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Quantum Leap episode guide plus commonly asked que
Article 10605 (286 more) in rec.arts.sf-lovers:
From: [email protected] (Deborah Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv,rec.arts.sf-lovers
[m[ASubject: [4mQL Episode list[m
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 15 Mar 91 02:29:51 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Computer Consoles Inc. an STC Company, Rochester, NY
Lines: 640
Keywords: second attempt
Here's another one that was eaten by the spool this morning.
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Quantum Leap episode guide
First year:
Pilot Movie (aka "Genesis")
Sept 13, 1956
Air Date: March 26, 1989
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: David Hemmings
Guest Cast: Jennifer Runyon, John Allen Nelson, W.K. Stratton, Newell Alexander,
Lee DeBroux, Larry Pondexter, Bruce McGill
Although the project isn't ready yet, Sam hops into the Accelerator and leaps.
When he wakes up, his memory is nearly completely gone, with only enough shreds
left to tell him he is not where or when he belongs. Al appears and informs him
that he's part of a time travel experiment that went "a little caca" in that
they cannot retrieve Sam. By surviving flying the X-2 to mach 3, he should
accomplish what was required to return. Instead, he saves the pilot's wife and
child, and ends up on a baseball team in Texas. He makes the winning play to
leap, but only after some spectacular emotional stuff.
Star Crossed
June 15, 1972
Air Date: March 31, 1989
Writer:Deborah Pratt
Director: Mark Sobel
Guest Cast: Teri Hatcher, Leslie Sachs, Michael Gregory, Michael McGrady
As a sleazy literature prof at the college attended by his one true love, Sam
has to stop a coed from attaching to the prof and ruining her life. The Project
committee tries to remove Al for helping him find the background required to
hopefully save his own love life, by reuniting his ex-fiancee with her father.
The Right Hand of God
Oct 24, 1974
Air Date: April 7, 1989
Writer: John Hill
Director: Gilbert Shilton
Guest Cast: Guy Stockwell, Michelle Joyner, Teri Copley, Alex Colon, Nancy Culp
Having leaped into a boxer on the take, Sam has to win the championship to fund
a new church for his trainers, a group of nuns. Al is battling a neighbor's
late-night engine repair, and Sam faces the bookie who counts on him to
take a dive in the final bout. With the help of several trainers, streaking,
and Al's appearance in the ring to guide his punches, Sam wins the bout and
finances the chapel.
How the Tess Was Won
Aug 5, 1956
Air Date: April 14, 1989
Writer: Deborah Arakelian
Director: Ivan Dixon
Guest Cast: Lance DeGault, Kari Lizer, Marshall R. Teague, Scott Fults
A veterinarian in rural Texas, Sam has to save the life of a piglet and contest
for the hand in marriage of the heiress to a large ranch. Sabotaged by a
jealous ranch hand, he doesn't succeed in capturing the female, although he
saves the pig, and leaps when he assists another character with a task they are
performing.
Double Identity
Nov 8, 1965
Air Date: April 21, 1989
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Aaron Lipstadt
Guest Cast: Terri Garber, Michael Genovese, Joe Santos, Tom Silardi, Page
Moseley, Nick Cassavetes
As a mafia hitman named Frankie, Sam's goal is unclear and Ziggy provides a list
of instructions to be followed which result in the great east coast black out.
Sam believes he knows what he's there for when he transfers into the body of the
mafia don who has been jealously keeping Frankie's girlfriend from seeing anyone
but himself. Setting up the mariage to Frankie and publicly announcing it at
a local church puts him in position to call the correct number in a bingo game,
his cue to leap.
The Color of Truth
Aug 8, 1955
Air Date: May 3, 1989
Writer: Deborag Pratt
Director: Michael Vijar
Guest Cast: Susan French, Royce D. Applegate, Michael D. Roberts, James
Ingersoll, Kimberly Bailey
In the body of an aging black man, Sam faces discrimination in the South. His
unconscious actions motivated by his own belief in equality cause a violent
reaction and force one of the pillars of the community to change her own views
on racism and the futility of trying to change what's wrong.
Camikazi Kid
June 6, 1961
Air Date: May 10, 1989
Writer: Paul Brown
Director: Alan J. Levi
Guest Cast: Romy Windsor, Kevin Blair, Robert Costanzo, Holly Fields, Jason
Priestly, Richard McGonagle, Janet Carroll
A high school nerd, Sam's new persona is required to stop the marriage of his
sister to an abusive drinker, with the wedding only three days away. He
succeeds by drag racing the prospective husband, beating him with a car that
couldn't have won without nitrous oxide and showing the slimeball's true
tendencies.
