLISHMAN'S CASTLE (or the 1963 British feature, IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE) we've rarely seen a serious exploration of the theme of alternate histories and parallel worlds".

That was to have changed, however, with Martin's pilot for ABC called DOORS. (The name was changed to DOORWAYS over concern for possible litigation by Oliver Stone or the Jim Morrison estate.) Martin considers his unsold pilot the inspiration for Tracy Torme's SLIDERS.

Noted Martin on the Internet, "At the time, when it appeared that DOORWAYS would be on the ABC Fall 1993 schedule, Torme's [agent] approached me while I was visiting my own agent — we arc both represented by ICM — and said that his client had read the script, loved the concept, and would be interested in writing for the show if we went to series. A mutual friend [Harlan Ellison] has subsequently told me that Torme says he has 'never' read the DOORWAYS script and never expressed any interest in writing for it. I have no way of knowing one way or the other. I have a great deal of respect for Harlan and if he says that Torme says this, I believe that Torme says this. It was not Torme who approached me. It was Torme's agent, speaking on behalf of Torme. I have been in the business long enough to know that agents sometimes, well... embroider if they smell a job.

Dr. Tom Mason (George Newbern) and Cat (Anne Le Guernec) in Martin's promising alternate universe hopping pilot for ABC-TV.

"DOORWAYS was pitched to the Fox Network on the same day it was pitched to ABC", continued Martin. "At that time, the Fox execs told me they loved it, it was very original, they'd think about it. ABC bought it before they finished thinking. Almost two year later, when DOORWAYS was complete, we showed the pilot to Fox after ABC chose to go with LOIS & CLARK. Fox passed at that time. Six backup scripts were also shown to Fox, but I have no idea whether they read them".

The plot of Martin's DOORWAYS involved Cat (Anne Le Guernec), a young woman from far afield, on the run from Trager (Kurtwood Smith), who covets a device she carries that permits free entry into any number of parallel worlds. She materializes in the middle of an L.A. freeway, and after an unhappy encounter with a truck, is treated by young resident Tom Mason (George Newbern).

Curious about the mystery she represents, he inadvertently follows her through a "door" into a parallel world in which an oil slick-devouring microbe ran amok and wreaked havoc with the world's petroleum supplies. Together, they strive to keep Trager from capturing the device, which he would use to wreak some havoc of his own.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 622