The one and only,that can't be replaced.

isz

Project QL Intern
Jun 4, 2007
464
0
16
Jerusalem,Israel
I have a question and i hope,that each one of you,that will answer my question will take a few minutes before answering it and try to be as honest and objective as he can be,before answering the question...
During QL we met some of the main people,that worked in Project "Quantum Leap" and had a very big part in Sam&Al life - Sam&Al,of course, and we also "met" Gooshie,Ziggy,Donna,Tina,Tom,Kathy and of course - Beth.
From this list,who- in your opinion -are the actors/actresses that can not and should not be replaced by other actors/actresses,if a movie/new series of QL will be filmed.
In another words Who is the actor/actress that is "the one and only ____ "(you'll fill the void),in your opinion?


In my opinion Sam&Al are the only two cast members that can not be replaced in this kind of movie/new series - Scott is the one and only Sam Beckett and Dean is the one and only Al Calavicci.
As a footnote i'll add that .altough,Teri Hatcher is the one and only Donna Elesee to me,she can be replaced,in my opinion.
 
Teri Hatcher - the one and only Donna Elesee...

They tried replacing her once and the replacement sucked like a vacuum cleaner.
 
Terri Hatcher definietly although I thought Mimi Kuzyc did a great job too.
Also Susan Doil is the one and only Beth for me although if she is unable to return I am sure another woman could do justice to the role. Also Dennis Wolfburg as Gooshi, I would prefer of the charactor if Gooshi were just replaced rather than replace Dennis.
 
I think you are right about Sam and Al... if they are going to replace Al in a movie then they should replace the whole character with another observer.

As for Donna, they should have stuck with Terri Hatcher in that one ep and then left it there and never bought her back.... gotta go, something burning.
 
Bexter said:
I think you are right about Sam and Al... if they are going to replace Al in a movie then they should replace the whole character with another observer.

As for Donna, they should have stuck with Terri Hatcher in that one ep and then left it there and never bought her back.... gotta go, something burning.

I definietly agree about Al, no replaceing the admiral. And you know what's scary a long long time ago I saw on this site a small nitpick on how Sam may make an appearence but with a different actor portraying him, but thats probably just a rumor. Scott and Dean ARE Quantum Leap. Without them it dies!!!
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
I definietly agree about Al, no replaceing the admiral. And you know what's scary a long long time ago I saw on this site a small nitpick on how Sam may make an appearence but with a different actor portraying him, but thats probably just a rumor. Scott and Dean ARE Quantum Leap. Without them it dies!!!

Yes I agree, I think it would be nice in a new series with a different leaper and a diff observer but Scott and Dean possibly as guests in there original roles would be great. I like continuity, so doing it that way would connect it nicely. Not that there is really much chance of a new series i guess.:\
 
I don't want Scott to just be a guest they should make his side of the journey part of the film too, cuz I am sure we all want to know where our favorite hero is up to. Oh and Al too, there is no reason why he can't still be the observer, yes hes older but people grow its a thing all living organisms do.
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
I don't want Scott to just be a guest they should make his side of the journey part of the film too, cuz I am sure we all want to know where our favorite hero is up to. Oh and Al too, there is no reason why he can't still be the observer, yes hes older but people grow its a thing all living organisms do.

I get the impression that Scott wouldn't mind reprising his role although I am not sure if it's true or not. Would he like to do it? I am rather sure that he would take any chance at a role he could get these days. As for who can and cannot be replaced: Scott and Dean cannot be replaced although I am not sure how well a QL movie or a second series would fare if Scott and Dean made only cameo appearances. The only other person who could not be replaced, in my opinion, was Gooshie. I thought Dennis Wolfberg played him perfectly.

Matthew
 
Yes I have the soundtrack to QL which features a small interview with Scott and he was asked if he would ever reprise the role and he said he would love to. He loves the role. Dean loves his role as well as made clear in the interviews on the first season DVD set. Both of them wouldn't decline.
 
If they ever made one of the "remake"-type movies of QL (and would more than likely be one of those pseudo-prequels where the two main characters first meet) and they wanted A-listers as well as casting younger than the original..... I'd totally go for Steve Carrell as Al.

I dunno why I even had the thought, but the other day it just popped into my head that Steve Carrell would be my choice for Al if they ever did one of those prequel/remake/whatever type movies of QL.

Joy

PS: Oh, cool. My post count is my birthdate: 585 = May '85. Coolness!
 
Well, that why I was saying if they made a remake-type movie, in the vein of, say, Starsky & Hutch or Wild Wild West. Where it has the basic plotline of the show and all the same character names, but the actors cast aren't necessarily cast because they look like the original actors.

I dunno. I just could totally see Steve Carrell doing Al in a movie like that.

