Quantum Leap

[CovenantJr]

I love Quantum Leap. My mum introduced me to it when I was about eight (she used to let me stay up past my 9pm bed time to watch it ) and I loved it. Recently rediscovered it after years of deprivation.

I love Quantum Leap.

That is all.

[Waddley]

I love Quantum Leap, except the end of the series, which makes me horribly sad

[CovenantJr]

I haven't seen the final episode since I was eleven or so, so I can't speak with authority (I'm gradually acquiring the DVDs though) but I remember disapproving. There were a couple of episodes that were too strange for me to accept them, and that was one.

I think I might appreciate that episode more now I'm older and have developed an appreciation for the bleak and eccentric. But maybe not.

[Waddley]

IIR, it came down to God and the Devil. That I have no problem with...

Spoiler

...it's the fact that he never gets home that makes me so so sad. If anyone deserves anything, he deserved to go home.

[CovenantJr]

Yes, that saddened me at the time, and I agree. But I think I'd have more tolerance for it now. I suppose I'll find out when I get there.

The other one that sticks in my mind as one I really disliked was something to do with him falling unconscious and having a delusion that was full of creepy supernatural occurrences.

[drew]

Haven't seen it in years...but I remember how much I used to love it.
The draw of the final episode, is that it wasn't a Hollywood ending; it took everyone by surprise. I'm sure when it was advertised that the final episode was coming, most fans were thinking, "Yeah yeah, He'll get back into his own life at the same time he left." And then Surprise surprise--not quite.

Some of my fave's include: The time he was himself as a kid. The time he was on the fifties space program for children. Dr Ruth!! And so many others.

It was such an origonal idea...Sliders kind of ripped it off after, but before hand the only show that I think could have ben remotely similar would be Highway to Heaven--and that would be a stretch.

[Alynna Lis Eachann]

Quantum Leap was a great show. The pilot was actually one of my favorite episodes, but there were many that I remember liking. The arc about Sam's family was great. I haven't seen the show in years, though. And yeah, the ending was sad, but it does make you wonder about all the stuff Sam got to experience.

[Marv]

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Could be a bit cheesy at times but on the whole really good stuff. Ziggy was useless!! got everything wrong all the time.

[CovenantJr]

It was such an origonal idea...Sliders kind of ripped it off after, but before hand the only show that I think could have ben remotely similar would be Highway to Heaven--and that would be a stretch.

I'm given to understand that Sliders was created by some of the people who worked on Quantum Leap. Evidently they thought the idea was too good to rest in peace.

Yes, Quantum Leap was certainly completely different to everything that came before it. The whole concept - that Sam could only travel within his own lifetime, that he would be inside other people, that he had to correct things in order to move on - was unique and very original. Sliders pilfered the idea of hopping between random situations, but lacked the various other inspired components.

According the little "Remembering Quantum Leap" feature on the first disc, Sam was restricted to his own lifetime for practical reasons - it was much easier to do different bits of the 20th Century than to try and recreate the Roman era and so forth. But it worked wonderfully.

A couple of other snippets I found interesting:

1) The character of Al is almost a direct representation of Donald Bellisario, the series' creator. Though Bellisarion denied it, Bakula and Stockwell both agreed that this is the case.

2) Scott Bakula was a star of successful Broadway musicals before Quantum Leap, so he can sing and dance, in addition to being fairly accomplished at most sports. Basically, he was able to do most of things Sam had to do in the episodes.

[Cail]

I never understood the fascination with this show. People loved it when it was on, and they still rave about it now. I don't get it. The pilot episode was interesting, and the intervening episodes were just so-so. I dunno, it just seemed gimicky. Oh look, now Sam's black....Oh look, now Sam's a woman. It just never arrested my attention.

[CovenantJr]

That's because you're rubbish and you smell. Go away.

[Cail]

Uh uhhh. You smell!

Seriously, what was so special about the show? I'd like to know, 'cause it really is one of those cult things I don't get.

[Marv]

Uh uhhh. You smell!

Seriously, what was so special about the show? I'd like to know, 'cause it really is one of those cult things I don't get.

the theme tune was awesome.

[CovenantJr]

Haha, yeah, the theme tune was the reason I watched it.

I like it because it's different and it's full of variety. It's well acted (at least by the leads, and by most of the extras and supporting cast); Sam and Al are both fairly well developed and likeable/sympathetic; the random jumping from time period to time period and from person to person meant it didn't go stale; behind the various mini-stories there were larger arcs, such as Sam's family and Al's POW experiences/first marriage.

As for it being gimmicky...I can see why you'd think that, but I've never found it so. He had to be put in interesting situations, but the stand-out ones - like being a woman or being a black man in the south during the 50s - were always handled well, in my opinion. His first leap into a woman (I'm sure there was another at some point) was mostly played for laughs, but it didn't pretend otherwise; the first black one dealt with serious issues and was done very sensitively (it really highlighted for me just how hard everyday acts were, like drinking from a water fountain or seeing a doctor).

The episodes that dealt with social outcasts of one form or another (a working woman in the 60s, the aforementioned southern black man, a mental patient, a young man with Downs Syndrome, and others) tended to be conscientious and it interested me to see someone who is used to being unobstructed in his daily life to suddenly by confronted with these setbacks.

Oh, and it was entertaining.

[dANdeLION]

I was not a fan of QL. I was in Cail's camp; Sam is now a pregnant teenager? Right; that's believable. Maybe if he looked like the person he inherited, I'd have gotten it better. Still, I think he was a good actor, thanks to Enterprise. The other guy though....the one who sent Sam everywhere; that guy was like nails on a chalkboard to me. That being said, my ex loved the show.

[CovenantJr]

There's no way it could have worked if Sam could only leap into people who resembled him. Of course, it had some utter impossibilities (aside from the whole concept, heh). One that gets me is in one episode it's established that he's in his own body, disguised as the person he's displaced (he walked around when the person didn't have any legs, as I recall); but how do all those clothes fit him?

Yeah, suspension of disbelief and willingness to paint over the cracks are required, but I still love it. A friend recently pointed out the whole issue of Sam controlling his leaping, which was hinted out throughout the series, and stated pretty clearly in the final episode. Interesting.

[dANdeLION]

I don't think I wanted Sam to jump into people that looked like him. I think I wanted the people to contunue to look like themselves, but act like Sam acting like them, if you will.

[CovenantJr]

Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah, that might have worked better, but they'd have to find hundreds of actors to play him. And not just actors; good actors, capable of reproducing the same identifiable mannerisms.

[Tulizar]

I think I watched QL because in the early 90's because if nothing else it was better than most tv shows at the time.

I seem to remember a lot of bad sitcoms that weren't very original. QL at least tried something completely different and managed to deliver a mainstream program with a sci-fi concept. It was corny at times, but it sure beat Family Ties, Mr Belvedere or Punky Brewster to name a few!

[Cheval]

I faithfully watched QL when it was new.
Now that the reruns are being aired, I watch then too.
(Does anybody remember the last episode?
A lot of questions were answered and Sam got to see
somebody else leap.)