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

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