Ok ok hold onto your hats peeps because we're dropping an OG sci-fi series that's a must watch or maybe to hard to watch now a days because peak tech back then is the kinda stuff you can do on your phone these days. But that doesn't detract from a cult classic and another great series to delve right into!
First developed by NBC in 1989 to 1993 for a whole 5 seasons Quantum leap was a massive success but not without it's slow start and low viewer take up. Quantum leap still managed to win the 1989 Prime Time Emmy award and a few more over the years. Due to its low viewer uptake in 1989 it was moved from time slot to time slot over and over again. But it survived a whole 5 seasons which was really good.
It wasn't until 2004 and no doubt with the boom in cable T.V subscriptions did the show all of a sudden grow in popularity and get promoted to "Cult Classic". I was definitely one of the viewers that jumped on board on 2004 and I totally remember those years quite well. I used to rush home to watch the episode on Australian subscription service Foxtel. I recall that either before or after it was Stsrgate SG-1.
It was usually around the 3 - 4pm time frame which was a great viewing time but I would have to battle everyone else in the house to get the T.V.
But a little more about the show and what it was about. A Dr Sam Becket an astrophysicists studying time travel with his friend and colleague Admiral Al Calavicci which doesn't start out like that. Sam is a scientist that's about to lose funding for his string theory and in a last ditch effort gets everyone out to a remote location in the desert to test his theory. Cutting it short and running out of Tim Sam enters the Machine and vanishes.
He finds himself in someone else's body with not much knowing what to do. Eventually Al known as Ziggy appears which is his fellow scientist that is somehow tethered to his mind and they quickly learn that fixing past wrongs get him leaped into another time period into another person's body.
Gender didn't matter and Sam entered many people's bodies to right past wrongs.
The thing that was unique about the film is that each episode often ended on a cliff hanger, Sam was leaped into a new person's body without knowing who they were with moments to quickly figure out who they were and many times in life threatening scenarios. A true life or death game of sherades. One episode saw Sam behind the controls of a plane without any knowledge of how to actually fly one!
I personally put Quantum Leap at Cult Classic level and a wonderful 5 season franchise to spend some time watching if you can look past the now cheap effects. Keeping in mind that in 1989 these were peak effects for T.V shows.
The show is a wonderful escape from a typical show and I'd put in in the same category similar to Sliders which was another of my favourite shows.
Did you ever watch Quantum Leap? Did you like it or was it a miss from you? Let me know in the comments section below.
