Leap Date:
August 8, 1955

Episode Adopted by: M. J. Cogburn
Additional info provided by: Deborah Hendryx and Brian Greene

Teaser:

In the first of a three-part saga, Sam leaps into the father of young Abagail Fuller, a girl accused by a local townswoman, Leta Aider, of killing her husband and daughter. Leta is the only survivor of her family and believes Abagail to be cursed.

Audio from this episode:

Leta: Can't you see her for the devil that she is!

Leapee:

Sheriff Clayton Fuller

Broadcast Date:

November 17, 1992 - Tuesday

Synopsis & Review:

August 8th, 1955 
Potterville, Louisiana

When Sam leaps in, he is dressed in a tan shirt, tan pants, and a police badge on his chest.  He’s wearing a straw cowboy hat and holding an oar.  He is standing in the water, and he looks down at the oar and then beyond to find a bloated dead man in the water.  The corpse is dressed in a brown button-up shirt with suspenders on it. Sam swallows, throws the oar to the side, bends down to lift the man’s head out of the water, and then says, “Oh boy.”

PART ONE

Sam pulls the man out of the water and begins to narrate.

“Leaping in time has brought me into many strange first encounters, but coming face to face with a dead man is probably my least favorite. And it happened, if I remember it correctly, twice before, and each time, the same words echoed through my brain, ‘Too late.  Why am I too late?”

The deputy, Bo Loman (played by Stephen Lee), then walks up through the water and tells Sam that he has found a canvas in the tent they used to use.  Once he gets up to the body, the deputy tells him that it’s Bart Aider.

SAM: (Looks at badge) I’m the sheriff.
BO LOMAN:  Are you telling me or Bart?
SAM:  I was thinking, as the sheriff, that I should probably know something.4
BO LOMAN:  Well, I reckon if that badge gives you all the answers, then there’s hope for me, huh?  (pause) Damn.  It looks like he got smacked right upside his head.  Now, who’d want to kill old Bart?
SAM: It looks like he was dead before he got hit.
BO LOMAN:  Now, how’d you figure that?
SAM: Just a guess.

They transfer the body to the canvas and then take him to the car.

BO LOMAN:  So, what are you going to tell Leta?
SAM:  I’m not saying.
BO LOMAN:  Yeah, she damn near ripped off your ears the last time you brought Bart home, and he was alive.
SAM: Well, maybe we should get the autopsy started before we call her.
BO LOMAN:  Not an ice cube’s chance in hell.  The Dubeaux’s ain’t got a phone, and Doc Kinman and Daisy are out in the boonies delivering her baby.  Do you think that woman could drop another baby after having sixteen of those things?
SAM:  Sixteen?
BO LOMAN:  Or is it seventeen?  Can’t choose.

They push the body in the car.

BO LOMAN:  That must have scared the hell out of Abagail coming up on a dead man like that.  I mean, I’m a grown man, and it gives me the willies.  You know, at ten years old, that daughter of yours she’s seen enough grief for two lifetimes.
SAM: Is she all right?
BO LOMAN:  What?
SAM: Abagail.  I mean, uh… I wanna go and see if she’s all right.
BO LOMAN:  I thought you wanted to take the body.
SAM: No, I want to make sure that Abagail is all right.  (He walks to the other side of the car)
BO LOMAN:  Sure, no problem.  I guess it means that I’m driving. Cool.

On the drive, Sam narrates:

“I never like it when a leap starts out at the bottom and goes downhill from there.  All I could gather from my Deputy was that I was in the state of Louisiana and father to a little girl who had stumbled upon a dead man.  A dead man that somebody had bludgeoned and pushed into the water.”

As Sam exits the car, Deputy Bo Loman asks where he should take Bart.  They finally land on taking him to the funeral home.  Bo also asks if he’d like him to call Leta, Bart’s wife, and Sam says yes, but if he has any problems to call.  Bo leaves.

