I wasn't trying to sell an argument, I was supplying info. Anyone saying that Quantum Leap was a show made by Americans for Americans will get no argument from me.
In the QL universe, Magnum P.I. is a documentary.
Quantum Leap
- Thread starter JD
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Maybe an unknown restriction is that Sam also leaps within his own bloodline. Family trees can be large and complicated when looking at branches formed over millennia (i.e. your 51st cousin could be anyone), but it's possible the vast majority of Sam's surviving bloodline was American during the span of his lifetime.
If I remember correctly, this idea is even supported by the civil war episode where Sam leaps into one of his known, direct ancestors.
If I remember correctly, this idea is even supported by the civil war episode where Sam leaps into one of his known, direct ancestors.
Considering that that's a completely artificial (or more correctly, arbitrary) concept as everyone is related to everyone else, that's a pretty big stretch.
It really was just because it was an American shown made by and for American audiences. It's no different than how everyone they ran into on Stargate spoke English, and American English at that.
That said, if you're just trying to come up with a rationalization for it, the easiest one is that God was responsible for it all. (And seriously, between the bartender clearly being God, and the evil jumpers storylines, I don't know how anyone could say it wasn't a Christian sort of setup. Sure, you could just change God's name to 'Time' or 'Fate' if you want, but that doesn't help with the evil jumpers and their evil boss bit at all. It was clearly a God vs. the Devil thing.)
Well, personally, I'd go with it being Ahura Mazda vs Angra Mainyu, but you know, whateva.
The in-universe explanation was that his great-grandfather was almost genetically identical, enabling a "genetic transference".
Then great-grandaddy should have looked like Sam, shouldn't he?
I realise that some of the Leaps were geographically outside the United States, but my larger point was that that's a technicality--those were still American stories, even when they took place elsewhere.
From a production standpoint, I understand why that was the case. (The Doctor Who comparison was apt in terms of the UK.) I was just acknowledging how that underserved a premise (and a main character) which could've told stories much further afield.
I think I only saw it once but I never felt the Halloween episode was connected to evil leapers I thought the ending of the Halloween episode had it turn out to be a dream of some kind and never actually happened.
The evil leapers showing up was for me perhaps one of the most exciting developments since the show started. It elevated the show above story of the week.
The evil leapers showing up was for me perhaps one of the most exciting developments since the show started. It elevated the show above story of the week.
![](http://[QUOTE="Mr. Laser Beam, post: 11549986, member: 4374"]Then great-grandaddy should have looked like Sam, shouldn't he?[/QUOTE] Well, decide yourself.... http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/quantumleap/images/1/1b/RobHyland_John.png)
Sam playing "Imagine" for his sister (before it was written) still gives me chills.
Didn't he than go and ruin it by telling his sister about the fate of Lennon and the Beatles?
Another impressive character moment was when Sam remember his brother was killed in Vietnam, and Al replies that he was hoping that one thing Sam's Swiss Cheese brain wouldn't remember.
He started to tell her about the fate of John Lennon but Al stopped him. He did tell her the Beatles broke up.
The Leap Home Part II has another great reveal - Al was one of the POWs that the SEAL squad was set to rescue - and Al sacrificed his own rescue to guide Sam to save his brother's life.
^ETA: beat me to it!
It's one of my favourite scenes too. It starts of so light-hearted and charming and then the camera just fixes on the girl's face as it subtly changes from humouring her brother to the mortal dread that he's telling the truth about their older brother dying. Quite powerful and very well acted by such a young performer.
I can't help but wonder what her reaction was two years later in '71 when that actually came on the radio...
He told her they'd break up, he specifically avoided telling her he'd be murdered. IIRC when she asked about John, Al said "don't tell her..." which is what lead Sam to divert her with a rendition of 'Imagine'.
It's one of my favourite scenes too. It starts of so light-hearted and charming and then the camera just fixes on the girl's face as it subtly changes from humouring her brother to the mortal dread that he's telling the truth about their older brother dying. Quite powerful and very well acted by such a young performer.
