Quantum Leap

A highly imaginative idea from Donald P. Bellisario.

The selection of Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell to play the roles of Sam (the quantum leaper) and Al (Sam's advice-giving & holographic guide) was spot on.

The story lines were great. The series consisted mainly of fictional plots, interspersed with the odd story based on real life events. In addition, the show's original signature tune was great!

The acting, especially from Scott and Dean, was first class. In fact, you don't need to be a sci-fi buff to enjoy Quantum Leap ........ a Bellisario masterpiece!

________ 9 out of 10! ________

Carl Giwa.

This year (2022) a TV series re-boot of sorts, still called "Quantum Leap", is intended as a continuation of the 1989 series that had Scott Bakula as the Quantum-leaping Sam and Dean Stockwell as the holographic accomplist Al. As the new series opens it references the old series and that Sam never returned but the technology is a continuation of the old. So with that came my desire to revisit the older series. Fortunately it is also available streaming on NBC's Peacock service. While I did see some episodes back 30-odd years ago I never watched much of it.

Now, watching it from the beginning, and comparing it to the re-boot, the main difference (aside from the actors) is that the original has a lot more humor. While each story has mostly serious elements the overall mood is humorous. Not broad, slapstick comedy but humor built in by 1) excellent scripts and 2) the acting abilities of Bakula and Stockwell. They made a really good team and every episode, no matter what the subject, is entertaining.

Do you know that feeling when you discover a tv show that is at least 20 years older than you, special effects equal to zero (when compared to today's effects), but still decide to give it a chance and start watching. You struggle with the first two episodes but later you realize there is great acting, episodes filled with good storytelling and action just forget about the effects and the overall look of the shot and keep watching literally until the last episode. A unique store, its like a pioneer in its field, very interesting.

I remember watching the 60s classic The Time Tunnel and Quantum Leap was a kind of reboot, with time travel being the main game. Anyway, Scott Bakula was born for this role and I'm pleased it ran five seasons, almost 100 episodes, sort of the magic number for syndication at the time.

An absolutely perfect show. It wasn't too technical, it wasn't too Sci-fi. It had the drama of life, and offered some comedy at the same time. Instead of seeing the same person with the same people dealing with their own life, we saw many, many, many different lives all being influenced by one great man who in the end could be deemed a saint. I am happy that the show was able to finish, and just disappear like some other great shows. The show had a good conclusion. It was happy, but it wasn't sappy or ultra-moralistic and joyful. It was the perfect ending for such a case. There isn't a thing they could change about this show. The only thing they could do to make it worse would be to make a movie for TV. Those type of things usually ruin a good show. Quantum Leap though is definitely a TV legend.