Play It Again, Seymour
April 4, 1953
Air Date: May 17, 1989
Writer: Teleplay - Scott Shepard & Donald P. Bellisario
Story - Tom Blomquist, Scott Shepard, Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Aaron Lipstadt
Guest Cast: Claudia Christian, Wilie Garson, Paul Linke
His looks could double for Humphrey Bogart, and Sam is a private investigator
looking for the murderer of his partner and (if he doesn't find the answer in
time) himself. The case is solved with a great deal of Casablanca references,
but Sam launches a new pulp novelist along the way.
Second Year:
(Pilot episode was trimmed to 90 minutes and repeated on September 13, 1989)
Honeymoon Express
April 27, 1960
Air Date: September 20, 1989
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Aaron Lipstadt
Guest Cast: Alice Adair, Mathieu Carriere, Hank Rolike, Warren Frost, James
Mastrantanio
A cop on his honeymoon, Sam is to save his own life from the jealous
ex-husband, a true sociopath. At the same time, the Project's funding request
is in jeopardy from the future and Sam's inability to stop the U2 flight from
being shot down seems to spell the end of Al's visits.
Disco Inferno
April 1, 1976
Air Date: September 27, 1989
Writer: Paul Brown
Director: Gilbert Shilton
Guest Cast: Michael Greene, Kris Kamm, Kelli Williams, Peter Onorato, Arnetia
Walker
As a stuntman, Sam is to save the life of his persona's younger brother, and
he also has to influence the obsessive father of the pair to allow the
younger son to go his own way, into c&w music rather than stuntwork.
The Americanization of Machiko
August 4, 1953
Air Date: October 11, 1989
Writer: Charlie Coffey
Director: Gilbert Shilton
Guest Cast: K Callan, Wayne Tippit, Leila Hee Olsen, Elena Stiteler,
Patrick Massett
As a sailor returning from Japan, Sam brings a foreign wife to a small town,
then has to fight against the predjudice of both a scheming former lover and
his "mother" to gain acceptance for the Japanese bride.
What Price Gloria?
October 16, 1961
Air Date: October 25, 1989
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: Alan J. Levi
Guset Cast" Jean Sagal, John Calvin
In his first sojourn as a female, Sam is a gorgeous secretary and has to cope
with sexual harassment by the boss, a suicide attempt by the roommate, and the
effect his looks have on Al's natural tendencies.
Blind Faith
February 6, 1964
Air Date: November 1, 1989
Writer: Scott Shepherd
Director: David J. Phinney
Guest Cast: ACynthia Bain, Hennnifer Rhodes, Kevin Skousen
Although Sam can still see, the concert pianist he leaps into is blind, but
an exploding flashbulb ruins Sam's sight just when he has to save "his"
girlfriend from a serial killer.
Good Morning, Peoria
September 9, 1959
Air Date: November 8, 1989
Writer: Chris Ruppenthal
Director: Michael Zinberg
Guest Cast: Patricia Richardson, Richard McKenzie, Todd Merrill, Chubby
Checker
Rock 'n' Roll is just about to become very big, but it won't be in Peoria
unless the DJ Sam leaped into can keep the station he's employed at from
being shut doen by overly conservative town elders.
Thou Shalt Not ...
February 2, 1974
Air Date: November 15, 1989
Writer: Tammy Ader
Director: Randy Roberts
Guest Cast: James Sutorius, Terri Hanauer, Lindsay Fisher, Russ Tamblyn
Jill Jacobson
Sam's task as a rabbi is to keep "his" brother's wife from ruining her life
by falling for a sleazoid author's seduction, and then to help the family
begin getting over the year-old death of their son.
Jimmy
October 14, 1964
Air Date: November 22, 1989
Writer: Paul M. Belous & Robert Wolterstorff
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.
Guest Cast: John DiAquino, Laura Harrington, Michael Alldredge, Ryan McWhorter,
Michael Madsen
Mainstreaming the mentally retarded isn't a popular concept yet, and Sam's job
is to gain acceptance for the "slow' young man he's leaped into so that he
doesn't end up back in the institution.
