It is hard to hate Quantum Leap, the NBC sci-fi series which debuted in 1989 and was canceled in 1993 after completing its fifth season. The show is so utterly well-meaning, following the lovably gee-whiz Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) as a scientist whose experiment “leaves him leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping that his next leap will be the leap home.”
That just warms the heart, doesn’t it?
On the other hand, Quantum Leap is very easy to mock, largely due to its remarkably earnest tone and many “very special episodes,” like a sci-fi Blossom. Sam is fate’s grunt soldier, fixing broken relationships, saving one life at a time, and occasionally running into young versions of celebrities, e.g., Stephen King, Buddy Holly and Michael Jackson. However, he’s constantly faced with the prejudices of our past which leads to plenty of sermonizing. His best bud Al (Dean Stockwell) is always around for a reliable one-liner, but even he gets in on the sermonizing and turns out to have led an insanely eventful life, with an ever-growing list of prior careers and ex-wives.
In general, there’s an awful lot of plot convenience to what Sam and Al turn out to be capable of. Plus, the mechanics of the time traveling component of the show are pretty wonky, and what they thought the future was going to look like was hilariously inaccurate.
Those are the types of things which really jump out at me every time I re-watch Quantum Leap. My love for the show has not faded, but my willingness to mock it has sure increased. There are plot holes and awkward moments galore as well as some simple reminders of how much TV culture has changed since Quantum Leap went off the air.
1) God or Fate or Whatever Sure Has a Sick Sense of Humor
Almost every single Quantum Leap episode ends with Sam being thrown into the deep end in a new and terrifying situation, forcing him to either sink or swim. That’s a pretty shitty existence, going from smiling earnestly one second to walking on a stage in front of a packed theater of people waiting to hear you play piano the next second. But boy did it make for good television. It’s one of the things that makes Quantum Leap so compulsively watchable, its every episode ending on a cliffhanger in which Sam has no idea what to do next and lets outs an exasperated, “Oh boy.”
However, if we ignore the part where this is a TV show with a story structure designed to keep viewers hooked, and think of the logic of the show’s own universe it becomes pretty apparent that God or fate or whatever the heck it was leaping Sam throughout time has a wickedly dark sense of humor. Seriously, why couldn’t Sam have ever been allowed to simply leap into someone sitting around their living room watching TV, with maybe their wallet (and thus a quickly accessible method of identification) laid out on the table in front of them? Nope, instead Sam got dropped into situations like this:
And this:
Is any of that really necessary for Sam being able to put right what once went wrong? Absolutely not. God or fate or whatever just really liked watching the poor bastard squirm.
2) Sometimes Sam & Al Just Weren’t That Bright
Al is “a hologram that only Sam can see and hear.” It’s right there in the show’s voice-over prologue. However, sometimes both Al and Sam seemed to forget that, the most egregious example being the time Sam tried to throw a pie at Al’s face in the season 4 episode “Stand Up”:
And Al behaved as if he 100% believed he was in real “pie on face” danger:
Sam usually gets the benefit of the doubt because, well, he’s damaged goods with his ultra convenient/inconvenient “Swiss cheese” memory. But Al? Was he just humoring his mentally compromised best friend, the way one might tolerate a “not quite right” uncle’s insistence that he did actually magically produce the 7 of hearts when doing a card trick? Was he just so caught up in the situation he forgot he was just a hologram? Or maybe is it just that sometimes Sam and Al appeared to have taken complete leave of their senses in the show’s effort for comic scenes between the two? Fine, it’s obviously the latter.
3) Some Innocent People Had Their Lives Ruined By Sam
For a show whose own series finale was shockingly bittersweet, Quantum Leap was built on happy endings. Most if not all episodes ended with Al assuring Sam (and by extension the audience) that everything worked out a-okay for all involved. However, when you think about it in some cases that doesn’t seem true. Case in point, in “Shock Theater” Sam develops multiple personality disorder as the result of being leaped into a mental hospital patient who immediately receives traumatic electroshock therapy (again, with God and his dark sense of humor). Sam keeps shifting back and forth between adopting the various identities of those he’d once leaped into in the past. To save his own life and maintain his connection with Al, Sam needs to have electroshock re-administered to him at a dangerously high voltage. He, while believing himself to be a mentally challenged man named Jimmy and thus slurring his speech, manages to pull it off by desperately pleading with the attending nurse, “If you don’t shock Jimmy Al go away.”
Waaaaaaaiiiiiiiit a minute here. I get that the historic period of the episode (specifically 1954) is meant to comment upon the early days of medicine in relation to mental health and conditions like multiple personality disorder or schizophrenia. In that way, this is Quantum Leap‘s own version Sybil. Al even references Sybil in the episode! So, none of the doctors or nurses truly know what the heck is going on with Sam. However, even though a perfectly timed dosage of electroshock at the same near-fatal dosage as the therapy that triggered the multiple personality disorder is what Sam needs it’s not necessarily what the person he leaped into needs nor is it medically advisable. In the course of the episode, the generally sympathetic nurse argues that 200V is a potentially fatal voltage, administering electroshock therapy twice in 48 hours could kill the patient and that only doctors are allowed to administer the therapy, a fact confirmed by one of the doctors. Yet she is the one to administer electroshock to Sam at 200V while the Doctor and orderly are arguing. This is supposed to be a big, heroic moment, but, wait, didn’t the episode establish that what she does could actually kill the patient? Yep, pretty effectively, too.
How do you think it’s going to go over in a Morbidity & Mortality meeting if when asked why she gave the patient a fatal dosage of electroshock therapy she replies, “He said if I didn’t do it his imaginary friend was going to go away”? She might end up a patient at that very mental hospital, oh irony of ironies, or at the very least mentally anguished, haunted by frequent “Why did I do it?” thought. However, even if the nurse had been wrong about both the voltage and frequency of treatment being fatal she still broke the rules by administering treatment and is likely looking at some serious repercussions in her career. That is but one example of a happy ending being not so happy and an otherwise nice and decent person whose life was potentially screwed by Sam Beckett.
4) Al Totally Amy Pond’d a Poor Little Girl Except Even Worse
In the Doctor Who episode “The 11th Hour,” the Doctor encounters an adorable little Scottish girl named Amelia Pond. He promises to take her to the stars and on an adventure, but when he fails to return she had to go through years of therapy as no one believed her tale of a “raggedy doctor” who literally fell from the sky. The thing here is that, crucially, the Doctor did eventually come back, and he never intentionally misled poor Amelia. He just really sucks at getting time coordinates right.
