Quantum Leap ( TV Series 1989 - 1993 )
Plot
Quantum Leap is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from March 26, 1989 to May 5, 1993, for a total of five seasons. The series was created by Donald Bellisario, and starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who becomes lost in time following a time travel experiment, temporarily taking the places of other people to "put right what once went wrong". Dean Stockwell co-starred as Al Calavicci, Sam's womanizing, cigar-smoking sidekick and best friend, who appeared as a hologram that only Sam could see and hear. The series featured a mix of comedy, drama and melodrama, social commentary, nostalgia and science fiction, which won it a broad range of fans. One of its trademarks is that at the end of each episode, Sam "leaps" into the setting for the next episode, usually uttering a dismayed "Oh, boy!".
The show's premise and the pattern of each episode is established in the first episode.[4] Sam appears in the past with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Referred to frequently throughout the series as a "swiss-cheesed brain", Sam's partial amnesia prevents him from remembering most of the details of his own life; all he knows is that he's not who everyone in the past seems to think he is. Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell), a former astronaut and Sam's best friend, appears to him as a hologram and explains that Sam is the victim of a time travel experiment that went "a little caca." Now Sam is lost in time, and his colleagues are unable to bring him back to his own time. Series creator Donald Bellisario once said in an interview that he got the idea for the series from movies like Heaven Can Wait (1978), a remake of the 1941 film Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Bellisario felt the premise, if handled correctly and put in a science fiction setting, could work.
Sam soon learns that the man he replaced in the past (or "leaped into", in the show's parlance) is an Air Force test pilot who was about to be killed during a botched flight. Al explains that their best theory to what's going on is that "God, time, fate, or whatever" wants Sam to save the man (as well as his unborn daughter) before he can "leap out." Sam does so, but instead of returning to his own time he leaps into yet another person's life and once again tries to "put right what once went wrong." In each episode, Sam leaps into a new host, often finding himself in dangerous, embarrassing, or otherwise compromising positions, and with Al's help (and that of his colleagues, who have access to information from the future), he tries to right some wrong or misfortune in the life of that person or someone close to them.
Characters
Sam and Al are the only regularly-appearing characters. In each episode a different cast of guest characters appear: the people whose lives Sam is there to "put right." Several additional characters are referred to regularly throughout the series, but are mostly unseen. Ziggy (voiced by co-executive producer Deborah Pratt) is the artificial intelligence that runs the project and attempts to
deduce the purposes of Sam's leaps, appearing only in the fourth-season episode "The Leap Back." Al's often-mentioned girlfriend Tina appears in the same episode. Gooshie (Dennis Wolfberg), the project's head programmer, appears in five episodes including both the pilot and the finale (when Al is erased from history in "A Leap For Lisa", it's Gooshie who becomes Tina's fiance). Dr. Beeks, the project psychiatrist, is also frequently mentioned, but only appears in two episodes.
Conclusion
Throughout the series, Sam believes that God, or some other higher power, is controlling his leaps, sending him to times and places where he may be needed. In the series' final episode, he encounters a mysterious bartender who insinuates detailed knowledge of Sam's "mission" and his true identity. Because this bartender (or someone who looks exactly like him both parts played by Bruce McGill) was also present in Sam's first leap (although there is no mention of this in the actual episode), Sam comes to believe he might actually be that higher power, though the man neither confirms nor explicitly denies this.
The bartender helps Sam remember that he built Project Quantum Leap exactly because he wanted to put right what once went wrong and makes him realize that he himself has control over his leaps. The bartender then asks Sam where he wishes to leap to next. Sam replies by saying he wishes to return home but he cannot as he still has a wrong to put right for Al, by letting his first wife Beth (Susan Diol in her second appearance in that role during the series) know that Al is still alive in a POW camp in Vietnam. Sam then promptly leaps out and does so. The show's epilogue states that Sam never returned home.
Psychics of Leaping
Al explains the concept of the experiment to Sam in the first episode during his initial period of amnesia using a simple analogy. Using a piece of string, Al explains that one end represents Sam's date of birth while the other represents Sam's date of death. Connecting the two ends together will, in effect, form a loop. The looped string is then scrunched up in one's hand and various parts of the piece of string will inevitably intersect and touch each other. By leaping at the intersections to a different section of the string, Sam can travel to a different date within his own lifetime. The leap seems instantaneous to Sam but Al explains in the pilot episode that he spent a week traveling in time between the moment he leaped out of the Air Force test pilot and the moment he leaped into his next host.
