The series finale of quantum leap was bleak to put it mildly, with the final title card. Patrons of the town bar look familiar from past leaps, but with different names, other patrons seem to be leapers, and al the bartender played by bruce mcgill implies that he might be god, fate, or time. Is the last episode of quantum leap the saddest tv series. The finale i have ever seen was the finale to battlestar galactica. The last episode was not originally intended to be the series finale. After over 25 years, fans of quantum leap may finally get a sense of closure, as a rough cut of the series finale has surfaced online. Quantum leap had the best finale of any series ever all the questions that had to have answers did,whilst leaving enough interpretable info for it all not to seem cutdried and trite, which it would have done had there been the happy ending you seemed to have expected from the show. They shot it as a season or series finale because they didnt know if theyd get renewed at the time, then added dr. The last episode, mirror image, aired on may 5 1993. For a show whose own series finale was shockingly bittersweet, quantum leap was built on happy endings. It was believed that there would be a sixth season and the ending had to be changed to close. Yes, this is bakulas show and al is a supporting player, but quantum leap has been a buddy comedy for most of its run sidelining one half of the main characters for almost the entirety of the finale is a bold and potentially foolish move.
Quantum leap lost alternate ending footage surfaces after 26 years. Someone lost through time was supposed to want to go back, so sam wanted to go back. There are also some rather striking stylistic choices that date the episode. I want to start by saying that i have a deep, unironic love for quantum leap and its characters and lore. That means it would be quite easy for the series pick up now. Quantum leap lost alternate ending footage surfaces after.
Quantum leap aired between 1989 and 1993 on nbc, and the series ended with sam still leaping through time. Sam leaps into a bar with a bartender thats more than he appears. Mirror image was the 22nd and final episode of season 5 of quantum leap, also the 96th and final. If you watch these 10, youll have a better idea of what that series was about, without having to watch the whole thing.
Quantum leap episode guide at als place mirror image. Written by series creator and executive producer donald p. Did a fan just find proof of quantum leaps secret lost. Talk turns to the series finale of quantum leap, which whitmore pictured, black shirt also directed and which is one of the best series finales in tv history but it becomes even more incredible after bakula relays the situation surrounding its final episode. Once he got home he decided to go back to the quantam leap project.
A look back at the disappointing quantum leap finale uproxx. When sam looks into a mirror, he sees his own reflection. Nbc also canceled quantum leap after a too soon 5 seasons. Scott bakula says quantum leap movie is in the works. Most if not all episodes ended with al assuring sam and by extension the audience that everything worked out a okay for all involved. The quality is rough, but longlost alternate ending footage for the classic scifi series quantum leap has suddenly surfaced online after 26. This final episode was, in fact, intended to be an endofseason cliffhanger but after the series was not renewed for a sixth season it was revised to function as a series finale.
In the future, they realize that sam has leaped into himself, they search history for sam. Quantum leap was a fantastic science fiction series. See the original nbc advertisement for mirror image, the last episode of quantum leap, which originally aired on may 5, 1993. Quantum leap creator donald bellisario says that hes a written a script for a potential movie reboot of the classic scifi series. The series finale that helped us cope with the lost finale and every. Quantum leap star scott bakula says theres lots to do. Sam learns more about quantum leap, and whos responsible for his leaps. With tv club 10, we point you toward the 10 episodes that best represent a tv series, classic or modern. Al the bartender helps sam remember that he built project quantum leap because he wanted to help right the wrongs in history, but not one life at a. Instead he uses his control over leaping to set things right for al. Bellisario, the episode, which was directed by james whitmore, jr. Id like to think he went home to visit sometimes but didnt stay permanently he is a quantum leaper now, no longer simply a quantum physicist.
The final episode of quantum leap opens with sam walking into a bar in cokesburg, pennsylvania, at the. As quantum leap fans are well aware, there have been various projects in the works over the past decade. Even if we accept that sam wasnt actually able to leap home through most of the series because of his lack of understanding of how leaping works, we know he can leap home by the series finale. Al states that he doesnt know what leaping looks like as he has usually left the imaging chamber by. What was the explanation for the ending of quantum leap. The last episode of quantum leap that aired mirror image august 8, 1953 wasnt designed as a series finale, but a season finale that bellisario took and just tacked some extra crap on to give viewers a sense of closure. Reportedly, series creator donald bellisario wanted to build some ambiguity into the episode in case nbc renewed the show for a sixth season. John daquino is a familiar face to quantum leap convention attendees.
How quantum leap prepared me for a lifetime of television. Unfortunately, there is no absolute answer as to what the show was about. Sam beckett, played by scott bakula who i would later encounter in a drivers education video in 2006 because my school did not update their teaching materials often. It was a show that jumped around throughout different periods in history and gave. Quantum leap extreme air sports visalia ca july 5 2017 family fun. The series passionate watchers or leapers saved it the first time. I wonder what he himself might have done with the series finale had nbc not made the decision at the last minute, interfered and hastily tacked on that ending. He depended on his closest friend al calavicci from the start of his leaping. This date was confirmed in the fifth season episode, killin time. These series finales were so bad that its practically impossible to rewatch these sixteen shows without getting mad, sad, or smad all over again.
