"A Song for the Soul"


Leap Date:

April 7, 1963


Episode Adopted by: M.J. Cogburn <aka> QLDamsel
Additional info provided by: Brian Greene


Synopsis:

Sam leaps into a member of a teenage singing group...Supreme's style! He is there to prevent one of the other girls in the group from signing a contract with a man who has a hidden agenda. Can Sam fix things so that she can still sing professionally and keep the relationship between her and her father alive? Great songs and great soul in this episode!

 

Audio from this episode




TV Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date

Name of the Person Leaped Into
Music

Sam Trivia
Al Trivia

Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Writers
Director
Producers

Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes

Awards





Production # : 67304





TV Guide Synopsis:
Sam (Scott Bakula) shimmies as a member of a three-girl singing group, and he must stop (in the name of love) a singing mate from forming a serious rift with her father. Rev. Walters: Harrison Page. Lynell: Tammy Townsend. Bobby Lee: Eriq La Salle. Paula: T'Keyah "Crystal" Keymah. JoJo: Richard McGregor.





Place:
Chicago, Illinois





Leap Date:
April 7, 1963




Leapee:
Cherea (spelled Cheree in the Quantum Leap Book)



 

Broadcast Date:
February 26, 1992 - Wednesday







Promo:




 

Music (as sung by the cast):
"My Boyfriend’s Back" by The Angels

"He May Not Come When You Want Him, But He's Right On Time" sung by the Church Choir

"Do You Love Me?" by The Contours

"Stay" by Maurice Williams

"Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas

"His Eye is on the Sparrow" is sung by Tamara Townsend




Sam Trivia:
When leaping into any situation, it’s hard to come in with the knowledge of steps and words to a song while performing. It’s even harder to keep from doing a head bob when dancing.

Throughout most of the episode, Sam is afraid to sing and does a lot of lip syncing – or at least it appears hat way.

Sam's first thoughts of the Leap:
Quantum leaping has taught me a lot about people and I knew right away I liked this man. Even with all of his blustering and bravado, Reverend Walters was saying everything I had wanted to say since this leap had started and his concern for his daughter’s safety and well-being was grounded in as much reality as the walk we had back home.




Sam's Dresses:
1) Black strap tea length dress
2) Red and white poodle skirt, white top with red cuffs, brown jacket
3) Flowery sundress with bows on shoulders
4) Light blue dress with pumps to match
5) Long pink sparkly performing dress

 



Al Trivia:
When teaching moves to Sam and the girls for their finale, it’s interesting to see that he’s doing his own little dance while they are dancing to the song.

 




Al's Outfits:
1) Tan jacket
Tan suit pants
Dark sparkling shirt
Dark sparking tie
Square with oval opal pin on his lapel.

2) Red fedora hat
Light blue shirt
String tie
Multicolored vest with silver backing
Red suit pants
Red belt




Miscellaneous Trivia:

The Leap-out at the end of the previous episode features Bobby Lee asking the singers to do a reprise, but in the full episode, the scene is removed and replaced with audience shots added in.

The conflicts between Lynelle and her father were derivative of what was going on between Deborah Pratt and her then-husband Donald Bellisario (according to Pratt at The Leap Back 2009 convention).

Character Trivia:

Cheree:
Cheree and her friends had formed a Supremes-style singing group called The Dovettes. Cheree/Sam had to keep one of the members, Lynelle Walters, from signing her life away to a sleazy promoter named Bobby Lee.

Paula:
She is one third of The Dovettes who stood up for herself throughout the episode. She tried her best to tell her friend, Lynelle, that lying down for a man was not the way to make it into show business.

Lynelle Walters:
Lynelle is one third of a singing group called The Dovettes. She’s destined to run away from home on April 9, 1963, unless Sam can prevent it. If she did run away, she would end up in a slave contract with a sleazy promoter named Bobby Lee.

Reverend Walters:
He is a Chicago Baptist minister and widower father of Lynelle. His wife, Sylvia, died of unknown causes in 1958. Lynelle hated her father because he was stern and she believed her mother died because she hated her husband, but Sylvia was dying, and had tried to leave the family when she found out her prognosis. In the original history, Lynelle ran away and they never spoke again. He died after the church burned down in 1972. Sam brought the two together, and it could be inferred her presence helped keep him going after the fire.

Robert Z. "Bobby" Lee:
A shady Chicago promoter who wanted to sign The Dovettes – Lynelle Walters in particular – to a contract. Eventually, he ends up doing twenty years for statutory rape of a thirteen-year-old girl.



