Step Into the Quantum Accelerator: Quantum Leap

I loved this show. It was a whole new spin on the time travel idea. It had science that I could actually understand (sort of) and combined sci-fi and just real life. Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell played off each other beautifully, and both were very interesting characters on their own. And, though I'm not religious, I always thought the idea that God was jumping him around was kind of cool.

It was also interesting to see which new thing he'd show people - like showing Chubby Checkers the Twist for instance.

Any other fans floating around?

 

ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME! ME!

I LOVE this show! It was just so original and had a lot of heart for a Sci-Fi series. The relationship between Sam and AL was excellent and more than once left me rolling with their bickering

 

I have so many favorite episodes (the one where he leaps into Oswald, for one) but one of the best has to be the one where they switch places. I think it's just fantastic. Their personalities get all mixed up, and Sam comes out with all these Al-esque comments, while Al is being all pure of mind and can't stand it.

 

Leap is such a great show. Sam was always such a likeable, loveable character.

By far TRILOGY are my favorite episodes where he has to continually leap back in time to rescue Annabelle and then find out in the end that her daughter, was his and that she's working on the project trying to bring him home

There was talk that NBC/Universal is possibly trying to get together a new QL show w/ Samantha taking over the reigns, jumping into the accelerator and look for her father (who disappeared completely in the last leap episode.) I soooo want this to come about!

 

By far and away my favorite episode is when Sam leaps back and has an opportunity to stop Al's wife Beth from marrying that other man. The pain in Al's voice and the agony we see him going through with the thought of seeing the love of his life make the same mistake again...... it's all so heartbreaking

 

I think Quantum Leap has the best final episode ever. On the surface it's such a simple episode, but scratch that surface and there's all sorts of stuff designed to get you scratching yer noodle. The friendship between Sam and Al is beautifully solid, the ambiguity as to who exactly the barman is is a joy. It might be a figure some of us understand as God, or it might be something else entirely. Al's major regret is resolved, and Sam feels happy putting it straight. And the end, oh boy... I think it was such a brave decision to leave Sam on a downer, never to return home, and give Al the happy resolution.

I still occasionally think about Sam Beckett, out there somewhere, putting right that which once went wrong. Maybe I'll meet him someday.

 

Of course if that happens then that means something is going seriously wrong in the life of someone around you

 

Eep! You're right!

But the good news is it will be put right.

 

I those episodes, how everything is linked together, and how it all circles back to Sam's life. And I would KILL to see a new show. That would be teh coolest!

I honestly don't think I've ever seen the final episode. I've seen tons of them tons of times, but not the final one. Definitely need to get these on DVD.

One thing I really liked was how Sam's wife told Al not to remind him about her when his memory got Swiss-cheesed, because she knew it would make it harder for him to do his job.

 

Swiss cheesed!

Great soundbite.

 

I love this show. One of the best out there. And I enjoy the books as well. Oh and it's Abigail Fuller. Not Annabelle.

 

There were books? Or... are books?

Hmmm... uses for my BN gift card, perhaps....

Another episode I liked was the one where he leapt into the guy who was going through electroshock therapy, and his mind just kept skipping through all the people he'd leapt into.

 

Grrr I knew that wasn't quite right - that's what happens when you sneak in posts when you're *ahem* not at home.

The books are all really good also. I need to re-read them.

Best moments - having Sam leaping into a woman. Man Scott Bakula makes one hair and UGLY woman

 

Everton, correct me if I'm wrong but in the Cancelled shows thread you said something about QL not being cancelled so much as ending at the right time, right?

I was reading an interview with Scott Bakula on scifi.com and found this:

QUESTION: If the show was on today, it probably wouldn't have been canceled because it has a kind of cache, like The X-Files.

SCOTT BAKULA:That was the huge thing for us: The advertisers loved us. At the time NBC was having trouble with certain demographics and we were huge for them in terms of demographics, but not in terms of volume, and again, moving [the show] around didn't help us at all. Warren [Littlefield, Tartikoff's successor as president of NBC] was one of the people that moved us. He said, "Don't worry, if you don't work out on Tuesdays, we'll put you back." But that's the nature of television and we were lucky to get the four-and-a-half years that we got, because by all rights we should have been canceled after the first six [episodes].

