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This is the Quantum Leap thread for both the original 1989 show and the 2022 revival. If you're not familiar with the show and want to hit the ground running with the revival, here's a quick primer. Quantum Leap explains it's premise in the opening of episode: quote:Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the quantum leap accelerator and vanished. Original Series Characters Dr. Sam Beckett  Sam is a super genius quantum physicist/medical doctor/archeologist who can speak many languages (both modern and dead). He "leaps" into other people throughout time, briefly taking over their lives so he can save someone close to them from abuse, a life of crime, even death. He has a strong moral compass and can be a bit naďve sometimes, but he feels he has a duty to help everybody he runs into along his journey. Admiral Al Calavicci  Al is Sam's guide throughout each mission, appearing to Sam as a hologram that's being broadcasted from Project Quantum Leap HQ in 1999. With the help of a supercomputer, Al can pull up records, articles, statistics, and backgrounds for every person Sam comes into contact with. This helps Sam figure out who he needs to help and how. Al also makes a great lookout since no one else can see him. Al loves the ladies, a snazzy dresser, and a worldly attitude that's a great contrast to Sam. Ziggy  Ziggy is the AI program that runs Project Quantum Leap. It's the most sophisticated AI ever built. Sophisticated enough to have emotions, depression, tantrums, you name it. The picture above is the handlink that Al carries with him and feeds him the information to help Sam. Ziggy itself is in the main control room of the project. Gooshie  Director and lead programmer for Project Quantum Leap. You won't see him a lot on the show, maybe like four of five episodes throughout the entire series. However, you will hear Al yelling for him when Al needs someone located or needs to be transported to Sam or someone in need. (You'll hear the phrase "Gooshie! Center me on Sam!" a lot in the series) Dr. Beeks  Dr. Beeks is the psychiatrist for the project. You don't see her very often as well, but Al will reference her to Sam when the person Sam "leapt" into needs some form of counseling. The Original Show's Ending  The original show ended in 1993 after 5 seasons. The ending is considered one of the worst show endings ever. Maybe not Game of Thrones bad, but it is up there. The finale showed Sam no longer leaping into other people, but leaping as himself, and a mysterious bartender tells him that he can go back home whenever he feels he's done helping people. The final shot of the show was one line of text saying "Sam Becket never returned home." No, I did not misspell his name just now. That's how it aired on national tv to millions of viewers. 2022 Revival  NBC has now revived the show and the first episode aired on September 19th. The new show definitely has some tweaks to the original formula. The original was very episodic in format. Each episode was pretty self contained and seldom referenced past events. You could really jump into any episode with little knowledge of lore and backstory. The new show seems to be taking a hybrid approach, with Ben and Addison doing the episodic leap missions while the drama at Project Quantum Leap is more serialized and "mystery box". I'm excited to see how this show pans out. The original did take quite a few episodes to find it's chemistry, and as much as I hate to admit it, I can be a sucker for "mystery box" shows. Go ahead and discuss the new show, the old show, lore, theories, best episodes, worst episodes (*cough* "Thou Shalt Not..." *cough*), cast, crew, anything goes!
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Sep 23, 2022 03:08
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One thing I really like about the old show is how often Sam Beckett’s musical theater background comes in handy. Also that despite being a physicist with some med school (?) and a classics background, he is a trained song-and-dance man along with everything else. Maybe the real problem with Enterprise was that they didn’t make use of Bakula’s triple-threat status and have him save Earth by singing a little or playing the piano.
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Sep 23, 2022 03:57
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I AM GRANDO posted:Maybe the real problem with Enterprise was that they didn’t make use of Bakula’s triple-threat status and have him save Earth by singing a little or playing the piano. It's a mark against the writers when they can't find a way to save the Earth with a rendition of Great Balls Of Fire.
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Sep 23, 2022 04:00
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I loved this show growing up and the reboot was ok one episode in. I said this in couch chat but I think the ensemble works to their benefit. Knowing what I know about the production of QL two things you aren't going to recapture is: 1) The chemistry between Bakula and Stockwell 2) the re-use of movie and tv sets to make a QL episode. So it was going to be folly to try to go a 1:1, go for something slightly different. edit: Also, I was also working on a write up too and I think you forgot the most important character: Leapee (various) – This gets a smidge complicated. Basically, Sam is sent through time, the other person is sent forward in time. They are perceived by other people (mostly) as the other person – Sam as the leapee, and the leapee as Sam in 1999. Essentially Sam projects an aura of the other person but IS Sam Beckett.
