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I started watchingQuantum Leaplast summer, mostly on a whim.
It seemed like a recipe for message-of-the-week silliness.
But I was immediately struck by how sincere it felt.
Over the course ofQuantum Leaps five seasons, Sam Beckett lives dozens of lives.
Looking back on the show, which episodes are you most fond of?
That was a lot of fun.
We tackled a lot of social issues, so that was always good.
I had favorite episodes that I loved.
Singing Imagine on the porch to his little sister.
That was a really sweet episode, and very poignant.
That was followed by going to Vietnam in an episode trying to save his brother.
We did so many interesting episodes and we kept finding ways to branch out.
Any time I was in a womans body, that was always fun for everybody.
Not always fun for me, because of the clothing!
I dont think anybody really knew what the show was going to be until we got into it.
So the show kept opening up.
It was a wild ride!
It wasterriblydifficult to make.
We didnt have any standing sets, any place we could go and flip the lights on.
Everybody worked their tails off, but that also gave us a bonded group.
And Don [Bellisario, the creator and showrunner] made everybody be on their game.
He was a stickler for all that stuff.
So when you look at it in hindsight, its not sloppy.
Every episode is true and consistent.
I just ran with what felt truthful and what felt honest about each situation.
and I say, Does it matter?
and I leap out in that moment.
Those kinds of things were wonderful to try and get right.
There was a certain responsibility to the show that Don never really wanted.
His big mantra was, Were making entertainment.
Our job is to entertain.
If somebody picked something up that they wanted to pull out of an episode, thats up to them.
But were putting on an entertaining hour of television.
So that was his answer to Stones movie.
He had an ax to grind.
Had we gone a few more years, we mightve gotten a little bit wackier.
But gosh, we had a lot of fun with the 97 that we made.
Why was it important to you to push for that?Initially that came from Dean.
So Dean was always looking for an opportunity.
We did an episode onQueen Elizabeth II[the cruise ship, not the person].
In that episode, I ended up in the trash container.
Hed find a way inside the story to make a little social commentary.
We just got in the habit of looking for it.
Certainly there are ways to relate to those episodes that were subtle.
It wasnt like we were doing aLaw & Order: SVUepisode.
As Sam leapt into these other peoples lives, bits of their personalities would emerge in his character.
I didnt even tell Don about it for a long time.
It just made sense to me.
It was almost more of a metaphorical physicality, assuming metabolically your molecules are getting mixed up.
An accumulation of those experiences define who we are.
And many people donteverdo that.
It was fascinating to work on.
But I know exactly what youre talking about.
If a reboot ever happened, how do you think it would get cast?
I sort of wish it could still be led by a relatively privileged person.
He had that naivete.
I dont know that a jaded person creates that experiment.
But certainly, I think the beauty of the show is that you could plug in almost anyone.
I thought that was a pretty interesting way to do that, also.
The possibilities are endless.
It still feels like a fresh idea.
So I like that idea.
Is it sad that he never gets home?
But sometimes, theres greater work to be done.
