Quantum Leap – Putting Right What Once Went Wrong, Once Again: A Made for TV Movie in the Works

If the Internet Movie Database is to be trusted, a tv movie based on the scifi series Quantum Leap has been announced. It’s been rumored for awhile that there would be a movie based on the series, and it seems it’s finally going to happen. For those who don’t know, the show aired from 1989 to 1993, and was the story of Sam Beckett, who built a time machine to travel within his own lifetime, observing events.

Only something went wrong, and Sam was trapped in the past, leaping into other people’s lives and on a mission from “God, Fate, Time, or Whatever” to fix mistakes in the past. He was helped by an observer from the present day, Al Calavicci, who came to Sam in a holographic image. Each week, Sam leaped into a different person (and one time a chimp) usually average people, occasionally famous ones, and fixed some event in their lives, with Al giving important information to help out. Throughout the series, Sam longed to finally go home.

I approach the news of the tv movie with a mixture of anticipation, hope, and dread.

Anticipation because I’ve been waiting a long time for this. Quantum Leap was one of my favorite shows. I have some episodes on tape, I watch it when the reruns air (sporadically) on the Scifi channel, I know the prologue by heart, and I have a collection of novelizations. I can also still stir up a healthy amount of anger at the atrocious ending of the series. With that much interest, I can’t help wanting to see the new movie.

Hope, because I’m hoping they’ll pull a Sam Beckett and “put right what once went wrong.” Namely, fixing the ending. I know I’m not the only one who felt the last words of the series “Dr. Sam Becket never returned home” ranked up there as some of the saddest and most disappointing ways to end a series ever. In fact, people have tried to reassure themselves that it’s not true because the name Becket was misspelled with one T.

This movie is a chance to fix that, to reunite Sam with his family and his best friend Al -so they can actually touch, instead of having Sam’s arms go through Al’s holographic projection. To give the guy who has done so much for people through history a chance to finally get a happy ending. And, yes, I realize it’s all fiction.

Dread, because it’s been more than a decade since Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell played the roles of Sam and Al. While I’m glad they are playing the parts (it would not be Quantum Leap without them) I can’t help being a little scared that the chemistry they had won’t be able to be recaptured. Can they put themselves back into the roles, or will I wind up wishing they had left well enough alone? Will the writing be good? I didn’t watch, but I know people complained about the tv movie Mary and Rhoda, which was a made for tv movie of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Also, will they actually fix that horrible ending. The synopsis for the movie is Sam does come back, only something goes wrong and he leaps again, and Al has to try (again) to get him back, this time with the help of Sam’s daughter. I’m afraid that someone will start thinking that maybe a series of films might be possible and want an open ending -once Sam is home for good, his journey is pretty much over.

Or, they might think a good ending is Sam leaping through time forever-or, and least until his death. If they follow my advice, they’ll let Sam get his happy ending. The worst thing to imagine is what if he does leap home for good, everything comes to pass the way it should have at the end of the series, and I’m still left feeling disappointed?

Well, all I can do is wait. And hope everything works out for the best.