It's not that I want a movie like that; if at all possible, I definitely want a Scott/Dean QL movie, but if Hollywood decided that they wanted to go the way of many previous TV-to-movie remakes, I'd hope for Carrell as Al.

Joy
 
tina_als_girl said:
I dunno. I just could totally see Steve Carrell doing Al in a movie like that.

Nope, sorry, I can't. I think he's great in The Office, but I don't think he has the right vibe at all to play the Admiral. The clueless dweeb shtick is completely different from Al's quirky humor.

He's probably too young, actually. Even if it's a prequel, Al would be in his 50s, and Carrell has to be well below that.

But then, I would have a really hard time thinking about recasting either role for a prequel or anything else.
 
Oh you said a re-make sorry I missed that Joy but I still don't approve of him or the idea of a re-make/prequal. It's an interesting idea but Scott and Dean are QL its dead without them. Especially Sam, according to Sciography(available here at the Al's Place video Library, thats how I saw it) some of Sam's charactor was created from Scott. No one else can match that.

Back to Corell, I like Snish believe(but forgot to mention it in my lt post) he is far too young for the role of Al and it does not seem like a lustful womanizing admiral is his type of role. A lot of the stuff I know him to be in is stupid humor, like Evan Almightly for example.

Although I don't support a prequal or remake; for the sake of imagination I would say James Walter would be a good canidate for a prequal AL. He is the young man who portrayed Bingo in LFL. I am not sure how old he is now though he might still be too young, in fact he probably is. I was just thinking of what I read in Another Time, Another Place cuz it says that he practiced his Al voice really hard so was really disappointed when they decided to have him voice overed.
 
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I'd actually go with James Franco for someone to play a younger Al. He was in that James Dean biopic a few years ago and looks a LOT like Dean Stockwell (who was himself compared to James Dean) did when he was younger.

Joy
 
tina_als_girl said:
Well, that why I was saying if they made a remake-type movie, in the vein of, say, Starsky & Hutch or Wild Wild West. Where it has the basic plotline of the show and all the same character names, but the actors cast aren't necessarily cast because they look like the original actors.

In my opinion If there is one show that can not and probably would not be taken from the small screen and translate to the big screen is Quantum Leap. QL is a show that can only be made as a series for TV.
TV movie/Mini-series in the other hand...That's can be done but only as sequel to the original Show.
 
isz said:
In my opinion If there is one show that can not and probably would not be taken from the small screen and translate to the big screen is Quantum Leap. QL is a show that can only be made as a series for TV.
TV movie/Mini-series in the other hand...That's can be done but only as sequel to the original Show.
I agree I assumed this potential movie was the made for TV kind. I don't think QL belongs on the big screen that gives it a too modern and new feeling which takes away from QL being a classic.
 
Aside from obviously Scott Bakula or Dean Stockwell, I couldn't see the actress playing Beth replaced either- I dunno, she just seemed so right for the part...

Actually, it'd be nice to see the kind of TV Movie series that was done with shows like Columbo, In The Heat of the Night or Matlock- every few years releasing another TV Movie...
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
Yes I have the soundtrack to QL which features a small interview with Scott and he was asked if he would ever reprise the role and he said he would love to. He loves the role. Dean loves his role as well as made clear in the interviews on the first season DVD set. Both of them wouldn't decline.

SBF,

I really appreciate you sharing that with me! You made my day today! My father (who was a minor Leap fan back in the time that it was on) told me that Bakula didn't want to do the show anymore. However, when I watched a television program on the Sci-Fi Channel, I got the impression that the reason why the show didn't go on was because of a poor programming decision due to NBC's new president. I commend him for having the good grace to apologize to D. Bellisario and other Leap fans for his faulty decision. I am pleased to know that Scott and Dean would love to reprise their roles. I just wish there was a way to get the show back on the air! Although I would hope that Paramount would take up the show instead of Universal.

Matthew
 
QuantumMatt said:
SBF,

I really appreciate you sharing that with me! You made my day today! My father (who was a minor Leap fan back in the time that it was on) told me that Bakula didn't want to do the show anymore. However, when I watched a television program on the Sci-Fi Channel, I got the impression that the reason why the show didn't go on was because of a poor programming decision due to NBC's new president. I commend him for having the good grace to apologize to D. Bellisario and other Leap fans for his faulty decision. I am pleased to know that Scott and Dean would love to reprise their roles. I just wish there was a way to get the show back on the air! Although I would hope that Paramount would take up the show instead of Universal.

