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

QuantumMatt said:

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.

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Dang thats fricking scary, I don't want people to think that way of QL
They care about what messages they send out though because Another Time Another Place discribed a key fact about the episode Running for Honor. Phillip and Tommy(Sam's host) origniated as high school students but they got wind of a fact that a key influence of teenage suicides is seeing it done by other teenagers on TV. Thats why the charactors are Navel Academy students or at least college students in general because after learning about the influence; they needed to be written as higher than high school.

So it would be extremely sad if that image was betowed upon this beloved show because they are very aware of what messages they send out to viewers and thus give no reason for such ill thoughts of it.

Oh- I meant that I would take death threats over poverty any day, didn't mean to imply that I supported those who sent them; I'd like to see the guy get a Beckett Boot to the chin, yeah, but I wouldn't wish a curtain call on anyone, I don't even eat meat.

I just hate the thought of the show not even reaching 100 episodes, which isn't to say that if it had, it would've been successful- maybe the real question is this, if Bellisario had been given the chance to go ahead with his original plan, for Al the bartender to secretly be a sinister character who leaps Al into the future instead of helping Sam to mend Al's marriage, would the show have lost something in the process?

A good deal of its charm comes from the period settings, those which we can recognize, having been in ourselves-
in 1999, I sure don't remember there being Micromagnetic Fields directing cars on the road, or prostitutes' clothing lit up like christmas trees with LED lights ("Killing Time" is the episode I'm referencing here) if that's 1999, who's to say Bellisario wouldn't have had flying cars or laser guns in his vision of 2007.

If the show did go into the future, with Al as the leaper, would it have been the same show, the same warm, heartfelt moments, the same shocking plot twists, or would it seem like a completely different show entirely..

term180 said:

If the show did go into the future, with Al as the leaper, would it have been the same show, the same warm, heartfelt moments, the same shocking plot twists, or would it seem like a completely different show entirely..

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I think it would be pretty much the same but Al would be a much different leaper than Sam being very willing to get involved with every woman he met in a leap and not being scarred when he left the leap. I think it would be very exciting to have Al as the leaper, getting the same entertainment we did from the brief moment when he was in The Leap Back only this time Sam would not be the adorable playful hologram.

I think Al's brand of leaper charactor would be very enjoyable as it was in The Leap Back. The Only problem is that in that case we would definietly need a new actor sadly because Dean is much too old for a leaper role although he probably could pull it off being such a stong willed guy just as Al is.

Term180 said:

maybe the real question is this, if Bellisario had been given the chance to go ahead with his original plan, for Al the bartender to secretly be a sinister character who leaps Al into the future instead of helping Sam to mend Al's marriage, would the show have lost something in the process?

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Where did you hear that Al the Bartender was a sinister character who wouldn't allow Sam to fix Al's marriage and would leap Al into the future? That's not what's in the tentative script ending that I read, where Al chooses to leap into the future to search for Sam--after Sam fixes his marriage.

Also, Al was going to leap into a woman. It would have been hysterical.

Term180 said:

If the show did go into the future, with Al as the leaper, would it have been the same show, the same warm, heartfelt moments, the same shocking plot twists, or would it seem like a completely different show entirely..

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I think Al as the leaper would be temporary, just as it was in the Leap Back. I'm also pretty certain that DPB wasn't in favor of going into the future at all--it was pressure from the network. So if DPB had his way, maybe things would have gone back to normal after the sixth season opener.

Snish said:

Where did you hear that Al the Bartender was a sinister character who wouldn't allow Sam to fix Al's marriage and would leap Al into the future? That's not what's in the tentative script ending that I read, where Al chooses to leap into the future to search for Sam--after Sam fixes his marriage.

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Thats right. I read it too, its right here on Als Place. There is an entire scene in that script where Al is talking to Beth before he leaps about going to find Sam and what it would mean for her and its really sweet because Beth tells him that since he came back from Vietnam she has all confidence of him returning from time traveling too.

The script is linked in the Mirror Image episode guide page, you should read it before you say anything else.

