Talk:Quantum Leap (1989 TV series)/Archive 1

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Archive 1 Archive 2

Criticism

I'm not personally understanding why the "frequent critics" don't understand that just understanding a language would not allow you to fit into a foriegn culture... Seems like Sam had enough trouble instantly assimilating and faking identities without having to do it in a completely unfamiliar country, even if he did know the language (not to mention the problem of dialects). 24.130.61.61 03:39, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

New article

Thanks for creating the new article Quantum Leap. It is probably a good idea to make sure the names of different articles differ in more than just capitalization. If there's already an article on the phrase Quantum leap, then a new article on the T.V. show should probably be called something like Quantum Leap (tv series) rather than just Quantum Leap. This is the way some other TV articles have been named, and it's less likely to confuse people.--LC

Vaguely possible, but there is an obvious note at the bottom of each page linking to the other uses if someone gets lost. Use of parenthetical disambiguation should only be used when two terms share the same name and capitalization and there are no valid alternates that can be used. This is to ensure easy linking from within other articles so that somebody does not have to write [[Quantum Leap (tv series)|Quantum Leap]] each and every time they want to link to that article -- this would only tend to discourage participation on related articles. Use of the the physics term With Capital Leters Looks Rather Silly And Is Incorrect English Unless You Are Talking About A Proper Noun -- such as the television program. So a disambiguation page at either capitalization would not be appropriate because they mean different things with different capitalization. Therefore there should not be much confusion. --maveric149

Samuel Beckett

I wonder, does anyone know why the character was given such an odd name? That is, why does he share his name with Samuel Beckett? It seems certain to be intentional. Matthew Platts 14:39, 26 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Project Quantum Leap

Wasn't it Sam that started the project, and then took Al on, effectively saving his life? I seem to recall this being explained. Something about Sam finding Al attacking a vending machine, being just angry at just life in general, and so forth... Ereinion June 30, 2005 09:21 (UTC)

That is the general gist of it, though I can't recall if the vending machine story is right. --24.177.143.86 02:07, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
Yes if I remember correctly, Al had a fight with (Tina) I believe and Sam found him Drunk and kicking a vending machine becouse it ate his money. --Chad 06:24, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

A minor correction

In regards to the line: "However, throughout the series, it has been found that animals and young children can see Al." Mentally unbalanced/disturbed people can see Al as well - This was shown in the "Shock Therapy" episode, if memory serves. (an anonymous lurker)

Al mentions something about "innocent minds" being able to see him in the episode Last Dance Before An Execution during the church scene with the little girl. I don't remember the exact quote, but it basically comes down to children, animals, and a few select others like the mental institute paitents. Glendale2x 06:46, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

The 'leapee'

One issue that never seemed to be explained in the show is what happens with the person who switched places with Sam returns to their own time and place. Do they remember everything Sam did as though they had done it? Or do they run around ranting about suddenly appearing in some waiting room, and spending several days there? Emcee2k 00:03, November 5, 2005 UTC

We've heard from Al that they show are in the waiting room while Sam is in their life. But you do have a good question. I think that it would take a trip to the same place and time to ask said person. I know there were some episodes where Sam was in the same time and place as a different person, but was this ever brought up? Val42 00:27, 5 November 2005 (UTC)

Donald P. Bellisario stated in a Q & A that they all publish reports on their UFO abpuctions. This may have been stated jokingly, but this was actually played up in at least a couple of episodes so it may able to be accepted as a fact within the show. In "Roberto!", knowing that he will leap soon, Sam tells his host's audience that his next show will be about his alien abduction experience. In another, "Star Light, Star Bright", he's lept into an old man who believes in UFOs and Al makes mention on how in the waiting room, the old man is convinced that he's been abducted. But I recall, though I don't specifically know where (though I think this was in "A Leap for Lisa"), that like Sam, the leapees have switch-cheese memories and so their memories of that time are not whole or well-remembered by the person. I think it's the time-travel experience because in "The Leap Back", Sam's memory of the present was starting to return while his time in leaping was fading, and it's implied at the end that Sam's memory during his return to leaping has been reverted to as it was before. --Bacteria 09:57, 6 November 2005 (UTC)

Reference the Mafia episode in season one. Sam leaps from one person to another in the same place - and the person doesn't seem to suddenly go, "Dude, where was I?". Most of the speculation I've seen says the people leaping remember enough of the interim to keep their memories intact without any accompanying "weirdness". Kimpire