So, what then, do we make of the final scene from Quantum Leap‘s season 2 episode of “Another Mother”? By this point, the only thing preventing Sam from leaping is Al’s need to say goodbye to the adorable daughter of the woman Sam leaped into. Falling into that kid/mentally challenged/animal spectrum of people who can actually see Al other than Sam, the girl had grown attached to Al and him to her. What proceeds is a genuinely sweet scene between a young child actress who mostly flashes her big white eyes at Stockwell as he promises to come back to see her again real soon.
Liar! Al can’t go back. He’s not really a time traveler who can just go anywhere he wants; he is linked to Sam’s brain and can only go to a place and time where Sam is present. Unless Sam leaps back into that family with the little girl, Al has no way of following through on his promise. That poor little girl probably had years of therapy after that, refusing to back down from her claims of a strange imaginary man from the future who was going to come back to see her any minute now, just you wait and see. “Oh, it was just an imaginary friend” they’ll all say, angering her even more. Of course, that imaginary friend may be the least of their concerns since that little girl will probably also swear up and down that for around a week mommy went missing and a nice man named Sam pretended to be her and dressed in her clothes.
5) Nope, You Didn’t Dream It – Al Really Did Rap in One Episode
Some things are so strange, so bizarre, so impossible sounding you can convince yourself over time that you simply made it up. For example, was Creed ever really a super popular band? That didn’t really happen, did it? Well, in the case of Quantum Leap re-watching it reveals that one insane thing you might have convinced yourself was but a fever dream of your’s actually happened. I present, with utter, utter regret, rappin’ Al from “Shock Theater”:
With Sam a bit busy being 12 different versions of himself, it is up to Al to right the wrong, and in this case, it means teaching a man how to read. Why? Ah, who cares. Why does Al think simply teaching him a song about the alphabet will automatically guarantee his ability to read? Ah, again, who cares. The bigger issue here is simply what in the hell were they thinking by having Dean freakin’ Stockwell perform a rap song on a national television show in 1991? In fact, years later they included that song, “ABC Rap,” on the show’s official soundtrack meaning you can go buy “ABC Rap” on iTunes right now. Mercifully, M.C. Stockwell’s long-awaited rap album “Nozzles, Cigars & Bazoombas” never materialized
6) Sam Was a Man-Whore Cheating on the Wife Waiting for Him Back Home
Every Quantum Leap episode other than the pilot features a moment during the opening credits where we see a montage of Sam’s best kisses with woman from the show’s history to that point. Of course, there’d be plenty of kiss scenes to show – the dude got some serious action as the show sought to appeal to Bakula’s female fanbase. It is also the natural by-product of an episodic show with a central male character who is both a lover and a fighter – he’s going to have a ton of love interests. The same thing was true of Kirk on Star Trek: The Original Series. But at least there was no woman waiting at home for Sam, no woman so despondent with loneliness she looks up at stars at night and imagines one of them talking back to her with Sam’s voice, right?
Then the season 4 premiere (“The Leap Back”) happened, and we learn that bachelor Sam had changed his own history on a previous leap in the first season resulting in him having now actually been a married man this entire time. Knowing that from the get-go when re-watching the show makes a fun game out of, “I wonder how close Donna was to complete breakdown this week based upon Sam’s romancing of yet another woman.” To be fair, in “The Leap Back” Donna actually forgives Sam for his many, many infidelities because his memory loss meant he didn’t know he had anyone to whom he’d pledged to be faithful.
There was always a strange dynamic to sexuality on the show, in which Al and his consistent references to nice “bazoombas” and “gazongas” was a horndog for Sam to admonish. Who the hell is he to talk, though? He fell in love with women sometimes at the literal drop of a hat, bedded them, and then left them high and dry for his next leap. Man, at least Al knew what he was. Sam? He was a total man-whore; he just didn’t know it.
7) Our Definition of Physical Fitness Sure Has Changed
Back in the day, Scott Bakula was what might best be described as man candy. His Sam Beckett was the consummate sensitive 90s male, not afraid to cry (and boy did it show) but tough enough to stand up for what’s right. So, obviously, the show featured Bakula shirtless…a lot. Like at least once every other episode.
Wait, that’s what qualified as a sex symbol back then? Don’t get me wrong – Bakula looks fantastic. He’s clearly in good shape. It’s just that nutrition and body shaping sciences have advanced so much that we now have constantly shirtless male stars of TV shows who look like this:
Advantage? Stephen Amell of Arrow. Well, I guess the true advantage goes to the viewer inclined to find such sights appealing as neither are in anything remotely resembling bad shape. Re-watching an older show like Quantum Leap centered around a male sex symbol shows just how much our image of that type of person is ever-shifting in response to the advances in abdominal muscle-shaping glory.
8) They Were Desperate For Ratings That Last Season
It’s always kind of sad when you see your favorite show trying too hard to get big ratings. However, sometimes when you watch older shows in syndication or on Netflix you may not be aware of it because your viewing is happening so long after the fact. But let’s look at what Quantum Leap did in its fifth and final season:
- Sam Leaping Into Dr. Ruth, Elvis, and Lee-Harvey Oswald Even Though He Wasn’t Supposed to Leap Into Historical Figures
- Sam Leaping Into Someone Working for Marilyn Monroe
- Sam Leaping Into the Civil War Even Thought He Wasn’t Supposed to be Able to Leap Outside of His Own Lifetime
- A Trilogy Focused Upon Sam Being the Father, the Lover, and then the Court Defender of One Woman At 3 Different Stages in Her Life
- A Trilogy Focused on the Concept of There Being Evil Leapers Out There Just As Sam is a Good Leaper
- Stunt-casting of Brooke Shields in an episode somewhat recreating the scenario of her film Blue Lagoon
- Sam leaping into a vampire
Some, if not most, of these episodes are pretty good. The trilogy focused on Abigail was admirably ambitious, and the concept of an evil yin to Sam’s not-evil yang was long overdue. However, taken as a whole it becomes pretty apparent they were ditching all of their old rules and just throwing everything at the wall in the hopes of getting the ratings necessary for a sixth season (epic fail on their part). Plus, they re-did their theme song – you know, their amazing, instantly hummable Mike Post-composed theme song. They made it oddly insistent and energetic in a desperate “Please watch our show, we have pep now” fashion:
Alas, they got themselves canceled.
But I really like Quantum Leap. Let’s end on a positive note. What is a good truth learned from re-watching Quantum Leap?
Most of Your Favorite Episodes Are Still Amazing
“MIA,” “The Leap Home,” “The Leap Back,” “Catch a Falling Star,” and many, many other beloved Quantum Leap episodes are still as good as they ever were.
What about you? Any things you’ve noticed upon re-watch? Liked the show but never actually went back and re-watched it? Let us know in the comments.