Sam begins to walk toward the house when a little brown-haired girl comes running out of the door in a white and flowery dress, holding a baby doll.  Following her is Marie Beth Billings, a black woman (played by Fran Bennett)
 wearing a blue dress, a long apron, and white shoes.  Abagail (played by Kimberly Cullum) calls to him, and Sam kneels as he embraces her.

ABAGAIL:  Daddy, Daddy! I’m so glad you're home.
MARIE:  She’s been nervous as a cat, Sheriff Fuller.  Won’t eat and said she won’t go to bed until you got home.
ABAGAIL:  He was there, wasn’t he?  Just like I said, he was, wasn’t he?
SAM: Yeah, he was.
ABAGAIL: He was so mad. He was yelling at me and following me, and I tried to hide, but he wouldn’t go away.
MARIE:  Abagail Fuller, you told me he was dead when you come on him.
ABAGAIL: I said he was dead, and I ran away.
SAM: Was he alive?
ABAGAIL:  He was yelling at me to give back her locket.  He said I had Violet’s locket, and I better give it back.
SAM: Locket?
ABAGAIL:  It was supposed to be my locket.  Everybody knew it.  Momma and I were saving all our money to buy it, and they bought it first. But I didn’t take it, I didn’t!
MARIE:  Ms. Leta watched me search her whole room.  Here, I’ll get it.  And Abagail didn’t have that child’s locket. I know that for a fact.
SAM: Why was Mr. Aider yelling at you?
ABAGAIL:  I don’t know.  No one ever believes me.
SAM: Now, wait a second; I didn’t say that I didn’t believe you. 
ABAGAIL:  He was going to hit me, and I pulled away.  When I looked back, he was lying in the water.
MARIE:  Oh, when will this nightmare ever go away?  First Violet, and now her daddy?
ABAGAIL:  Don’t make me think about it, Daddy.  Don’t.  (pause) Take me on the swing, Daddy.
MARIE:  You go on. I’ll take your stuff inside.  Oh, and I need you to change out the fuses.  The downstairs light is out again.
SAM:  Yes, ma’am.
ABAGAIL: Daddy?
SAM: Yeah?
ABAGAIL: Tell me all the ways that you love me.
SAM: Well, I love you like the stars love the sky… like the sea loves the sand… like the flowers love the bees.
ABAGAIL:  I love you, Daddy.  (She then hums Hush, Little Baby, while Sam rocks her on the porch)

PART TWO

When Al shows up, Sam has tucked Abagail into bed and is coming out of her room.  Al is dressed in a light blue long-sleeved shirt, a multicolored vest, a bright pink tie, a black belt, and bright blue slacks. 

AL: Sweet kid.  That’s such a great age, you know, 9 …. 10.
SAM:  Shhh!
AL: So, who’s going to hear me?  When was the last time a hologram woke somebody up? Huh?
SAM: Al.  Al.  What’s going to happen to her?
AL: Wow.  We’re a little jumpy tonight, aren’t we?
SAM: Jumpy? Well, yeah, jumpy.  It’s been an interesting day.  When I leap in, I’m standing over the body of a dead man, and the last person to see him alive is my ten-year-old daughter. So, yeah. I guess that makes me a little jumpy.

Sam looks into a mirror in his room and sees his counterpart, Clayton Fuller (played by James Whitmore, Jr.). 

SAM: Why am I here, Al?
AL: You’re a male… of the Caucasian persuasion, uh…40ish… and you’re a… what’s tha… uh… sheriff… you’re a sheriff of a small town…
SAM: Al.  Al.  I know that, okay?  My last name is Fuller; I have a daughter named Abagail. Now, tell me something that I don’t know.
AL: Uh, well, you see… there was a huge flood here in 1971, and it destroyed all of the town’s records, but we can piece things together. It’s just going to take a little time.

Sam picks up letters that are bundled with a red ribbon on them.

