Top 10 Worst Episodes of Quantum Leap

This is just my opinion, but I guess your pattern theory applies to me, Grimlock. I don't particularly enjoy the episode that try too hard to be funny. Like, I cannot watch Stand Up. At all. But if there's an underlying dark thread to it, like A Tale Of Two Sweeties or The Wrong Stuff, it's better for me. And if it's completely two-hankie tragic, like Shock Theatre or even Goodbye Norma Jean, I'm all over it.

Some of my least favourites are:

Stand Up (unfunny and dumb)
Dr. Ruth (unfunny, pointless and dumb)
Beast Within (boring)
The Play's the Thing (cringeworthy - I'm embarrassed for all of the characters, but I like the daughter in law's wardrobe)
It's a Wonderful Leap (I'm sorry, but I mute Angela when she sings)
Heart of a Champion (boring, except for the last ring fight)
Good Morning Peoria (way to force the chemistry there)
Runaway (much better done in Liberation)

But the only one I'll totally skip in a marathon is Stand Up.

By the way, Unchained is loosely based on a Sidney Poitier/Tony Curtis movie called The Defiant Ones, and A Single Drop of Rain is based loosely on the Burt Lancaster/Katharine Hepburn film The Rainmaker. Both really terrific films.
 
bluedana said:
This is just my opinion, but I guess your pattern theory applies to me, Grimlock. I don't particularly enjoy the episode that try too hard to be funny. Like, I cannot watch Stand Up. At all. But if there's an underlying dark thread to it, like A Tale Of Two Sweeties or The Wrong Stuff, it's better for me. And if it's completely two-hankie tragic, like Shock Theatre or even Goodbye Norma Jean, I'm all over it.

Well, I wouldn't say that Stand Up has a dark thread in it, but it is far from a total comedy episode (an episode about comedy doesn't always mean that the comedy in it should be perceived as such). A Tale of Two Sweeties has a dark thread to it? What? The fact that he steals money from his kids? I would call that sad, but not dark.



bluedana said:
Some of my least favourites are:

Stand Up (unfunny and dumb)
Dr. Ruth (unfunny, pointless and dumb)
Beast Within (boring)
The Play's the Thing (cringeworthy - I'm embarrassed for all of the characters, but I like the daughter in law's wardrobe)
It's a Wonderful Leap (I'm sorry, but I mute Angela when she sings)
Heart of a Champion (boring, except for the last ring fight)
Good Morning Peoria (way to force the chemistry there)
Runaway (much better done in Liberation)

Great choices. Apart from Stand Up and The Beast Within (see my other list) I agree with them all (obviously, as they are all on this list :lol ).
 
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Southern Comforts


Honestly, I don't remember a single interesting fact about this episode. Boring, slow, uninteresting characters. Sexy girls do not an episode make. It sticks out very unfavourably compared to the great Season 3 as a whole.
 
Grimlock said:
Well, I wouldn't say that Stand Up has a dark thread in it, but it is far from a total comedy episode (an episode about comedy doesn't always mean that the comedy in it should be perceived as such).

It has cream pie throwing at the end. That's enough for me. But really, to me, it tries way too hard for funny, and misses by a country mile.

A Tale of Two Sweeties has a dark thread to it? What? The fact that he steals money from his kids? I would call that sad, but not dark.

I look at it from the perspective of these families are going to be torn apart no matter which one Sam chooses, and it's one of the few episodes where the Leapee is just not a good person.

I also dislike Temptation Eyes (which puts me in the minority here, I know, I'm horribly un-romantic) which is dark, but is just an excuse for Sam's two week sex vacation.
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
Lol a lot of us seem to agree on that one. Ladykaoss, Grimlock, bluedana you and myself. :hurray:

Well, let's just say that it DID fail to make this list. I'm indifferent towards it (I don't have the tendency to skip it while watching the show on DVD; like I do with the episodes that ARE on this list).
 
I am not a big fan of Blood Moon, nor am I a fan of Roberto, The Beast Within, or Thou Shalt Not. One episode that I was never really fond of and have not seen here yet is Dreams.

That one freaked me out when I was a kid. I can watch it easier now and I appreciate the way it tries to go for the gross out factor, but it is still not one of my favorites.

Some of the episodes mentioned in here are favorites of mine however. Trilogy Part 3 is one of my favorites and I really like the idea of Sam being Sammie Jo's Father. Because, think about this. If Sam had not fathered Sammie Jo, when he died, that is the end of his line. We were never told about him ever having a kid with Donna, so would you rather he not have a child at all. I personally think that someone as good and smart as Sam, it would be a shame to not pass that on to the next generation.

Trilogy part 2 was definatly the weakest of the Trilogy eps though.


But I thouroughly enjoyed Pool Hall Blues and Good Morning Pioria. And someone mentioned the ep where Sam leaped into a young Al (A Leap for Lisa) Personally, that is my all time favorite. Shock Theater was great too.
 
