Welcome back! It\u2019s been a while, hasn\u2019t it? So much has changed! First there\u2019s\u2013er\u2026 well, the site looks a bit different, I guess. And we\u2019ve all gotten older. But that\u2019s the fun of TV Club Classic: we keep aging, but the classics stay the same. So, take a moment to get settled; put some popcorn in the microwave; check the couch cushions for change; and let\u2019s dive right in.<\/p>\n
\u201cGenesis\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally aired 3\/26\/1989<\/p>\n
In which Sam Beckett becomes unstuck in time\u2026<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve been on social media at any point in the past decade or so, you\u2019ve likely seen prompts asking readers to post their favorite TV show pilots of all time. The results are fairly predictable at this point: Lost makes an appearance, as does The Sopranos, and half a dozen other prestige shows. While people don\u2019t automatically dismiss everything made before 1999, there is an unspoken assumption that, as good as older shows can be, all of them took some time to figure themselves out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen anyone mention Quantum Leap\u2019s two-part premiere, \u201cGenesis\u201d and I think that\u2019s a mistake. Revisiting it now for this review, I was immediately impressed at how confident it was, and how immediately it landed on what would come to be the show\u2019s signature tone: a bittersweet melancholy tinged with self-deprecating humor, driven by an optimism so pure it borders on profound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A brief aside: This is not a perfect show. While it aspires to greatness, it\u2019s from an era where TV was still not quite getting the respect it deserved, and there\u2019s a certain lack of sophistication that you have to accept if you want to enjoy it. There are hokey bits, there are moments of well-meant but still fumbling social commentary; there are flat characterizations and unexamined assumptions; and if you were looking for a prime example of the limits of liberalism in late \u201980s\/early \u201990s pop culture, you could do worse.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure you could do better, though. I\u2019m hedging here because most of my Quantum Leap memories come from my childhood. This was one of the first adult shows I fell in love with, back when I was only able to watch it in reruns, and while I\u2019m a little nervous about revisiting it as an adult, I\u2019m also tremendously excited to try and give the series its due. There are moments I remember (there\u2019s a Halloween episode in here that\u2019s an all-time favorite of mine; there\u2019s the TV movie where Sam leaps into Lee Harvey Oswald; there\u2019s the \u201cevil leaper\u201d arc, as the series desperately tried to pull in more viewers; and there is, of course, the heartbreaking finale), but there\u2019s a lot that I don\u2019t, and if I seem to be even more uncertain than usual, it\u2019s because I honestly don\u2019t know what my expectations should be.<\/p>\n
But that\u2019s neither here nor there: We\u2019re talking about the two-part premiere, which is, I think, excellent. In medias res gets a lot of deserved flack these days as a gimmick, but the approach here\u2013a brief prologue to establish something weird is going on before jumping right into Sam\u2019s first jump\u2013does a fantastic job of pulling us in with a mixture of mystery and almost immediate nostalgia. That last part may be a stickler for some viewers, but it\u2019s a key part of the appeal: a kind of wistful longing translated into action. At its worst, there\u2019s a too-easy acceptance of some of America\u2019s self-told lies, but that acceptance is balanced by the near maniacial desire to live up to the standards of those lies. Maybe this is not who we are, or ever were\u2026 but what if we could be?<\/p>\n
All of that is a lot to take in at once, and it would be a mistake to deny the show\u2019s simpler, more immediate pleasures. For one, the premise is one of the best in TV history:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTheorizing that one could time-travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator\u2026and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap\u2026will be the leap home!\u201d<\/p>\n
This narration, performed by Deborah S. Pratt (co-executive producer and writer for the series), plays at the beginning of nearly every episode. It is, and I will accept no argument here, perfect. You could say that it\u2019s inelegant to spend so much time explaining the premise each week, but elegance is overrated; there\u2019s a wonderful, reassuring directness to the speech that captures one of the fundamental pleasures of television shows in general: the routine, the familiarity mixed with the unexpected, the promise of seeing something new with old friends. And Pratt\u2019s delivery, burned into my brain after all these years, is lovely. I particularly like the way her voice almost breaks near the end.<\/p>\n
It speaks to an emotional directness that\u2019s another hallmark of the series. As Sam Beckett, Scott Bakula (perfectly cast) is not a traditionally stoic heroic figure. He\u2019s one of the most decent protagonists in TV history, and he\u2019s also not ashamed of crying or admitting he\u2019s in over his head, or connecting emotionally to the people he meets along his way. This show would not work without Bakula\u2019s charisma and openness. In a different context, the idea of someone body snatching you at a crucial moment in your history would be terrifying. Here, it\u2019s a fantasy, both to imagine yourself in Sam\u2019s shoes and imagine what might happen if he ended up in yours. (As a weirdo high schooler, the possibility of getting zapped and coming back to myself to find I had a date for prom was not without its charms.)<\/p>\n
