Time Travel Device: The Accelerator
Time Travel Outcome/Purpose: To get Sam home/to help people.
Coolness Factor: All the different opportunities/settings Sam gets to experience.
Flaws: Rough estimate, the show starts in the "future" of 1996. Why does it look like the future in Back to the Future II? Why did people in the 80s always imagine the future as containing neon jewelry?
Paradox: Definitely predestination since Sam can't leap until he has put people back on the right track!
Mike says Holy deja vu! A few weeks back I had the wonderful chance to see Source Code. Not only does the plot resemble Quantum Leap to an astonishing degree, but toward the end (SPOILERS!) the main character uses the opportunity to call his father--something he can no longer do in the "real" timeline. Not only is the conversation VERY reminiscent of Sam talking to his father at the end of "Genesis," But the father is played (in voice only) by none other than Scott Bakula. For me, a very cool "easter egg." Sorry, I was just really excited to share that!
Quantum Leap is a great show, for many reasons. I have to agree with Kate, the character interaction of Sam and Al really is what makes the shows work. The main idea is gr-at- not only does it save money on a large recurring cast, but (as Kate mentioned) Sam gets a new adventure, and chick, every week!
Something I like about the show is Sam's memory loss. It's a great set up, in that Sam, even though he's a super genius, is still able to be the audience surrogate. We learn stuff as he does. Al gets to play the all knowing-overseer (and sidekick) and does a great job of it.
I remember there being a lot of dispute about the series finale when I was younger. Due to it's quasi-religious message, some peple were peeved to find God as the cause of Sam's leaping! This is my first time seeing the pilot, so I was surprised to learn that, apparently, (and according to Al) God was a possible explanation all along! I think this is a great example of a show with mostly has stand-alone episodes that can still have a sense on internal continuity. For me, it's nice to know that everything that has happened actually mattered.
One thing I have to give props to the show for is the great mix of genres. A little bit of sci-fi, a little romance, some mystery with a dash of drama makes for a show that can really appeal to a large range of interests. As such, this is totally going on my "Compromise show" Show List. I think the wife would dig it!
Kate says for me, Quantum Leap is all about Al. I think Scott Bakula is a talented actor, but I adore Dean Stockwell. I love his clothes. I love how often he changes clothes. I love his dark, smudgy eyes. His dry humor. His contained amusement. His sudden bursts of gentle compassion.
And the camaraderie between Sam and Al works--even before Sam remembers who Al is. A lot depends on that relationship! After Quantum Leap and Magnum, Bellisario never did again rely so much on two principle actors (although Gibbs and DiNozzo have a similar-type relationship).
The pilot is quite good. Tom having a reputation of a joker makes for a better storyline than Tom being perceived as crazy. In fact, most Quantum Leap episodes are much better when Sam and Al just get on with solving the problem rather than Sam having to cope with people not believing him.
The pilot also prepares us for one constant and one necessary deux ex machina: (1) it is an excellent way for Sam, a chivalrous good guy to get a new woman every week! (2) Sam is an intellectual superman who can pick up on things very, very quickly and happens to have all kinds of languages and degrees tucked away in his "Swiss cheese brain." The former was clever from an advertising/writing perspective. The latter made Quantum Leap a kind of hero-show, "a time traveling Lone Ranger," as Sam says.
Tons of fun!
Friday, July 1, 2011
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I think it is odd that there would have been controversy over the "God is behind it" idea. There's a Halloween episode where Sam is "helped" by a bad-version of Al. It is heavily implied that Sam was deliberately highjacked into a situation where good Al couldn't find him by "the other side."
So, as you point out, Mike, the idea of supernatural involvement was presented from the beginning.
I think Quantum Leap was pretty obviously following in the steps of Highway to Heaven. However, the show never went all that far in the Highway/Touched by an Angel direction, and the dialog is more probability than prayer-oriented. Many times, the reason for Sam's leaping is simply taken for granted!
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