Quantum Leap:Lee Harvey Oswald ~ hated it

[Guartho]

So my wife and I have been watching Quantum Leap through and it's like a whole new series to us as we remember maybe 1 out of 10 episodes from the original run.

After a surprise appearance by Dax in the very enjoyable A Leap for Lisa, we were definitely looking forward to Season 5 when we popped it in.

First of all, whoever wrote the remix of the theme song for season 5 needs to be forced to check Gooshie's breath for him every morning for eternity.

And it went downhill from there. I think I would have liked it a lot better had the weak premise not been stretched out across 2 episodes. They also tried to cram in way too many supporting historical characters that we who are not JFK nerds didn't know and didn't have adequately introduced to us. The "What a Twist" ending was lame and to me screamed "we desperately needed a reason for Sam to be here because we really really wanted to take part in JFK mania.

The only thing that redeems this mess for me at all was learning that Donald Belisario had met Oswald and that the "What are you doing in the Marine Corps?" scene was real." That also to me explained a lot about how this episode got made. Clearly Belisario had a greater than usual personal emotional stake in the ep. Which I speculate might have clouded his objectivity about the quality.

 

[Dick Whitman]

The reason he made it is he hated Oliver Stone's film JFK. This was his response to that.

 

[Guartho]

Suppose my complaint about the number of characters was a little less valid at the time of original airing considering the popularity of the movie. I assume at least half of these people had already been introduced to the general audience of 1992.

 

[Christopher]

The reason he made it is he hated Oliver Stone's film JFK. This was his response to that.

Yeah, and I for one am glad that someone stood up and called out the JFK conspiracy theories for the load of bull that they are, and particularly countered the lies and nonsense that underlay Stone's film. (I read that Stone's conspiracy theory in the movie was based primarily on a report that had been admitted as a hoax decades earlier. Talk about a basic failure of research.)

As a QL episode, though, it was rather an anomaly, since the usual rule was to avoid dropping Sam into big historical events. And though I appreciate Bellisario's message, his polemical intent with the story did mean that the quality of the story itself became a secondary concern. It was an interesting experiment in story structure for the show, however. I had mixed feelings about the show overall, but it did have its merits, and a willingness to experiment with the format from time to time was one of them.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I liked the ending, but having his brain trade atoms with harvey was just odd considering they were contradictory or vague about the process of substitution most often.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone read Stephen King's 11.22.63, which covers similar ground?

 

[MacLeod]

S5 of QL, wasn't as good previous episodes, though the finalé is quite a good episode.

 

[Gotham Central]

I was under the impression that part of the reason for the JFK episode was that NBC mandated that the show start addressing more recognizable historical moments/people as a means of boosting the ratings (which had begun to slide by season 5.

If I recall correctly season 5 would also feature an episode with Marylin Monroe, Dr. Ruth and Elvis (in addition to introducing us to the Evil Leaper).

 

[Dick Whitman]

That was part of it. But Belisario was personally motivated on his own to do the Oswald episode. When asked about it at the 2009 QL con he sighted it as the only time the show seriously addressed a specific historical figure . Than a fan mentioned Elvis and Marylin he was a little dismissive, saying those were just for fun, I think he may have used the word "romp".

 

[Starbreaker]

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone read Stephen King's 11.22.63, which covers similar ground?

Yup. One of my favorite novels. I was absolutely glued to it. I liked this QL episode too. I thought the twist ending was well done.

 

[MacLeod]

Oh and I agree, that I preferred the S1-4 main theme for QL

 

[Saga]

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone read Stephen King's 11.22.63, which covers similar ground?

yes, its quite good.

 

[Guartho]

My wife thought I was a little disturbed when i said "It's like the A-Team theme raped the Quantum Leap theme and this is the baby."

 

[Dick Whitman]

... yeah I would agree with her on your choice of words...

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder if at least part of the reason for the QL Oswald episode was an excuse to get the real Oswald into the waiting room so that we could see Al rip him to shreds.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I genuinely hated this episode. It's also the only episode of the show I ever saw, and kept me off it for a long time. Actually, still has - still haven't seen the rest.

As for those who claim that Stones JFK info has been debunked.... Who said this? Newsweek? The New York Times? Has the Zapruder film been debunked? Have the witnesses who rushed to the grassy knoll era after the shootings been all debunked? Has there ever been one conclusive piece of evidence condemning Oswald? Certainly not the rifle, which changed from day to day, or the Magic Bullet which was at the end different from the weapon that was lastly charged to be the weapon of murder. Basically, some people want to believe Walter Cronkite when he says that the Warren Commission got it right. But facts are facts and you can't ignore them at your convenience.

So yeah, fuck this episode for saying that the myth of the Warren Commission matters more than the facts of history. Thank you and very sorry for this little outburst.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Slightly off-topic, but has anyone read Stephen King's 11.22.63, which covers similar ground?

my girlfriend at the time bought it for me, but I couldn't finish it. I heard there was a TV version but I doubt I'd got after it willingly.

 

[Captaindemotion]

my girlfriend at the time bought it for me, but I couldn't finish it. I heard there was a TV version but I doubt I'd got after it willingly.

I enjoyed the book but bailed on the tv show after a few episodes - it just didn’t grab me.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

I enjoyed the book but bailed on the tv show after a few episodes - it just didn’t grab me.

I know it got accolades from the news media, but after reading Kings quote that he "had no doubt Oswald did it" and that all evidence pointed to it, I asked myself "what evidence?!" and slowly mentally checked out. I might revisit it someday, though, but I have low resistance to myth-building regarding the JFK case. Glad you enjoyed it, though.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I know it got accolades from the news media, but after reading Kings quote that he "had no doubt Oswald did it" and that all evidence pointed to it, I asked myself "what evidence?!" and slowly mentally checked out. I might revisit it someday, though, but I have low resistance to myth-building regarding the JFK case. Glad you enjoyed it, though.

I was a little surprised that he came to that conclusion myself; King is a bit of a radical and I assumed he’d also take a conspiracy approach. Interestingly enough Norman Mailer, who isn’t exactly an establishment stooge, also concluded that LHO acted alone, after researching his (exhaustively thorough) book on Oswald.

I read a few books on the subject after my interest was piqued by JFK (the best of which was probably Anthony Summers one, which was itself highly critical of Stone and the real life Jim Garrison) but I honestly don’t know what to believe now. The older I get, the more I believe in cock-up, rather than conspiracy, but I wouldn’t claim to be an expert on this subject (by which I mean the Kennedy assassination - I’m definitely an expert in cock-ups, lol).