This post is partially a result of years of joking with my best friend Julianne. Click here to check out her picks for Quantum Leap‘s 10 best episodes.
We Minored in Film 
Al brought someone into the imaging chamber with him for the 2nd time in Raped the 1st time was in Shock Theater Beeks was in the imaging chamber with Al but he had to repeat she said because there was only the image and not the sound.With Katie there was both the image and the sound so Sam could repeat what she said in the courtroom in order to testify against her attacker.
She was saying it & Al was repeating it for Sam to say.
They faded out & just had her saying it & Sam repeating it for the sake of time & the audience growing bored
No ziggy figured out how how to connect her brain patterns and voice to the system. So she said it and Sam repeated it and eventually it fades and it’s just her repeating it. But let’s not forget the entire trial is IMPOSSIBLE. They called the rape victim the plaintiff in a criminal case as if it were a civil trial. I excuse that because they had to shorten the trial for tv but trials don’t happen that fast either. Anyway the prosecutor can’t call the defendant up to testify you know can’t testify why you can plead the 5th. That whole episode was wonky but the most EGREGIOUS was Sam standing when the person has no legs. That’s not how Quantum Leap works and they broke the rules and that’s officially IMO where the show jumped the shark. But then they righted the ship with evil leapers and cool stories like that.
After Mirror Image the question is if there were any more leapes in the waiting room or Sam contined to be himself as an adult because he never returned home.Elvis was the last leape to be in the waiting room.For Sam to leap the leape had to be in the waiting room. Only twice does the leape leave the waiting room in the end they were both returned to the waiting room making Sam able to leap
My reading of it has always been that Sam essentially becomes an angel after Mirror Image, or if not a literal angel then he’s completely off the grid in terms of being able to be tracked by Ziggy. When he leaps into himself and then after that leaps into the middle of someone’s living room to talk to Beth that suggests he’s back in his own body again and is no longer leaving people back in the imaging chamber. Of course, for him to then go from Beth’s house to leaping as usual, but just on to harder and harder missions from Al-God, that creates the problem of, “Well, then what happens to all the people he leaps into in the future? If not the imaging chamber then where do they go when he leaps into them?” To which I have no answer and (admittedly) lazily leaned toward the angel explanation because it just made things easier (and also because it amused me to think of Quantum Leap as turning into a glorified Touched By An Angel considering the similarities between the two shows).
Other posters on this comments site might say give it a rest about Raped the 6th episode of the 4th season.
Seems that i’ve written lots of comments about it like how it’s the 1st time a leape left the waiting room and had to returned there so Sam is able to leap and how it;s the 2nd time AL mentions his 3rd wife Ruthie who was Jewish and how Sam gave someone what for then immediately leaped afterwards.
“Other posters on this comments site might say give it a rest about Raped the 6th episode of the 4th season.”
Then, yes, please give it a rest. Everything you just mentioned about that particular episode is only really of interest if you are putting together an encyclopedia about Quantum Leap, making sure to chronicle all of the 1sts, 2nds and even 3rd times that a norm was deviated from or ongoing, permanently off-screen side character was referenced.
Al the bartender told Sam how he’s done lots of good by putting right what once went wrong.
An wrong Sam wasn’t able to put right was preventing the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
this was in the comic book.
Dude. It’s like you’re immune to shame. The people have spoken. They want you to put the keyboard down and step away from the computer. I’m sorry about your more-than-apparent autism, but you are not offering insight. You are cluttering this article, and thereby everyone’s mailboxes with completely useless drivel. People have attempted to be nice, but after two months of this shit someone has to say–in no uncertain terms–enough. Go obsess over something that actually matters.
Again, I request that Kelly impose a ban.
Wait. What? Sam saves MLK in the comic book? That’s a total violation of the everyday hero ethos of the first 4 seasons. Season 5, though, yeah he saves Jackie O. Saving MLK is clearly more season 5 QL.
No he failed to save MLK. There were plenty of instances in the first four seasons that Sam wanted to affect major historical figures but couldn’t because he wasn’t in the right influential people to do so.
How come only the last season had the evil leapers?
Because the writers didn’t think of them until then?
Judaism is adressed in Thou Shalt Not and Christianity is adressed in Leap Of Faith.
Why weren’t other religions adressed?
Again, because the writers didn’t think of it.
Because there’s a thing called a “target audience”
Deliver Us From Evil comes from the Lord’s Prayer the Play’s The Thing comes from Hamlet and So Help Me God comes from the United States President’s oath of office.
Good to know you’re not reading anyone else’s responses to your comments.
I think Sam if he ever made the leap home
would write articles for Wikihow.
That’s a spectacularly low bar for a man who would have invented time travel.
I can’t stop laughing at this exchange.
Thank you?
Glad to give you a laugh.
I think Sam and Donna would have had children if he ever made the leap home and have them circumcised if they’re boys.
Why circumcision?
I mean, at what point did your brain go “Yep, that’s relevant”?
Time to block Greg. Kelly, you know it’s only going to get worse.
If you wish to block me so be it remove all my comments please.
How come you haven’t removed all my comments yet?
I’ve written many of them the majority of them on Raped.
Hold on. Just to be clear, you are asking me to ban you and remove all of your comments? I guess I haven’t done it yet because no one’s ever asked that before. I just wanted to make sure.
Just ban him already!!!!!
Just did. First time banning anyone. Will keep an eye on whether or not it worked.
Thank you.
I’ve been banned and my comments removed from other posting sites.
I bet Sam and Donna would have
joined ISKCON if he ever made the leap home.
I have heard of some strange compulsions, but intentionally making inane comments for the purpose of being banned and removed has got to be the absolute weirdest I’ve ever witnessed. Seriously, dude, cake-farting is not that messed-up.
I think Sam and Donna would have taken up belief in reincarnation if he ever made the leap home and
get it from the 4 religions of Jainism Hinduism Sikhism and Buddhism that teach it and which began in India where reincarnation is really big.
It has been a genuinely long time since anybody wrote something about Quantum Leap here but Bellusario claims to have written a film script:
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/10/creator-donald-bellisario-has-written-a-quantum-leap-film-script/
If they ever make a Quantum leap movie I would go and see it.
How come Quantum Leap never had ISKCON?
How come Sam never leaped into a tribal society as the chief?
Ram Dass was never in the waiting room.He was born Richard Alpert on Apr.6 1931.He went to India in 1967.
