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Oh boy. It's a Quantum Leap watch-through.

Canadave

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So I tried one of these threads once, and... well, I kind of failed. But I'm going to make another attempt, this time with Quantum Leap, a show I have seen a smattering of episodes from, but have missed the vast majority of. So, no spoilers please. I know the show doesn't have much of an arc at all, beyond the basic premise, but I'd still prefer to not know what's coming.

I plan on rating on a ten-point scale, and will likely use that to lovingly rip-off The God Ben so I can make little charts and the like at the end of each season. I'm planning on watching the first episode later tonight, but first if anyone has any TGB-esque counters I can keep track of throughout the show's run, please post 'em. :)
 
One of my favourite shows that I still watch handfuls of when my sister visits from out east. I have the DVDs and it's just one of those things we do together as we're both big fans of the show and watched it during it's initial run together back in the day. We're right now at the 10th episode of season 4. Won't get to it until her next visit in May (we have long breaks between episodes. And people think waiting a week between episodes is tough!)

It has something most shows these days lack: heart. And lots of it.
Plus how can anyone not love Al? (Got to "meet" him in Toronto this past summer, too, at the Fanexpo)

Happy viewings, and I look forward to your thoughts on the series.
 
Loved that show. Only seen it once. Wish I had on DVD so I could re-watch it. Bakula was the reason I thought Enterprise might actually work......that was until the theme song came on for the first time I knew they were going to screw stuff up.

In any case......I need to find me a Quantum leap DVD set!
 
Excellent. I absolutely LOVE this show. Sadly I only have Season One on DVD :(, but I'm going to enjoy this thread. :techman:

As for counters, how about counting the number of times Sam forgets that Al is invisible to other people. I can't tell you how often in the series people see him talking to himself. You could call it Who You Talking To?!
 
As for counters, how about counting the number of times Sam forgets that Al is invisible to other people. I can't tell you how often in the series people see him talking to himself. You could call it Who You Talking To?!

Oo, yes, that's a good one. I was thinking another could be whenever he uses his future knowledge to help resolve a plot point... it happens in the first episode, and I seem to recall it happening once or twice in episodes I've caught.

Also, I've watched "Genesis" but it's now pretty late and I'm tired, so I'll have to save the review for some time tomorrow.
 
Oh yes, tagged if for no other reason than the promise of TGB-style charts.

I should have organized my B5 topic a lot better -- as in, started it when I began the show -- and gone full-out. Nevermind that my uber-comprehensive DS9 topic from back in the day fell off the charts when life became too busy, I would have tried anyway!
 
I've been watching this show on Netflix instant over the winter> I loved it growing up, it was myfavorite. I love it in the rewatch. I was going to start my own rewatch thread, but I am too biased and I'm not really good at it. I will keep an eye on this thread though. I have my own idea for a reboot series/movie, which would involve an updated version of Genesis, perhaps with the stealth bomber. Anyway good luck.
 
Did they sort out the music rights for the show? If not I could never buy the DVD's. The period-music added real depth and charm to the show and if it's been removed so has part of the series' soul.

Wonderful show though.


Hugo - adores the finale...
 
Cool. I'm doing a somewhat slow re-watch myself. I'm in the middle of season 2.

As for counters, you could do one where Sam "invents" something or sets something in motion accidentally that has a big impact on the future. These are usually just side jokes that have little to do with the episode's plot.

For example, when goofing around with a kid at a party he moon walked or something and it turned out the kid was Micheal Jackson. Or accidently "inventing" the Heimlich maneuver. Or inspiring the lyrics to "Peggy Sue," etc.
 
Alrighty, here goes.

1x01 "Genesis"

8/10

There's no question, it's a strong start to the show. Well, almost, as that first scene with Al and the woman with the glowing earrings is just a little too ridiculous and cheesy for my tastes. Still, it's short, and it was the 80s, so it's not really their fault. Randomly glowing things were just what you had to throw in if you wanted to make science fiction back then.

Anyway, the meat of the episode is quite engaging. Sam's initial confusion and memory loss is played quite well, and I can't help but wonder if they might have drawn some inspiration from Back to the Future. That scene where Sam spins around outside, absorbing the fact that he really is in 1956 reminded me of Marty in downtown Hill Valley when he first travels back in time.

On that note, the atmosphere was very, very good. They really sold it as 1956, and all of the guest characters were great. Al and Sam also seemed to have instant chemistry, which is great since they're the only two major characters that remain from week-to-week.

As for the episode's plot, I loved it. It felt like a bunch of deleted scenes from The Right Stuff (those quiet scenes with the wives just listening every time the plane took off were very effective), and even though I knew Sam would be okay, there was some genuine tension during his scenes in the X-2. I do wish, however, that the baseball plot at the end had been worked in a bit better. I understand that they had to establish that Sam didn't leap home, and the conversation with his father was excellent, but there was still something about it that felt tacked-on, like a half-finished second episode.

