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When the episode re-aired after "Maybe Baby", the updated leap effect was added to the leap-in sequence!
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1x02 "Star-Crossed" Leap Date: June 15, 1972 Episode
adopted by: R. Joy Helvie
Synopsis: Sam leaps into Dr. Gerald Bryant, an english teacher who is having a fling with a student named Jamie. Sam meets the woman who stood him up at the altar in his own life - Donna Elesee - but she has not yet met him in the future. Al tells Sam he is there to keep Dr. Bryant and Jamie Lee apart, but Sam thinks he is there to get another chance with Donna. He believes that if he can get Donna back together with her father, that she may marry Sam after all. But Al warns that she might marry the first guy she was engaged to instead, if he pulls it off. While conflicting with Oscar, the boy wrestler who is in love with Jamie Lee...Sam, Donna, Oscar, and Jamie Lee all head to Washington to reunite Donna and her father at the Watergate hotel.
TV Guide Synopsis
Production
# 65003
TV Guide Synopsis:
Commercial:
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Al arrives to tell him that his mission is to prevent Bryant and Jamie Lee from marrying (shotgun wedding) and ruining their lives. Sam disputes this, stating that he has seen Donna Eleese and believes his true mission is to get them a second chance in the future. Sam only vaguely remembers the details of the relationship. He knows that they met in the early 1980s and were engaged to be married, but that the wedding never took place. Al fills in the gaps by explaining that Donna didn't show up at the altar. Sam believes she was afraid to commit because of something that happened with her father. He asks Al to help, but Al is defiant. He tells Sam that affecting one's personal future is a violation of the project's rules and that if Sam attempts to do so, the committee controlling the project will cut off funding. Sam goes to the diner where Donna works. He orders lunch and tries to convince her that he is not the man he appears to be. Donna becomes startled and asks him not to speak with her again. Moments later, Sam is confronted by a big, hulking wrestler named Oscar, who warns Sam to stay away from his girlfriend, Jamie Lee. Sam contests that Jamie Lee is simply trying to make him jealous and recommends that Oscar appeal to her poetic instincts by writing her poetry. Oscar accepts the advice, though promises he will return to "break his face" if it doesn't work. Back at his residence, Jamie Lee shows up once again to resume their love affair. Sam tells her they are not right for each other and she should give Oscar another chance. Disappointed, Jamie Lee leaves, but is unconvinced that she will stop loving him. Sam tells Al he knows how to fix his own circumstances with Donna. Ever since her father left her as a child, Donna has been unable to commit to a man. Sam theorizes that if he can reunite the two, Donna may abandon her commitment problems and marry Sam in the future. Sam asks Al to locate her father. Al refuses, reiterating that the committee is already accusing Al of violating project rules by giving Sam personal information and will remove him from the project if he does so again. Sam goes to the science building, where he finds Donna trying to solve a complex mathematical equation. Sam solves it for her and begins to share his views on science and time travel. The two begin to bond and Donna discloses that, if she could travel in time, she would go back to her childhood when she was happiest. Sam asks if this was before her father left, and Donna becomes rattled, disturbed that he knew such personal information. Sam tells her he guessed the information because Donna didn't list a father on her school records. Donna accepts Sam's explanation and the two continue to bond while Sam explains his time travel theories. Back at the diner where Donna works, Sam waits while she finishes her shift. Al appears, flanked by two committee members, who remain invisible to Sam. They are monitoring Al's conversation, to ensure that he does not give Sam personal information. Al, however, attempts to circumvent them by communicating with Sam covertly through an Egyptian sash he is wearing. Sam, fluent in ancient Egyptian language, is able to read the inscriptions, which spell out symbols meaning "capital" and "army." Sam deduces that Donna's father must be in Washington and working at the Pentagon. Sam, however, needs his name to find him. Al is accused of communicating with Sam through coded language. The invisible members proceed to drag Al away. Al yells out the name "Wojohowitz," Donna's father's surname, before disappearing. Donna returns to the room after Al leaves, and Sam asks her to take a trip with him to Washington. Donna is reluctant, so he promises to bring a chaperon. Back at home, Sam organizes the meeting by calling Donna's father, who is an Army Colonel. Sam tells Wojohowitz that his departure has affected Donna emotionally and she needs to see him again. The Colonel says he is shipping out to Vietnam the next day and does not want to reopen old emotional wounds before leaving. He then hangs up the phone. A knock sounds at Sam's door. It is Oscar, who angrily punches Sam in the face. Sam retaliates with his own punch before the two settle down. Sam asks Oscar what went wrong. Oscar describes the poem he wrote, which was filled with perverse and unromantic dialogue. Sam asks Oscar if he and Jamie Lee will accompany him and Donna on a trip to Washington. Oscar agrees, and the four of them set off that night. While pulling over at a gas station along the way, Al reappears. Sam is overjoyed, having worried he might never see him again. Al explains that he set up his girlfriend, Tina, with Whitesman, one of the committee members, and threatened to blackmail him to his wife unless Whitesman allowed Al to return to the project. Al is now able to access information about Donna. However, he tells Sam that, prior to meeting him, Donna was engaged to another man. If Sam is able to reunite Donna with her father and re-establish her ability to commit, he may end up ensuring that she marries the other guy instead. While they resume their trip, Donna asks Sam why he is taking them to Washington. Sam explains that he is taking her to see her father. He says that he once had a fiancé, who was afraid to commit, and left him at the altar. He hopes Donna will not do the same when her chance for happiness comes. They arrive at Wojohowitz's hotel late in the night. Sam and Donna are told at the reception that Wojohowitz does not want visitors, and since Donna cannot prove that she is his