SAM: These are for Laura Fuller.
AL: Oh, is that the wife?
SAM: Yeah.  They look like uh… love letters from me… from Clayton… but they were never sent.
ABAGAIL: Daddy?  Who are you talking to?
AL: Uh… don’t blame me.
SAM: Why are you up, honey?
ABAGAIL: I heard you talking to her.
SAM:  Talking to…
ABAGAIL: You still miss her, don’t you?
SAM: Miss her?
ABAGAIL:  I miss her, too. 
AL:  It sounds like the mom must have died, poor kid.
SAM:  You mean your mother.
ABAGAIL: I talk to her sometimes.
SAM:  Come here.  It’s okay… to talk to people who have gone away… it helps us keep them in our hearts.
ABAGAIL: Why won’t she talk back?
AL: Ziggy doesn’t have anything on these people, you know, but the mother could have…
SAM: Don’t say it.
ABAGAIL: Say what?
SAM:  You see, it’s just that sometimes, people don’t have to say anything for us to understand them in our hearts. 
ABAGAIL:  I love you so much, Daddy.
SAM: I love you, too.
ABAGAIL: You won’t ever go away, will you?
SAM: No.
ABAGAIL: Promise you won’t ever go away?
SAM:  I promise I will be here as long as you need me.  Now, come on, get to bed. It’s late.
ABAGAIL: Let’s have a picnic tomorrow, Daddy.
SAM: A picnic?
ABAGAIL:  Just you and me.  I’ll get all dressed up and pick you up.  Won’t that be lovely?
SAM:  That’d be lovely. Now go get some sleep.
ABAGAIL: Goodnight, Daddy.
SAM: Goodnight.
AL:  She’s real sweet, isn’t she?
SAM:  Don’t tell me that she dies, Al.
AL:  No.  No, Ziggy’s got nada.
SAM: Well, find something, alright?
AL: Uh, well, that’s what I’m trying to do. You really don’t think that something is going to happen to that little girl, do you?
SAM: I don’t know.  I mean, isn’t that what you’re supposed to tell me?
AL: I just told you, Ziggy’s got zip, zilch, zero.
SAM:  Look it, I think she saw something, you know.  She saw somebody hit or push this Bart Aider guy, and she’s in danger, and that’s why I’m here.
AL: Bart Aider.
SAM: Bart Aider, he followed her, right?  They had an argument, and then Abagail said that he fell.
AL: Oh, this is the guy that died.
SAM: Yes. This is the guy that….
AL: Oh, so how do you know that somebody pushed him?
SAM: I don’t know anything, and I won’t know anything until the town doctor comes back and does an autopsy OR you and Ziggy get me some data.
AL: Hey, hey, take it easy, will you?
SAM: I can’t take it easy. I’m frustrated here.  I’ve been trying to get answers all day, and I can’t get any from anybody – and especially you!
AL: Okay, just a second, I’m doing the best I can, you know.  Look.  I’ll go back and get Ziggy to run a – a national cross reference here and try to find some personal data on Abagail and her father.  Okay?  And I’ll be back as soon as I can.
SAM: Look, Al, I didn’t mean to come down on you so hard; it’s just… she’s so fragile, you know, and I just don’t want anything to…
AL: It’s okay.  I understand.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.

After Al leaves, Sam goes to the door, turns out the light, and opens it up before heading to the window to look out. A strong breeze blows through the window, and he hears the door behind him creak.  He turns and sees a beautiful brunette, Laura Fuller (played by Meg Foster), standing in the hallway in a long white nightgown, her blue eyes staring at him before the door slams shut.  Sam hurries to the door, opens it back up, and looks up and down the hall.  The brunette is gone, and when he turns around, he sees Abagail standing outside her room.  She says good night, then enters her room, leaving him confused and dumbfounded at what just happened.

PART THREE

The viewer then sees a town with dirt roads, people milling about, and the song “Ain’t That A Shame” by Fats Domino playing. As the camera pans across the road, it focuses on a boarded-up well and fades into the sheriff’s office, where Sam, Deputy Bo Loman, and Will Kinman (played by Travis Fine) are standing talking about Bart Aider.

