Posted in: TV | Tagged: Cleavant Derricks, Fire in the Sky, Jerry O'Connell, John Rhys-Davies, obituary, Sabrina Lloyd, Sliders, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Tracy Tormé, ufo

Sliders Co-Creator & Star Trek: TNG Writer Tracy Tormé Passes, Age 64

Jerry O'Connell paid tribute to Sliders co-creator and Star Trek: The Next Generation writer Tracy Tormé, who passed away at the age of 64.

The world of science fiction lost another legend in Tracy Tormé, who was a writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation and later co-created the memorable interdimensional Fox and Syfy series Sliders, passing at the age of 64. The second son of legendary crooner and original Night Court favorite guest star Mel Tormé and brother of Superman & Lois star Daisy Tormé and recording artist James Tormé, Tracy started his career in comedy on Saturday Night Live in the 1982-1983 season and with SCTV. He would pick up momentum in the sci-fi scene with his contributions in the first two seasons of TNG.

Tormé wrote the 1988 MGM horror thriller Spellbinder, the TV movie UFO Cover-Up?: Live!, the CBS series Intruders, and the 1993 Paramount biopic Fire in the Sky before developing his most successful series Sliders with Robert K Weiss. The sci-fi series which premiered on Fox in 1995, starred Jerry O'Connell as the prodigy Quinn Mallory, who developed a way to travel through various dimensions called a "timer." Along with his college best friend Wade Wells (Sabrina Lloyd), his college professor Maximilian Arturo (John Rhys-Davies), and a reluctant traveler in Motown signer Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown (Cleavant Derricks), the four go through various incarnations of the earth they know as they try to get home after their device malfunctions.

O'Connell paid tribute to Tormé on social media, writing, "Tracy Tormé was the smartest dude I had ever met when he cast me in SLIDERS. Rest In Peace Genius." Sliders ran for three seasons on Fox before its cancellation and its subsequent pick up on Syfy in 1998, with Davies leaving the series during season three, Lloyd leaving before season four, and O'Connell leaving before the fifth and final season with Derricks as the only remaining original cast member to stay for the entire duration. While O'Connell and Davies were discussing a potential reboot with NBC, nothing ever materialized. While Sliders ended in 2000, Tormé occasionally wrote for other shows like the MMG anthology series The Outer Limits and Sony's Odyssey 5, both for Showtime. He also served as a consultant in the 1997 Robert Zemeckis sci-fi drama Contact and wrote the original draft screenplay for 2007's I Am Legend. His final work in episodic television was the HBO fantasy series Carnivàle.

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