daughter, the two are refused entry. Sam decides not to give up, and takes Donna to a back entrance, which is unlocked. The two security guards at the reception are suspicious of Sam. One of them goes out into the parking lot and finds his car, which has Ohio license plates. Jamie Lee and Oscar hide away, and Oscar's ability to offer her protection rekindles her romantic interest in him. The guard, meanwhile, investigates the perimeter and finds that the back entrance to the hotel has had its lock mechanism taped over, allowing anyone to enter. He alerts the other guard at reception, who phones the police and informs them of a break-in. Sam and Donna arrive at Colonel Wojohowitz's door, and Donna has a tearful reunion with her father. Her father says he regrets waiting so long to see her. Sam begins to leave the room, when Donna goes after him, saying that if she were a little older, they might be able to have a relationship. Sam nods and tells her she will be older one day. Sam merrily exits the hotel, while Al informs him that he is in the Watergate hotel at the time of the famous break-in that led to Nixon's resignation. Sam doesn't remember the event, but is convinced that he has cured Donna's commitment issues so that she will no longer jilt him at the altar in the future. Al reminds him about the man who came before him. Sam is unworried. He is convinced that fate will allow them to be together. Meanwhile, Jamie Lee and Oscar finally rekindle a romance and kiss - prompting Sam to leap... Source
Music:
Project
Trivia: Imaging Chamber Door: invisible, manually opened/closed #1 Rule: "The Time Traveler shall not take advantage of his position to improve or alter his life." Weitzman--senator heading PQL funding committee; tall, skinny, has Lincoln fixation; wants Sam declared non compos mentis Black lights cause Al’s holographic image to glow transparent blue
Sam Trivia: Wedding held on June 5 at Old Mission Chapel--it was hot. Donna left Sam at the altar. Donna’s father left when she was 8 years old. Donna was engaged once before Sam. Sam’s doctorates: Ancient Languages, Medicine, Quantum Physics, no psychiatry
Al's
Women: Al comments that Bartlett's wife is a woman over which to get fired. Al sets up Tina with Weitzman in order to blackmail him into letting him back into the Project.
Al's Outfits: 2) Turquoise metallic shirt, gray slacks, silver tie, white robe/tunic, large white sash with hieroglyphics. Kiss
With History: The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of U.S. President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continual attempts to cover up its involvement in the June 17, 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Washington, D.C., Watergate Office Building. After the five perpetrators were arrested, the press and the U.S. Justice Department connected the cash found on them at the time to the Committee for the Re-Election of the President. Further investigations, along with revelations during subsequent trials of the burglars, led the U.S. House of Representatives to grant the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary additional investigative authority -to probe into "certain matters within its jurisdiction" and led the U.S. Senate to create the U.S. Senate Watergate Committee. The resulting Senate Watergate hearings were broadcast "gavel-to-gavel" nationwide by PBS, and they aroused public interest.[5] Witnesses testified that Nixon had approved plans to cover up his administration’s involvement in the break-in, and that there was a voice-activated taping system in the Oval Office. Throughout the investigation, Nixon’s administration resisted its probes, and this led to a constitutional crisis.
Miscellaneous Trivia: The very first sage-sell was introduced here featuring a voice-over by Scott Bakula explaining a bit about the premise of the show with background music used in "Genesis." Aside from the two times in "Genesis", the tense sound effect just before the leap effect is used one final time here as Sam leaps out. Press reviews for the episode were not great despite this later becoming a fan classic. After the show wrapped, the cast and crew went bowling and had a Christmas Party.
Guest Cast:
Teri Hatcher as Donna Elesee: Teri
Lynn Hatcher (born December 8, 1964) is an American actress best known
for her portrayals of Lois Lane on the television series Lois &
Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997); Paris Carver in the
James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997); and Susan Mayer on the
television series Desperate Housewives (2004–2012), for which she won
the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and
three Screen Actors Guild Awards (one as lead female actor, two as part
of Best Ensemble), and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Leslie Sachs as Jamie Lee: Leslie S. Sachs is known for Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), Role of a Lifetime (2002) and Quantum Leap (1989).
Say
What? The Deep Purple poster on the wall at the Rathskeller is from the band's 1984 tour. How does Al see the "kinky stuff" in the dark when he goes into the armoire? Why didn't Sam and the group leave earlier instead of what presumably is the middle of the night?
Quotable
Quotes:
Music by: Mike Post Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario Panaflex ® Camera and Lenses by: Panavision ® This
motion picture is protected under laws of the United States and other
countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may
result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
The Quantum Leap Podcast In the second installment of The Quantum Leap Podcast, Albie and Heather discuss the Season One episode three "Star-Crossed". There's first impressions, an episode recap, thoughts and opinions, listener feedback, an essay and much more. The Quantum Leap Podcast: Revisiting Star-Crossed Join hosts Allison Pregler, Matt Dale and Christopher DeFilippis as they dive deep into Quantum Leap’s first official episode, in which Sam Leaps into a sleazy college professor — and reconnects with the love of his life, Donna Eleese. It’s a timeless tale of romance, fate and magic cheeseburgers. Then stay tuned for an interview with Quantum Leap Editor Michael Stern. Michael worked on Quantum Leap from seasons 3-5, and he recounts the production and editing process — giving us a glimpse of how episodes were built from the ground up. Quantum Leap Rewatch Podcast: Season 1 Episode 2 "Star-Crossed" Sam leaps into a College professor, who happens to teach at a school, his long lost love is attending. Can Sam change history so that he can have a second shot at love? Is this episode any good? Find out within :) |
