TV|Shark 004: Quantum Leap

[Neon Ignition]

And after a brief dance with another genre we move right back into sci-fi territory albeit with a softened edge this time. This time we're looking at the tales of a man who just wanted to find a way home...




Quantum Leap
Ran: 5 Seasons (1989 till 1993)
Episodes: 97
Following Sam Beckett, the show followed a weekly pattern whereby the amnesiac time traveller would leap through time to find himself in the body of another person in the past. Each time he would have a limited window to correct a mistake that person made in their lifetime or to right a wrong in order to be able to leap into the next time, as the intro put it 'each time hoping his next leap would be the leap home'. The show was light hearted as Sam navigated each trial with the help of his hologram projected friend Al but mostly made its impact on viewers by not being afraid to tackle serious themes or by tugging at the heart strings. Notable leaps Sam made include leaping into the shoes of Lee Harvey Oswald, as Marilyn Monroe's bodyguard as close witness to the inevitable build up towards her death or, in the final episode, himself and thereby saving Al's happiness at the expense of his own fate.

Share your thoughts and memories of Quantum Leap!

[Asura]

Heh, just had a look on Wikipedia:

When Sam leaps, his body is physically present in the past, although he appears to others as the person into whom he leaped. In one case, after leaping into a Vietnam veteran who has lost both legs, Sam is still able to walk normally, but appears to others as if he is floating. Sam's body and mind may become jumbled with those into whom he has leaped. In one situation, he leaps into a woman near the end of her pregnancy and feels her birth pains, while in another episode, he leaps into the body of Lee Harvey Oswald and feels an intense pressure to assassinate John F. Kennedy, despite knowing that it is the wrong thing to do. Similarly, the persons into whom Sam has leaped are brought into the future, where they appear as Sam to the others; they are normally kept in an isolated waiting room to prevent them from learning anything about the future, and they return to their own time when Sam leaps.

I don't remember that. Does anyone else? Was that one of those early-season things which got abandoned once the show got going?

[replicashooter]

It was mentioned but never shown as I recall. There were some phenomenally weird episodes at some points though.

Been a while so will have to think on as it was so long ago

[Dogg Thang]

I think it may have been shown at one point. I remember there being a couple of parts set in the future (think the future was the late 90s) and Sam had light up shoes and I have vague recollection of there being some kind of holding area for people leaping into Sam and some plot point about how they wouldn’t remember it when they are returned to their bodies. But I’ll admit my memory of it is very sketchy. I have bits and pieces, images mostly.

I loved this show but it did begin to lose me when it got into evil leapers. I’m not sure I watched all of the last couple of seasons although I remember the last one well and how bummed out I was at the end.

One vivid memory I have of what I think was the last episode was that it had something to do with mining and they talked about ‘slate’ a lot but whenever they said the word it was clear they had dubbed over some other word. No idea what the original word was.

Edit: Internet reckons it was ‘stone’. I wasn’t the only one to spot it.

[QualityChimp]

Yeah, quite often Al would say something like "She's going crazy back here, you gotta hurry up and find out what went wrong!"

Like Back to the Future, which grew from the idea "what would it be like to meet your parents when they were your age?", the sci-fi elements merely bookend the story and it's an exploration of human interaction, rather than deep space, for example.

I loved the show and thought the leads were brilliant.

Fave episodes include the Driving Miss Daisy one and the one where he's a woman and beat attackers up.

However, there's one episode where Al was telling Sam that the purpose of his mission was to convince a woman he meets to wait for the soldier serving in Vietnam and not move on from him. Sam finds out that the soldier is a young Al and refuses to manipulate her.

In the final episode, Sam goes back and does indeed convince her to wait for Al.

Best episode ever, in my humble opinion, is "The Boogieman" (S3 E5), which was a spooky Halloween episode where it was all whimsical and fun until the last ten minutes when Sam realises that "Al" hasn't been passing through walls or using the imaging chamber door and he was the only other person present at all of the murders.