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Sam Beckett Fan said:
Lol a lot of us seem to agree on that one. Ladykaoss, Grimlock, bluedana you and myself. :hurray:
Hey, I never said I disliked The Last Gunfighter. Sam in Western wear saves that one for me.
 
Al's Handlink said:
I am not a big fan of Blood Moon, nor am I a fan of Roberto, The Beast Within, or Thou Shalt Not. One episode that I was never really fond of and have not seen here yet is Dreams.

That one freaked me out when I was a kid. I can watch it easier now and I appreciate the way it tries to go for the gross out factor, but it is still not one of my favorites.

Some of the episodes mentioned in here are favorites of mine however. Trilogy Part 3 is one of my favorites and I really like the idea of Sam being Sammie Jo's Father. Because, think about this. If Sam had not fathered Sammie Jo, when he died, that is the end of his line. We were never told about him ever having a kid with Donna, so would you rather he not have a child at all. I personally think that someone as good and smart as Sam, it would be a shame to not pass that on to the next generation.

Trilogy part 2 was definatly the weakest of the Trilogy eps though.


But I thouroughly enjoyed Pool Hall Blues and Good Morning Pioria. And someone mentioned the ep where Sam leaped into a young Al (A Leap for Lisa) Personally, that is my all time favorite. Shock Theater was great too.

Dreams Creeped me out too at first but that's why I believe in Second chances, with the exception of Goodbye Norma Jean they never fail to change my mind.

Another one that creeped me out before Kristen forced the second chance on me because she wanted to see it and her mom would not watch that ep is Shock Theater. It's just so sad, and the shock thing is creepy. But after the second chance, I now like it, although I still find it sad.

bluedana said:
Hey, I never said I disliked The Last Gunfighter. Sam in Western wear saves that one for me.

Sorry I thought I saw it on your list but looking back, that was Heart of a Champion, an ep that's right up there with it on Krtisten's and my list.
 
bluedana said:
Hey, I never said I disliked The Last Gunfighter. Sam in Western wear saves that one for me.

That's basically my opinion, too. And I thought it was cute when Sam was drunk and hungover.
 
LadyKayoss said:
That's basically my opinion, too. And I thought it was cute when Sam was drunk and hungover.

Lol, totally, thats the only part of the ep that Kristen and I LOVE! Poor Sam. He was also adorable the next morning with his hangover. I wouldn't say the cowboy outfit was his thing though. Just IMO.
 
I'd have to watch them all again, but off the top of my head, I always found some episodes just skippable rather than actively bad. Even one of the "bad" episodes I last saw (the Evil Leaper one) I found incredibly entertaining, even if it was for all the wrong reasons.

I remember, way back, catching Piano Man with a friend and being disappointed as we were hyped up for a new episode. My friend said to me "if there weren't bad episodes, then you wouldn't have good episodes." At the time it sounded like the dumbest thing I'd ever head, but, years later, I kind of get what he meant.
 
Having read your Bottom 10, I actually disagree with a lot of the list. For me, first and foremost, the episode has to be entertaining, and I was entertained by a lot of those episodes.

What I will say is that every episode of Quantum Leap has good features, and we should focus on the positives. So I will list a positive for each episode too.
I've never ranked my least favourite episodes before, but if I had to list ten of them (in no particular order)...

Blood Moon: Sam actually does not affect the resolution that saves his host's wife's life, it was from a random act of nature. Much of the conversation was boring and inconsequential - many could have been removed and not affected the story at all. The saving graces of this episode are the hilarious banter from AL, and the acting of the woman who played Lady Covington.
 
Runaway: it is too difficult to suspend my disbelief that Al and Ziggy never did a check to find out what happened to the mother. But I do like Sam constantly being picked on by his sister and the passive aggressive tension between the parents.
 
Piano Man: this episode was Quantum Leap's equivant of a Road Runner cartoon - fail after fail without fail. You would also need a hole in your head to not realise it's the ditzy woman who is revealing their location to the killer. I do like the car chase and Somewhere in the Night though.
 
Thou Shalt Not: if you are going to have a culture or religion featured in an episode, then it MUST have some effect on the story. But the Jewish factor was only added to fill out the episode a bit. A saving grace in this episode is the acting and the outcome (writing a book that helps other families who are grieving).
 
I'm not sure if you're agreeing with my statement that Quantum Leap's take on it was a really bad take, or that you disagree with what I said.

Quantum Leap did a good job with representation. I'm saying your comment is a bad take. There are many different cultures and religions in the world, and that fact is the only reason needed to include people of those cultures and religions in stories. However, it so happens that there are cultural specifics included in this episode that do matter to the story line and push it forward, even if you are unaware of them.
 
Quantum Leap did a good job with representation. I'm saying your comment is a bad take. There are many different cultures and religions in the world, and that fact is the only reason needed to include people of those cultures and religions in stories. However, it so happens that there are cultural specifics included in this episode that do matter to the story line and push it forward, even if you are unaware of them.