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Sep 23, 2022 04:01
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Oh that's right, OG Quantum Leap did do a ton of using whatever period sets/costumes/etc. other things on the lot had lying around, as I recall. That's a pretty dang smart budget/production move in my opinion, and I could get behind more shows doing that today but I'm sure there's lots of reasons it's no longer really practical to do so. I expect to hold off on checking this out until it gets renewed for another season, and if it doesn't I might check it out someday but it'll be way on the backlog. Of course, if the consensus is that the show quickly starts kicking major butt, I'll be sure to watch it since I have fond memories of watching QL classic during my childhood. Doing more stuff in the present day timeline seems like a sensible choice. I hope the characters in that timeframe react pretty regularly to the insane situations that come up. The original series had all kinds of leaps where it would've been very interesting to see how more people than just AL reacted, though I guess that did happen a little bit here and there and I just don't recall it. I'm also totally fine with them trying to do a series finale that involves some alternate timeline shenanigans and they hold off a Bakula cameo until that moment. I didn't hate the Quantum Leap finale personally, but it seems like it should be very possible to do a satisfying finale to both the original and the reboot at the same time if they write things properly. Of course, chances are they won't really know when they'll be cancelled unless they get great ratings and get to make all their own creative choices.
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Sep 23, 2022 05:11
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I never watched the original show, but I've picked up a few bits and pieces from hearing about it. I assumed this would be a full reboot, to avoid some of the weird and more nonsensical elements, but I guess they decided on doing a sequel instead. I'm sure they have their reasons. One thing I had somehow not picked up on was that it's about time travel. I thought it was alternate universes. Time travel makes it a lot weirder. And am I correct in my understanding (from the first episode of the new show) that doing good deeds is somehow the thing that powers the time jumps? Like, he's not just doing good deeds while he's waiting for the next window of opportunity to move on (because he might as well, having nothing better to do), he actually has to do good deeds or he gets stuck there?  Mooseontheloose posted:Also, I was also working on a write up too and I think you forgot the most important character:
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Sep 23, 2022 11:59
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Why can't this show just be about the leaping? I don't care about all this lab crap with the deeply weird facsimiles of human beings who crack dad jokes about working on time travel HO HO HO. gently caress that shiit, that's scary mannequin behaviour. Drop them all in a volcano. Just give me the leaping, man. 
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Sep 23, 2022 12:08
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Tiggum posted:
They in fact DO ask the other person for information but side effect from the leap on both sides is a swiss cheese memory, so project Quantum Leap often has to jog their memory or use incomplete historical records to fill the gap.
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Sep 23, 2022 12:17
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Tiggum posted:So in Sam's (and presumably also Ben's) place in the present is the person he's currently replacing? So wouldn't that person have appeared in the machine, in the place Sam/Ben left from? If that's the case, can't they talk to the "leapee" to get information? This seems like a pretty huge thing to ignore. They don't ignore it. In fact, they have a name for the place where the leapee waits for Sam to finish his mission, the Waiting Room. Sometimes, Al will tell Sam how the person is doing (if they're freaked out, traumatized, curious, etc.) and if they're talking with Dr. Beeks. One of the best episodes, "Killin' Time", uses the Waiting Room as a plot device.
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Sep 23, 2022 12:47
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Mooseontheloose posted:They in fact DO ask the other person for information but side effect from the leap on both sides is a swiss cheese memory, so project Quantum Leap often has to jog their memory or use incomplete historical records to fill the gap. These shows' writers made so, so many weird choices about how everything works. Edit: Read volts5000's post. I guess the new team still have this "Waiting Room" (prison?) and they just haven't mentioned it yet.
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Sep 23, 2022 12:50
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Tiggum posted:
I'm sure they'll get around to it. It was an important part of the mechanics in the original.