Bakula is balanced by the show\u2019s only other regular star, the great Dean Stockwell as Al. TV shows are as much about relationships as they are about situations, and here\u2019s one of the best: the idealist driven to live out his idealism in the most direct way imaginable, and his snarky, world-weary buddy who just can\u2019t help but be along for the ride. We see Al before we meet Sam, in one of the show\u2019s rare glimpses into the future; it\u2019s an odd, stiff sequence that has Stockwell hitting on a not-at-all displeased young woman before all hell breaks loose. They were clearly working on a budget, but I appreciate how impressionistic everything is\u2014a tomorrow full of empty landscapes and mysterious science, and, oh yeah, horn-dogs.<\/p>\n
If I remember right, the show\u2019s approach to sexual politics (much like its approach to racial politics, and politics in general) is \u201cwell-meaning but dated\u201d; I\u2019m going to reserve judgment for now, and just remark that we quickly get to know Al\u2019s two defining characteristics, his wild fashion sense and his endless womanizing. The latter is played largely for laughs, and I\u2019ll go out on a limb to say that Stockwell manages to make it more charming than predatory\u2014we\u2019ll learn later there\u2019s some backstory behind his bed-jumping, but for the most part, he comes across as a guy who enjoys women, enjoys having fun, and doesn\u2019t make anyone suffer inordinately for either quality.<\/p>\n
So, we\u2019ve got Sam, and we\u2019ve got Al, and we\u2019ve got our premise. As every good pilot should do, \u201cGenesis\u201d puts those pieces to work and gives us a rough idea of how the series will work going forward. In this case, our hero has traveled to 1956 and taken the place of Tom Holton, a married test pilot on a team pushing the limits of an experimental military plane. As he gets to know Tom\u2019s wife, the very-pregnant Peggy, and the other men in his squad, Sam struggles to remember who the hell he is, why he doesn\u2019t recognize himself in the mirror, and what on earth he needs to do in order to get back to his own body.<\/p>\n
That last part is the hook that keeps the show moving. Quantum Leap belongs in \u201cwandering hero\u201d genre made famous by shows like The Fugitive, and like all those shows, there\u2019s an instigating circumstance (in Sam\u2019s case, his decision to say fuck it and jump into the accelerator, come what may) and there\u2019s an ultimate goal that may or may not be reached. But what makes it such great grist for television is how the ultimate goal is actually made up of a bunch of smaller, more attainable goals, a problem that can be solved each week before the credits roll.<\/p>\n
On Leap, the trick is always as much about finding out what that problem is as it is about figuring out the answer. Ziggy (the computer Sam programmed to run the project, and the good, fictional version of AI) will suggest theories that Al will propose to Sam, and Sam will do his best to achieve them. Sometimes, as in \u201cGenesis,\u201d those theories will be wrong: Sam survives a flight that killed Tom, but it turns out what actually matters is Peggy and her baby. With some quick thinking (and remembering his own extensive future medical training), Sam is able to stop Peggy from going into premature labor, saving her and the baby, and allowing Sam to leap into his next subject.<\/p>\n
There is, of course, an assumption built into this: Someone is controlling these leaps, and someone has a purpose. Those new to the series should be aware: This is not a mystery show, \u00e0 la Lost (I love Lost), and while there are attempts to provide more lore in later seasons, those attempts are often misguided and silly. All you ever really need to know is in that opening speech: \u201ctrying to put right what once went wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Time travel stories can be about a lot of things, but this one is about embracing a fantasy where the smartest man in the world has given his life to try and make the world a better place for everyone, one person at a time. It\u2019s about getting a second chance, or maybe even a third or fourth. We\u2019re not worried about paradoxes, for once. We\u2019re just fixing the mistakes, one broken heart at a time.<\/p>\n
Stray observations:<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll have more to say about individual episodes going forward; the most notable point to make about \u201cGenesis\u201d is how slow moving it is, and how it allows Sam, and the audience, to settle into the situation by degrees. I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll be saying this often, but Bakula really is perfectly cast. He\u2019s handsome, so you never feel that weird about ladies wanting to make out with him (even if they can\u2019t see his actual face), he\u2019s emotionally available, and he\u2019s eager to please, a golden retriever in human form.
\u00a0
\n\u201cGenesis\u201d also features an extreme rarity, a second in-episode jump; once Sam saves Peggy, he ends up in a baseball player in the minor leagues, stealing a home run to save his team from a losing season. (The stakes change a lot from week to week.) It\u2019s a slight sequence, mostly here to give Sam a chance to call his dad. Sam\u2019s relationship with his father will get referenced again, and your tolerance for their phone call should give you an idea of how you\u2019ll handle the show\u2019s unabashed sentimentality going forward. It got to me, at least.<\/p>\n
[Editor\u2019s note: TV Club Classic recaps of Quantum Leap\u00a0will run on a biweekly basis. You can look for the next installment on March 4.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back! It\u2019s been a while, hasn\u2019t it? So much has changed! First there\u2019s\u2013er\u2026 well, the site looks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[49,48,75,348],"class_list":["post-484495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}