In early episodes, it was unclear whether Sam's mind was leaping into other people's bodies or whether his mind and body leaped together. Later episodes make it clear, however, that Sam's entire body has traveled through time and that "the illusion of [his host's] physical aura" surrounds him, making him look and sound like that person to those with whom he interacts in the past, as well as to Al. Likewise, Sam's counterpart in the future is surrounded by a similar aura and looks and sounds like Sam to people at the project. Sam is also able to transcend the physical limitations of his host, being able to see after leaping into a blind pianist, walk while sharing the existence of a legless Vietnam veteran (although it appeared to outside observers, when Sam was walking, that his host was floating), swim after leaping into a chimpanzee, and retain the strength of an adult man after leaping into a child, an elderly woman, and so on. This also made it possible for Sam to procreate with Abigail in the three-part 'Trilogy' episode, and thus his daughter, Samantha Jo, shares his genes rather than Will's, whom he leaped into for Part 2.
Episode guide
1st Season 1989
1. 1- 1 26 Mar 89 Genesis - September 13, 1956 (1)
2. 1- 2 26 Mar 89 Genesis - September 13, 1956 (2)
3. 1- 3 65003 31 Mar 89 Star-Crossed - June 15, 1972
4. 1- 4 65002 7 Apr 89 The Right of God - October 24, 1974
5. 1- 5 65004 14 Apr 89 How the Tess Was Won - August 5, 1956
6. 1- 6 65001 21 Apr 89 Double Identity - November 8, 1965
7. 1- 7 65013 3 May 89 The Color of Truth - August 8, 1955
8. 1- 8 65014 10 May 89 Camikazi Kid - June 6, 1961
9. 1- 9 65009 17 May 89 Play It Again, Seymour - April 14, 1953
2nd Season 1989
10. 2- 1 65411 20 Sep 89 Honeymoon Express - April 27, 1960
11. 2- 2 65401 27 Sep 89 Disco Inferno - April 1, 1976
12. 2- 3 65406 11 Oct 89 The Americanization of Machiko - August 4, 1953
13. 2- 4 65017 25 Oct 89 What Price Gloria? - October 16, 1961
14. 2- 5 65402 1 Nov 89 Blind Faith - February 6, 1964
15. 2- 6 65408 8 Nov 89 Good Morning, Peoria - September 9, 1959
16. 2- 7 65409 15 Nov 89 Thou Shalt Not... - February 2, 1974
17. 2- 8 65407 22 Nov 89 Jimmy - October 14, 1964
18. 2- 9 65410 29 Nov 89 So Help Me God - July 29, 1957
19. 2-10 65413 6 Dec 89 Catch A Falling Star - May 21, 1979
20. 2-11 65019 13 Dec 89 A Portrait for Troian - February 7, 1971
21. 2-12 65417 3 Jan 90 Animal Frat - October 19, 1967
22. 2-13 65415 10 Jan 90 Another Mother - September 30, 1981
23. 2-14 65418 17 Jan 90 All Americans - November 6, 1962
24. 2-15 65416 7 Feb 90 Her Charm - September 26, 1973
25. 2-16 65423 14 Feb 90 Freedom - November 22, 1970
26. 2-17 65424 7 Mar 90 Good Night, Dear Heart - November 9, 1957
27. 2-18 65422 14 Mar 90 Pool Hall Blues - September 4, 1954
28. 2-19 65421 28 Mar 90 Leaping in Without a Net - November 18, 1958
29. 2-20 65428 4 Apr 90 Maybe Baby - March 11, 1963
30. 2-21 65430 2 May 90 Sea Bride - June 3, 1954
31. 2-22 65412 9 May 90 M.I.A. - April 1, 1969
3rd Season 1990
32. 3- 1 66401 28 Sep 90 The Leap Home - November 25, 1969
33. 3- 2 66402 5 Oct 90 The Leap Home, Part II (Vietnam) - April 7, 1970
34. 3- 3 66408 12 Oct 90 Leap of Faith - August 19, 1963
35. 3- 4 66409 19 Oct 90 One Strobe over the Line - June 15, 1965
36. 3- 5 66410 26 Oct 90 The Boogieman - October 31, 1964
37. 3- 6 66406 2 Nov 90 Miss Deep South - June 7, 1958
38. 3- 7 66403 9 Nov 90 Black On White On Fire - August 11, 1965
39. 3- 8 66412 16 Nov 90 The Great Spontini - May 9, 1974
