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From: Rigby*
, 245 months, post #1 |
I don't think either of the previous reviewers on this item had the
slightest idea of what the show "Quantum Leap" was about.
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From: Galaxy Angel*
, 245 months, post #2 |
To clear up what the third reviewer finds off about the first two
reviews I will explain. While Sam leaps through time, from life to
life, his appearance seems like that of the life he takes on,
however he does not actually inhabit that body. Sam has a chip in
his head that produces a hologram of the body of the person he is
portraying. I know that it does not make sense, but that is
something that was established in the series.
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From: FS*
, 245 months, post #3 |
But if it is Sam's body, how can he have that baby with him?
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From: Dana*
, 245 months, post #4 |
Uh, no.
Quantum Leap was a genuine body swap concept. The only Hologram was
Al(Played by Dean Stockwell). That was what was well established in
the show. What I think confuses people was that "Sam" was played by
Scott Bakula despite what body he was in.
The reason the camera only showed the current body in reflections
was because the producers (Mostly Donald Bellisario) wanted to keep
the character consistent, and if he kept changing his appearance
all the time they felt viewers would not be able to identify with,
and thus would never form a true attachment towards Sam.
Considering that the series ran 5 seasons, from 1989 to 1993, they
were probably right to do it this way. I doubt that if Sam was
played by a different actor or actress each week tat the show would
of lasted even one season.
Al saw the current body, not Sam, and Sam saw the current body
whenever he looked in a mirror. (When Sam was in an attractive
female body, Al would often ogle him, and Sam would beseech him to
cut it out.) And since it was the current body, this explains why
the clothes would fit. (Or why people touching Sam would feel the
real body, and not Sam�s often different form.) Sam would complain
about feeling old, or having cramps, etc. Obviously he felt the
sensations of the body he was in.
The basic premise was that Sam's body was stuck in the future. When
Sam Leaped into someone's life, he took over their body, and they
took over his.
For more information, you can look at these resources:
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-173/#info
http://imdb.com/title/tt0098151/plotsummary
http://imdb.com/title/tt0096684/
As for a chip in Sam�s head� If you can find me the episode where
this was mentioned, I would love to see it. I believe I saw every
show ever shot, and don�t recall ever hearing that Sam had a chip
in his head. Please let me know which show this was in and I will
re-watch it, and correct myself if I am wrong. A complete episode
list can be found here:
http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/EpisodeGuideSummary/showid-173/season-all
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From: Justin*
, 245 months, post #5 |
Dana you're as mixed up as Bellisario. Originally the character was
supposed to have his mind swapped with their bodies remaining in
their respective time periods. The initial concept, a major
mistake, was that we would see Sam's face on the host body, only
showing the actual appearance in reflections. They should have had
an actor of the week to play Sam with Bakula given the opportunity
to play the displaced people in the future and perhaps "his"
reflection in any mirrored surface. But Bellisario couldn't even
stick to his original concept and changed that to suggesting that
it was the "aura" of the person Sam swapped into giving the
appearance he or she was still in Sam's place. Of all the
technobabble sci-fi nonsence to hit television this has got to be
the most idiotic. It involved some mysterious force actually
providing Sam with clothes that fit (why not have the clothes
included in the aura....because it was initially supposed to be a
mind-swap where that wasn't necessary) and allowed him to do such
things as walk on non-existent legs one of his hosts lost in
Vietnam, save a grown woman from falling to her death while
supposedly being a little boy or father a child that was Sam
Beckett's genetic offspring and not his host. Considering the
amount of time Sam leaped into a criminal or was involved in a
crime scene, his fingerprints alone would have have had major
repercussions.
Now as drama the stories were entertaining enough and kept me
watching on a weekly basis but the inconsistencies were maddening.
For an example of Quantum Leap done right I recommend Ashley
McConnell's "Quantum Leap - The Wall". At one point in the book she
even pokes fun of the absurdities of swapping a grown man with a
little child and then having some mysterious force provide the
appropriate childs clothing. If only more like-minded people had
been employed on the series. As it stands, the tg aspects of the
series I would recommend only to those people interested in very
ugly drag acts.
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From: Dana*
, 245 months, post #6 |
I suppose I should be as mixed up as Bellisario, since it was him
who came up with the whole concept in the first place.
As far as having a "Sam Of The Week", while that would of been
best, I agree with the discussion I heard at the time that doing so
would prevent the audience from bonding with the lead character,
and thus the show.
It made since to me then, and still does. BTW, by the last season,
all bets were off, Sam was no longer in his own time line, and
there was that evil leaper chick who wasn't really evil, but rather
it was her holographic assistant who was the real evil one, and
then the last show with God the bartender... The show should of
ended at Season 4. But heh. I never heard about a mysterious force
altering clothes, fingerprints, or the aura. I do remember a show
or 2 where a kid, dog, or mentally challenged or disturbed person
saw Sam, and not the body. Of course, they often also saw Al as
well.