It says "Containing all of the episodes as they originally aired (except for "Play It Again, Seymour")," since the DVDs I have contain the episode, I assume this means that it was modified somehow. 1. that doesn't seem clear from the way that it is worded 2. If there was indeed a modification, it would be nice to explain what it is. --66.216.68.28 15:40, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

Season 3 Music

I am skeptical about the accuracy of the final sentences in the article: "The 'Quantum Leap: The Complete Third Season' DVD appears to have all of the original songs. However, in the DVD's closed captioning, the song's lyrics aren't shown, implying that the studio may not have had the rights to the lyrics." I was under the assumption that Season 3 had music replacement as well (see http://www.quantumleap-alsplace.com/mediapages/dvdseasonthree.htm). It seems that an older versions of this article (early August 2005) specified that Season 3 also had music replacement. (Interestingly, the Al's Place website also notes that the Season 2, Region 2 DVDs (UK) contain the original music.)--GregRM 00:59, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Just a note for the sake of clarity and completeness: I removed the sentences on Dec. 9, 2005 [1]. I forgot to note this on the Discussion page at the time I made the change.--GregRM 23:41, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

Travel to the Future?

In several places the Quantum Leap Project was described as traveling within one's own lifetime. It is even mentioned in Futureboy and Al's talk to the politicians that the time period used in the project is from birth to death. My question is, did Sam ever leap to his own future? I don't recall that he ever did, and the dates given in the Wikipedia's episode list indicate that he did not. Did they ever explain why? Was this a topic they were going to explore but ran out of time when the series came to an abrupt halt?--71.56.109.16 02:12, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

I believe that this was mentioned during a Q & A and posted on a site that's linked in the article. Without even looking, I can recall one good explanation - that Sam's objective is to fix what once went wrong. Hence the future is not set like the past is. So any work on correcting any "mistakes" in the future would actually not be known as Al and the Project are in the "present," and it'll be impossible to figure out what affect there's been future if it hadn't been written yet. Not to mention that Sam would be clueless as to what to do if he landed in, oh, 2009 because Ziggy would have no record on anything in the period because it hadn't occured yet. I believe that if he landed in the future, he'd be lost in more than one way. In fact, an alternate ending to the last episode (scripted, but not certain that it was filmed), had Al forcing to leap himself in order to find Sam, as he had leapt into the future. Not sure if that's where they were going to, or if this was a tossed away idea dropped for creative reasons. I hope that helps. --Bacteria 03:30, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Otic nerve?

I'm watching the first episode and have already made one edit to multiple paragraphs. I turned on the subtitles for where Al explains to Sam how he (Sam) can see and hear him (Al). I put in the quotation with the spelling as in the subtitles and made approiate links. But I haven't found a definition of "otic" or sound-alike spellings. I'm assuming that it has something to do with hearing (because of context and what it sounds like), so I linked to the appropriate article. But do the subtitles have the wrong word, or is this just a word obscure enough to not be where I've looked so far? Val42 01:19, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

P.S.: Etic is a sound-alike spelling, but the definition doesn't seem appropriate. Val42 01:22, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

No, what it sounds like and what the subtitle says is the same thing: "... optic and otic nerve." I even tried "audic" because that sounds like it is the same root as "audible", etc. "auric" sounds like it could be it, but it means "of, relating to, or derived from gold". "audial" or "aural" have the correct definitions, but what was said isn't close enough to either. What was said definitely sounded like it was the "otic" that they put in the subtitle. Do we change the quotation because Scott Bakula mispronounced it then they mis-subtitled it? I think that we could if we had a script, but short of that, I think that we go with what was said and try to make a correct link. Val42 05:33, 3 January 2006 (UTC)
"Otic" is correct; it's from the Greek root oto-, "ear", as in otolaryngology — the ear, nose and throat speciality. It is a major nerve involved in the reception of hearing. Canonblack 03:39, 12 March 2006 (UTC)
Otic does refer to the ear, but I'm not familiar with an "otic nerve". Perhaps they were trying for CN VIII, the Vestibularcochlear nerve 76.175.176.156 (talk) 07:23, 20 December 2007 (UTC)

DVD music

I'm very new to editing wikipedia articles, so I don't want to this myself in case I'm wrong. Reading the section on DVD music that talks about "those who purchased the set were very happy" and "the most irritating aspect", I get the strong impression that this is one person's personal opinion and/or experience. I don't know all of the rules about NPOV and stuff like that, so somebody who's more experienced than I am should have a look at it and change it if necessary. Kimpire


