Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap
Genre	Science fiction
Created by	Donald P. Bellisario
Starring	Scott Bakula Dean Stockwell
Narrated by	Deborah Pratt
Theme music composer	Mike Post
Composer(s)	Velton Ray Bunch
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	97 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Donald P. Bellisario Deborah Pratt Harker Wade
Location(s)	California, USA
Running time	45 minutes
Production company(s)	Belisarius Productions Universal Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	SD: 4:3 (broadcast/DVD release) HD: 16:9 (streaming)
Original release	March 26, 1989 (1989-03-26) – May 5, 1993 (1993-05-05)
External links
Website (NBC)

Quantum Leap is an American science fiction television series that originally aired on NBC for five seasons, from March 1989 through May 1993. Created by Donald P. Bellisario, it starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who leaps through spacetime during an experiment in time travel, by temporarily taking the place of other people in order to correct historical mistakes. Dean Stockwell co-stars as Admiral Al Calavicci, Sam's womanizing, cigar-smoking companion and best friend, who appears to him as a hologram.

The series features a mix of humor, drama, romance, social commentary, and science fiction, and was named one of TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever."^[1]

Premise

The first episode introduces Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a scientist working on an experiment called "Project Quantum Leap" in a concealed laboratory in the southwestern desert of the United States, near the end of the 20th century. Beckett, with his team, theorize that time travel is possible within the traveler's own lifespan. With no successful results thus far, Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell), Sam's long-time friend and senior officer on the program, is told by the government that they are looking to shut down the project's funding. Sam refuses to allow this, and before he can be stopped, enters the Quantum Leap Accelerator and leaps through spacetime.^[2]

When Sam recovers from his "leap", he finds his memories to be incomplete, particularly about himself and the project; Al would later refer to this as his "Swiss-cheesed memory"; while Sam appears to others (with the exception of animals, young children, and "abnormal" people) and himself in a mirror as another person (which in the first episode, when he finds himself in the past as a supersonic-jet test-pilot, Sam initially attributes to his partial amnesia). Al eventually finds Sam in the past and makes contact with him, appearing as a hologram^[3][4] tuned to Sam's brainwaves, so only Sam (as well as animals, young children, and "abnormal" people) can see and hear him. Throughout the series, Al reveals the current situation to Sam, explaining how he can correct something that is wrong in order for him to leap again, with the help of the project's artificial intelligence "parallel hybrid computer with an ego", named Ziggy (voiced by Deborah Pratt), who can access significant historical data through government networks. Guided by Al with Ziggy's knowledge, as well as Al's own experiences and Sam's high intelligence, Sam continually changes history for the better. As he does so, he finds himself leaping again, ending up assuming the identity of another person at a different point in spacetime. Later in the first episode, Al tells Sam that while they had tried to bring him back home during this leap, they were unable to do so, leaving Sam leaping (seemingly randomly) until the project's team can figure out how to do it.^[5]

In contrast to other science fiction premises, which often stress protecting the timeline at all costs, the concept of time paradoxes is seldom mentioned in Quantum Leap with Sam shown to be deliberately changing the course of time in order to "set right what once went wrong".^[6] Even so, there do appear to be some rules and limitations as to what Sam may change in the past. In the first season episode "Star Crossed", a set of "time travel rules" is mentioned, specifically that Project Quantum Leap could not be used for financial gain nor could the project be a means to influence the personal destiny of Sam or other project members. The Season 3 episode "The Leap Home" – which portrays Sam as leaping into himself at a young age – demonstrates that when Sam attempts to change his own destiny by telling his family about the future, the effort backfires causing only emotional distress in his family with the future remaining unchanged. Part II of the episode indicates that time has a means to "balance itself", specifically that when Sam saves the life of his brother who was meant to die in Vietnam, a combat journalist is killed instead. In the episode "A Leap for Lisa", Sam does drastically change the future leading to the death of Al – yet Project Quantum Leap continues, with a new guide, "Edward St. John V" (played by Roddy McDowall) taking Al's place.