All that said, it didn't detract from the episode too horribly, though I did knock off an extra point for it. In all, a very promising beginning.

Who You Talking To?!: 1

Sam has a rather spirited conversation with Al in the bar, which is noticed by Peg and one of the other pilots.

Appearing\Disappearing Skillsets: 2

This is for whenever Sam doesn't know something major the original person should, or knows something they shouldn't. In this case, he doesn't know how to fly (since Tom is a test pilot, that's only slightly important), but since Sam has an MD, he knows how to stop Peg's premature labour.

Well listen to THIS!: 0

Nothing on this yet, just establishing the counter as ToddKent suggested. Name taken from a line in BttF, of course. :D

Scott Bakula: 1

Okay, not an actual category. But some of you will know why I had to do it. ;)
 
I should have organized my B5 topic a lot better -- as in, started it when I began the show -- and gone full-out. Nevermind that my uber-comprehensive DS9 topic from back in the day fell off the charts when life became too busy, I would have tried anyway!
Yeah, I wish I'd started a thread like this when I began my SG-1 watch-through a couple months ago. Would have been fun. Oh well.

Scott Bakula: 1

Okay, not an actual category. But some of you will know why I had to do it. ;)
:guffaw:
 
It's on rerun where I am atm and when I'm able I try to join my mum in watching them. A really enjoyable series.
 
Alrighty, here goes.

1x01 "Genesis"

8/10

There's no question, it's a strong start to the show. Well, almost, as that first scene with Al and the woman with the glowing earrings is just a little too ridiculous and cheesy for my tastes. Still, it's short, and it was the 80s, so it's not really their fault. Randomly glowing things were just what you had to throw in if you wanted to make science fiction back then.

Anyway, the meat of the episode is quite engaging. Sam's initial confusion and memory loss is played quite well, and I can't help but wonder if they might have drawn some inspiration from Back to the Future. That scene where Sam spins around outside, absorbing the fact that he really is in 1956 reminded me of Marty in downtown Hill Valley when he first travels back in time.

On that note, the atmosphere was very, very good. They really sold it as 1956, and all of the guest characters were great. Al and Sam also seemed to have instant chemistry, which is great since they're the only two major characters that remain from week-to-week.

As for the episode's plot, I loved it. It felt like a bunch of deleted scenes from The Right Stuff (those quiet scenes with the wives just listening every time the plane took off were very effective), and even though I knew Sam would be okay, there was some genuine tension during his scenes in the X-2. I do wish, however, that the baseball plot at the end had been worked in a bit better. I understand that they had to establish that Sam didn't leap home, and the conversation with his father was excellent, but there was still something about it that felt tacked-on, like a half-finished second episode.

All that said, it didn't detract from the episode too horribly, though I did knock off an extra point for it. In all, a very promising beginning.

Who You Talking To?!: 1

Sam has a rather spirited conversation with Al in the bar, which is noticed by Peg and one of the other pilots.

Appearing\Disappearing Skillsets: 2

This is for whenever Sam doesn't know something major the original person should, or knows something they shouldn't. In this case, he doesn't know how to fly (since Tom is a test pilot, that's only slightly important), but since Sam has an MD, he knows how to stop Peg's premature labour.

Well listen to THIS!: 0

Nothing on this yet, just establishing the counter as ToddKent suggested. Name taken from a line in BttF, of course. :D

Scott Bakula: 1

Okay, not an actual category. But some of you will know why I had to do it. ;)

This is an excellent description of this episode. I couldn't have said it better. Like I said, I have been watching random episodes over the past few months. I love this show and i'm glad your doing this.
 
Genesis is a pretty good episode and I think you hit the main reasons why. Most importantly, IMO, is the chemistry between Sam and Al. Like you said, they are the ONLY characters that appear week-to-week. If they had anything less than excellent chemistry it would have sunk the show within a matter of a few episodes.

Also, I agree that the second leap felt kind of tacked on at the end. But what can you do, like you said - they had to establish that he wasn't going home.

What did you think of the "leaping effect"? I got to say that it definitely got better as the series went on.
 
What did you think of the "leaping effect"? I got to say that it definitely got better as the series went on.

Yeah, it was definitely a bit lame, moreso than I remembered. Not really a big deal, though, since it only pops up at the beginning and ending of episodes.

Anyway, I've been away in Toronto for the past couple days and haven't had time to watch "Star Crossed" yet, but I'm hoping to get to it this evening.
 
One thing that appareantly wasn't established early on was that Sam actually lept in and replaced the person instead the implicationo was (according to an author's note in Prelude by Ashley Connell) that it was just Sam's mind that lept from person to person.
 
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