I can't help but wonder what her reaction was two years later in '71 when that actually came on the radio...
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Regarding the geography, it can be assumed that the higher power guiding the leaps purposely kept Sam out of situations where he wouldn't know the language or the culture. He wouldn't be able to fix things in such situations.
My personal QL theory is that each time he leaps, Sam's physical body "reset" itself to its exact physical state atthe moment of his first leap. So he wouldn't age or have to cut his hair, shave or clip his nails, which he wouldn't be able to do since he can't really see what his body looks like.
I think this would also heal the frequent injuries he sustains. There was an episode (I think the one where he leaps into a young Native American man) where he gets shot shortly before he leaps. If he were to show up with a gun shot wound in a brand new time/place/situation he would have a huge problem. No doctor would be able to treat it since when they looked at Sam they would see the non-wounded body of whoever he leapt into.
My main issue with the show was what happens after Sam's done and the original person returns with no memory of the heroic act "he" just completed.
My personal QL theory is that each time he leaps, Sam's physical body "reset" itself to its exact physical state atthe moment of his first leap. So he wouldn't age or have to cut his hair, shave or clip his nails, which he wouldn't be able to do since he can't really see what his body looks like.
I think this would also heal the frequent injuries he sustains. There was an episode (I think the one where he leaps into a young Native American man) where he gets shot shortly before he leaps. If he were to show up with a gun shot wound in a brand new time/place/situation he would have a huge problem. No doctor would be able to treat it since when they looked at Sam they would see the non-wounded body of whoever he leapt into.
My main issue with the show was what happens after Sam's done and the original person returns with no memory of the heroic act "he" just completed.
A nice idea, but it's directly contradicted in the final episode. He sees his own reflection for the first time in years (presumably since he briefly switched places with Al) and comments on the grey hair being new.
Not that any of it makes sense anyway. They seemed to make up most of the rules as they went along, were not too concerned with adhering to the ones they did establish and weren't above hand-waving if it served the plot.
Just to be clear: I don't mind any of this. It's par for the course with episodic storytelling. I'm just dreading the inevitable reboot that spends an inordinate amount of time explaining the rules in meticulous detail, complete with condescending demonstrations involving pencils getting poked though folded sheets of paper.
I just watched this the other day and it's one of my favorite. She had asked him if Paul was dead because someone had told her you could hear that if you played one of their records backwards.^ETA: beat me to it!
He told her they'd break up, he specifically avoided telling her he'd be murdered. IIRC when she asked about John, Al said "don't tell her..." which is what lead Sam to divert her with a rendition of 'Imagine'.
It's one of my favourite scenes too. It starts of so light-hearted and charming and then the camera just fixes on the girl's face as it subtly changes from humouring her brother to the mortal dread that he's telling the truth about their older brother dying. Quite powerful and very well acted by such a young performer.
I can't help but wonder what her reaction was two years later in '71 when that actually came on the radio...
What he wanted to warn her against was eloping with a boy when she was 17 who turned out to be an abusive alcoholic.
Sam is a total genius, isn't he? He's like Doc Savage. He can speak dozens of languages, has six or seven doctorates, is a super-scientist, a musician...all of the things that Doc was.
And, like Doc, one of the few things that Sam can't do is cook. As we found out in the 80's ep.
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I thought I heard a while back SciFi (yeah that long ago lol) was thinking about doing a reboot/continuation of Quantum Leap where Sam Beckett's daughter leaps after her father, who keeps leaping and was losing his mind or something..... I always thought seeing Bakula and Stockwell on Enterprise kept a QL revival alive.... but now.... who knows. Im hesitant to start watching this again on Netflix because there are several episodes missing from different seasons for some reason or another....including the final episode.
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Yes but if (as someone previously suggested in this thread) the first leap is what gave him his grey streak then the theory still works (kinda, sort of). But if he was just commenting that his faced had aged then, yes, you're correct.
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