So Help Me God
May 29, 1957
Air Date: November 29, 1989
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: Andy Cadiff
Guest Cast: Byrne Piven, Tyra Ferrell, Kathleen Noone, Ketty Lester, John
Apicella, Stacy Ray, John Shepard, William Schallert
While he can't even remember much of Perry Mason, Sam finds himself the lawyer
defending a young woman accused of killing the son of the most powerful man in a
small Louisiana town.
Catch A Falling Star
May 21, 1979
Air Date: December 6, 1989
Writer: Paul Brown
Director: Donald P. Bellisario
Guest Case: John Cullum, Michele Pawk, Janine Turner, Ernie Sabella, Paul Sand
Sam leaps into the understudy for the role of Cervantes seconds before curtain
time. His mission: prevent the drunken star from falling and seriously injuring
himself during one of the performances of Man of LaMancha. Sam isn't helped by
the fact that he meets his old piano teacher he had a crush on at the age of
fifteen, and the star also has his eye on her.
A Portrait for Troian
February 7, 1971
Air Date: December 13, 1989
Writer: Teleplay: Scott Shepherd & Donald P. Bellisario
Story: John Hill & Scott Shepherd
Director:Michael Zinberg
Guest Cast: Deborah Pratt, Robert Torto, Carolyn Seymour
Sam goes totally Johnathan MacKenzie and has to keep a beautiful young widow
from joining her husband at the bottom of a lake, while proving she's being
gaslighted by her younger brother who's been spending her money.
Animal Frat
October 19, 1969
Air Date: January 3, 1990
Writer: Chris Ruppenthal
Director: Gilbert Shilton
Guest Cast: Stacy Edwards, Raphael Sbarge, Darren Dalton, Brian Haley,
Stuart Fratkin, Robert Petkoff, Edward Edwards
Trapped in the body of "Wild Thing", a typical frat jock, Sam still has to
win the confidence of a campus radical in time to stop her before she blows
up the chemistry building as a protest against the war in viet Nam.
Another Mother
September 30, 1981
Air Date: January 10, 1990
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: Joseph L. Scanlan
Guest Cast: Michael Stoyanov, Olivia Burnette, Troian Bellisario, Allison
Barron, Andrew Held, Larron Tate, Kevin Telles, Eric Welch, Terrence Evans
Michael Kemmerling
Playing the divorced mother of three, Sam's job of keeping the teenage son
from disappearing, supposedly as a runaway, is made more interesting by the
youngest daughter being able to see both him as he really is, and Al.
All-Americans
November 6, 1962
Air Date: January 17, 1990
Writer: Paul Brown & Donald P. Bellisario
Director: John Cullum
Guest Cast: Richard Cocoa, Ruth Britt, Pepe Serna, Fausto Bara, Robert
Benedetti
Keeping "his" best friend from throwing the high school championship football
game, which would lose them both their scholarship offers, Sam also gets the
two families to consolidate.
Her Charm
September 26, 1973
Air Date: February 7, 1990
Writer: Teleplay: Deborah Pratt & Donald P Bellisario
Story: Paul M. Belous, Robert Wolterstorff, Deborah Pratt, Donald
P Bellisario
Director: Chris Welch
Guest Cast: Teri Austin, Stanely Brock, John Snyder, Rene Assa, John Shepherd,
Trying to protect a woman witness from a mob hit is not so easy when the FBI
agent Sam replaces has been informing the killers on where to find their prey.
Freedom
November 11, 1970
Air Date: February 14, 1990
Writer: Chris Ruppenthal
Director: Alan J. Levi
Guest Cast: Frank Sotonoma Salsedo, Leon Rippy, Gloria Hayes, Tom Everett
Instead of saving his grandfather's life, Sam has to escape from jail and elude
the sheriffs long enough to get them both to the reservation so that the old
man can die at home.
Good Night, Dear Heart
November 9, 1957
Air Date: March 7, 1990
Writer: Paul Brown
Director: Christopher T. Welch
Guest Cast: William Cain, Marcia Cross, Robert Duncan McNeill, Deborah Strang,
W.K. Stratton
Rather than saving the damsel of the episode, who supposedly committed suicide,
Sam is the coroner trying to prove that she was murdered and find out by whom.
Pool Hall Blues
September 4, 1954
Air Date: March 14, 1990
Writer: Randy Holland
Director: Joe Napolitano
Guest Cast: Shari Headley, J.W. Smith, Teddy Wilson, Ken Force, Robert Gossett
To save the small bar run by his granddaughter, as well as keep her from a fate
worse than death at the hands of the loan shark holding a note on the place,
Sam has to play professional pool.