Anyhow, something was changing, even if it was the clothes and
reflections. BTW, any idea what show(s) mentioned this mysterious
clothes altering force, or the alleged chip in the head? I am
really curious. (It has only been about 10 years since I watched
the show, but still, I would of thought I would of remembered these
things...)
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From: des*
, 245 months, post #7 |
well i havent seen this show for years but i allways thought that
sam was put into other peoples bodies and the only reason that you
saw sam every episode was to stop people getting confused, but
crazies, dogs and kids can see the real sam for the same reason
crazies, dogs and kids can see ghosts in cheesy tv shows, there
"more in touch with the spirit world"
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From: Gangleon*
, 245 months, post #8 |
The concept side of this show was a mess. An absolute mess. While
sometimes it appeared that sam became the person or inhabited their
body at others times it was clearly not, for example, the episode
where he jumped into a man at the point his ejaculating, and the
woman in question then became pregnant with his child, with his
genetic IQ, not the twit who began the operation, another one,
where he is a beauty queen, sees him quite obviously use masculine
strength to hold a lechorous thug out of a window. And what about
when he was a mentally disable young man, but he his own
intelligence, etc?
Probably Bellasario and co came across problems in terms of plot
and also fears about certain viewers response to the ethics of him
being in another body, particularly one that was female. Who knows.
At the end of the day the body swap/becoming issue,while it is
relevant to us turkeys who get involved in this aspect, was
irrelevant to the producers who were just interesting in a vehicle
for some interesting stories. And interesting they often were.
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From: DC*
, 245 months, post #9 |
During this episode. I remember them talking about having to stop
delivery of the baby at the start.
And at the end, as "Sam" in the girl is in labor, they mention that
the baby has disappeared from the waiting room implying that the
baby was now in Sam.
So from this episode, Sam was supposed to become that person but
not inhabit their body (or else the baby would never have moved).
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From: Justin*
, 245 months, post #10 |
Dana, Bellisario didn't come up with the concept, he plagiarized
the idea from other writers, some of whom can be found on Paul's
list. I've read one such story by Chalker and another by an author
I've forgotten who beat Bellisario by years (in both books the
characters weren't limited to their lifetime), and I'm sure others
can add some more. Bellisario's input to the genre was to screw it
up badly with his inconsistencies. And no Dana, I don't have any
specifics as to which episodes the whole "aura" nonsence came up.
The chip was actually the link between al and Sam and was actually
the means by which the two were able to communicate with each other
in different time periods, I'm not sure anymore, but I think Al was
the only one who may have had a chip in his head with samples of
Sam's brain cells being used to link the two of them. That may have
been from one of Ashley McConnels books though. You are welcome to
try and find refernces to the clothes changing force, it's hinted
at being God, since they are doing good, but only Ashley actually
speculates on it, and that in her books where only minds are
swapped. I feel I've wasted enough of my time on poor SF like this
and can no longer be bothered to make sense of Bellisario's mess.
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From: Dana*
, 245 months, post #11 |
Thanks, Justin.
I am familiar with the previous Chalker story (Downtiming the
nightside) I had not really conidered it that similar, but in
retrospect it is in a backwards way, as is the Trancers movie
series.
I never read the McConnels books.
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From: caleb jones*
, 245 months, post #12 |
ok. I saw every episode, have many of the books, and actually wrote
a fanfic for QL so I may be qualified here.
There are elements of 'truth' in several entries here. First, I
haven't read them lately but I believe the BOOKS alone actually
support the bodyswap concept.
The series is much more complicated.
In the series, the reason Al can see Sam as the sometimes female
body he occupies in another time is due to a chip inserted into his
brain that makes his brainwaves close enough to share Sam's
physical impressions of the time he is stuck in, with the help of
the computer which somehow tracks Sam's mental essence, also
recieves the same brainwaves and creates a hologram around the
chamber Al has to enter to actually see what is happening to Sam.
If he leaves the room he loses the connection and can't see Sam, so
the QL computers must enhance the signal somehow as well as
interpret it! It probably picks up the connection/cord between the
soul and the body that is referred to often in metaphysics. Sam's
body therefore remains beind and hold the other persons exchanged
mind/spirit/aura.
Thus the bodies remain in their proper time period while the
energies of the mind/soul/spirit-AKA the aura are what is
exchangedApparently the mind and soul of each person is exchanged.
That is what was referred to simply as the 'aura' by the show on a
few occasions.
Another, simpler way to look at it is that Sam possesses the past
body while the past body possesses his in the future, but that
doesn't quite cover all the bases - whereas the aura/mind/soul swap
theory does.