Matthew
Well you are most welcome Matthew, and I would have to agree with that impression of why the show was cancelled. Even Pratt refused to write anymore when the poor decisions for season five were made, with the exception of Trilogy. And Another Time, Another Place stated that Don himself thought season five was killing the show and lacked that Ql feel goodness. The new NBC guy caused all of season five's problems himself. Epsiodes like the Evil Leapers were created to raise ratings which was not even necessary until he moved the show up where it was pitted against Full House. Even thanx to funding problems they had to remove the imaging chamber door and just have the whoosh sound offscreen and then have Al appear from behind the scenes.

I did not realize the scuzz had the decincey to apologize though, I am very glad of that. When did this happen and was this a public apology? I would love to see a video clip if one exsisted.

term180 said:
Actually, it'd be nice to see the kind of TV Movie series that was done with shows like Columbo, In The Heat of the Night or Matlock- every few years releasing another TV Movie...

You know what I would like to see is a special QL special features DVD contianing interviews and bloopers and stuff they did not include on any of the season releases.
 
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Sam Beckett Fan said:
Well you are most welcome Matthew, and I would have to agree with that impression of why the show was cancelled. Even Pratt refused to write anymore when the poor decisions for season five were made, with the exception of Trilogy. And Another Time, Another Place stated that Don himself thought season five was killing the show and lacked that Ql feel goodness. The new NBC guy caused all of season five's problems himself. Epsiodes like the Evil Leapers were created to raise ratings which was not even necessary until he moved the show up where it was pitted against Full House. Even thanx to funding problems they had to remove the imaging chamber door and just have the whoosh sound offscreen and then have Al appear from behind the scenes.

I did not realize the scuzz had the decincey to apologize though, I am very glad of that. When did this happen and was this a public apology? I would love to see a video clip if one exsisted.



You know what I would like to see is a special QL special features DVD contianing interviews and bloopers and stuff they did not include on any of the season releases.

Definitely, I was very disappointed that the Season One DVD set was the only one to contain a featurette.
I wanna see one of my favorite features available in ANY kind of DVD- Audio Commentary!
Maybe if they did release a special features disc they could have selective episodes with commentary (if nothing else, the pilot and the finale at least)
 
term180 said:
I wanna see one of my favorite features available in ANY kind of DVD- Audio Commentary!

Speaking of which I would have loved for all the epsiodes to contain Scott's short commentary at the beginning of all the season one episodes and I would also have loved to see Dean do some as well for the episodes where he was big in: Boogiem*n, MIA etc...
 
Oh Sciography, I watched all of those a few years ago back when my desktop was still running. That was a great clip, I agree witb Don QL could have survived longer if not for that scuzz.
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
Oh Sciography, I watched all of those a few years ago back when my desktop was still running. That was a great clip, I agree witb Don QL could have survived longer if not for that scuzz.

In all fairness to Warren Littlefield, I think it's very unfair to villify him. He's only human and like the rest of us he has to make a living. He made a poor decision in terms of market strategy but poor decisions happen like this routinely. He did apologize and he didn't have a clue as to what he was really doing but he learned and he had the good grace to apologize. He took the blame and did the right thing and I can only credit him for that. It's not like he's some creepy fascist dictator who is harming people's lives. I think he's a good man but made a marketing mistake and one that is easily forgiven. I do think, however, that Littlefield could've made an amendment and that was that if he wasn't planning on putting it back on NBC, then he and other executives could've traded it to another network or even another studio company like Paramount (I tend to think that Paramount has better special effects, anyways).

Matthew
 
QuantumMatt said:
In all fairness to Warren Littlefield, I think it's very unfair to villify him. He's only human and like the rest of us he has to make a living. He made a poor decision in terms of market strategy but poor decisions happen like this routinely. He did apologize and he didn't have a clue as to what he was really doing but he learned and he had the good grace to apologize. He took the blame and did the right thing and I can only credit him for that. It's not like he's some creepy fascist dictator who is harming people's lives. I think he's a good man but made a marketing mistake and one that is easily forgiven. I do think, however, that Littlefield could've made an amendment and that was that if he wasn't planning on putting it back on NBC, then he and other executives could've traded it to another network or even another studio company like Paramount (I tend to think that Paramount has better special effects, anyways).

Matthew

Yeah I said even before you gave me the clip that I am glad he apologized. I never insulted him. Honestly scuzz was just a cover because I did not know his name. I give him credit for taking the blame and apologizing too.
 
QuantumMatt said:
In all fairness to Warren Littlefield, I think it's very unfair to villify him. He's only human and like the rest of us he has to make a living. He made a poor decision in terms of market strategy but poor decisions happen like this routinely. He did apologize and he didn't have a clue as to what he was really doing but he learned and he had the good grace to apologize. He took the blame and did the right thing and I can only credit him for that. It's not like he's some creepy fascist dictator who is harming people's lives. I think he's a good man but made a marketing mistake and one that is easily forgiven. I do think, however, that Littlefield could've made an amendment and that was that if he wasn't planning on putting it back on NBC, then he and other executives could've traded it to another network or even another studio company like Paramount (I tend to think that Paramount has better special effects, anyways).

