Quantum Leap (season 5)

Sam leaps into various points in the life of Lee Harvey Oswald (played by Willie Garson) in an effort to seemingly prevent him from killing President John F. Kennedy or find the truth about the events that day. However, the objective is made more complex by the fact that their minds are merging. Sam starts to believe he is Oswald.

• Originally shown as a two-hour episode

Sam leaps into Ronald Miller (played by Michael Carpenter), a legless Vietnam vet in a veterans' hospital who must save the life of a quadriplegic soldier while still keeping his wife from leaving him so that his eldest son can save a tank troop in the Gulf War.

Sam leaps into Leon Stiles (played by Cameron Dye), a dangerous criminal who has taken a mother and her young daughter hostage. Meanwhile, Al must find the homicidal Stiles, who has escaped from the project waiting room, leaving Gushie to act as a temporary Observer.

Sam is Maxwell Stoddard (played by Douglas Stark), an eccentric grandfather living with his son and his family. He must prevent his teenage grandson from running away and getting caught up in the drug culture while also preventing the grandfather from being sent to a mental institution for his wild stories about UFOs.

Sam leaps into a small Louisiana town as a sheriff named Clayton Fuller (played by James Whitmore, Jr.) who's also the father of young Abigail Fuller (played by Kimberly Cullum), a girl accused by a local townswoman named Leta Aider (played by Mary Gordon Murray) of killing her husband and daughter. Leta is the only surviving member of her deceased family and believes Abigail to be cursed.

Sam leaps into Larry Stanton III (played by W.K. Stratton), a lawyer who defends Abigail (played by Melora Hardin) on trial for the murder of Leta Aider, the woman who accused her of killing her husband and daughter twenty-three years earlier. Secrets are revealed, the family history comes unraveled, and surprises are in store for Sam as he discovers the heritage behind Abigail's daughter, Samantha Jo Fuller (played by Kimberly Cullum).

As the famous sex doctor Ruth Westheimer, Sam must help a woman stand up to the sexual harassment of her boss and get his coworkers together, while the real Dr. Ruth helps Al deal with his fear of abandonment and his inability to tell a woman that he loves her.

As a nerdy college kid named Arnold Watkins (played by Tristan Tait) who dresses up as a superhero , Sam must stop a fraternity from holding chicken races as part of their initiation. While back in the waiting room, Al must convince Sam's host to give up his dangerous lifestyle and help him deal with the murder of his parents. However, the sudden return of the Evil Leaper Alia (played by Renee Coleman) makes the task significantly harder.

Sam is Dennis Boardman (played by Stephen Bowers), the chauffeur of Marilyn Monroe (played by Susan Griffiths) and must help the unhappy star stay alive to make one final movie.

As Elvis Presley (played by Michael St. Gerard), Sam must help a struggling female musician named Sue Anne Winters (played by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn), but at the same time must ensure that he does not prevent the king of rock 'n' roll from being discovered.

In the series finale, Sam arrives at a mining town as himself on the date and exact hour he was born. Patrons of the town bar look familiar from past leaps, but with different names, other patrons seem to be leapers, and Al the bartender (played by Bruce McGill) implies that he might be God, Fate, or Time. While trying to figure things out, Sam has to help save some trapped miners, regain contact with Al, and learns that he can and has always been able to return home whenever he wants. He agrees to continue leaping, in exchange for the chance to go back to when he met Al's wife on a previous leap and tell her that Al is still alive. In the end, Al and his wife remain together and have four daughters. Sam never returns home.