His two goals as he leapt through time was to put right what once went wrong and to. Sam beckett never returned home when they found out it was over. The bartender tells him hes affected far more than a few lives and can help a lot more. The episode contained some answers to longstanding questions about the show, but contained enough ambiguity for a season six. The series finale was viewed by more than double the average audience numbers for that entire season, and throughout its original run, quantum leap earned 17 television awards out of 43 nominations, including six emmys and two golden globes for the shows two lead actors, scott bakula and dean stockwell. Since his appearance in mirror image, michael genovese has had a recurring role within the series er, and on the soap opera port charles. However, one video claims a longrumored alternate ending was actually real, one which wouldve made it possible for sam to make that final leap home. Susan diol has had appearances on general hospital, one life to live, and days of our lives.
It was meant to be a cliff hanger to be continued the next season, but the show was cancelled at the last minute and some things were changed to wrap up the show more succinctly, like saying at the end that al ended up staying with his first wife beth, etc. For a few years in the late 80s and early 90s, quantum leap was the rarest of genre series a scifi procedural with good ratings that was well received by critics, and actually got nominated for and won golden globe and emmy awards. Sure, it was a time travel show, which probably would have been enough of itself to draw me in. Past time travel shows had the main characters going back or forward in time as themselves. Quantum leap is well suited for a trilogy of films, as noted the leap premise wouldnt work well with many leaps per film, however much like the trilogy episodes in season 5 a well. Mirror image was the 22nd and final episode of season 5 of quantum leap, also the 96th and final episode of the series. At the end of season five, bellisario was told to write an episode that could serve as a season finale or series finale, as whether quantum leap would be renewed was unclear. I like to think that the quantum leap finale prepared me for the disappointing seinfeld finale, and that if i had not. Directed by james whitmore jr with scott bakula, dean stockwell, bruce mcgill, john daquino. In the current age of tv reboots, revivals, and sequels, its far from surprising that such a beloved cult show would find itself next up on the docket for a continuation. But in the epilogue, a black screen pops up at the. A year after youtube and podcast host allison pregler revealed that she had found tangible evidence of a longrumored alternate ending to the. It wasnt originally intended as a series finale, but the network pulled the plug, forcing an infamous title card to be pulled together which. Quantum leap came close to being canceled multiple times before it finally got the axe abruptly after season 5s finale had already been shot.
Through various little hints and clues, the date of sams first leap has been determined to be 1995 seven years after our present, since quantum leap premiered in the spring of 1989. Did a fan just find proof of quantum leaps secret lost ending. Do you want for the tv series called quantum leap to return. A look back at the disappointing quantum leap finale. How did she get her hands on such a historical item.
Quantum leap creator has written a movie reboot script. It did not, but in lieu of closure, all fans got at the end was a hastilyadded title card that read. It was sad, but at least sam beckett accomplished something before he didnt make it home, and the sadness was surrounding just one character. After 26 years, a rough alternate finale for quantum leap surfaces. Quantum leap is an american sciencefiction television series created by donald p. Sam beckett struck me as a guy who did what he was supposed to do. Quantum leap creator reveals he wrote a movie script. The series finale of quantum leap was bleak to put it mildly, with the final title card confirming that scott bakulas character, sam beckett, remained lost. For years, the biggest mystery of quantum leap hasnt been why sam beckett scott bakula was never able to return home, but whether there was an alternate version of the final episode where he. Thursday on the talk, bakula speculated on what a reboot of his cult series quantum leap would look like in 2020. When i was a kid, quantum leap was probably my favorite show to watch. This video clip is from als place quantum leap messageboard. Footage of quantum leaps rumored lost ending surfaces.
August 8, 1953 sam leaps into a bar in cokeburg, pa, a coal mining town, at the. This led producers to refashion what had been intended as a mere season finale into a permanent ending to the series, an ending which infamously revealed via onscreen text that sam never returned home. With so many new series popping up on streaming services and dvd every day, it gets harder and harder to keep up with new shows, much less the alltime classics. Quantum leap is the revival genre television desperately. Its overlooked by many younger genre fans today, but quantum leap was a fun, interesting, and influential show and it also has one of the most. Nbc officially canceled quantum leap in 1993, but low viewership nearly did it in after its third season. Quantum leap was so special mainly because sam is leaping into people and experiencing their lives first hand. While quantum leap was never a huge ratings hit, it drew constant critical acclaim, and. Horror fans saw it with dexter, teens got their first taste of disappointment in pretty little liars, and scifi lovers will never forgive nbc for what they did to quantum leap. Scott bakula may be ready to leap if a producer is ready to look. Sam beckett is able to leap through time and he spends the series trying to return home.
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