40. 3- 9 66407 30 Nov 90 Rebel Without a Clue - September 1, 1958
41. 3-10 66414 21 Dec 90 A Little Miracle - December 24, 1962
42. 3-11 66405 4 Jan 91 Runaway - July 4, 1964
43. 3-12 66421 6 Mar 91 8 1/2 Months - November 15, 1955
44. 3-13 66417 13 Mar 91 Future Boy - October 6, 1957
45. 3-14 66416 20 Mar 91 Private Dancer - October 6, 1979
46. 3-15 66419 27 Mar 91 Piano Man - November 10, 1985
47. 3-16 66422 3 Apr 91 Southern Comforts - August 4, 1961
48. 3-17 66404 10 Apr 91 Glitter Rock - April 12, 1974
49. 3-18 66424 18 Apr 91 A Hunting Will We Go - June 18, 1976
50. 3-19 66423 1 May 91 Last Dance Before An Execution - May 12, 1971
51. 3-20 66425 8 May 91 Heart of a Champion - July 23, 1955
52. 3-21 66426 15 May 91 Nuclear Family - October 26, 1962
53. 3-22 66428 22 May 91 Shock Theater - October 3, 1954
4th Season 1991
54. 4- 1 67303 18 Sep 91 The Leap Back - June 15, 1945
55. 4- 2 67305 25 Sep 91 Play Ball - August 6, 1961
56. 4- 3 67306 2 Oct 91 Hurricane - August 17, 1969
57. 4- 4 67309 9 Oct 91 Justice - May 11, 1965
58. 4- 5 67302 16 Oct 91 Permanent Wave - June 2, 1983
59. 4- 6 67312 30 Oct 91 Raped - June 20, 1980
60. 4- 7 67308 6 Nov 91 The Wrong Stuff - January 24, 1961
61. 4- 8 67320 13 Nov 91 Dreams - February 28, 1979
62. 4- 9 67317 20 Nov 91 A Single Drop of Rain - September 7, 1953
63. 4-10 67314 27 Nov 91 Unchained - November 2, 1956
64. 4-11 67301 8 Jan 92 The Play's the Thing - September 9, 1969
65. 4-12 67319 15 Jan 92 Running For Honor - June 11, 1964
66. 4-13 67322 22 Jan 92 Temptation Eyes - February 1, 1985
67. 4-14 67318 29 Jan 92 The Last Gunfighter - November 28, 1957
68. 4-15 67304 26 Feb 92 A Song for the Soul - April 7, 1963
69. 4-16 67307 4 Mar 92 Ghost Ship - August 13, 1956
70. 4-17 67326 11 Mar 92 Roberto! - January 27, 1982
71. 4-18 67324 1 Apr 92 It's A Wonderful Leap - May 10, 1958
72. 4-19 67325 8 Apr 92 Moments to Live - May 4, 1985
73. 4-20 67328 22 Apr 92 The Curse of Ptah-Hotep - March 2, 1957
74. 4-21 67315 13 May 92 Stand Up - April 30, 1959
75. 4-22 67329 20 May 92 A Leap for Lisa - June 25, 1957
5th Season 1992
76. 5- 1 68102A 22 Sep 92 Lee Harvey Oswald - October 5, 1957 - November 22, 1963 (1)
77. 5- 2 68102B 22 Sep 92 Lee Harvey Oswald - October 5, 1957 - November 22, 1963 (2)
78. 5- 3 68104 29 Sep 92 Leaping of the Shrew - September 27, 1956
79. 5- 4 68103 6 Oct 92 Nowhere to Run - August 10, 1968
80. 5- 5 68016 20 Oct 92 Killin' Time - June 18, 1958
81. 5- 6 68101 27 Oct 92 Star Light, Star Bright - May 21, 1966
82. 5- 7 68109 10 Nov 92 Deliver Us From Evil - March 19, 1966
83. 5- 8 68105 17 Nov 92 Trilogy Part I - August 8, 1955
84. 5- 9 68112 24 Nov 92 Trilogy Part II - June 14, 1966
85. 5-10 68113 24 Nov 92 Trilogy Part III - July 28, 1978
86. 5-11 68110 15 Dec 92 Promised Land - December 22, 1971
87. 5-12 68118 5 Jan 93 A Tale of Two Sweeties - February 25, 1958
88. 5-13 68108 12 Jan 93 Liberation - October 16, 1968
89. 5-14 68114 19 Jan 93 Dr. Ruth - April 25, 1985
90. 5-15 68117 9 Feb 93 Blood Moon - March 10, 1975
91. 5-16 68124 23 Feb 93 Return of the Evil Leaper - October 8, 1956
92. 5-17 68125 23 Feb 93 Revenge of the Evil Leaper - September 16, 1987
93. 5-18 68115 2 Mar 93 Goodbye Norma Jean - April 4, 1960
94. 5-19 68122 16 Mar 93 The Beast Within - November 6, 1972
95. 5-20 68121 30 Mar 93 The Leap Between The States - September 20, 1862
96. 5-21 68123 20 Apr 93 Memphis Melody - July 3, 1954
97. 5-22 68126 5 May 93 Mirror Image - August 8, 1953