Leaping In Without a Net
November 18, 1958
Air Date: March 28, 1990
Writer: Tommy Thompson
Director: Christopher T. Welch
Guest Cast: Jan Triska, Fabiana Udenio, Richard Riehle, Phil Fondacaro
Sam remembers he's afraid of heights when he leaps into a trapeze artist whose
sister wants him to catch her when she does a triple without a net. Dad is not
enthused, as this is exactly how mom bought it some years back.
Maybe Baby
March 11, 1963
Air Date: April 4, 1990
Writer: Paul Brown, Julie Brown
Director: Michale Zinberg
Guest Cast: Julie Brown, Jimmy Ray Weeks, Travis McKenna, Cathy McAuley, Charles
Frank
Babysitting both a kidnapped tot and a flakey, compulsively lying stripper keep
Sam busy, as they cross Texas on the run from the legal father and a squad of
cops.
Sea Bride
June 3, 1955
Air Date: May 2, 1990
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: Joe Napolitano
Guest Cast: Beverly Leech, John Hertzler, James Harper, Patricia Harty
On board an ocean liner, Sam must stop the marriage of a young man's ex-wife
to a mobster. In the process, he finds himself in one heck of a mess in the
ship's garbage compartment.
M.I.A.
April 1, 1969
Air Date: May 9. 1990
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Michael Zinberg
Guest Cast: Jason Beghe, Susan Diol, Norman Large, Pat Skipper, William
Shockley, Sierra Pecheur, Letitia Vasquez, Dan Ziskie
When Sam leaps into the life of an undercover cop, Al tells him that his
mission is to convince a navy nurse that her MIA husband is still alive,
and to prevent her from marrying the lawyer she meets on the day Sam leaps
in. A series of coincedences causes Sam to wonder about the true nature
of his mission.
Third Year:
The Leap Home
November 25, 1969
Air Date: September 28, 1990
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director: Joe Napolitano
Guest Cast: Scott Bakula, David Newsom, Olivia Burnette, Hannah Cutrona,
Mai-Lis Kuniholm, Caroline Kava
Sam finds himself as himself at the age of 16 with the opportunity to both
win the high school basketball championship and save his family from their
sad fates.
The Leap Home, Part II (Vietnam)
April 7, 1970
Air Date: October 5, 1990
Writer: Donald P. Bellisario
Director:
Guest Cast: David Newsom, Andrea Thompson, Ernie Lively, David Hayward, Tia
Carrere, Adam Nelson, Patrick Warburton, Ryan Reid, Rich Whiteside
Finding himself as a Navy SEAL in his brother Tom's squad, Sam has to determine
whether he is to save his brother or ensure the success of the mission on
which his brother was killed.
Leap of Faith
August 19, 1963
Air Date: October 12, 1990
Writer: Teleplay: Tommy Thompson
Story: Nick Harding & Karen Hall and Tommy Thompson
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.
Guest Cast: Sandy McPeak, Danny Nucci, Davey Roberts, Erica Yohn, Penny
Stanton
Sam finds himself in one holy mess as a priest in Philadelphia, trying to
help an alcoholic priest deal with a killer and the death of a young
parishoner.
One Strobe Over the Line
June 15, 1965
Air Date: October 19, 1990
Writer: Chris Ruppenthal
Director: Michael Zinberg
Guest Cast: Marjorie Monaghan, Susan Anton, Kristoffer Tabori, David Sheinkompf,
Robert Trumbull
Sam is a photographer, and a fashion model's growing dependence on amphet-
amines is Sam's concern on this leap, as he must protect her from a predatory
manager's ambition.
The Boogieman
October 31, 1964
Air Date: October 26, 1990
Writer: Chris Ruppenthal
Director: Joe Napolitano
Guest Cast: Valerie Mahaffey, Paul Linke, Fran Ryan, David Kriegel, Donald
Hotton
Things do more than go "Bump in the Night" when Sam leaps into a horror
novelist on Halloween. Ziggy is no help in figuring out what he is there
to accomplish and things just get curiouser and curiouser.
Miss Deep South
June 7, 1958
Air Date: November 2, 1990
Writer: Tommy Thompson
Director: Christopher Welch
Guest Cast: Heather McAdam, Nancy Stafford, David A. Brooks, Julie Ann Lowery,
Hugh Gillin
As a contestant in the "Miss Deep South" beauty pageant, Sam finds himself
coming to the aid of an innocent contender who faces disgrace after posing
for naughty pictures taken by a sleazy pageant photographer.