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Sep 23, 2022 12:54
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Tiggum posted:
Oh buddy, just wait until you hear about Season 5 and leaping into a vampire(maybe? but also yes). Or, I guess whichever early season Sam leap's into a monkey. Despite these often weird and corny conceits, the show is actually really good and has some surprising pathos to it.
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Sep 23, 2022 12:55
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The key is realizing that the science fiction is there in service to an extremely wholesome and well-done iteration of the “traveling do-gooder helps people in trouble through understanding and a little light comedy” genre. The old show really understood the ratio of scifi to drama. It almost seems like the new show got it exactly backwards. If Bakula can’t come back, they should get Bruce McGill to reprise his role.
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Sep 23, 2022 13:20
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I still haven't forgiven the original series for naming the pilot episode, where Sam leaps into the body of a pilot, Genesis.
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Sep 23, 2022 13:25
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The Quantum Leap season 1 - 4 theme is still pretty classic too.
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Sep 23, 2022 14:28
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I'm a mega fan of Quantum Leap. The intro "Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime..." is something I can recite pretty much verbatim and frequently do while I'm drinking with friends. It's my only talent.
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Sep 23, 2022 18:31
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Do we know if the end of episode leaps are the actual plot of the next episode? Or are they kind of using it as a funny end stinger thing?
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Sep 26, 2022 01:29
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Kingtheninja posted:Do we know if the end of episode leaps are the actual plot of the next episode? Or are they kind of using it as a funny end stinger thing? If they follow the OG formula they'll be the next episode, but there's often a fake out. Like I 100% expect the next episode where he leapt into a Space Shuttle pilot to reveal it was actually a training exercise, despite the footage of the shuttle going off.
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Sep 26, 2022 01:36
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I'm hoping for very realistic/expensive theme park with a high fidelity shuttle ride.
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Sep 26, 2022 02:19
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Tiggum posted:I never watched the original show, but I've picked up a few bits and pieces from hearing about it. I assumed this would be a full reboot, to avoid some of the weird and more nonsensical elements, but I guess they decided on doing a sequel instead. I'm sure they have their reasons. I would definitely check out the original show. It's free on Peacock and maybe a couple other places. Anyway, a few things for the old series that might help. It's mentioned a few times, but his leaping out is not conditional on whether he is successful on righting the wrong. It's also mentioned in the very first episode, throughout the rest of the series, and very explicitly in the finale, that God is the one who controls the leaps. God is the one sending him where he needs to be. In the new series, they say it's a computer glitch that does it, which is an odd change and I'm not sure why they did that. Also, in the original series, that computer, Ziggy, is gendered as female, but male in the new series. Not sure on that change either. edit: Something else to note for the new series is that Ernie Hudson's character, Herbert Williams, is a legacy character. Sam leaps into him in S03E01, which is a great episode and a key one for both Sam and Al's characters. They haven't mentioned this in the series but I hope they around to it sometime. As for the new show, it's fine? Too early to decide since they apparently switched show runners. The supporting cast is good, but Ian (or Ernie Hudson) should absolutely be the observer. Addison is just kinda...meh. Not a fan of the mystery box thing either. Totally not needed. Also the use of non-diegetic tunes from the era is a little sloppy. The original show did a great job using tunes correctly and would always find a way to make them diegetic. I want the show to be good so here's hoping. Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Sep 26, 2022 |
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Sep 26, 2022 03:01
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Jose Oquendo posted:
There is enough there with the cast that I am willing to give this first season a try. The episode I thought found its footing once it ditched the expositional future. While I am here looking through the list of Classic QL episodes you should check out either cause they are good, fun, or mythology related: 1. Genesis Part 1 and 2 - lays down the ground work for the series. 2. So Help Me God - A well acted courtroom drama about race in America 3. Catch a Falling Star - Watch Scott Bakula do Man of LaMancha and give the show its key dynamic. 4. M.I.A - watched this one unspoiled. 5. The Leap Home 1 and 2 - Sam returns to his hometown and gets a chance to save his brother in 'Nam 6. Black on White Fire - Set during the Watts Riots, gut punch ending. 7. Future Boy - Just a fun little episode with some family drama. 8. The Leap Back - Sam comes home 9. A Leap For Lisa - Sam meets Al's younger self 10. Lee Harvey Oswald - Listen, I like this episode and I think its worth watching. It gives a bit more sober look at the JFK Assassination. 11. Mirror Image - the series finale of the show that left a lot of fans sad. I think there are more good to great episodes of QL but I think this gives good taste of the show. I may be light a few action adventure-y episodes but for the most part this gives you a good feel for the show.