Subsequent episodes generally follow the course of such leaps; after initially struggling with the displacement (often concluding with saying "Oh, boy!" once he becomes aware of the situation), Sam learns from Al what originally transpired in the timeframe of the person he leaped into, as well as what change for the better is most likely going to allow him to leap again by Ziggy's predictions (which are sometimes proven to be incorrect). Al helps Sam not only with historical knowledge, but also by monitoring events that Sam cannot see himself. The series depicted Sam as only leaping into English speaking persons (except for once when Sam leaps into a chimpanzee), and in only rare exceptions does he ever leap outside of the United States. Sam is also never shown failing to put right the wrong in a leap mission. In earlier episodes the series implied that Sam could not leap out of a time unless he succeeded, yet in the episode "Catch a Falling Star", Al clearly tells Sam that success does not determine whether or not he leaps.

Over the course of the series, the nature of the leaping process becomes clearer, in that the person who Sam leaps into is brought to the future at Project Quantum Leap's "Waiting Room", where the replaced person appears to everyone as Sam (in one episode, one such person who is a killer, escapes the Waiting Room, preventing Sam from leaping again until the criminal is returned without incident). In the past that he leaps into, Sam keeps his own body, while also keeping the appearance of the original person he leaped into, and thus being able to do things that the other person may normally not be able to do (in one case, while leaping into a legless Vietnam veteran, Sam is able to walk around, though appearing to observers to be floating). Conversely, Sam's mind can also be influenced by the person he leaps into; a few times, Sam leaps into a mentally challenged person, and exhibits such signs himself; while in another case, he assumes the identity of a pregnant woman, and (despite Al's protests that it shouldn't be possible because he has a man's body) Sam feels the pains of late pregnancy until he leaps out of her; in another episode, when Sam leaps into the life of Lee Harvey Oswald, he is overwhelmed with Oswald's intent to assassinate President Kennedy, and is compelled to attempt the act himself (Oswald leaps back into his own life the moment before this act occurs); while another time, Sam acquires the replaced person's repressed traumatic memory of witnessing his mother's autopsy as a child.

Because of the time travel aspect, many episodes allude to famous people or incidents indirectly, such as Sam suggesting to young Donald Trump that New York real estate would be valuable in the future, suggesting the lyrics of "Peggy Sue" to a teenaged Buddy Holly, showing young Michael Jackson his signature moonwalk dance for the first time, giving Dr. Henry Heimlich the idea for his namesake maneuver by saving him from choking,^[4] and setting in place actions that lead to the discovery of the Watergate scandal. Two notable episodes place Sam directly at the center of significant historical events; in "Goodbye Norma Jean", Sam appears as Marilyn Monroe's bodyguard, who saves her life and convinces Marilyn to remain alive for her starring role in The Misfits. In "Lee Harvey Oswald", Sam struggles with retaining his identity and control after leaping into Oswald, and while being unable to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Sam is still able to save the life of JFK's wife, Jackie Kennedy (who was also killed in the original fictional-timeline). Other episodes explore the past of the main characters, like Sam saving his brother from being killed in the Vietnam War, and saving Al's marriage to Beth.

The reasons for the specific destinations of each of Sam's leaps remain unknown to the Project Quantum Leap's team, who often attribute them to God or fate, but generally to "put right what once went wrong" (as per the narration of the opening theme). Most times, Sam leaps within the time of his own lifespan, with a few leaps ranging from times before he was born, to other leaps into times just a few years before the start of his leaps in 1995.^{[N 1]} In a trilogy of fifth season episodes, Sam meets "the evil leaper", who is another time-traveler named Alia (Renée Coleman) who is forced to leap through time into different people in order to counter Sam's own efforts, by trying to turn good things bad; Sam later convinces Alia of the goodness of humankind, and thus enables her to set herself free. In the final episode, "Mirror Image", Sam leaps through spacetime as himself (without replacing another person), arriving at the exact time of his birth, where he meets a mysterious barkeep (Bruce McGill, who also appeared in the first episode in a different role), who assures him that Sam himself controls the very nature and destinations of his leaps by his own choice ("to make the world a better place"), and that Sam is always able to return home at any time he truly wants to. In the final episode's epilogue, Sam is shown to leap back again to visit Al's wife Beth as himself again, assuring her that her husband (who was a prisoner of war at the time) will return home to her; this results in Al and Beth remaining happily married in the future,^[4] while Sam, instead of ever returning home, continues leaping.

Cast and characters

Dean Stockwell (left) and Scott Bakula (right), as Al Calavicci and Sam Beckett.