I guess I’m the only one completely disgusted by the idea of Sam first playing and relating to a girl as a Father AND THEN as her Lover?! Anyone with an ounce of decency would consider that gross and completely inappropriate! Cue morally bankrupted losers to babble that “Duuuh, it’s just a show and wasn’t weally her father. Duuuh.” As they drool all themselves. Yes, I understand he wasn’t really her Father but he did relate to her AS HER FATHER and it IS disgusting for A MAN to go from behaving as a Father to behaving as a lover. But that would require an actual working brain and common decency. Something pseudo-intellectual pinheads don’t have a whole lot of . smh
No, you’re not the only one. The gender dynamics in that trilogy are troubling. He goes from her father to her lover to her lawyer and defender. Cool on the first step, makes sense on that last one, but, hold on, he’s her lover in that second step? Ew, ew, ew, and ew.
Sam doesn’t relate to her as a father. He relates to her as Sam Beckett doing his job. In the second episode he leaps in literally as they are having sex. He falls in love with her as a Sam Beckett.
PS I thought this article was great and hilarious
Yeah, I remembered it being gross and icky, but upon another viewing years later, as an adult, when I was going through the series with my wife, it wasn’t as cringy as I remembered. Even she didn’t think so, just having seen it for the first time.
I haven’t seen the trilogy episodes in probably a decade if not longer. I don’t know how they’d play to me now. Like you, though, I certainly recall thinking of it as having a fair bit of ickiness when I first saw it.
quite sico analyzing the show. I like your constructive review of it, but I dislike the overall point of the article. 1) its a show, so the sense of Humor was to build suspense for audience
2) Also Humor, they acted overally emotional and decided to overreact as good friends, in the show. So yeah, Humor, they weren’t trying to be Bright in that scene they were trying to be funny.
3) The main point was to show the dark side of medicine, so yeah they were going to show lives that were ruined on the “Show”. Do I need to keep stating ” ” that.
4) Its a show, but that was kind of sad, but hey, adults aren’t always that bright when dealing with kids. Arrgh. I am starting to think like you. No its just a show, its called acting for a reason.
5) why was that sad? i thought it was touching. really, RAP is considered sad by your standards?
6) Wait wasn’t the context of the show that he had no memories? So he didn’t even know he was married… So whats with the overally capitalized reaction? Again, its just a show calm down.
7) You sound like a person that never had the chance to go to school with this one. Really? “Nutirition and body shaping science” lol. if everyone has access kudos. “Just how much our image of that type of person is ever-shifting in response to blah blah” Speak for yourself, “our image” who decided what everyone agreed upon. “Shifting?” please, the only shifting mindset is when you mature/ or are initially wrong and grow from it.
8) Maybe but I am less informed on this one.
Thanks for the great read, its fun to comment. 4 out 5 stars on writing. 5 out 5 stars for sharing your opinion. 3 out 5 stars for appealing (misuse of “sad” and overally serious, kind of takes the last 2 stars off). Yay its fun to rate too.
Peace out.
I actually met Scott Bakula about 10 years after the last season of quantum leap. He was promoting a movie I think it was Major League 3? But that’s not what I was there for I just loved how sexy he is “was for everybody else”. (Still think he’s sexy as hell”. So much so that he came out of the promo room “me and my sister were the only ones there”, I was speechless, couldn’t move or talk so my sis grabs him and hugs him and he hugged both of us back, but it was a bit stalkerish. Don’t think he’ll be back in Dallas, Texas any time soon. Sorry, I don’t think that writer’s write scripts like they used to. Now it’s all for money, not great TV shows. The only show comparable to Quantum Leap was LOST. Don’t over analyis the show. Lay back and enjoy the view! MAN HE’S SEXY!
“Don’t over analyis the show. Lay back and enjoy the view! MAN HE’S SEXY!”
And, really, sometimes isn’t that all we need/want from TV?
Thank you for sharing that story. It is certainly refreshing to hear Bakula was so nice and so, um, sexy. There is a purity, wholesomeness, simple whatever-you-want-to-call-it aspect of Quantum Leap which is certainly missing from most TV today. Of course, that purity as well as the simple passage of time makes QL an easy target for some light mockery, as I tried to do in this article, but, dammit, I still love the show.
Don’t give up on him coming to Dallas just yet. It’s increasingly rare, from what I can tell, but he still does conventions from time to time. Who knows? FanExpo Dallas might get him someday, maybe after NCIS: New Orleans ends and he has more free time.
Also, I totally saw that Major League 3: Back to the Minors just because he was in it. Ditto for Unnecessary Roughness, Lord of Illusions, and latter-era Murphy Brown.
Point 7) Errm. No. My view of what an actually fit and healthy body looks like hasn’t changed. Bakula’s was, Amell’s isn’t. Seeing so many six-packs pop I can’t help but wonder whether his nuts aren’t hazelnut-sized mush from all the steroids he must be taking. And whether he would be any fun at all to be around. I just don’t dig guys who’re more in the gym than with me.
Bakula looks like anyone actually working with their hands and outdoors would look like. Amell looks vain, artificial and unfit. It is one reason, why a lot of male actors lately are quite unwatchable as eye candy.
My wife and I rewatched the whole series and we have a strange memory that back in day we saw an episode where something happened that the government wanted to cancel the project and then Sam did this thing in the past where he changed some stuff and the woman able to decide the ongoing future of the project got changed because she was a witness of the goodness of the project so she voted to continue with Sam leaping, but now that we rewatched the series we couldn’t find that episode and even in the episode listings they don´t mention it. Does anyone remember this?
By complete coincidence, I just re-watched that episode on Hulu two nights ago. It’s the season 2 premiere. It’s called “Honeymoon Express” and your description of what happens in it is basically correct. So, no, this isn’t a Mandela Effect situation. The episode you and your wife remember did actually happen.
They can be driven away by not enough relevant content, poor grammar, or by an article that is sluggish and boring.
Some article directories truly must be far superior to others.
I normally place only ONE ‘text only’ ad per
web blog site. http://s.chillhitlabs.com/mobileonlineroulette937080
There is a QL book called “Angels Unaware” that gives some background on how Teresa (from another mother) turns out. If you’re interested in that episode and consider the books cannon you should read it. I always wished they would have brought her up again in the show. I have to say that in real life Troian Bellisario has done quite well for herself!
I think the comic bit with the cream pie was a bit of fun for both Al and Sam in that episode. Al wasn’t humoring him. They teased each other all the time. This was just another example of it.
I loathed the father/lover/lawyer episodes because the female character was incredibly obnoxious and unappealing and I didn’t buy for an instant that Sam would fall for her. Really, she couldn’t have been more unlikeable. I thought Sam had a far more believable connection with several other female characters, including the blonde senator’s daughter, the cow girl, Brooke, and even Marilyn.
I didn’t really buy him with Donna, either. She was as bland and boring as could be.