QUESTION: The last day of shooting, you were clearing the set and it was Dean's birthday. Everyone on the set was very emotional and he said he wished he had one more year. Bring us back to that.

SCOTT BAKULA: That last episode was such a hodgepodge because Don had, I've said this many times, the unenviable task of writing a show that had to satisfy about five different needs. It had to be the last episode of the year, somewhat of a cliffhanger in case we came back, and it had to serve as the ending of the series if we didn't come back. It had to not close the door so much that if somebody wanted to make a movie somewhere down the line that we could still make the movie. So he was trying to serve all those masters.

....

QUESTION: When the show was canceled, how did you feel?

SCOTT BAKULA: It was kind of one of those typical Hollywood stories. I think we heard about it on the radio; Don heard about it on the radio first as he was driving in to work. It was on Entertainment Tonight before the network called us. People in this town have trouble picking up the phone when it's bad news.

I think we were prepared for it. The show had always lived on the edge and we'd been close so many times. We'd been off the air, and the fans got us back.

....

But I was disappointed because I knew we weren't done, I knew we had plenty of good things to do. I was looking forward to another year and hoping that we would have another year.

So I guess they were hoping to hold on longer, but got it taken out from under them.

 

Wow. Thanks for that. That's all new information to me. Boy they did such a great job of that last episode you'd never know the rug was being pulled from under their feet.

 

God, I love QL... I even have a QL desktop on right now! ...Sam Beckett...

Got the first season on DVD a little while ago, but it makes me long to have the other seasons

Yeah, that last episode was great... Sam's still out there... somewhere. And Al and Beth...

 

There was a book series. It ran from 1993 through 1999. It ranged through a whole gammut (sp) of ideas. The final book sets up the series finale and explains some things, in better detail. The series is not quite canon, but it's not totally fan fic either.

 

No problem, Everton. Like I said, I don't think I've ever seen the finale, so I don't think I can comment on it. When I finally do, because I WILL be buying these on DVD, I'll definitely have this in the back of my mind.

What happened w/ Al & Beth at the end? (Has to be the only ep I haven't seen. *sigh*)
I've only seen one place that still has the first season on the shelves. Wal-Mart I think only has three and four now, Target too.

I did a search for the books on BN; could only find them from individual sellers. Only like $4 - $5 a book, though... Anyone know if you can use BN gift cards to buy books from other sellers online?

 

I only saw a few episodes on Sci-Fi, but I liked it.

 

Best. Show Ever.

 

Al & Beth spoilers.

Long story short, Sam gets a chance to fix Al and Beth's relationship. It's the one thing that has bothered him, since he remembers that he saved Tom. He could do that, but he couldn't help Al because of the rules. So he Leaps back right to the moment he had left, in season two. Sam tells Beth that Al is alive and he will be home from Vietnam. Because he did this for Al, Beth waits for Al and they are reunited at last. They stay married and have four children.

 

Thanks Hmmm... it makes sense. And I can definitely see why, Everton, you felt like it was the intended end. That in and of itself sounds like a great way to leave off the series.

I wonder why Bakula says he felt they weren't finished.

 

Because there was more to tell. There was at least another season left to tell. In the final episode Sam is told that if he continues to Leap, the challenges will become more and more difficult. Given that there were a few issues left unresolved, I can understand wanting to wrap them off. It's like what happens with a number of shows that are cut down, in their prime. Shows that are seven or eight years, that's a good run. Five years, it's good, but could be better.

 

I found this message board that deals specifically with the potential movie PadmeLeiaJaina mentioned. A Bold Leap Forward. And IMDB has Quantum Leap: A Bold Leap Forward listed, but only says it's "In Development" and more info is available to members of their professional site.

 

I thought I saw the final episode of this, but the more I read here, maybe I somehow missed it. I loved this show also! The Oswald one was really good and the one about the Cuban Missile crisis is also great.