Black On White On Fire
August 11, 1965
Air Date: November 9, 1990
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: Joe Napolitano
Guest Cast: Gregory Millar, Corie Henninger, Sami Chester, Ron Taylor, Marc
Alaimo, Laverne Anderson, CCH Pounder
Sam leaps into a black med student engaged to a white woman. His mission:
to ensure he and his fiancee survive the Watts riot together.
The Great Spontini
May 9, 1974
Air Date: November 16, 1990
Writer: Christy Dawson, Beverly Bridges
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.
Guest Cast: Amy Steel, Erich Anderson, Lauren Woodland, Michael Fairman
When he leaps into amateur magician Harry Spontini, Sam has to prevent
Spontini's long lost wife from taking his daughter away from him and possibly
effect a reconciliation.
Rebel Without a Clue
September 1, 1958
Air Date: November 30, 1990
Writer: Teleplay by RAndy Holland and Paul Brown, Story by Nick Harding and
Paul Brown
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.
Guest Cast: Josie Bissett, Dietrich Bader, Teddy Wilson, Michael Bryan French,
Scott Kraft, Mark Boone Junior, Joshua Cadman
As a motorcycle gang member named "Bones", Sam finds himself an uneasy rider
who has to prevent a Keroac-inspired young woman from meeting her death on
the road.
A Little Miracle
December 24, 1962
Air Date: December 21, 1990
Writer: Teleplay: Sandy Fries and Robert A. Wolterstorff
Story: Sandy Fries
Director: MIchael Watkins
Guest Cast: Charles Rocket, Melinda McGraw, Robert Lesser, Tom McTigue
It's Christmas Eve, and Sam has to play valet Pierson to a wealthy developer
who is in danger of losing his soul if he succeeds in demolishing a mission
to build his "Blake's Plaza". Seeing the similarity to the character, Sam
and Al decide to "Scrooge" the greed out of him.
Runaway
July 4, 1964
Air Date: January 4, 1991
Writer: Paul Brown
Director: Michael Katelman
Guest Cast: Sandy Faison, Sherman Howard, Joeseph Hacker, Ami Foster
On a cross-country car trip, Sam, as 13-year-old Butchie must contend with
a sadistic older sister and a mother who may run away from an unfulfilling
marriage in search of "The Feminine Mystique".
8 1/2 Months
November 14, 1955
Air Date: March 6, 1991
Writer: Deborah Pratt
Director: James Whitmore, Jr.
Guest Cast: Dotty: Lana Schwab, Bob: James Whitmore Jr., Keeter: Hunter von
Leer, Effy: Tasha Scott, Mrs. Thailer: Anne Haney, Dr. Rogers: Parley
Baer, Willis: Philip Linton, Nurse Denton: Peggy Walton-Walker
Billie Jean Crockett is a pregnant teenager who will make the second biggest
mistake of her life by giving up her baby for adoption unless Sam, as Billie
Jean, can convince someone to help her raise her child - before going into
labor himself.
Future Boy
October 6, 1957
Air Date: March 13, 1991
Writer: Tommy Thompson
Director: Michael Switzer
Guest Cast: Richard Herd, Debra Sticklin, George Wyner, Alan Fudge, David Sage
Sam finds himself leaping back to the future as the sidekick to Moe Stein, aka
Captain Galaxy, the eccentric star of the kid's show, "Captain Galaxy and the
Time Troopers". Moe is building a time machine in his basement, and unless Sam
can prevent Moe's daughter from trying to have him committed, Moe will be
killed while trying to catch a freight train.
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Article 10604 (285 more) in rec.arts.sf-lovers:
From: [email protected] (Deborah Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv,rec.arts.sf-lovers
[m[ASubject: [4mQL FAQL[m
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 15 Mar 91 02:25:46 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Computer Consoles Inc. an STC Company, Rochester, NY
Lines: 171
Keywords: second attempt
I tried to post this this morning, but my news server lied when it said that
it was being spooled for later processing. Here it is again.
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Quantum Leap FAQL
Created by: Quantum Buc (buc@world) and
Debbie Brown ([email protected])
With assistance from: Vicky Sailer ([email protected])
Lisa
Audrey Urling (amu@dukee.egr.duke.edu)
Revision Date: 1/9/91
1. Who controls the leaps?
Nobody knows. Sam and Al know that it's not Ziggy or anyone at Project Quantum
Leap. Al told Sam in the pilot that Sam's LEAPs were out of the project's
control, so Sam and Al hypothetize that it's Him <eyes heavenward> who is
controlling things.