BO LOMAN:  Now, let’s see what we have in here… Ooo, ham and cheese.  You know, from my point of view, Bart didn’t look any better alive than he did dead.
WILL KINMAN:  I guess anybody … drunk that m-much… bound to waste away to nothing… that’s what my daddy says.
BO LOMAN:  I tell you, Will, I remember when Bart was a model citizen in this town.
SAM: (picks up a picture of Abagail and Laura Fuller)
BO LOMAN:  I thought he was going to run for mayor.
SAM: (remembers the vision of Laura Fuller last night in the hallway)
BO LOMAN: (laughs) Sure he would.  He’d have to burn down the whole parish and have Harry Truman run against him.
SAM: Eisenhower.
BO LOMAN:  Beg your pardon?
SAM: Eisenhower was president in 55.
BO LOMAN:  That’s right.  Still is.  That’s why I figure it’d take Truman to run against Travis in the count that he’s the one with the job right now.
SAM & BO LOMAN: (Both laugh)

Enter Leta Aider (played by Mary Gordon Murray).

WILL KINMAN:  Leta Aider just walked in.
BO LOMAN: Oh, Lord, have mercy. I called her in Baton Rouge last night, and she was this close to being a basket case.
SAM:  Mrs. Aider, we are all terribly sorry.
LETA AIDER:  Where is my husband?
SAM:  He’s with the doctor.
LETA AIDER:  I just came from Doc Kinman’s.
BO LOMAN:  Doc’s gotta check him out, you oughtta know that, Leta.
LETA AIDER:  I want to see him, Clayton.
BO LOMAN:   Why don’t you and I go and…
SAM:  Will, why don’t you go see if your father is done with Mr. Aider?
LETA AIDER:  I don’t care if he’s finished or not; I want to see my husband.
SAM:  Would you like to sit down?  (pause) I don’t think it’s such a good idea right now.  Doc’s doing an autopsy to determine the cause of death. 
LETA AIDER: Bo told me he fell and hit his head or is that another Fuller lie?
SAM:  We don’t know until we get a preliminary autopsy repo…
LETA AIDER: Are you telling me his death wasn’t an accident?
SAM: We’re trying to find out if he drowned – had a heart attack…
LETA AIDER: Bart’s heart was fine.
SAM: Mrs. Aider, until I get a report anything I tell you right now would be speculation. 
LETA AIDER: A year ago, I lost my little girl, and the Lord has taken Bart, and none of this makes sense to me.  None of it.  Now, I want to see my husband.  Please.
WILL KINMAN: (comes back through the door) D..D.. Daddy said, c..c..come on.


PART FOUR

We are now at Takin’s Funeral Parlor and see Doc Kinman (played by Max Wright) pulling back the covers to reveal Bart Aider.  Leta is looking forlornly at her husband on the table.  She walks up to him, and Doc and Sam leave and go outside to be on the sidewalk. Doc Kinman is wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, gray slacks, and a gray tie with a gold pin and suspenders.

SAM: You sure she’s gonna be alright up there?
DOC KINMAN: Leta?  Oh, she’s the strongest woman I know.  When her little girl disappeared, everyone thought it would be Leta would fall apart, but she stood solid as a rock.  Bart crumbled like old China.  He thought it was all his fault.
SAM:  His fault?
DOC KINMAN:  They couldn’t have any more kids cause of his prostate. It was a miracle that they had Violet. 
SAM: I don’t understand.  How was that his fault?
DOC KINMAN: Seems how I remember Bart made it feel like he was less of a man. We talked a lot about it, and I thought I had him turned around. 
SAM: Until Violet died.
DOC KINMAN:  If only they had known for sure what had happened to her but never havin’ found that child’s body – never knowing for sure – poor Violet.  Next to your Abagail, she was the prettiest little girl in this parish. Why, I don’t need to tell you that.

