‘Quantum Leap’ Turns 30! Scott Bakula Shares His 3 Favorite Episodes
Oh, boy, how time flies. It’s been three decades since NBC debuted Quantum Leap, the sci-fi show about accidental time traveler Sam Beckett (NCIS: New Orleans‘ Scott Bakula), forced to “leap” into other beings — including a pregnant teen, Lee Harvey Oswald and, infamously, a chimp — to change history for the better.
Bakula’s exuberant performance as the good-hearted scientist, not to mention his chemistry with Dean Stockwell as cynical holographic guide Al, kept Quantum Leap alive from 1989 to 1993.
Here, Bakula picks his three top leaps.
“The Leap Home, Part 1” (Season 3, Episode 1)
The emotional Season 3 opener deposits Sam back into his teenage self in 1969 Indiana to save his dad (also Bakula!) and brother (David Newsom) from early deaths and his sister (Olivia Burnette) from an abusive marriage.
“Shock Theater” (Season 3, Episode 22)
In Sam’s harrowing turn as a 1954 mental patient, a near-fatal high-voltage shock treatment brings on personalities from some of his earlier assignments (intellectually disabled kid Jimmy, boxer Kid Cody…). Bakula won a Golden Globe based on this Season 3 finale.
“Catch a Falling Star”(Season 2, Episode 10)
This Season 2 outing revolves around a 1979 local production of Man of La Mancha. Sam, in the body of an understudy, must prevent the alcoholic star (a delightful John Cullum) from taking
a career-ending fall. Bakula crushes the show tunes!
Quantum Leap, Streaming now, NBC.com and the NBC app, Tubi TV
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