2. When Al looks at Sam, what does he see?
Al sees the leapee. In the episode entitled "What Price, Gloria", Al was out
of control at seeing Sam as the gorgeous secretary. Al probably recognizes
Sam because they are linked through their brainwaves transmissions, which is
what is used by the project to locate Sam in time.
3. Who is in the "Waiting room"?
The leapee. To everyone in 1995, the leapee looks like Sam. In one episode,
the leapee was someone Al knew, as Al recognized him in the waiting room. We
don't know if Al just recognized the personality or if this was a gaffe on the
part of the writers.
4. When Sam looks at himself, what does he see?
He sees himself, Sam Beckett - unless he looks into a mirror. Then he sees the
leapee.
5. Can anyone else at the project go into the imaging chamber and see Sam?
No. In one episode, (Star-Crossed), several committee members entered the
chamber with Al, but for them, they were in an empty room with Al talking
to thin air. The others were not visible to Sam (or us). Only when Al is
touching an object will it be visible to Sam (and us). In more than one
episode, Al brought an object into the waiting room for Sam to see (this is
beyond Al's clothing, cigar and <squealing box>.
6. Can Sam die during a leap?
According to Don Bellisario, YES he can.
7. Why could Sam see in a blind man's body? Would he be able to hear in a deaf person?
It appears that at least "part" of Sam is physically leaping through time,
his mass being exchanged with that of the leapee. This is the way Don
Bellisario explained it: if the leapee is hit by a car while crossing the
street, breaking his leg before Sam leaps in, when Sam arrives, his leg will
not be broken. If the Sam is hit AFTER he leaps in, then his leg WILL be
broken. He does not share handicaps or injuries suffered by the leapee before
his leap in, but will sustain injuries suffered while he is there. We don't
know if he will still have this injury during his next leap, or if the leapee
in the waiting room will have a broken leg. Whether the leapee will exhibit
any injuries Sam sustains while there isn't known either.
8. What does the LEAPee remember about his experience after he returns?
This is also not known. The only time this occurred was in the episode
"Double Identity," where Sam LEAPed into another body and the original host
returned. He APPEARED to have no memory of anything after he was leaped
into. However, we don't think this is the normal effect, since this leap was
generated by Ziggy in an attempt to retrieve Sam. It has been stated that
the leapee, while in Sam's body back in the Waiting Room, has a 'swiss-cheesed'
memory, much like Sam received upon his initial LEAP.
9. Can anyone see Sam as Sam, rather than as the leapee?
Can anyone other than Sam see Al?
Small children, animals and people near death can see him (And pretty blondes
with very low IQs, if Dean Stockwell got his way :-). ). Al has explained
that children and animals see things as they really are. Also, if a person's
brainwaves were sufficiently in tune with Sam's that person would be able
to see and hear Al too.
10. Why can't Sam LEAP back beyond his own lifetime?
(or, why can't he LEAP into the far past)?
This is all part of Sam Beckett's String Theory. <see string theory>
11. What would happen if Sam failed to do what he was there to do?
Again, nobody knows. One theory that they have was that he would be trapped
in the past forever, in that host body. This, however, is doubtful. Another
one that we have had was that he would LEAP into another body to attempt again
to fix "that which has gone wrong". In "Double Identity", Sam was pulled from
the LEAPee by Ziggy without resolving the problem he was there to fix. He
leaped immediately into another body in the same room and in that SECOND body
completed his mission.
12. How does Ziggy know so much about peoples' lives in the past?
Ziggy is hooked up to every major database of the mid 90s. It's amazing,
when you think about it, just how much is REALLY known about you that
is stored on computers.
13. How is it that when Sam leaps into a leapee who is shorter/smaller then
he is, people around him don't notice a difference in size?
I belive it is a question of topology. I'm not very good at it, but
consider the following argument. The QL maps everything from a different
time into a frame of reference relative to Sam. (And vice versa for the
host.) Sam doesn't see what really happens, but rather what happens
relative to his host. [Doug van der Veen]
It's all a matter of relativity. Consider a spaceship 10 meters long. Send
it off at 99.4% of the speed of light and it will seem to be only 1 meter long
to anyone still on earth, while still seeming like 10 to those on board.