• Dr. Sam Beckett (played by Scott Bakula) is a quantum scientist with six doctoral degrees. He grew up on his parents' farm, with an older brother and a younger sister. Sam's idol is Albert Einstein.
• Admiral Al Calavicci (played by Dean Stockwell) is a womanizing U.S. Navy rear admiral and Sam's best friend, who grew up in an orphanage and was later active in the Civil Rights Movement. At the time of Sam's leaps, Al spends his free time with his lover and the project's medical technician Tina Martinez (played by Gigi Rice), who appears in the fourth-season episode "The Leap Back".
• Ziggy (voiced by the narrator and co-executive producer Deborah Pratt) is the self-aware artificial intelligence "parallel hybrid computer with an ego" that runs the Project Quantum Leap, and helps Sam throughout his leaps; appearing in the fourth-season episode "The Leap Back".
• Gushie (played by Dennis Wolfberg) is the project's often-mentioned head programmer, who is said to have bad breath. He appears in five episodes, including the finale.
• Dr. Verbeena Beeks (played by Candy Ann Brown) is often mentioned as the project's psychiatrist. She appears in two episodes throughout the series.

In each episode, a different cast of guest characters appears, mostly the ones that Sam replaces with his leaps. Several other additional characters are referred to regularly throughout the series, but are mostly unseen.

Development and production

The main premise for Quantum Leap was inspired by such movies as Heaven Can Wait, and Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Series creator Donald P. Bellisario^[4][7] saw its concept as a way of developing an original anthology series, as anthologies were unpopular with the networks.^[4]

The series ran on NBC^[8] for five seasons, from March 1989 through May 1993.

Soundtrack

The theme for the series was written by Mike Post.^[4] It was later re-arranged for the fifth season, except for the series finale episode, which featured the original theme music. Scores for the episodes were composed by Post and Velton Ray Bunch.

A soundtrack album was first released in 1993, titled "Music from the Television Series Quantum Leap", dedicated to John Anderson, who played Pat Knight in "The Last Gunfighter." It was released by GNP Crescendo on CD and cassette tape.

Planned continuation

In July 2002, the Sci-Fi Channel announced its development of a two-hour television film based on Quantum Leap, which it was airing in reruns at the time, that would have served as a backdoor pilot for a possible new series. The series' creator Donald P. Bellisario was announced as the film's executive producer.^[10]

During the TV Guide panel at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International, Scott Bakula said that the series' creator Donald Bellisario was working on a script for a projected Quantum Leap feature film.^[11]

Episodes

Broadcast history

The Quantum Leap series was initially moved from Friday nights to Wednesdays. It was later moved twice away from Wednesdays to Fridays in late 1990, and to Tuesdays in late 1992. The series finale aired in its Wednesday slot in May 1993.^[4]

The most frequent time-slot for the series is indicated by italics:

• Sunday at 9:00–11:00 PM on NBC: March 26, 1989
• Friday at 9:00–10:00 PM on NBC: March 31, 1989 – April 21, 1989
• Wednesday at 10:00–11:00 PM on NBC: May 3—17, 1989; September 20, 1989 – May 9, 1990; March 6, 1991 – May 20, 1992
• Friday at 8:00–9:00 PM on NBC: September 28, 1990 – January 4, 1991
• Tuesday at 8:00–9:00 PM on NBC: September 22, 1992 – April 20, 1993
• Wednesday at 9:00–10:00 PM on NBC: May 4, 1993

Home media

In the 1990s, some episodes were released on VHS. In the United States, these included "Genesis" (two-part pilot episode), "Camikazi Kid", "The Color of Truth", "What Price Gloria?", "Catch a Falling Star", "Jimmy", "The Leap Home" (two-part episode), "Dreams", and "Shock Theater." In the United Kingdom, the episodes were mostly released in pairs, selling as "Genesis" (two-part pilot episode - on its own), "The Color of Truth" and "Camikazi Kid"; "The Americanization of Machiko" and "What Price Gloria?"; "Catch a Falling Star" and "Jimmy"; "The Leap Home" (two-part episode); "Dreams" and "Shock Theater."

