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Quantum Leap
Genre	Action, Adventure Science fiction Drama, Mystery
Created by	Donald P. Bellisario
Starring	Scott Bakula Dean Stockwell
Narrated by	Deborah Pratt
Theme music composer	Mike Post
Composer	Velton Ray Bunch
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	5
No. of episodes	97 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	Donald P. Bellisario Deborah Pratt Harker Wade
Production location	California, USA
Running time	45 minutes
Production companies	Belisarius Productions Universal Television
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	March 26, 1989 (1989-03-26) – May 5, 1993 (1993-05-05)

Quantum Leap is an American television series that was originally aired on NBC (from March, 1989 through May, 1993) for a total of five seasons. The series was created by Donald P. Bellisario, starring Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a brilliant scientist who leaps through spacetime following his quantum experiment in time travel, by temporarily taking places of other people's lives 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; getting into ranks of TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever."

Premise

The first episode introduces Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a scientist working on the quantum experiment called "Project Quantum Leap", in a concealed U.S. government 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, Sam enters the Quantum Leap Accelerator and leaps through spacetime.

When Sam recovers from a quantum leap, he finds his memories to be incomplete, particularly with the knowledge 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 that is 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 self-aware 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 continuously changes history for the better (in the first episode, Sam escapes from a crash that originally took the life of the test-pilot); 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.

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. 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 life; 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 the teenage 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, 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 once saves her life and convinces Marilyn to remain alive for her starring role in The Misfits; while in "Lee Harvey Oswald" episode, 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 characters, like Sam saving his brother from being killed in the Vietnam War, and saving Al's marriage to Beth.

The nature for Sam's leaps remain unknown to the Project Quantum Leap's team, often attributing it to God and fate, but generally to "put right what once went wrong" (as per the narration of the opening theme). Most of the 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. Spanning last season in a trilogy of episodes, Sam meets "the evil leaper", who is another time-traveler named Alia (Renée Coleman) that is forced to leap through time between different people in order to counter Sam's own efforts, by trying to turn good things bad; Sam later convinces Alia in 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 on 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 all by his own choice ("to make the world a better place"), and that Sam is always able to return home at any time he wants. 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, while Sam, instead of ever returning home, continues leaping.

Cast and characters

• 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 four 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 movies like Heaven Can Wait, and Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Donald P. Bellisario, the series' creator, saw its concept as a way of developing an original anthology series, as the genre was unpopular with the networks. He felt that the concept of a person living in the body of another person to make change for the better, would work well in a science-fiction setting, creating the tone for the series.

Soundtrack

The theme for the series was written by Mike Post. 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.

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.

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.

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 Hulu or Netflix, where the original music is retained on both.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the entire, digitally remastered, Quantum Leap series on DVD:

Reception

Despite its struggling start with poor broadcast timings, 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."

Awards

Along with 43 nominations, Quantum Leap received 17 awards (listed below).

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:

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

References

1. Carter, Bill (October 1, 1991). "NBC Defends Move on 'Quantum Leap'". The New York Times.
2. O'Connor, John J. (November 22, 1989). "Review/Television; An Actor's 'Quantum Leap' Through Times and Roles". The New York Times.
3. ^ Jenkins, Shelley (April 28, 2008). "Donald P. Bellisario Interview". Archive of American Television. Published in the article on April 12, 2012.
4. Cerone, Daniel (July 15, 1990). "'Quantum Leap' is Scott Bakula's Idea of an Actor's Dream". Los Angeles Times.
5. ^ "TV Guide Names the Top Cult Shows Ever". TV Guide. June 29, 2007.
6. "Quantum Leap - Intro Opening Theme". YouTube. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
7. Connor, John J. (March 30, 1989). "Review/Television; Comeback for Wimps in New Series". The New York Times.
8. "Quantum Leap - Soundtrack". Amazon.com. November 19, 1993.
9. "New Leap, Tremors On Sci-Fi". Syfy. July 9, 2002. Archived from the original on July 9, 2006.
10. Holbrook, Damian (July 23, 2010). "Comic-Con: Is Quantum Leaping to the Megaplex?". TV Guide.
11. ^ "Quantum Leap: The Complete Series (Region 1)". Amazon.com. November 4, 2014.
12. ^ "Quantum Leap - The Complete Collection (Region 2)". Amazon.com. October 8, 2007.
13. "Quantum Leap - Awards". The New York Times.
14. "Quantum Leap, Awards". IMDb. Based on the original citation. NBC.
15. Zeman, Phil (January 19, 1995). "Quantum Leap Comic Guide".

External links

• "Quantum Leap". Sci-Fi Channel. Archived from the original on April 23, 2006.
• Quantum Leap at IMDb
• Template:AllMovie title
• Template:Tv.com show

• 1980s American television series
• 1989 American television series debuts
• 1990s American television series
• 1993 American television series endings
• American drama television series
• American science fiction television series
• Body swapping in fiction
• Edgar Award winning works
• Emmy Award winning programs
• English-language television programming
• Holography in television
• Innovation Publishing titles
• NBC network shows
• Television series by Universal Television
• Television series by Universal Studios
• Television shows set in the United States
• Time travel television series
• Quantum Leap