Gravity can do the same sort of thing, put an object deep into a gravity well
and it will seem shorter. The point is the ship is in a different 'reference
frame' than the earth, and the object in the well is in a different frame then
the observer floating outside it, and things like length (also duration) are
not the same across reference frames.
So here's the theory: when Sam leaps his whole body leaps (explaining
things like "Blind Faith"), but it is mapped into a different reference frame.
If you look through a warped piece of glass, things seem to be a different size
and shape. The same thing happens with a warped region of space (cf.
"Gravitational Lenses.") When Sam leaps the space containing him is warped in
such a way that not just length, but all physical properties are altered.
And, of course, the only person in Sam's reference frame is Sam, so when he
looks at himself he sees what he has always seen, but when he looks in a
mirror the photons have passed between frames, and so he sees the leapee.
To answer the original question, when Sam, 6ft or so, has leaped into
someone 5ft7 and is talking to someone, they look at the leapee's eyes,
he sees them looking at his eyes, and likewise he looks down, but the person
he's talking to sees the leapee looking straight. Which is really right?
Neither, or both! It's the same as asking 'how long is the spaceship really,'
the answer is completely dependent on what frame you're in because certain
physical properties have no absolute existence.
As for how this ties into superstrings - current thought is that strings
don't just define particles, but also in some sense define space and time
themselves (ref: "Superstrings: A Theory of Everything?" edited by PCW
Davies). When Sam leaps he takes the strings comprising his body and 'soul,'
into a region of space made up of the strings of the person he's replacing.
[Larne Pekowsky]
*******************************************************************************
Article 10636 (284 more) in rec.arts.sf-lovers:
From: [email protected] (Deborah Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv,rec.arts.sf-lovers
[m[ASubject: [4mQL Primer[m
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 15 Mar 91 14:17:52 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Computer Consoles Inc. an STC Company, Rochester, NY
Lines: 116
Geeze, I posted the episode list and the faql but forgot the PRIMER!
Here 'tis!
THE "QUANTUM LEAP" PRIMER
Created by: Sally Smith
Updated by: Deb Brown
This article is in the public domain, but I'd like to get credit
for it if you pass it on :-)
Revision date: 10/7/90
Note that this contains internal contradictions as well as not agreeing
with earlier versions, but hey...take it up with Bellisario, not me!
PROJECT QUANTUM LEAP: This top secret project is located in a cavern in
New Mexico in 1995 (when the show starts; it now seems to be 1996). So far
it's cost $43 billion of our tax dollars, with $2.4 billion a year operating
funds. However, it started out with just Sam and Al "raising the funding,
poring over the blueprints late at night", and listening to the score of
"Man of La Mancha". :-)
SAM (Dr. Samuel Beckett, no relation to the playwright): Born in 1953 and
grew up on his family's dairy farm in Elk Ridge, Indiana. He could read at
age 2, do advanced calculus in his head at 5, went to MIT at age 15 (or
maybe 17) (graduating summa cum laude 2 years later), and has 6 doctorates
(including medicine, quantum physics, and ancient languages, but NOT
psychiatry or law). He speaks 7 modern languages (including English,
Japanese, French, Spanish and German, but not Italian) and 4 dead ones (he
can read Egyptian hieroglyphics). He has a Nobel Prize (field unspecified,
but probably for physics); "Time" magazine called him "the next Einstein".
He played the piano at Carnegie Hall at 19, plays guitar, is a good dancer,
and sings tenor (his favorite song is John Lennon's "Imagine"). He has a
photographic memory, can cook, and likes beer (dry or light) and microwave
popcorn. Sam also knows several kinds of martial arts and has been afraid of
heights since he was 9 years old. He's not married (he was engaged once, but
she stood him up), and doesn't own a dog. Sam's older brother Tom (a good
athlete, All-State basketball player, Annapolis grad and Navy SEAL) who
convinced him to go to MIT) died in Vietnam, on April 8, 1970. However, Sam
managed to save him on one leap. Sam's dad John died in 1974 (or maybe 1972,
or maybe 1973) of a heart attack. He has one sister named Katie (Katherine),
born in 1957, whose first husband was an abusive alcoholic named Chuck
(Unless maybe Sam convinced her not to. Who knows?). Now she's married to a
Navy officer, Lt. Jim Bonnick, and lives in Hawaii with their mom, Thelma.