Then you should explain them, because as far as I can tell, you could remove the entire Jewish factor in the episode and not have it change the story at all. The only thing I can think of that had any effect on his mission at all was that one of the wives came to him to confess her affair, which helped him figure out what Bert was doing. But it wasn't even Sam being Jewish which did this, it's the fact that he was in a position of power (the rabbi). Sam could have been in some other position of power, like a counsellor, and still do what was required.

I am not saying that Sam would not come across people of different cultures and faiths, I am saying for writing to be good, what you include should have some significance to the story. "Freedom" for example did this beautifully.
 
I am not saying that Sam would not come across people of different cultures and faiths, I am saying for writing to be good, what you include should have some significance to the story. "Freedom" for example did this beautifully.

So, do you feel the same way re stories about white Christians? That there should be elements of Christianity and 'white' culture in those stories in order for those stories have significance and not be interchangeable with any other culture or religion, otherwise it's not good writing?
 
So, do you feel the same way re stories about white Christians? That there should be elements of Christianity and 'white' culture in those stories in order for those stories have significance and not be interchangeable with any other culture or religion, otherwise it's not good writing?

The difference is that the Jewish community is a minority, and thus needs to be treated with sensitivity. Parading a minority's culture for no reason is culturally insensitive.
 
The difference is that the Jewish community is a minority, and thus needs to be treated with sensitivity. Parading a minority's culture for no reason is culturally insensitive.

Including a minority culture in a story isn't parading the culture for no reason. As long as the writers aren't being disrespectful, badly stereotyping the culture, etc., there's nothing insensitive or wrong about it.

I'm Jewish and I find nothing about this episode to be 'parading the culture' for no reason. In my opinion, the writers did a very good job with the representation of the culture and the religion, and were very respectful. From comments I've read, many Jewish fans of the show seem to share this view and like this episode. Of course there may be other Jewish fans who have a completely different take on it, but I haven't seen comments to that effect on this site or elsewhere.

A story about Jewish people doesn't have to focus on Jewish-specific issues. This episode is about grieving and loss, which I think the writers handled really well, and of course the episode could've focused on a family of any culture or religion experiencing grieving and loss. The fact that they chose to write this universal experience about a Jewish family doesn't make that insignificant to the story. But the writers actually did do a good job incorporating things specific to Judaism to give more nuance and show how this particular family was dealing - or not dealing - with Danny's death, such as the timing (exactly a year has passed and it's time for the Unveiling, they haven't even gone to pick out a headstone for their son, and they're arguing about it).
 
We're going to have to agree to disagree, I find it very lazy writing to put your token minority front and centre unless it has some purpose.

You mentioned the unveiling and laying of the headstone as a Jewish feature that was central to the story. The point that I was making was that an almost identical situation could have been done without bringing Judaism into the story - it could have been written that the family were unable to put a headstone on the grave at the time of the burial and then the argument follows as the dad couldn't deal with the pain.

It appears that you are offended because I called the Judaism angle lazy writing. It is NOT the fact that Judaism is featured that makes me dislike the episode. I dislike any episode that puts a minority front and centre when it does not affect the story - All Americans is another example (though they did slightly better than Thou Shalt Not). It is the fact that it is placed front and centre when it does not affect the story or the resolution. The only reason was to try to draw in viewers from the "Oy vey I'm the rabbi" cliffhanger from the previous episode and to pad out the episode when the actual story proved thin. You are allowed to like the episode and be proud to see some representation of your people. I just thought it was handled poorly and I have just as much right to dislike it.
 
Getting the thread back on topic, my next episode in the Bottom 10 would be "Hurricane", there are too many problems with the timeline, the "safe house" is not by any stretch of the imagination, and the jilted ex-girlfriend is not in the least bit believable. However, the cat fight was great and the old woman was funny.
 
It appears that you are offended because I called the Judaism angle lazy writing.

No, your comments offended me because so much of what you've had to say about Judaism comes from a place of ignorance, and some of it I find really disrespectful.

I just thought it was handled poorly and I have just as much right to dislike it.

Of course you have a right to dislike the episode, I don't have an issue with you disliking it. But, going back to what I said in my very first comment, I think your reasoning is a really bad take. Your take implies that minority cultures should only be represented in an 'issue' episode that's very narrowly and specifically about that culture/religion and the rest of the time we shouldn't be seen. That's offensive too, at least to me.
 
It is not that much to ask for if something is going to be included in an episode, that it has some effect on the actual story and that the main character would actually learn and grow from its inclusion. I would say the same no matter what it is. No offence was intended, but if you are offended that is your problem, not mine.
 
It is also worth sharing this:

"The writers guide for the series warns against having Sam leap into a situation just for the shock value without really considering how an entire episode can follow it. For better or worse, this is certainly the case here: Look! Sam is conducting a Bat Mitzvah!... And then after the ceremony is over, Judaism plays no part in the show at all. The characters could just as easily have been of any religion at all; of course, in a country nearly 2% Jewish it would be ridiculous in over 100 leaps for him not to work with a Jewish family, it's just very much a bait and switch, implying an episode about Judaism and delivering one about grief."

That is a quote from Behind the Mirror Image, the most comprehensive guide to Quantum Leap that exists.