Really, the only true chemistry was between Sam and Al. That’s the reason the whole show worked so well.
My favorite eps were Shock Theater and Killin’ Time. Basically any episode that had fantastic banter between Al and Sam, and sweet moments between them were my favorites. Killin’ Time was beautifully written and beautifully acted. I also liked the truth serum episode where Sam was kidnapped and the prison episode where he was almost electrocuted. The bit at the end where Sam was panicking and Al was panicking and telling him to leap was funny and angsty at the same time. Those kinds of scenes were the highlights of Quantum Leap for me. I wish there’d been more.
I’ll never watch the final episode again. I hated it. It was cruel, manipulative, depressing, and a lousy ending for a great series.
And in regard to the sexy, I’m going to have to disagree with you. Sexy is about more than just a good body. It’s about personality, charm, smile, eyes… Mr. Bakula was in great shape and had a great face, too, with expressive eyes and the sweetest smile. The Steve guy you mentioned (I have no idea who he is) may be in better shape physically but from what I can see, he’s not particularly handsome. Mr. Bakula is far sexier, as that goes.
All these years later, I still miss this show. It ended too soon.
This is a different theory, so stay with me.
When Sam went back in time he altered his destiny with his college girlfriend and in season 4 we learn they are maaried.
However, when he goes back in time and tells Al’s wife that he’s still alive it alters Al’s life, who was a major part of the quantem leap project. Maybe Al never joins the quantum leap project and therefore it never existed or got off the ground.
So…..Al is with his wife, Sam (the other version that didn’t exist until he altered his future and would still be trying to figure out quantum leap without Al) is with his wife.
There for the original Sam can never leap home because he doesn’t have a home to go to.
Interesting so there would never have been a t.v. show!
1) Perhaps there is a reason, but since I’m neither Fate nor God, I won’t presume to know it.
2) Al’s reaction, if genuine as opposed to playful, is similar to people jolting backwards in their seats when an object flies toward camera in a 3-D movie. It’s autonomous. Sam may have understood that the pie wouldn’t hit Al, but did it anyway because he just wished it would.
3) When Sam received the electroshock therapy, it hurts him and not his host. The point is made in many of the episodes that he has a physical presence when in another body… his own weight, strength, agility… even the ability to procreate.
4) The little girl is young enough to where she’ll probably just write if off mentally, possibly even forget about it entirely.
5) Yeah, cheesy. A sad truth? Let’s look at what’s on TV today again in 30 years…
6) He was unaware that he had a wife, and he didn’t engage in sexual activity out of pure lust. He was lonely and felt an actual emotional connection to the women he had sex with. He’s an unwitting serial monogamist, perhaps, but not a man-whore.
7) See #5.
8) True.
I liked the idea that Sam did indeed undo the PQL in the last episode. Then the idea that his big flash of inspiration in the new timeline came during Project Starbright and he made a giant leap towards warppdrive technology and thus enabled the events of Trek to occur.
All of the analyzing of this show is great- I enjoyed it because of the stories , and the fine acting of Bakula all of the guest stars who made good performances.
I LOVED quantum leap as a kid, but haven’t seen it in 30 yrs. I don’t like the over analyzing these days of shows/movies. The whole point of hollywood is to be entertained by the unrealistic and ridiculously inconsistency. I’m shocked it sells so cheaply on ebay.
I loved this show when it aired. My wife and I even developed a secret phrase to use Incase we came back in appearing in another body 😃
I’m rewatching now on Amazon/IMDB and up to Season 5 Abagail trilogy. Still fun to watch. Justice is one of my favorites though it is a bit painful now with the rise of the Alt-right. That was something in the 90s we could naively think was an evil in our past and not still under the surface.
One thing came to mind this time watching. They really had no concern about the butterfly effect. Keeping people together or putting them together would certainly have effects. Or even if he prevented someone from running off with the “wrong” person what about their now non existent prodigy?
I’m going to have check the fan sites and novels others have listed.
“Or even if he prevented someone from running off with the ‘wrong’ person what about their now non existent prodigy?”
If you meant “progeny,” & not “prodigy,” then yes, I was wondering exactly the same thing — & thank you for bringing up a point I’ve yet to see on here.
I mean, most time-traveling films/shows at least express an awareness of the dangers of time-travelers doing even the least little thing to alter history — to the point of explaining that even a seemingly innocuous little change could mean the traveler’s parents never even meet (or never hook up), rendering the time traveler as non-existent either on the spot or when traveler gets back to the future, & the person’s absence then sets off a whole chain of other changed events. Or, that monkeying around with the past just generally could alter some major historic event, which then gets replaced by a worse catastrophe.
But I guess there wouldn’t be a show if “Quantum Leap” took all the above into account as part of its mythology — either the Don’t-Mess-With-History adage from other fictional time-traveling Universes or the real-world theory of the Butterfly Effect’s potential to alter ecosystems, weather patterns, or people events. And each show has the ability to set up its mythology & “rules” however it sees fit.
So there, I’ve just argued myself into a circle.
I wonder if he will ever return?
In peak TV era where a Mad About You sequel series comes along as an exclusive to a little used cable company’s little understood original programming, never say never. However, I do feel the window on an original cast sequel series or follow-up is quickly closing if it hasn’t closed already. Simply put, Dean Stockwell ain’t going to be around forever. Bakula, of course, still looks good but he doesn’t need this, not with NCIS: New Orleans keeping him employed and busy.
I’m rewatching it now & am confused as S1 ends with Sam in the bath as a woman but as I look at the episode list, that episode isn’t until Ep4 of S2
You are absolutely right: the first season ended with Sam leaping out of his Bogart character in “Seymour” and into a woman in a bathtub. The S2 premiere, however, didn’t pick up from there. Instead, Sam leaps into a guy rescuing a cat in a tree AND then a new person on his honeymoon, but the episode – “Honeymoon Express” – actually opens with Al being grilled by Senators as a way of re-explaining the show to new viewers. (Recall at one point reading this was a somewhat meta reflection of Donald Bellisario’s own meetings with network executives over renewing the show, which is why “Gloria” got pushed back in the schedule, but can’t immediately find confirmation on that.) “What Price Gloria” – Sam’s first time leaping into a woman – then premiered as the fourth episode of season 2.
That’s the way it originally went down, but it seems like there’s always something screwy with Quantum Leap’s home video releases, from the DVDs substituting muzak in place of the original songs to streaming services mysteriously missing certain episodes. And now that Universal has pulled the series from Netflix (in the States, at least) and instead included it on all of the Universal-owned apps (NBC/SyFy/USA etc.) the episode order is completely out of whack. USA, for example, currently, lists S2 episodes “Gloria” and “Portrait for Troian” as the final two episodes of the first season. To makes matters worse, these are the original versions of the episodes, not the syndicated ones, which means they all open with Sam’s voice-over summation of what happened in the previous episode leading right up to him leaping into the new person for the new episode.
