Forgotten Television Shows: The Leap Back

Haven’t done one of these for ages…

I’m somewhat upset that kids growing up today can watch science fiction on television without any fear of retribution. Being a fan of Battlestar Galactica now implies that you like to watch a show with excellent writing and surprisingly attractive cylons as opposed to in my day where it meant that you wanted to watch Lorne Greene and the exact same special effect shot repeated three times an episode every episode. And let’s not forget the original Star Trek reruns featuring trips to the planet of fake rocks. There was absolutely no sci fi on regular television and outside of watching Dr. Who on PBS it was an unknown genre.

Quantum Leap fixed that problem by doing one thing very well: not being an obvious science fiction show. Despite the fact that the entire premise is based in science fiction (scientist is caught in his own time travel machine, leaping from body to body through time only helped by his friendly hologram) they made sure that it didn’t get in the way of the story telling. Which is the entire point of science fiction. We aren’t interested in the technical details behind the story; it is just a setting to tell us truths about ourselves.

Few shows did that as well as Quantum Leap. You never knew what you were going to get when you sat down to watch an episode. Sure there were a few constants. Sam would spend the first part of the episode confused. Al would make a leering comment at a female. Ziggy the super computer would wait until the final minute to reveal the solution to the problem. But the stories themselves would vary from decade to decade and could focus on social ills to family struggles to just pure comedy. The fact that fifteen years later I can still recall about a dozen episodes from memory (the evil leaper, the three part trilogy, the much argued about final episode) tells you something about the quality of the show.

I think what has stayed with me most about the show is just how incredible the writing and the acting was behind the show. When you are growing up you reach a point at which your television watching habits change. You grow up laughing at shows like Alf and Perfect Strangers and while you might watch a show like St. Elsewhere you don’t really get it. Those are shows your parents watch and they control the remote. But at some point you are watching television and realize that it can be more.

Because Quantum Leap showed that subtlety could be a wonderful thing. The sly references to history hidden throughout the episode: items that would only be caught if you were paying attention. The fact that as the show progressed Sam and Al’s relationship became even more nuanced until the point in which they became more real than fiction. It was the first show that made me think. Really, really think about what I just saw and what it meant to the world.

There is one other reason behind my love of the show. I had my first lucid dream (the ability to be awake in your own dream) after watching an episode. I always say that it wasn’t coincidental. Something about the show helped to flip the switch in my brain that now allows me to fly whenever I feel the need to. I wish all shows could open up your consciousness to such a degree.