 

Crew:


Executive Producer:
Donald P. Bellisario

Written By:
Deborah Pratt

Directed By:
Michael Watkins


Theme by:
Mike Post

Music By:
Velton Ray Bunch


Co-Executive Producers:
Deborah Pratt
Michael Zinberg


Supervising Producer:
Harker Wade


Produced By:
Jeff Gourson
Tommy Thompson
Chris Ruppenthal
Paul Brown





Guest Cast:
Tamara Townsend
as Lynelle Walters
T’Keyah "Crystal" Keymah
as Paula
Harrison Page
as Reverend Walters
Eric LaSalle
as Robert "Bobby" Z. Lee
Richard McGregor as Jo Jo
G. Smokey Campbell
as Rainey (Bobby Lee’s Music Assistant)
Tiffany Jameson as Cherea (Mirror Image)
Clyde R. Jones as Raghead Teen #1
Tommy Morgan
as Raghead Teen #2
Christopher M. Brown
as Raghead Teen #3





Guest Cast Notes:

Tamara Townsend as Lynelle Walters: She was a series regular on the seventh and final season of OWN's acclaimed drama series, "Queen Sugar."
Townsend has most recently booked the female lead role in BET+'s  "Average Joe." Townsend previously starred as tough but loveable mom and veteran spy 'Kira Cooper' in Disney Channel's live-action spy comedy series, "K.C. Undercover." In addition, Townsend guest-starred on the Disney+ series, "Big Shot," with John Stamos. She landed her first TV role at the age of 14 with a guest spot on "Diff'rent Strokes" with Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. She soon found work on such series as "In the Heat of the Night" and "Quantum Leap." Townsend made her feature film debut in Robert Townsend's cult classic, "The Five Heartbeats." Additional feature credits include "The Preacher's Kid," "Simone" starring Al Pacino and Evan Rachel Wood, "Playing Mona Lisa," "The Pest" with John Leguizamo and "The Brady Bunch Movie." She went on to showcase her comedic and singing skills with her starring role on "Sherri," opposite Sherri Shepherd. She had memorable roles in such series as "9ine," "Rock Me Baby" and "Lincoln Heights." She has also starred in numerous television movies, including "The Mistle-Tones," "To Love and to Cherish," "Love Me or Leave Me" and "Home of the Brave." As a singer, Townsend has worked with many of the music industry's more celebrated singers/musicians, including Branford Marsalis, R&B singer/songwriter Tank, Gerald Albright, Norman Connors, Tamia and guitarist Kevin Eubanks ("The Tonight Show"). She performed the hit single 'One Kiss' from the "Preacher's Kid" soundtrack and has toured with singer/songwriter Eric Benet. Townsend is an outdoor enthusiast who lives for adventure! She loves participating in activities such as hiking, snowboarding, 4-wheel driving and fly boarding. When she's not working or outdoors, she enjoys watching documentaries of all kinds. Travel is also a huge passion of hers, and she recently traveled to Croatia. Follow Tammy Townsend on Instagram & Twitter: @tammytownsend10

T’Keyah "Crystal" Keymah as Paula: A performer since childhood, performer, writer, producer and director T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (Ta-Kee-ah Kristle Kee-Mah) studied theater, dance, voice, and pantomime in high school, then turned down a business scholarship to complete her studies at Florida A&M University with a degree in Theatre, co-oping at Florida State University to graduate, with honors, on time. After college, the Chicago native worked as a singer, dancer and actress, and won the title of Miss Black Illinois before placing 1st runner-up in the Miss Black America pageant. She moved to Los Angeles after wowing casting directors with her original performance piece, "In Black World..." in an open call for a pilot on a young television network.
That pilot turned out to be Fox's groundbreaking, internationally successful, Emmy and TV Land Award winning sketch comedy show In Living Color. The only female to star in all five seasons, Keymáh delivered hilarious, spot on impressions like those of Whoopi Goldberg and 'Edith Bunker,' created a slew of iconic characters like Hilda Headley (Hey Mon), and Shawanda Harvey (Go On Girl), and brought her own characters such as Cryssy (In Black World) and LaShawn to the show. On the heels of In Living Color, she went on to guest star on several live action and animated shows, and went on to star in six other series, playing: sexy contractor Scotti Decker on ABC's On Our Own; laid back television writer Denise Everett on Fox's The Show; a dozen lead and guest character voices on Damon Wayans's animated series Waynehead; flight attendant turned lawyer, turn pastry chef turned teacher Erica Lucas, on CBS's Cosby; firm, fun, caring mom Tanya Baxter, on Disney's That's So Raven, and Johnny Carson's gate-keeping secretary on Seeso's There's Johnny. Keymáh starred on "The Cool Crystal Show," a cultural magazine styled variety show on her own online platform, The Keymáh Network (www.Keymah.com).