The real Al then appears and fake Al can see him. When Sam asks who he is, he hints that he's the Devil and shouts:
"Who gave you the right to go bungling around in time making right the things I made wrong?!"



I nearly soiled myself at the time and I still get goosebumps thinking about it. Unforgettable television.

The twist at the end is that Sam's been giving story ideas to a young man called "Stevie" King.

[wakka]

Haha oh man I loved this show so much. I watched it on reruns on satellite as a kid in the 90s, SciFi channel or maybe Bravo.

I do remember one deeply odd episode though where he jumped into a guy with Down’s syndrome.

[Dogg Thang]

If my faulty memory is correct, he leaped into him twice.

[Neon Ignition]

Yeah, there's a whole gif meme about that moment as the episode is about him helping the kid out but it opens... too poorly worded.

I think the future bit is a two parter where Sam manages to get home, the future elements were always a bit cringey but the episode was mostly interesting because of what it meant for Sam. As the story goes on he slowly but surely starts to recover his memories and with it his old personality and it turns out he was something of a dick. It ends with him re-entering the Quantum Leap chamber (I think to save Al) but it leaves the viewer with a bit of a quandary as the point was whether he'd get home but suddenly you kind of hoped he wouldn't as you knew this likeable lead would become undone by becoming his previous self.

I think the first episode that really clicked with the show and set its pace was the first season closer that unwittingly sets up the final episode of the show. It's the one that ties into Al's past but instead of trying to fall into the usual cliffhanger approach it ends with Al dancing with his first wife who's still waiting for the present day Al to come back from being a POW, big case of the feelies that guided a few eps later.

I remember one about Sam leaping into one or two that went very heavy on dealing with race issues as well, one I think where he was trying to avoid or prevent a mob lynching by the end. There's a lot of light fluff in the show but I think it's that willingness to transcend the simple week-to-week that helped it. Though questions could be asked of how often Sam ended in bed with women considering his circumstances.

[Asura]

Though questions could be asked of how often Sam ended in bed with women considering his circumstances.

If you leapt through the lives of random people like that, you're probably going to have sex the human average number of times. Almost mathematically guaranteed if you do it for a long time.

[Neon Ignition]

True, though I'm pretty sure he got it on with people's wives and girlfriends which given his knowledge is a bit of a moral grey cloud unless a lack of bedroom satisfaction is the right he's making wrong

[Dogg Thang]

Well if he didn't, they might suspect something was up so I reckon it was important that he has sex with them when he can.

[Neon Ignition]

In fact, that would balance out in a way, given he didn't always come back as a man.

OMG, there was an episode where he leaped into a monkey wasn't there! That'd be awkward

[Dogg Thang]

I wonder if he could leap into someone, have sex, then leap into the other person which would mean he was having sex with himself.

[EvilBoris]

I wonder if he could leap into someone, have sex, then leap into the other person which would mean he was having sex with himself.

Was there any ever episodes where he had any interaction with hinself , not in a sex situation?

[QualityChimp]

Dogg, you're wondering into Rule #34 territory and I learned long ago that the rule is always true so don't search for it!

There were a trilogy of episodes where the story focuses on Abigail Fuller being accused of murder on multiple occasions for which Sam must repeatedly attempt to prove her innocence. The thing is, Abigail just seems a bit off, and the audience doesn’t know if she is guilty or not, but Sam is sure of her innocence and he falls for her. During the second leap, in which Sam inhabits her fiancé, they get it on. When he returns for leap #3, twelve years later, he finds Abigail with an incredibly intelligent daughter – his. It is then revealed that in the future, Al has brought the girl into the QL Project where she now works, forever unaware that Sam is her true father.

As for Sam leaping into someone who knows a younger version of himself, I don't think there was.

Here are a couple of top tens to remind you how ace this show was.
"Oh yeah! I remember that one!"

http://www.denofgeek.com/tv/quantum-leap/22242/top-10-quantum-leap-episodes

http://www.geekexchange.com/lists/quantum-leap-sams-ten-most-memorable-leaps/