So, for example, when you finish “Seymour” on the USA app and go to what they say is the next episode – “What Price Gloria?” – you get this intro where Sam talks about that time he lept into a Navy officer who returned home to small town 1950s America with a Japanese girlfriend and had to overcome prejudice. If you’ve never seen the show before, though, you have no idea what he’s talking about because the episode he’s referencing – “The Americanization of Machiko” – hasn’t happened for you yet. That’s why you don’t air them out of order! Seriously.
So, anyone re-watching or watching for the first time should try their best to follow the original episode order: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Quantum_Leap_episodes#Episodes
Unbelievable but the list I have is the same as the Wikipedia one in your link so at least we’re watching them in the correct original order & more importantly, I’m not going mad. Thanks for the response & explanation.
You’re welcome. It’s bizarre that we even have to do this kind of thing. How hard is it for Universal to simply put an old TV show’s episodes in order on a streaming service? Took me all of one minute to look up the right order on Wikipedia and then verify it on Al’s Place, a very old QL fan site.
I am re-watching the series again. This time with my son who is 10. I think I was around that age when I started watching. Then again my memory is getting fuzzy now on some things. Anyway, I wanted to note that in the episode where he leaps into the time of the Civil War is explained. It was one of his ancestors. Recall he has leaped into family members before so it wasn’t far fetched. My favorite episodes were when he was in the asylum (it made me cry and I say you are a good actor if you can make me cry) when he leaps into his own family to help his sister when he was the mentally challenged young man and the very last episode where he finds out he was the one that chose to keep leaping. Not God. That episode, in particular, I didn’t get the chance to see until maybe 8 years ago via Netflix disc rental. Oh, and when the historical picture of men as a POW in which they write Al as the man in the picture taken by a journalist. Brilliant writing there. I think in the discussion of some endings not being happy is that sometimes they can’t be happy. Sometimes that is just a way it has to be. I admit I didn’t care for the way evil leapers were written. It did seem desperate. They tied it together well but still, I didn’t care for it. Also, Al is one of my fav characters. He’s a perv you love but in real life, it isn’t really like that. LOL What I appreciate most about the show was the telling of historical facts of the time periods. Such as blacks not being allowed at many establishments. Mr brother is the one who got me into Quantum Leap for that reason and we still love watching it. I am happy to show my son some of the shows I used to watch.
And hey, Scott is still good looking now. LMAO I liked him in Star Trek as well. He and Dean both played in that though with a very different character relationship. You know they are long time friends.
Sorry for any misspellings. I like this page BTW.
Bakula is aging like a fine wine. He’s been going strong on NCIS: New Orleans for several years now and has turned into a silver fox. It’s ultimately not my kind of show, but my mom loves it and him in particular.
You are correct about the Civil War episode, not that you needed me to tell you that. There is an in-universe explanation for how such a leap is possible, namely that instead of being limited strictly to his own lifetime he can apparently also leap into his ancestor’s lifetime as well. The episode, however, is a good example of the fifth season’s go-big-or-go-home approach to storytelling, throwing out or rewriting all of the old rules – no famous people, no leaping outside of Sam’s lifetime – in an ultimately failed bid to not get canceled. When I binged the show in order, that kind of thing jumped at me a little more, the number of “wait, I thought he couldn’t do that” instances rising exponentially in that final season. It doesn’t mean they’re bad episodes. In fact, I would have been fine with them experimenting even more in a sixth season.
“the very last episode where he finds out he was the one that chose to keep leaping. Not God. That episode, in particular, I didn’t get the chance to see until maybe 8 years ago via Netflix disc rental.”
I, oddly, also had to wait on that episode, though not nearly as long. I watched the series finale live, but I live in the American midwest right in the heart of Tornado Alley. The night of the QL finale there just happened to be a major thunderstorm rolling through, and the local NBC weathermen kept breaking into the show to update the weather. It happened so often during that hour that I probably only saw half the episode and was super confused most of the time, and this was in the days before re-runs, DVDS, or streaming. I didn’t see that finale all the way through until was re-run years later on SyFy (back when it was the Sci-Fi Channel).
You, however, had to wait far longer than me. I salute you, and agree – that is one of the show’s most heartbreaking hours.
“Also, Al is one of my fav characters. He’s a perv you love but in real life, it isn’t really like that. LOL”
I know exactly what you mean.
“What I appreciate most about the show was the telling of historical facts of the time periods. Such as blacks not being allowed at many establishments. ”
Same here. As a history nerd AND sci-fi nerd, QL was tailor-made for someone like me. I loved learning about history from the show as a kid, and I still appreciate it when I rewatch it now.
“Mr brother is the one who got me into Quantum Leap for that reason and we still love watching it. I am happy to show my son some of the shows I used to watch.”
It was a family affair on my end as well, something I shared with my brothers. Still remember watching early QL on our family’s ancient black and white TV with my brother and wanting it to be one of the first things we watched once we got a color TV. Needless to say, Al’s fashion sense pops a little more in color than black and white.
Did your son enjoy the rewatch? QL might seem painfully – or delightfully – old-fashioned to some kids these days.
Oh and my son likes the show. Sometimes he will ask questions to make sure he understands what is going on and I am happy to oblige.
That’s great. I’m glad you two are enjoying it together. The show, upon re-watch, feels to me delightfully old-fashioned in its attempts to impart some life lessons, educate the dangers of prejudice, and forever see the opportunity for wrongs to be righted and give the forgotten folks of history a second chance at a better life. Plus, ya know, it’s just so fun, and that Scott Bakula is damn handsome. Good on you for paying that kind of fun forward to the next generation.
One of my other comments did not pop up but if it does, I apologize. Anyway. I haven’t been able to watch him on NCIS but would love to. I haven’t watch any sort of NCIS in a long time. I have seen clips though. I also watched an interview he has a few months back. He enjoys being on NCIS. As for if therr will be a reunion for QL, he isn’t sure but saus fans would love that. Heck yes! Only, I hope they don’t do the evil leaper bit. I thought about why I didn’t like it. The plot came in too late and didnt fit in with the rest of the series. It isn’t a bad idea and I get why that can be an issue. Also, it leaves you wondering how they came to know what was going on. As Much as I recall it wasn’t too well known outside of the government as the government funded the project and the project was Sam’s so he would know the tech better. If there is a reunion I just hope its not played on too much.