Criticism

Why is the big section on whether it's Sam's mind or body that leaps under the section on "Criticism"? The show makes it fairly clear that it's his body, not his mind, that leaps, and none of what appears in that section appears to contradict that. Similarly, why is his leap into the younger Al mentioned under there? It has no connection. Kimpire

Added: Heck, pretty much *nothing* under the "Criticism" section is actually critical of the show... it's more like "Liner notes". -Kimpire

- Agreed. The latest ("Sam leaped into Al") is not a criticism... I'm going to RV that. Lordwow 15:16, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

I think the person who did that was looking to put the infromation into different sections (as the Home video section was the only divider at that point). I'm not sure why they chose to put it under that header, but I think it should be renamed, and then do some rearranging of information because it seems kind of like an almost random, albeit informative collection of data right now. --Bacteria 18:35, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Paragraph about leaping outside of Sam's lifetime under Criticism

The section about leaps being outside of Sam's lifetime is presented as a criticism. However, it talks about it "only" happening two times. I would suggest either moving it to the Trivia section or remove the word "only" if it is being presented as a criticism. (I'm not sure which would be more appropriate.)--GregRM 02:05, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Bah. Virtually the entire Criticism section should be renamed "Trivia" or "Show notes". I brought this up a little while back... Heck, I'll give it a few days, if nobody gives a good reason not to by then I'll change the heading :p Kimpire 02:10, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

On a similar note: The entire paragraph that refers to Sam not sending a message back to himself reads like a badly-written fan dissertation. Does it really belong here? Kimpire 02:13, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

Quantum Leap inhabits a different universe

Some mention should be made to this. In the Lee Harvey Oswald episode, Al says that Sam's swiss-cheesed brain doesn't remember that in the original history, JFK's wife was also killed in the assassination, and that Sam leapt in to protect her. Thus, we must be living in the universe which contains only Sam's corrections, and the universe in which the series is set must be an alternate. This would also conform nicely to Hawking's Chronology Protection conjecture: "In layman's terms, anyone travelling into the past would actually travel into the past of an identical and alternate universe; thus, any change they make would not affect the universe they came from (preserving the chronology of subsequent events), but only the alternate universe, where any 'changes' would be part of the original timeline." Discuss. Burns flipper 11:08, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

There are many theories of time travel. Unless it was said in the context of the series, we can't put it in the article. Val42 04:48, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

Changing "Criticism"

A bit of explanation for the changes I'm making now:

1) Because nobody objected, I've changed the heading to "notes". Changing bits of the paragraphs that directly mention "critism" is to make it more in line with the rest of the subject ("one common criticism" instead of "another" because there hadn't been any.)

2) I updated bits about him leaping out of country (it was missing an example). I removed the bit about it having nothing to do with any deity because, even with Al the Bartender, says who?

3) I redid some parts of the "why doesn't Sam contact himself and prevent Quantum Leap from taking place". I took out a lot of the overly-speculative bits, added some of my own, and changed factually-incorrect bits and some bad grammar. The bit about "everyone has to believe Sam is who he is" is proved incorrect in later episodes, such as the one with the psychic and the serial killer in San Francisco (Sam is a TV journalist in the episode; I don't remember the title offhand but it had "Eyes" in it.) I still feel the paragraph should be removed altogether, as it's speculative to the extreme.

4) I moved the brushes-with-history paragraph into the notes section.

If anybody doesn't like something I did, let me know, we can work something out :) Kimpire 21:52, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

How Al sees Sam

Regarding the following paragraph from the "Notes" section:

However, despite the fact that Al usually sees Sam as Sam and not the leapee, there have been instances where Al changes the frequency in the holographic chamber to see Sam as the leapee. This was mostly seen in the episode What Price, Gloria!, where Al becomes smitten with Sam's appearance as a woman.

