Is Slingers the best sci-fi show we never got to see?

This morning in the GeekChocolate High Castle we were discussing the new Daredevil show, which launches on Netflix today, and there was some discussion around superheroes. Specifically, superheroes on the telly.

During this discussion our Dario said:

I can’t believe I’m saying this, I’m kinda superheroed out at the moment. 

“I’m looking forward to Age of Ultron but with Arrow, Flash, Gotham, Agents of SHIELD – which is the only one I’m really keeping up with – all churning out and more on the horizon I’ve just kinda lost interest. How many times can we see a hero keep his/her – but let’s be honest mainly his – secret identity to protect those his loves while avenging something? 

“It’s like going for a week eating ice cream. Sure it’s awesome but then you get to the point where you don’t want to see Ben or Jerry for at least a month and crave a good savoury steak! 

“I want a space opera. I want a Next Gen or a B5, a Firefly or something similar.”

This reminded me of something I saw a few years back. A “sizzle reel” for a show, in pre-production, called Slingers, created by Mike Atherton (aka. Mike Sizemore).

I would describe Slingers, quite accurately, I think, as  a classic 60s heist caper in space. Sort of an Ocean’s 11 if the casino is on an intergalactic pleasure cruise liner.

Have a look at this little piece of magic and tell me this isn’t a show you want to binge on Netflix right now:

 

Unfortunately, Slingers seems to have gone dark. Sizemore’s blog is bare but for one post this March containing a quote from the start of Mad Max 2, and he hasn’t mentioned it on Twitter in almost 3 years.

Co-creator Jose Molina (Grimm, Dark Angel, The Vampire Diaries) wrote a pilot script and the wonderful Sean Pertwee was on-board, as you can see in the video, but other than a single tweet from Molina in 2014 we can’t find any news about Slingers dated after 2012.

https://twitter.com/JoseMolinaTV/status/430293792906690561

Molina seems to have had a pretty full dance card since completing the script, Pertwee has been busy being brilliant at portraying a bad-ass Alfred Pennyworth in Gotham, and even the fan-site SlingersTV.com has had no news since 2012; all the signs point to the project being dead in the water, which seems to me like a tragedy of Firefly cancellation proportions.

Come on, Netflix; if ever a show had Netflix Original written all over it, it’s Slingers. Pick this up and give our Dario – and the rest of us – the TV show we’re crying out for!

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