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Sep 26, 2022 15:00
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Mooseontheloose posted:There is enough there with the cast that I am willing to give this first season a try. The episode I thought found its footing once it ditched the expositional future. Future Boy is pretty good and the ending is fairly important to the QL story. Good Morning, Peoria is a good one too. Uses a lot of classic pop hits from the late 50's. Also features a cameo by Chubby Checkers Jimmy. This is the one where the meme comes from (you know the one I'm talking about) Animal Frat. Basically a parody of Animal House. The Boogieman. A good spooky episode with a few twists I don't want to spoil for anyone.
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Sep 26, 2022 15:19
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Medullah posted:I'm a mega fan of Quantum Leap. The intro "Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime..." is something I can recite pretty much verbatim and frequently do while I'm drinking with friends. It's my only talent. One: no use of the theme song at all. Two: The CSI lab team. Three: How visually boring everything was. I mean, come on! Compare Al's suits and his Handlink: volts5000 posted:Admiral Al Calavicci  Speaking of Addison, I'd gamble that during writing they named her Allison so she could be "Al" but then decided to just alter it to Addison so it wasn't that.
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Sep 26, 2022 17:19
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Yes! That's one of those things I thought about but I figured it was me being an old man screaming at clouds. But yeah, set the show 'in the future' like the original. Everything about the new QL lab was lame and boring visually. Also, is the new lab still in the desert? I can't remember. Some of the stuff in the show confuses me as to whether or not the writers watched the old show or just read the wikipedia entries. edit: Someone in the gen chat thread said the new show is Quantum Leap by way of CSI and that's loving spot-on. Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Sep 26, 2022 |
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Sep 26, 2022 17:37
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So what leap was the one that annoyed you guys the most in the OG series? Mine (and my friend group at the time) was 100% the Civil War episode because it trashed the whole premise of QL's "String Theory", DNA be damned
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Sep 26, 2022 17:48
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Mooseontheloose posted:There is enough there with the cast that I am willing to give this first season a try. The episode I thought found its footing once it ditched the expositional future. My favorite lore-related episode is "Killin Time", season 5 episode 5. Sam leaps into a killer whose been tracked down by the police and is holding two people hostage. What makes matters worse is that the guy he leaps into escapes from the waiting room back at the project and Sam can't leap until the killer is back in the waiting room. Since Al is hunting for the killer in present day, Gooshie has to be Sam's hologram for the episode. It really explores the mechanics of the project and creates really good tension for Sam and the hostages. Medullah posted:So what leap was the one that annoyed you guys the most in the OG series? Mine (and my friend group at the time) was 100% the Civil War episode because it trashed the whole premise of QL's "String Theory", DNA be damned That didn't bother me too much. I thought it was sufficiently handwaved by technobabble (or maybe I'm just easily suckered by technobabble). The episode that annoys me the most is "Thou Shalt Not", season 2 episode 7. Sam leaps into a rabbi to save his brother's trouble marriage, and that's it. Nothing interesting happens at all. Neither Sam or Al reflect on or relate to the conflict. There's no project related stuff happening. The stakes don't seem that high. It's literally "Sam has to make the rabbi's brother give a poo poo about his marriage so his wife won't cheat." Even the most bog standard episodes give you something memorable. Sam coming in to save the day at the last minute. Sam monologuing some unforgettable words of wisdom. Al telling a personal story that makes what's happening relatable. This episode has none of that.
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Sep 26, 2022 18:18
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volts5000 posted:My favorite lore-related episode is "Killin Time", season 5 episode 5. Sam leaps into a killer whose been tracked down by the police and is holding two people hostage. What makes matters worse is that the guy he leaps into escapes from the waiting room back at the project and Sam can't leap until the killer is back in the waiting room. Since Al is hunting for the killer in present day, Gooshie has to be Sam's hologram for the episode. It really explores the mechanics of the project and creates really good tension for Sam and the hostages. "I can spell them all in Latin for you if you'd like." Also the worst leap is the one where he leaps into a monkey.