I could be wrong, but I was under the impression that Al essentially always saw Sam as the person he leaped into. Likewise, I thought the person in the waiting room appeared to be Sam (except to the audience). Can someone who has recently seen the relevant episodes confirm or refute the existing description in the article?--GregRM 23:43, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

I just found this description from Al's Place that seems to clarify the issue somewhat...the relevant questions in the FAQ are #17 and #18. --GregRM 23:51, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

Finale confusion

I recently read an MSN blurb entitled "Lost before 'Lost'" by Robert Isenberg. In the article, the author discusses "Past shows about stranded people and how they got back to civilization." The following quote comes from the paragraph about Quantum Leap: 

    Critically acclaimed and widely beloved, "Quantum Leap" actually
    earned a true finale, when Sam finds his own body, but long 
    before he met his wife and fathered his daughter -- a real 
    shocker for the series' fans.

This description of the finale appears to be at odds with Wikipedia's description. Could someone clarify this for me??

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, to be honest. The reference about how he "finds his own body" maybe related to how he doesn't leap into anyone in the last episode. I'm assuming that the "shocker" is the information given in the last frame, written onscreen, about how it states that Sam never returned home. Not sure what they mean exactly concerning how it occured "long before" his wife and daughter, unless they're talking about an actualised timeline, as the bulk of the episode takes place on Sam's day of birth. At least that's how the finale happened, regardless of how Mr. Isenberg interpreted and/or remembers it. --Bacteria 21:20, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

Comics and Novels?

I remember a series of comics and also some Quantum Leap novels.. could someone add a paragraph talking about them? 203.113.239.139 07:42, 21 May 2006 (UTC) Chad

Actually there was by the Innovation Comics line, which was great they also did adaptations for Lost In Space, and the updated version of Dark Shadows with Ben Cross. What made this comic line stand out over most of its competitors was that some issues were actually hand-painted as opposed to the typical colouring style of comics.

But I digress, the Quantum Leap series was indeed cool because unlike most comic adaptions--where they're usually just a promotional, gimmicky shell of their series--the Innovation version kept the flavour of the episodes where Sam would not only help people from different time zones, but inadvertently help inspire famous people.

For instance, in one episode, Sam leaps into a 1950's bus driver, who has to help a child being abused, and while talking to Al, he uses the famous Ralph Kramden line "Bang, Zoom, To the Moon." Whereas about that time Jackie Gleason and Art Carney are discussing a new project Gleason can use with Carney's "Norton" Character.

Another funny moment is when Sam leaps into a wrongly-accused convict, and in one scene fights off his captors with karate moves, where a young kid watches, and tells his Mom he wants to do that. Whereas she identifies him as "Steven Segall" and informs him not to view that sort of thing. As Sam and Al look dumbfounded by the revelation.

As for the novels, I never read them, but I heard they were made as "filler" episodes to bridge gaps between the TV Series, as well as focus on other characters as well, like the Dark Leap rival of Sam's.

These are only some smatterings of the other media the show was in, hopefully if someone can get some more detailed info on the Innovation Comics and Novel line, you can use some of the info and ensure my recollections are correct, because the line came out about the late-90s, early 2000.Fangarius 02:58, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

I just added a section on the comics, with brief synopses and a cover image. HalJor 01:45, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Season 5 DVD?

Will Season 5 be released on DVD?

Yes, I expect that Season 5 will be released on DVD (in Region 1/US anyway; I don't know about the other regions). Season 4 had a coupon insert for Season 5, which expires Dec. 1, 2006, suggesting that Season 5 will be released before then.--GregRM 22:10, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
I should emphasize however that my expectation is based on the presence of the coupon; other than this, I am not aware of any official announcement or confirmation that it will be released.--GregRM 22:20, 16 June 2006 (UTC)
According to here, amazon.com, and here, the fifth season (Region 1) will be released November 14, 2006.--GregRM 20:54, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

themself

Rather than edit war between a questionable word and an equally questionable phrase ("themself" vs. "them self"), I've changed the wording to use something else entirely: "him- or herself". It's awkward but less so than reverting back and forth between the others. For the record, "themself" has a long history of usage, while "them self" doesn't really make sense (one wouldn't say "him self", "her self", or "one self" in this context). See Singular they. Powers 02:07, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

More corrections

The episode where Sam encounters the Devil is not a dream. Though it shows Sam being knocked unconscious in the beginning, it also shows him covering consciousness shortly thereafter. He defeats the Devil (in his physical manifestation as Al, Sam can hurt him) and leaps back to the beginning of the leap. He successfully saves a man who would have fallen to his death had Sam not known what was going to happen from his encounter with the Devil.