Snish said:

I think Al as the leaper would be temporary, just as it was in the Leap Back. I'm also pretty certain that DPB wasn't in favor of going into the future at all--it was pressure from the network. So if DPB had his way, maybe things would have gone back to normal after the sixth season opener.

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That makes me think that maybe the project found a away to control Al like Zoey where he has 24 hours(or it was 24 hours for Zoey but for Al he would need more time since he does not know where to center his leap to target Sam) to locate Sam where he can leap back willingly and if that time expires he's stuck. Its kind of like an Animorphs concept; for those who have not read those books they can morph into animals but they have to morph back within two hours or they are forever stuck in the animal form they are in.

So maybe there are a couple of epsiodes here and there where they show Al trying again and again so that his time is rewound each time he goes into the accelorator again.

Sam Beckett Fan said:

Thats right. I read it too, its right here on Als Place. There is an entire scene in that script where Al is talking to Beth before he leaps about going to find Sam and what it would mean for her and its really sweet because Beth tells him that since he came back from Vietnam she has all confidence of him returning from time traveling too.

The script is linked in the Mirror Image episode guide page, you should read it before you say anything else.


That makes me think that maybe the project found a away to control Al like Zoey where he has 24 hours(or it was 24 hours for Zoey but for Al he would need more time since he does not know where to center his leap to target Sam) to locate Sam where he can leap back willingly and if that time expires he's stuck. Its kind of like an Animorphs concept; for those who have not read those books they can morph into animals but they have to morph back within two hours or they are forever stuck in the animal form they are in.

So maybe there are a couple of epsiodes here and there where they show Al trying again and again so that his time is rewound each time he goes into the accelorator again.

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Ah, thanks for the correction- I just knew I'd messed something up there, but I wasn't sure exactly what, just knew it didn't sound entirely right; last time I'd read about the alternate ending was at IMDB quite a few years back, glad to find better detail in the reading material available here...

Yeah, "Revenge of the Evil Leaper" (Evil Leaper 3) where Zoey states "I only have 48 hours to return home or the percentage drops with every leap"- was watching that episode yesterday on the Season Five DVD, always liked that one better than the second Evil Leaper episode (the first one was just disturbing, Frank beating Jimmy/Sam as hard as he could after Alia made it look like Jimmy had attempted to rape her- and I mean HARD, that stuff looked like a legit beating!)

I remember hearing that and thinking how ominous of a statement it is, if the accelerator Sam built works in the same way as the one Alia and Zoey use (I wonder who built their accelerator, anyway?
Not to say that Alia isn't smart enough to build a nuclear accelerator, but, well, noone really is except Dr. Beckett)

Term180 said:

Ah, thanks for the correction- I just knew I'd messed something up there, but I wasn't sure exactly what, just knew it didn't sound entirely right; last time I'd read about the alternate ending was at IMDB quite a few years back, glad to find better detail in the reading material available here...

Yeah, "Revenge of the Evil Leaper" (Evil Leaper 3) where Zoey states "I only have 48 hours to return home or the percentage drops with every leap"- was watching that episode yesterday on the Season Five DVD, always liked that one better than the second Evil Leaper episode (the first one was just disturbing, Frank beating Jimmy/Sam as hard as he could after Alia made it look like Jimmy had attempted to rape her- and I mean HARD, that stuff looked like a legit beating!)

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Oh 48 hours it was for Zoey ok my bad there.
I am not really fond of the third evil leapers I love the evil leapers but I feel making Zoey a leaper took it too far. I very much like the first two though.

term180 said:

I remember hearing that and thinking how ominous of a statement it is, if the accelerator Sam built works in the same way as the one Alia and Zoey use (I wonder who built their accelerator, anyway?
Not to say that Alia isn't smart enough to build a nuclear accelerator, but, well, noone really is except Dr. Beckett)

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Actually we discussed this not long ago and we believe that Sam's orignial intention for the project was much like Alias where she could be leaped back to her home time at will by Lothos. It makes sense because they all seemed very baffled when they could not get Sam home.