AL (Rear Admiral Albert Calavicci): Al's little sister Trudy was
retarded. His mom (part Russian) ran off with an encyclopedia salesman. Al's
dad was from Italy, so he speaks fluent Italian. His father was a
construction worker, so when dad went to the Middle East, Al was sent to an
orphanage, and his sister to an institution. Later, his dad and his dad's
girlfriend used to sneak him out of the orphanage. Kept running away, once
to join the circus and once he spent several months traveling with a pool
wizard. He had a pet cockroach named Kevin. While in the orphanage, Al took
up acting and also fought Golden Gloves. When he was old enough, he went to
get his sister but she'd died in the institution (in 1953, aged 16). He went
on civil rights marches. Later, Al went to MIT, joined the Navy, and became
a pilot. From 1968-1973 (or maybe 1975), he was a prisoner of the Viet Cong;
during this time, his first wife Beth (a Navy nurse) lost hope, had him
declared dead and married a lawyer. Later, he became an astronaut and is now
a rear admiral ("highly respected and decorated"). He likes sports cars and
classic cars and collects them. Al likes to watch sports, gambles a little
(trips to Las Vegas, betting on horse races), and it's been implied that at
least in the past, he had a tendency to drink to excess. Probably met Sam on
the Starbright Project (we don't know what that was).
This is, however, all secondary to Al's main interest, which is women!
He's been married 5 times, spending his 1st, 3rd, and 5th honeymoons on the
train to Niagara Falls. Wife #3 Ruthie was Jewish, #4 was Sharon ("she wore
pink babydolls"), #5 was Maxine ("she didn't wear anything at all--she used
to flavor her toes with mint leaves"), and either his second or third wife
was Hungarian. Al's currently semi-regularly dating a blonde woman named
Tina (they met in Vegas), who has a pet crocodile and a tattoo in a "super-
private part of her anatomy". Although Al firmly believes in the "double
standard", he really does respect women as individuals and gets very angry
when they're mistreated. Al dresses flashy, smokes a lot of cigars, is
somewhat superstitious, has a serious aversion to dead bodies, and knows a
great recipe for chitlins.
MORE ON THE PROJECT: We don't know what it was supposed to do, other than
allow Sam to time-travel within his own lifetime; we do know that Sam leaped
too soon (before everything was ready; they were threatening to cut funding),
and apparently God [or Fate or Time or some other unfathomable force--like
maybe Don Bellisario? :-) it's never been directly said] decided to use Sam to
"put things right that once went wrong". The Project is built around Sam and
Al's brain waves. When he leaps, Sam bounces into someone else's body
(they're in his, to keep things even); he only knows who he's leaped into
when he looks in the mirror, and is forever having to figure out who he's
replaced and what good deed he's there to do. Sam's the only guy who can
figure out how to get himself back home, but the first leap completely
Swiss-cheesed his memory. Under normal conditions, Sam's the only person who
can see and hear Al, although animals, people on the verge of death, and
children under 5 always can (they also see Sam as himself). Al appears to
Sam through a "neurological hologram" process: "agitated carbon quarks tuned
to the optic and otic neurons". GOOSHIE is Ziggy's programmer/operator and
operates the imaging chamber that projects Al's image back to Sam. (He's the
one Al sometimes talks to. He's a "short guy with bad breath" and a
mustache, and Tina once went to Vegas for a weekend with him just to make Al
jealous. It worked.
ZIGGY: The project's "parallel hybrid computer", created by Sam. Ziggy
has a definite personality; he has a big ego, crashes a lot, hates to be
wrong, and frequently sulks! He freaks out sometimes, too--once he turned
off the climate control, once he wouldn't output in anything but Japanese,
and once he stuck an extra zero on the end of everyone's paycheck, leaving
Al to report "half the staff took off for Vegas!"
SUBJECT TO CHANGE W/O NOTICE AS THE WRITERS GET MORE BRIGHT IDEAS
*********** TAKE THE QUANTUM LEAP - WEDNESDAYS AT 10PM EST/9PM CST ***********
Quote: "I'm dressed as a tv dinner talking to a hologram, what does that make
me?" Sam QUANTUM LEAP
Disclamer: "Disclaim THIS, pal!" (my employer thinks I'm working)
Debbie Brown: Internet: [email protected] | GEnie: D.BROWN89
UUCP: uunet!ccicpg!cci632!deb| Prodigy: NCNX32A
********** It's 1997: do you know where your quantum physicist is? ************
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