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Sep 26, 2022 18:26
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Mooseontheloose posted:"I can spell them all in Latin for you if you'd like." "When's the last time you met an illiterate speed-reader?" The monkey leap definitely isn't my favorite, either. Jose Oquendo posted:Yes! That's one of those things I thought about but I figured it was me being an old man screaming at clouds. If an episodic style show like Quantum Leap were translated for modern times, I guess it would look similar to CSI/NCIS/etc. I'm not exactly complaining about it, but we'll see how it looks style-wise going forward
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Sep 26, 2022 18:39
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Personal fun episode of mine is the kid who gets abducted and I think originally people thought he disappeared because of dnd? Or whatever they called dnd in the show, it was just funny seeing that.
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Sep 26, 2022 19:40
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I personally don't like the Evil Leaper episodes. While the actual other leaper is a decent character, the entire storyline cements in the "It's not 'God or Fate or Time or whatever,' it's literally christian Heaven and Hell" thing.
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Sep 27, 2022 00:04
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Reo posted:I personally don't like the Evil Leaper episodes. While the actual other leaper is a decent character, the entire storyline cements in the "It's not 'God or Fate or Time or whatever,' it's literally christian Heaven and Hell" thing. There is a kernel of a good idea in there, in that Alia isn't actually a bad person she just (presumably) took the job because she had no other choice and was forced into it. The Evil QL project actors are all pretty hammy in the best ways though. Edit: Also petition to change the thread title to Quantum Leap: *turns off monitor* oh, boy. Mooseontheloose fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Sep 27, 2022 |
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Sep 27, 2022 00:32
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volts5000 posted:Ziggy One of my favorite props ever. It looks like they just took a bunch of see-through Legos and mashed them together haphazardly. I haven't checked out the new show but watching old re-runs of Quantum Leap was one of my favorite things growing up.
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Sep 27, 2022 01:03
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StarkRavingMad posted:One of my favorite props ever. It looks like they just took a bunch of see-through Legos and mashed them together haphazardly. I haven't checked out the new show but watching old re-runs of Quantum Leap was one of my favorite things growing up. When I was 10, I actually cut out pieces of cardboard, colored them, and glued them to a backing piece to make my own handlink.
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Sep 27, 2022 02:01
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StarkRavingMad posted:One of my favorite props ever. It looks like they just took a bunch of see-through Legos and mashed them together haphazardly. I haven't checked out the new show but watching old re-runs of Quantum Leap was one of my favorite things growing up. It was a great aesthetic choice because Ziggy feels like she is barely working.
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Sep 27, 2022 02:07
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I just can’t get into the aesthetic of the new show. The camera’s always moving and every scene is chopped into weird back-and forth angles. Just let there be a scene that goes 50 seconds without cutting and has two characters in the same shot while they talk to each other! And even the space shuttle is lit like a night club at sunset.
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Sep 27, 2022 03:11
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ahhh they're doing the 'SECRETS!!" thing that every dumb CW show does. Jose Oquendo fucked around with this message at 03:27 on Sep 27, 2022 |
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Sep 27, 2022 03:18
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Its funny, once they get into the heart of the leaps, the show works. I wouldn't mind QL control as much if they had an idea to do something interesting with it.
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Sep 27, 2022 03:24
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I'm liking the new show a good bit, but I do think it'd be better if it focused on the, you know, Leaps, more and less on the modern-day storyline.
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Sep 27, 2022 11:27
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Tiggum posted:Edit: Read volts5000's post. I guess the new team still have this "Waiting Room" (prison?) and they just haven't mentioned it yet. volts5000 posted:I'm sure they'll get around to it. It was an important part of the mechanics in the original. It was in an interview a while back, but they're omitting the Waiting Room from the new show. I don't know if they explained exactly why it but I imagine among other things the increased role of the current day setting would have made it harder to shove off to the side than it was in the original.
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Sep 27, 2022 11:56
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It’s an odd choice, because the waiting room is like the most reasonable excuse to have the ongoing modern day scenes.
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Sep 27, 2022 14:55
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