I used to watch this show back when it was on in the late 80s/early 90s. Recently got back into it again on Netflix, had forgotten how good, and interesting a show it was even if dripping with 1980s/1990s cheese. There are, however, a handful of episodes missing on Netflix (most notably the pilot and couple episodes after) but this series was certainly great and Scott Bakula did a fantastic job in it.
Quantum Leap was my all time favorite show growing up. When it ended, I held out hope that it would come back for several years. When Enterprise ended, I remember rumors of a new show would pop up now and then. I re-watched Quantum Leap on Netflix about two years ago and I loved it just as much as I did back then. I've often hoped that a movie would be made either with the original cast, but now I guess it would have to be a reboot. I've never written it down, but I even have a movie/story idea in my head of either a prequel or a continuance. I love this show.
{spoiler} Loved the series, the one part of the series that I did truely dislike was at the very end when it's revealed that Sam never gets to go home. It made me very sad. .............
Sad is happy for people with depth. I'm still trying to figure out if I'm happy about the future I can see. This girl. (Good lord she's 28!) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0069079/?ref_=tt_cl_t1 Troian Belllisario. At some point she's either going to be gifted or inherit Quantum Leap. Will she be working in front of the camera or behind it? "My Dad is lost in time and I'm gong to get him."
IIRC, that was actually supposed to be the topic of the QL sequel briefly discussed a few years ago. Sammy Jo (the daughter Sam fathered while on a leap, who is a genius-level intellect just like him) joins the project and tries to help bring Sam home. As for Sam never returning home: Agreed, that is sad, but the 'rules' established in the final episode prove that he's doing this because he wants to - he must feel that his work will never be finished and so that's why he won't stop leaping. Although it's just as well that his memory is swiss cheesed because then he forgets that he has a smokin' hot wife back home.
I've read a couple of the novels. In one Al, is talking about how everytime the timeline jiggers, he's special enough to notice the changes, and how once a few weeks back he was more than amazed that Sam's until then nonexistant daughter just showed up to work one day claiming that she had always been there since the beginning.
Not every show needs to end on a happy note. Real Life doesn't wok that way so why do we expect it from shows. Besides it was made clear in the last epsidoe that Sam could return home if he truely wanted to.
^ I don't think Al the bartender was God. I think he was Captain Braxton. (I admit I would not have thought of that had the same actor not played both roles. But think about it...it's a perfect way for Braxton to spend his retirement years)
I would still love to see just one more QL. One line of mis-spelt text in the last episode shouldn't stand in the way of Sam potentially coming home. Or not, doesn't matter...I just wanna see Sam and Al again. And none of this "handing over the reigns" shit.
I disliked it then and I dislike it now. It was one of the reasons I didn't like Scott Bakula being cast in Enterprise. It was always on and is still being repeated on cable over here. Euch !
On average, I did not like the show that much. With other shows, I would get to like even mediocre episodes because of the characters and setting, but in Quantum Leap I only loved the best of it, the rest bored me to death or even put me off. I stopped midway through season 3, because I simply had no desire to keep watching. I loved Al though. And M.I.A. and The Leap Home two-parters were really, really great stories. I loved Andrea Thompson's character in the Vietnam one. There were also a lot of must-see episodes that were so deeply moving, but that made them very hard to watch for me. And a lot of memorable moments, like the ending of Honeymoon Express (that was unexpected). I am also still fantasizing about becoming a rock & roll DJ in the late 50s/early 60s. There was a lot to that show that I am happy to have seen. But I can't bear to go through one hour of a creepy old man trying to get the attention of a young college girl while drooling over her in a near-obsession. And not just that, the situations Sam was put in made me uncomfortable in general. One thing I learned from that show is that I would not stand a minute in anyone else's skin.
I don't know if there was another pilot, but I saw the first episode when Sam makes his first jump on Netflix a few months back.
Because TV shows aren't real life and shouldn't reflect that. Especially sci-fi and fantasy shows. After all, what happened to "suspension of disbelief"?
I think everyone understands that tv shows aren't real life, but "shouldn't reflect that"? Why not? And why especially sci-fi fantasy? Hell, folks here knock Trek all the time when it portrays events they consider unrealistic. I have no real problem with the idea that characters should always have happy endings, meaningful deaths, etc., but every once in awhile, especially if it's written well ("The Visitor", to a point), I like the reminder that not everyone gets to have such things. Especially given Trek's penchant for trivializing death by killing legions of redshirts but still having happy endings for everyone "important". Sam chose the fate that he most wanted for himself, and I don't think that qualifies as an unhappy ending. How many people get to do that? Is what we want for him supposed to trump what he wants for himself?
I've been rewatching this show recently too. I watch on Netflix and Hulu Plus (it has the episodes Netflix doesn't). I'm around the middle of Season 3 right now. It really was a great series and Bakula and Stockwell were fantastic in it.
Getting the ending of a TV show right can be tricky. No matter what you are bound to annoy part of your audiance. For example, you could have ended VOY with them ending up going back to the DQ. Would it annoy some of the fans sure it would, but others might like it.