Matthew

Frankly, I wouldn't shed a tear if Warren Littiefraud was hit by a mack truck (up that nozzle's nose with a rubber hose)
I didn't like his tone in the Sciography interview, less apologetic, more like "get over it".

His slow-talking suggestion that we watch season reruns, as if he were talking to a child, putting emphasis on the ends of words, as if to imply that the general public is too ignorant to understand the almighty buffer, just made me hate him more, actually...

And Littlefraud can cry me a river about death threats, the working class gets death threats all the time, when they're WORKING somewhere like Wal-Mart and someone decides it'd be funny to lie and say there's a bomb in the building.
I'd love to make as much money as him, just for sitting on my arse all day, I could care less if I'm getting death threats.

The first time they tried to cancel Quantum Leap, the fans spoke out- some wrote letters, others held up signs in front of the NBC building that said "Honk if you watch Quantum Leap"- and they were successful, as Quantum Leap was renewed for another season...
Littlefraud knew how much this show meant to us. and ordered its cancellation in spite of that...
I see that as unforgivable, and if I ever saw the corporate zombie in public, I'd give him a Sam Beckett special- a Roundhouse Kick right to the face...
 
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I half agree term180 I believe he meant it, but his tone did have that "get over it"ness to it only because it was too late for anything to be done.
 
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Term180 said:
Frankly, I wouldn't shed a tear if Warren Littiefraud was hit by a mack truck (up that nozzle's nose with a rubber hose)
I didn't like his tone in the Sciography interview, less apologetic, more like "get over it".

As much as I didn't like his decision, I wouldn't wish anything like that on him and I would probably feel very bad for him if something like that happened, even if his tone was completely snotty or condescending. I think he meant well, and as SBF said, his tone was more along the lines that it was too late and what has happened is all history now.

His slow-talking suggestion that we watch season reruns, as if he were talking to a child, putting emphasis on the ends of words, as if to imply that the general public is too ignorant to understand the almighty buffer, just made me hate him more, actually...

I can understand your reaction but I wasn't sure that he was talking down to the fans, generally, as a child, more like the extremists who were not helping our cause back then by making death threats. The reruns are all that we have left. I will say one thing- I wish that he would have least made an amendment by trading the show to another network.

And Littlefraud can cry me a river about death threats, the working class gets death threats all the time, when they're WORKING somewhere like Wal-Mart and someone decides it'd be funny to lie and say there's a bomb in the building.

The death threats like the ones you are referring to are childish pranks by adolescent-minded people who think it's funny to stir up peoples' emotions like that. The death threats that NBC received were probably quite serious and Littlefield is right; they do need to get to get a life and it will start as soon as they get some psychiatric treatment. I doubt you need me to tell you this but just a friendly reminder to all who read this thread, death threats never help us out; they only make matters worse. It gives Quantum Leap a bad name because the people who are not fans will think that the show attracts psychotic and mentally unstable people and it should not be back on the air. Frankly, I find it embarrassing that some fans would do that! That would be like supporting a political candidate on a platform of ending corruption in politics and restoring integrity and personal dignity only to discover that the candidate has been having an affair on his wife, regularly, and wasn't planning on a divorce until after he had served all of his terms. That's embarrassing as well.

I'd love to make as much money as him, just for sitting on my arse all day, I could care less if I'm getting death threats.

I am not sure how much Mr. Littlefield made back then and how much he makes today but I would be very concerned if I was him, getting death threats, especially over something that is supposed to be a worthy cause. If QL fans are sending death threats, that is something disturbing and those who are doing so need to, rightfully, be rebuked for it!

The first time they tried to cancel Quantum Leap, the fans spoke out- some wrote letters, others held up signs in front of the NBC building that said "Honk if you watch Quantum Leap"- and they were successful, as Quantum Leap was renewed for another season...

Yes, I think I even recall a commercial that showed all of the fan mail coming in and NBC's president decided to put it back on the air!

Littlefraud knew how much this show meant to us. and ordered its cancellation in spite of that...

I have never seen any evidence that this is the case. I think that he didn't know how much the show meant to us. I suspect that he simply acted in honest ignorance. He apologized and that was the meaningful part. If he flipped all of us the bird and told us where to get off, then I would think he's a jerk! But he recognized that QL was high-quality science fiction and he's sorry that he made that decision. It takes a big man to apologize for that.

I see that as unforgivable, and if I ever saw the corporate zombie in public, I'd give him a Sam Beckett special- a Roundhouse Kick right to the face...

Yikes! I'm very sorry to hear that! I hope that you find resolve and forgive him one day.

All the best!

Matthew