Universal Studios chose not to obtain the necessary music licensing for all of the music for use in the "Quantum Leap: The Complete Second Season" Region 1 DVD; subsequent releases featured music replacements, with Universal's inclusion of a disclaimer on the package indicating as such (this disclaimer also began to appear on other releases of various other Universal series). As of at least 2015, the series streams on Netflix and on Amazon.com.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the entire, digitally remastered, Quantum Leap series on DVD:^[12][13]

Reception

Despite its struggling start with poor broadcast timings,^[4] the series had gained a large 18–49 demographics of viewers. In 2004 and 2007, Quantum Leap was ranked #15 and #19 on TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever."^[1]

Awards

Along with 43 nominations, Quantum Leap received 17 awards (listed below).^[14][15]

Other media

Books

Non-fiction

• Barrett, Julie, The A–Z of Quantum Leap. Boxtree Ltd., London 1995. ISBN 0-7522-0628-1
• Chunovic, Louis, Quantum Leap Book. Boxtree Ltd., London 1993. ISBN 1-85283-866-3
• Schuster, Hal, The Making of Quantum Leap. HarperCollins, London 1996. ISBN 0-06-105438-0

Fiction

• Robitaille, Julie, The Ghost and the Gumshoe. Corgi, London 1990. ISBN 1-85283-397-1. Re-published in U.K. by Boxtree Ltd., London 1994. (Novelization of "Play It Again, Seymour" and "A Portrait of Troian")
• McConnell, Ashley, Quantum Leap: The Novel. Ace Books, 1992. ISBN 0-441-69322-9. Re-published in the UK as Carny Knowledge. Boxtree Limited, London 1993. ISBN 1-85283-871-X
• McConnell, Ashley, Too Close for Comfort. Ace Books, 1993. ISBN 0-441-69323-7.
• Robitaille, Julie, The Beginning. Boxtree Ltd., London 1994. ISBN 1-85283-392-0. (Novelization of the pilot episode)
• McConnell, Ashley, The Wall. Ace Books, 1994. ISBN 0-441-00015-0.
• McConnell, Ashley, Prelude. Ace Books, 1994. ISBN 0-441-00076-2.
• Melanie Rawn: Knights of the Morningstar. Ace Books, 1994. ISBN 0-441-00092-4.
• Melissa Crandall: Search and Rescue. Ace Books, 1994. ISBN 0-441-00122-X.
• McConnell, Ashley, Random Measures. Ace Books, 1995. ISBN 0-441-00182-3.
• Storm, L. Elizabeth, Pulitzer. Ace Books, 1995. ISBN 1-57297-022-7.
• Henderson, C.J. and Laura Anne Gilman, Double or Nothing. Ace Books, 1995. ISBN 1-57297-055-3.
• Walton, Barbara E., Odyssey. Boulevard, 1996. ISBN 1-57297-092-8.
• Peel, John, Independence. Boulevard, 1996. ISBN 1-57297-150-9. Re-published in the U.K. as Leap into the Unknown. Boxtree Ltd., London 1996 ISBN 0-7522-0137-9.
• Storm, L. Elizabeth, Angels Unaware. Boulevard, 1997. ISBN 1-57297-206-8.
• Davis, Carol, Obsessions. Boulevard, 1997. ISBN 1-57297-241-6.
• Schofield, Sandy (Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch), Loch Ness Leap. Boulevard, 1997 ISBN 1-57297-231-9.
• Kent, Melanie, Heat Wave. Boulevard, 1997 ISBN 1-57297-312-9.
• Defillipis, Christo, Foreknowledge. Boulevard, 1998 ISBN 0-425-16487-X .
• Peterman, MindySong And Dance. Boulevard, 1998 ISBN 0-425-16577-9.
• Davis, Carol, and Esther D. Reese: Mirror's Edge. Boulevard, 2000 ISBN 0-425-17351-8.

Comics

Innovation Publishing produced a series of comic books which ran for thirteen issues from September 1991 through August 1993. As with the television series, each issue ended with a teaser preview of the following issue and Sam's exclamation of "Oh, boy." Among the people Sam found himself leaping into in this series were:^[16]

Cover of the Quantum Leap comics, issue 10.

Few of the comic stories referenced episodes of the television series, with the exception of the ninth issue, "Up Against a Stonewall."

See also

• Highway to Heaven - Similar concept with religious overtones.
• Touched by an Angel - Similar concept with religious overtones.

References

Notes

External links

• "Quantum Leap". Sci-Fi Channel. Archived from the original on April 23, 2006. 
• Quantum Leap at the Internet Movie Database
• Quantum Leap at AllMovie
• Quantum Leap at TV.com