Quantum Leap: Before we begin

A few words of overview. (And, like Tommy said in his starting post (his permalink function doesn’t work – so you have to scroll down – he has two posts up on Quantum Leap – one an overview, and one on the first episode – which I LOVED reading!!) – Anyhoo, like he said, this will develop. I’m not sure how I will tackle this project right now … so I’ll make it up as I go. And probably some episodes will warrant more commentary by me than others … so be it.)

Quantum Leap first aired in 1989 and ran for 5 years. It was hugely successful, as series go (and it’s rather amazing to think that there are only two “leads” in the show. It’s not an ensemble … the entire thing hinges on the believability of those two guys, and their chemistry together – not a small feat) … and it is still hugely missed by its fan base. It made Scott Bakula a household name and catapulted Dean Stockwell, already famous for 40 years by that point, into a level of fame he had never known. Nothing like a hit TV show to put you over the tipping point. It was never a mega-hit – but it had something that is even better and more valuable: a loyal fan base. That cannot be bought, it cannot be managed by a studio, it cannot be marketed or planned for. Or – it can – but something like that depends quite a bit on magic, sorry to say. Right place right time. Excuse me, but the fans of Square Pegs are STILL loyal to that show and it’s been off the air how long? Long-running “hit” series WISH that they could engender the type of fanatical loyalty of Square Pegs! (In this case, “loyalty” is just another word for “love”).

I liked Quantum Leap when it was first on. My boyfriend and I watched it pretty regularly. It had an interesting premise, and we liked the message aspect of it. It was usually a very satisfying hour of television.

I haven’t seen 5 seconds of the show since it went off the air almost 2 decades ago . Until recently. When Dean Stockwell loomed over my horizon like some gorgeous overwhelming thick-eyebrowed dirigible! First I had to see all of his movies. That kept me quite occupied since he made his debut when he was an embryo in 1945. But then I knew – and I tingled with excitement – that I still had five seasons of Quantum Leap to watch! I didn’t have to just keep watching The Boy with Green Hair to get my fix … he had done a hugely successful series, with, whatever, many episodes a year … and so that’s what I’ve been doing over the last couple of months. Slowly but surely making my way thru all 5 seasons. It’s been so fun. Some of the episodes I remember quite well – others not so much. Some are more successful than others – of course – but what is interesting to me, having just watched the entire series now … is how consistent it was. You can feel them start to grab for ratings a bit in the last season – which I won’t talk about yet. At least not in depth. They started to do multi-part episodes (there’s a 3 parter, for example) – and also they have this whole “evil leaper” subplot (which totally did not work for me) – You can feel a bit of a grasp, like they know that perhaps it is the end. But even with that, which doesn’t always work – the tone and feel of the show is remarkably consistent. The scripts are good, the art direction remains stellar (which I’ll get into quite a bit – KU-DOS!! Major motion pictures should have such good and detailed art direction as Quantum Leap had), the two leads grow and develop – they are not just repeating themselves ad nauseum. Sam Beckett grows. As a man. Watch him in the first episode and then watch him in the last. He is still the same guy … but he has developed, his soul has stretched, he’s learned so much. Same with Al. Now Dean Stockwell’s part could have been insufferable, a neverending bunch of SCHTICK. Not to dis schtick – and lots of Stockwell’s stuff is schtick (the rolling eyes, the cigar behavior, all that) … but he also has opportunities to show us WHY he’s got the schtick, and WHY Al is the way he is … and it just makes for really good television. Because what keeps people coming back week after week is not just the gimmick of the show – the “leap” – but the dynamic between these two guys that we came, very quickly, to care about.

It’s worth its weight in gold – actor chemistry like the two of them had!

Also, just to say this – without too many spoilers: Having just watched the whole series, they did quite a good job of keeping the starting seasons loose enough, in terms of what we know about the two guys – that once you know the “end” – once you know where it’s going to go … the beginning still makes sense. We didn’t have to do too much re-adjustment – like I said: it was consistent. There was no “Oh! It was all Sam Beckett’s DREAM! He dreamt the entire 5 seasons!” copout. Sam’s behavior in that last episode is completely consistent – and we realize that he has been moving towards that moment since Season 2.

And that wasn’t even supposed to be the last episode! They didn’t know that that was going to be “it” when they filmed it – which makes it even more amazing because, in a funny way, in a heartbreaking way, it was a perfect way to end the whole thing. I didn’t feel gypped, or cheated, or like: Wait … is it over??? No!

It had a beautiful symmetry to it.

So that’s a testament to the solid writing throughout the series. It was always about the relationship between Sam and Al.

The “leaps” were just the context. The real MEAT of that show was with those two guys. And the payoff at the very end was immense.

Oh dear. (Or I should quote Sam Beckett: Oh boy) I am getting way ahead of myself.

But these are my thoughts on the overview. I’ll get into more specifics as I go through episode by episode, which should keep me occupied until March, 2019.

Episode 1 re-cap coming up …

Ready to Quantum Leap?