Presumably Sam's 'aura' was not only why Sam - and the audience of
the show, since we see what Sam sees while Sam is the focus of the
show in the past - observe Sam as himself. Al and the computer in
the future see that reality the way it is physically while Sam (and
we) see it thru his aura.
Thus, in the Mirrors, he actually sees the real bodies he occupies.
In the books he knows he has a different body but in the series
since we the audience must see the actor playing Sam each week the
mirror was used to show the real life view of the past that AL
sees!
That is why Sam - and we - see him handing something to someone his
same height despite the fact that his temporary body may be much
shorter. And it explains how Sam can dress in clothes that don't
fit. His aura interprets them and the people he touches the way Sam
would normally interpret them, not as they really are. We see Sam's
aura's interpretation of the event, not the actual event.
They stretched the aura concept to the limits though when they used
it to explain how Sam could walk while occupying the body of a one
legged man. If aura's are real as some believe, then Sam's might
have been able to form some increased strength in the area of the
missing foot long enough for him to walk for a few minutes, but
that was really stretching the concept! Perhaps the future computer
device AKA ZIGGY transferring Sam's essence/aura into the past
strenghtens it as well?
If you believe Sam and Al's 'psychic' influence could change all of
reality as we know it, then you have to believe that anything is
possible!
Of course none of that explains the presense of 'God" in the series
finale, but I'll leave that for others to try and explain.
Perhaps the stress finally got to Sam and he cracked! ;)
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From: caleb jones*
, 245 months, post #13 |
PS, that explanation is actually shorter than my story!
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From: caleb jones*
, 245 months, post #14 |
i'm up too late!
I meant the story was shorter than the explanation!
:)
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From: Dana*
, 245 months, post #15 |
Thanks Caleb.
That explination dovetails perfectly with what I remember, so I
will accept it 100%.
Perhaps it was Sam's belife that he could walk which allowed him to
do so. Some sort of telekenesis or something.
Anyhow, wherever and whatever was supposedly going on, to me the
show was a body swap, and will remain so unless one of the writers
or producers for it tells me differently.
Thanks again,
Dana... (And I am up later, so there!)
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From: Tisiane*
, 245 months, post #16 |
There is definitely no body swap element in Quantum Leap (the
series, that is - I haven't read the books). Sam is physically in
the past in his own body, and the other person is physically
transported to the future in his place.
Sam can see Al because Al is tuned to Sam's brainwave pattern - I
don't recall there being any "chip" involved. Once the lab tracks
Sam down in the past, Al steps into an imaging chamber that
transmits his image to Sam, and allows Al to see Sam's
surroundings.
The "aura" part is what's confusing people. It's a goofy device to
explain why everyone in the past (and Al, though this is not
treated consistently) sees Sam as the person who he has "replaced".
It's as if the person has left their "aura" behind in the past,
which clings to Sam so that they perceive him to be someone else.
Sort of as if reality can't accept that the change has happened and
smooths it over. It's a silly idea, but that's how the show plays
it. Only the audience sees the "reality" of Sam.
As for the clothing, Sam really is physically wearing the person's
clothing. How it manages to fit is anyone's guess.
There are many episodes where it's important that Sam his
physically himself in the past - the aforementioned Vitetnam
amputee episode for one. The pregnancy episode, where Sam feels
contractions, doesn't contradict this. In fact it supports it. His
symptoms are treated as inexplicable, and are said to be due to
some kind of "mental link" between the woman who is giving birth
(in the future, attended by medical personnel) and Sam who's still
a man in the past. In fact, a great deal is made of how it's
"impossible" for Sam to be feeling contractions because he's a man
and the mother and baby are explicitly in the future.
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From: Justin*
, 245 months, post #17 |
Very nice try Caleb, but I'll have to go with Tisiane.
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From: caleb*
, 245 months, post #18 |
and you can explain Sam in a tiny monkey cage that is too small for
a human with the bodyswap theory?
Al was artificially altered through some sort of operation. it may
have been a chip, or a part of sams brain was transplanted, but it
happened before the 1st leap and was referred to a few times. They
also were able to let another coworker see him in a later season
for a short while, possibly with a new method.
the reason a great deal was made of the baby was that the show
itself played the science whatever way they wanted for the story.
BUT in the birth story, sam is sure he is about to give birth
despite whatever Al thinks! And that supports the bodyswap theory
more than it contradicts it!!!
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From: caleb*
, 245 months, post #19 |
in otherwords Sam can't give birth, but he was going to do so
despite what they thought in the future. So he obviously possessed
her body despite what they thought in the future.
Really, though, the producers didn't concern themselves much with
the science, so why are we???
Just see it as a bodyswap if you prefer. It works that way.
And see it as a body lost in another time if you prefer. It works
that way as well!
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From: im sorry*
, 245 months, post #20 |
why do you care so much the program was rubbish!
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