The whole NCIS franchise isn’t really my bag, even though – like Quantum Leap – it comes to us from producer Donald Bellisario. So, I’ve seen precious little of Bakula’s NCIS spin-off, but what I have seen has been thanks to my mom, who loves them. She adores Bakula on there, and he still looks movie star handsome regardless of his age.
As for the Evil Leaper storyline, it’s a pretty big twist for the series to take. It’s not even so much about some secret evil government agency working to combat Sam Beckett’s kindhearted government experiment. By the end of that trilogy, it’s far more implied that the Evil Leapers are perhaps more supernatural in origin, possibly tortured souls from something like hell forced to counteract what God’s been up to with hopping Sam around time to pay kindness forward throughout history. Wherever the evil leapers come from, they don’t want to go back because that means endless torture and punishment.
At least that’s how I remember it playing out.
The trilogy, I think, intentionally leaves all of that unanswered. However, I’ve always thought the first two episodes in the trilogy were fantastic mold-breakers for the show but the third one didn’t quite live up to the rest. The actress playing the Evil Leaper is sidelined – traumatized and tortured – far too much in an episode that’s mean to be the end of her redemption arc.
I loved Bakula in QL. He could have been GREAT in Enterprise if they’d given him a half decent script, but they didn’t.
I was excited to hear he was going to star in an NCIS spin-off, but I had to stop after 3 episodes. The story lines were not enough for me to look past the horribly fake accents. I don’t know why they didn’t just make Bakula’s character someone who moved to NE and fell in love rather than trying to pass him off as native born there.
Watching this show again after first seeing it when I was a kid, and enjoying it enormously. I only remember certain episodes (Lee Harvey Oswald, for one). I think our mom had us watch less when the evil leapers thing happened because she thought it was scary for us.
Anyway, I grew up and starting teaching dramatic literature and I swear that every time the playwright Samuel Beckett came up, I thought of this show! I am convinced the name is no coincidence if you look at what some of the plays were about. The casting is perfect and the characters are so much fun. I particularly love the shy awkwardness they put into a “hero” character who can also kick some ass. And yes, he’s darn cute. If they ever were to reboot this, I really wouldn’t be interested. Improving storylines and special effects are one thing, but I really don’t think the acting could be any better.
I liked the Return of the Evil Leaper, but I thought I saw a couple of inconsistencies in the episode. When Sam first meets and shakes Dawn’s (Alia) hand she reverts to Alia, but neither she nor Sam seem to recognize each other as their real selves as they did in the Evil Leaper episode – it’s only when Sam touches her in the library does that happen. The other thing I noticed is when Zooey recognizes Sam as he’s trying to stop the second drag race, she tells Alia afterwards to make sure Sam doesn’t touch her, but at that point he already had.
Generally I liked season 5, but I too felt the Dr. Ruth, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis and Civil War episodes didn’t belong in the show. I thought I’d read somewhere that the execs at NBC told Bellasario to create more “out there” episodes in an effort to get better ratings. Actually I think the show would have done well if they’d just kept it in the time slot that had the highest viewership instead of bouncing it all over the place. Personally, some of my favorite episodes include One Strobe Over Line, Black On White on Fire, Dreams and LIberation.
All these show you have on comet SUCK Stargate,Quantum leap, babbaa. Lon. 5 they all suck put on more movies….PLEASE
Jeez. Nobody is forcing you to read these. Nobody tied you up to a chair and forcing your eyelids open like in “A Clockwork Orange”. Certainly, nobody has forced you to learn how to spellcheck because there’s no comets in these posts.
O I foregot one Slider it SUCK TOO take them off…….Please Thank you
I mean, QL was always soft sci-fi, never too into the actual science part of it, so the rules were pretty flexible. I see season 5 as the ultimate example of this. That Civil War episode was given reasoning, just sort of flimsy, non-scientific reasoning, but again it’s soft sci-fi so it actually holds up and makes sense. Sam’s leaping into major historical figures? That just sets up how in season 5 things start to get wonky with the leaping process, setting up things like the trilogy and the finale. The evil leapers were again explained using soft sci-fi’s special brand of pseudo-science. As for the vampire, it’s been suggested in fiction foryears that if they were real that they’d be hidden among us, and that we wouldn’t know. It doesn’t take that big a leap of logic to theorize that maybe vampires are real in the QL universe, and that they’re just as well hidden as our stories suggest.
The rest of this can be rebutted with something that another commenter already mentoned, and that was made famous in the theme to MST3K: Repeat to yourself it’s just a show, you should really just relax.
Also, that rap was awesome.
I would like to clarify my earlier comment. I believe that I may have experienced the Mandela effect but I feel certain that there was an episode where Sam leaps into a dog (in an earlier season than the season four chimpanzee). It was the first time Sam leapt into an animal and yes the episode was made otherwise I would not be saying so. I am certain that I have seen the episode and now for some reason it is missing. I also remember it being said that there was a total of 98 episodes made and I remember thinking to myself that it was 2 episodes shy of 100. Now it is said there is 97 episodes but I do not believe that because of this particular episode I know exists. I do understand if you do not believe me but I am telling the truth, I have seen the episode, I have no doubt about it. To give yo an idea, Sam leaps finds himself on the floor of a house (possibly the kitchen) butt naked wondering who or what he has leapt into. Soon thereafter Sam stands up, Al appears and says: “you shouldn’t be standing up, Sam”. Wondering why, Al tells him he has leapt into a dog! and Sam sees the reflection and slumps back down to the floor, then Al proceeds to tell him what he has to do (possibly something about saving a someone’s life). Here my memory is vague but I believe a scene took place outside somewhere near the house etc. I am sorry I cannot remember more but as always Sam succeeds and then leaps again. I hope that someone else remember the episode too.
It’s the Mandela effect.
“Quantum Leap” was a very popular program when it first aired (but also not popular enough to keep getting renewed season after season without needing to fight for it). It first ran in an era when almost every household had a VCR machine. Subsequently, there was a significant fan base, they had copies of all the episodes and they had accrued knowledge. When the DVD boxsets came out a decade ago, the fans immediately knew which licensed songs had been used in the aired episode and which of them didn’t get licensed for the DVD release.
I’m guessing dog leap is in the books or comics.
Thank you for your reply, I agree that it is the Mandela effect. The same thing happened with a film many people have seen, but was denied at first by the actor mentioned, until he eventually admitted he had made the film. I refer to the film called, “Shazam”, and the actor was named, “Sinbad”. Though I have not seen any books or comics of Quantum Leap, I do not believe the dog leap is in any books or comics. However, I strongly believe that the dog leap was definitely an episode as I am certain that I have seen it. To possibly clarify this, I would suggest to contact the actors and verify if they remember. Besides I feel certain that the episode exists.