In the episode where Sam encounters Al's wife, Al does not give up trying to change history for his own benefit. Sam makes Al tell him what his true mission is when he realizes that Beth is Al's wife and (inconveniently) remembers that one of the rules of Project Quantum Leap is that its participants will not change history for their own benefit. His swiss-cheese memory prevents him from remembering that he has made changes that personally benefit him such as getting the woman who left him at the alter to marry him.

Though I agree with the claim that God is shown to be controlling the project, I would not say "MIA" supports this. Beth doesn't keep showing up by chance. Al keeps egging Sam on to return to her and not leave her with "that nozzle."

Again, though in general Sam leaps with his body and his mind, "8 1/2 months" is an unclear example because Sam goes into labor. Al refuses to believe this could happen but Sam says, "I'm having this baby!"Zziggyyy 01:57, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Regarding the Devil episode ("Yin and yang...good and bad...God...in the flesh so to speak"), I feel the same way. Sam can touch him, Al even says "Sam, if you can touch him, you can hurt him". It was not a dream, he was just sent back to the beginning. The only question I have is...how does he go back to the beginning? Does God save him, or does some other phenomenon occur? -- RattleMan 05:53, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

Here's a guess. Originally, the Devil made the man fall by appearing as a goat. When Sam defeated the Devil it negated everything the Devil had influenced in connnection to Sam and he leaped back to the time he originally would have. What is unclear is why the man fell anyway, despite the absence of the goat the second time round. Why would the Devil have interfered if it were going to happen without his interference? If we want to get metaphysical about it, maybe this just goes to show that even when the Devil attempts to thwart us, his influence can be transformed into good like he does when he gives Sam the knowledge he needed to successfully save the person.Zziggyyy 03:47, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Adding a new section to the middle of a talk page makes it hard to find. Please place them at the end. Also, please sign your talk posts with ~~~~. Thanks! Powers 14:36, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

The article only states two exceptions to the rule that Sam says "Oh Boy" - I have found a third! In Episode 3 of Season 2, Another Mother, Sam says "I'm a mommy" rather than "oh boy"Sarahjack3011 12:26, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

Year for First Leap

Sorry for my error regarding 1999 vs. 1995 for the year for the first leap, and thanks to Jsteph for correcting and explaining it. I could have sworn there was text saying 1999 at the bottom of the screen for the first scene of the pilot episode, where Al is driving in the "present". However, I rewatched the episode on DVD and saw that it didn't say anything like this. Was there perhaps an episode in a later season where it said 1999 on the screen for a scene in the "present"? (Besides "Mirror Image", the final episode.)--GregRM 00:47, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[2] this FAQ answer explains the dates pretty well. Lordwow 00:50, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

Multiple showings in one week

Someone who remembers the details needs to add an item about this... During the series' original run, it was one of the series chosen by the network to do a ratings-building gimmick in which the repeats were shown EVERY night for a week in the summer (this would have been summer 1988, based on my visual recall of where I was living). This is, incidentally, how I got interested in the show. ABC did a similar thing by showing "Full House" twice a week. Does anyone know of an article on this (type of) gimmick? I can't remember if it had a name; in the case of QL, they may simply have called it "Quantum Leap Week" or something like that. Lawikitejana 18:55, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the debate was Move. Please see Wikipedia:Naming conventions (films) as well as precedents like Pulp Fiction (film). Duja► 09:24, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Quantum Leap → Quantum Leap (TV series) — Distinguish from a Quantum leap. Also the original page, if it is so should redirect to the one with the small l. Quantum Leap (TV series) is a redirect Simply south 14:41, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Survey

Add  * '''Support'''  or  * '''Oppose'''  on a new line followed by a brief explanation, then sign your opinion using ~~~~.

  • Support. Absolutely. This is standard naming procedure which reduces confusion. Rarr 19:47, 26 October 2006 (UTC)
  • Support per above.--Húsönd 14:52, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose -- completely unnecessary disambiguation, since we have hatnotes at each article. Powers T 02:11, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose, per LtPowers. Shannernanner 07:46, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
  • Oppose. I don't see why a dab is needed. Vegaswikian 07:34, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

Add any additional comments:

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Move: why?

Nice to see my thoughts were taken into account with the move. Though I have to ask, if Quantum Leap now redirects to Quantum Leap (TV series), what the heck was the point of the move? The original proposal was to have Quantum Leap redirect to Quantum leap, which would at least have been grounds for moving. Powers T 03:11, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

If anyone is interested, i have now put this up on the Quantum Leap talk page. Simply south 17:21, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
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