Eric LaSalle as Robert "Bobby" Z. Lee: Erik Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer and producer. La Salle is best known for his performance in the film Coming to America (1988) and especially as Dr. Peter Benton in the NBC medical drama ER (1994–2002; 2008–2009) which earned him three NAACP Image Awards and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards.


 

 

Personal Review:
This is a perfect story of how a father and daughter are split apart by a death in a family and then a putting your trust in your offspring brings them back together. It’s a wonderful story and those who don’t get misty-eyed at the end are completely insane! I love this episode. It shows more than just Sam’s legs!





Best Lines:
There was only one little part that seemed the best to me:

SAM: Al, I think I figured out why I’m here.

AL: There’s a 90% chance that your here to keep Lynelle out of show business.

SAM: Wrong.

AL: Wrong?

SAM: Wrong. I think that I’m here to make sure that her father supports her and if I can do that… that will keep their relationship in tact.

AL: No, no… Ziggy… no, no…

SAM: Ziggy has been *known* to be *wrong*. (does a head nod that’s precious)

AL: But we have to trust Ziggy’s statistics over yours.

SAM: Why?

AL: Why? Because Ziggy keeps better records.

 

 



Best Scene:

The ending is precisely the best scene in this episode – point blank. Hearing a man say that he’s lost his daughter to the music industry and then for her to come in singing "The Sparrow" is enough to make me cry every single time especially when they tell each other that they love each other. There is nothing better than a happy ending… don’t care what you say!

Why should I feel discouraged?
Why should the shadows fall?
Why should my heart feel lonely
and long for heaven and home?

When Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is he
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know he watches… he watches me.

I sing because I’m happy
I sing because I’m free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know he watches… he watches me.
Yes, I know he watches… he watches me.

as sung by Tamara Townsend (Lynelle Walters)




Say What?
During a mirror scene, Scott Bakula is seen backing out of the scene too early to make way for the mirror image of Cherea to take his place.

The scenes of the club audience are the same during both performances.




Quotable Quotes:

TEEN #2: Hey baby, come over here and talk to me.

PAULA: Who in the heck would want to talk to your ugly behind?

TEEN #2: You talking to me, Paula? Hey come on and why don’t you bring your fine brown body over here?

PAULA: I don’t talk to night crawlers so you can just crawl back into whatever cave you came from.

***

SAM: What do you know?

LYNELLE: Know about what?

SAM: Whatdoya know? You still have this old picture of us.

AL: Good recovery, Sam.

LYNELLE: I just had that printed last week.

AL: Oh… not so good.

SAM: Time sure does fly when you have fun, huh?
AL: You should have quit while you were ahead.

***

REV. WALTERS: Hallelujah!

AL: Hallelujah!

REV. WALTERS: Glory, hallelujah!

AL: Glory, hallelujah! All it takes is one good preacher to let you know that the devil is out to get you.

***

SAM: Well, then, I’m right. I’m here to help Reverend Walters support his daughter to … to… to accept her and understand her.

AL: So, how you gonna do that?

SAM: Ehhh… well, I don’t know. I mean, maybe… maybe you know… if he heard how good they were… no no no no… then I’d have to sing!

AL: So?

SAM: So, first I don’t know any of the songs or the routines and secondly, I’m a man and not a sixteen-year-old girl!

AL: That never stopped you before.

***

AL: Well, I do. I can teach you some moves.

SAM: You can teach me some moves? (laughing)

AL: I was in the Regal Theatre in its hey day. I remember the Marvelettes, Smokey, Martha and the Vandellas, James Brown – the hardest working man in show business. You have to remember to keep your harmony tight and remember to say…

(song cuts him off with… "Do you love me?" in the background)

***

Video look: The girls are being shown the moves that Al is giving to Sam and the girls are having a hard time getting the moves right.

PAULA: Damn, Cheree! You dance like a white girl!

***

AL: Ziggy says this whole thing is going to be a catastrophe.

SAM: Ziggy should have a little more faith in human nature.

AL: Ziggy says that’s the problem.

***

SAM: A prophet name Gibran once said, hold your children with open arms and they will always know they can come home to you.

***

SAM: God only gives us what he thinks we can handle.





Awards:
Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1992: Harrison Page

Emmy Nominations for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Series in 1992: Cameron Birnie, Ellen Dambros-Williams and Robert L. Zilliox

American Cinema Editors Award: Jon Koslowsky

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