More on. Get over it. It’s Mandela effect.
There’s nothing to substantiate your false memory. There’s plenty of evidence that your memory is incorrect.
Don’t pester the poor actors. Dean Stockwell is rather elderly these days and doesn’t need to be annoyed by this.
Don’t be some annoying fanboy like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqb4V9GxaBo&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
Also, reread what you wrote:
> To give yo an idea,”
That sounds like fanfic.
> Sam leaps finds himself on the floor of a house (possibly the kitchen) butt naked wondering who or what he has leapt into. Soon thereafter Sam stands up, Al appears and says: “you shouldn’t be standing up, Sam”. Wondering why, Al tells him he has leapt into a dog!
Al and Ziggy almost never finds Sam’s new location immediately and subsequently Al almost never is in the teaser “Oh boy!” segment. A rare exception to that would be the end of “Shock Theater” and start of “The Leap Back”.
Think about what you are saying… if Sam had leapt into a dog he would have had to do an entire episode in the nude!! That wouldn’t have happened in the late 80s or early 90s. It is a lot more likely that you dreamed this “episode” up. There was never a dog leap episode.
An interesting fact. In “All-Americans”, which first aired in 1990, Al told Sam he was watching Super Bowl XXX, which wouldn’t actually air until January 1996. Al correctly predicted both that the Steelers (Pittsburgh) were in the game and that at a crucial point were trailing their opponents by 3 points. In the actual game they trailed the Dallas Cowboys by 3 late in the 4th quarter, 20-17, before finally losing 27-17.
I am commenting to let you know what a terrific experience my daughter enjoyed reading through your web page. She noticed a wide variety of pieces, with the inclusion of what it is like to have an awesome helping style to have the rest without hassle grasp some grueling matters.
Whomever wrote the article didn’t seem to get how guys are, let alone Italian guys and didn’t pay attention to each episode as well as she thinks. Sam’s wife told Al she didn’t mind he slept with women as it was necessary to fulfill each mission. It’s why she made Al promise not to tell him that he was married. She knew what was required and knew her husband was a dork. As for Al, it’s how guys talk, women are just as bad and at times worse. We comment, we live.
Kelly appears to be a male, judging by his avatar picture.
Most men don’t talk like that. Are you a MAGA-believer of locker room lies?
One thing they never really covered was what happens after the leap. For instance, once Sam has finished righting the wrong and the person he leapt into finally leaps back into their own body after Sam has moved on to his next leap, how does that person know what the heck is going on now!!! They have been in a waiting room several decades into the future not knowing what Sam is saying or doing with their body and so after days of essentially having an out of body experience, they just leap back into their own bodies ready to just go with the flow and go back to life as usual? Do they just forget what happened while Sam occupied their meat suit and essentially have a blackout period where their brain will always have a swiss cheese hole in it? Will they be left wondering how one second they were treading water in the middle of the Mediterranean ocean and the next second they regain residency in their own body they are now making out with a millionaires daughter on a deserted island having decided to forgo any rescue attempt? Do they just decide to not mention to anyone ever about the fact that they don’t know what has been going on the past several days, as they have been hanging out with future people in the very well lit and hip world of 1999?
I need answers! lol I also would love to see a more well thought out and streamlined reboot of this amazingly fun show because it has so much potential to go leaps and bounds beyond its original run! The only downfall to that would be that any reboot would be missing Scott and Dean. I almost typed Sam and Dean but that is a totally different show! 😉 haha
Good points.
It’s not a reboot, but a sequel IS in the works. A new generation seeks to better understand how the Leap process works. It doesn’t appear that Bakula will be in it.
Did you ever watch the Season 4 episode where Sam leaps into a tv reporter. The psychic he’s there to save sees Sam and they have a two week relationship. It’s set in 1982. I theorize the new guy is Sams kid and he’s searching for his dad and trying to bring him home once and for all.
They remember. Sam leaped into a Geraldo knockoff and Sam jokes tomorrow on the show I’m gonna tell you how I was abducted by aliens and was wearing white meaning the guy would leap in and describe the waiting room LOL.
Be careful what you wish for. Here we are in 2023 and there is a new “Quantum Leap” show. It’s horrible. It’s missing all the heart of the original. The only good part of the show is Al’s daughter and so far she is hardly in it.
I watched the original show from the beginning and only watched reruns when the show went off the air. I used to stay up late to watch the episodes on SyFy even though I have the DVDs and can watch them anytime I want. It always leaves me feeling good.
I do like the manner in which you have framed this matter plus it does supply us some fodder for thought. Nonetheless, because of what I have witnessed, I only hope when the feed-back stack on that people today continue to be on point and not get started upon a tirade associated with the news of the day. Still, thank you for this fantastic piece and even though I can not necessarily concur with the idea in totality, I value your point of view.
I think number 7 point is moot. Seemed like it was just added to make an even amount of points. Plus I’d rather see real men shirtless instead of hairless boys which is the sad trend that has prevailed during this millennium. I think a better point is the sad truth that Scott Bakula looks funny when he runs. The author’s other points are very good though. Al’s promise to the little girl, point 4, and Sam’s man-whoring escapades, point 6, always bothered me. Enjoyed the article for one if my favorite television shows.
If you have a problem with his man whoring then I hope you aren’t a fan of LA Law. On point 7 I felt like as a kid they did all they could to tell boys like me that you don’t have to be sexy or look hot. Just be a kind human being who’s In touch with his emotions and a romantic.
Honestly I think it ruined me. Made me think I had to do things a certain way. This show was my absolute favorite show to watch, next to Star Trek. I followed Sam’s rules all the time. Now I’m divorced, disabled, and almost done raising 2 boys. Trying to online date is the worst thing I’ve ever tried. I don’t think I will ever find someone. I get super nervous when talking to women and then I misconstrue what they want when they just want to be friends. Honestly women always just want to be friends with me lol. No one wants a guy who walks with a walker. Anyway I keep hoping they will pull stuff from the old show into the new show. I want Bakula to work on the new show. First season was great of new QL. Haven’t tried season 2 yet. I’m binge watching all of it when it’s done. Also Al probably did look in on the girl but he probably had the hots for her and dated her lol.
Oh and my theory is Sam is actually a bad guy. In 1999 before he leaped we had EV that couple go VERY fast and everyone loved them. By the time he goes off on his own we have developed backwards. We didn’t have EVs till 20 years later and so on. And maybe Al bar was actually the devil. Guiding him and the evil leapers were actually the good guys but the evil leapers Al turned out to be a bad guy. Anyway I always wondered why were they so technology advanced do compared to us.