Leta emerges from the funeral parlor, and Sam goes over to her.

SAM:  Do you need me to get you something, a drink of water or…
LETA AIDER:  No, I just needed some air, thank you.
SAM: I’d be happy to talk with you.
LETA AIDER:  That’s fine.  I’d rather be by myself.  (pause) Sheriff, I know that there are some forms to fill out, but if you’ll just give me a few moments, I’d be happy to comply….
SAM: Of course.  I’ll be in my office all day.
LETA AIDER: I don’t need all day.  I just need some air.
Leta Aider narrows her eyes at Sam, then turns and walks away.
DOC KINMAN:  Clayton, I need to have a word with you.  (He says, then walks inside)
SAM: (Sighs then follows him inside the funeral parlor)
Then, the imaging chamber door is opened and closed, and we know that Al’s in the room with them.  Al is now dressed in a white suit, with a black string tie and a talisman on the lapel.
AL: Ooooooh, no.  Dead people.  I don’t like dead people.  (Al turns away)
SAM: (addressing Al) I don’t need this.
DOC KINMAN:  No one needs a murder on their hands.
AL: Murder?  Oh, is this the dead body that wasn’t a dead body when Abagail found him?  (He then looks at the dead body)
SAM:  What are you saying?
DOC KINMAN:  Bart Aider died of heart failure.  But what I can’t figure out is whether this happened before or after the heart attack.
SAM: Are you saying that this blow to the head caused the heart attack?
DOC KINMAN:  Could be.
AL: Back to the someone hit him theory.
DOC KINMAN:  Didn’t you say you found an old oar by the body?
SAM: Yeah.
AL: You didn’t say anything to me about an old oar.
DOC KINMAN:  Look at the shape of that bruise.
SAM: Well, couldn’t that bruise be caused by falling and hitting his head on a rock or something – a rock underneath the water?
DOC KINMAN: Maybe.
AL: Yeah, but if somebody hit him, then how come the skin isn’t broken?
SAM: Depends on how hard he was hit as to whether the skin would be broken, right?
DOC KINMAN:  That’s right, but look at his arm.  Look there.
AL: What is this, Sherlock Holmes or something?
SAM: You’re saying that he had a heart attack because someone attacked him.
DOC KINMAN:  Oh, I don’t know.
SAM: I think – I think he had a heart attack, and then when he was falling, he tried to catch himself or something and hit his arm, and then he hit his head.
AL: Yeah, besides, you said that no one was there except Abagail.
DOC KINMAN: I’m just asking questions, Clayton; I’m not accusing anybody.
AL: Is he saying what I think he’s saying?
SAM: Sounds like it.
DOC KINMAN: Sounds like what?
SAM: Sounds like I should think about all of this a little more carefully.
DOC KINMAN: Look, all I’m saying is – it’s just a kind of a weird coincidence that Abagail was the last person to see Violet and Bart alive.

Will Kinman comes busting into the room.

WILL KINMAN:  Sheriff, Mrs. Aider is all over your Abagail.  You gotta come quick.

Sam, Will and Doc Kinman go racing out of the office.  Al looks back down at Bart like he’s surprised.  Sam and Will race into the Sheriff’s office to hear several people yelling back and forth.  Sam rushes over to Abagail, who clings to him.  A new character shows up – an attorney Laurence “Larry” Stanton – an attorney (played by W. K Stratton)

WILL KINMAN:  You hear me?  You stay away from her.
LETA AIDER: Shut up!  She said she was out there!
LARRY STANTON:  Now, everybody, let’s just calm down.  Excuse me here.  Let’s all start from the beginning here….
BO LOMAN:  Nobody called for a lawyer, Stanton.
SAM:  All right.  Just tell me what happened here. What happened?
BO LOMAN:  All right. I was working on the death papers and Abagail walked in looking for you.  She came back to your office and the next thing you know, she’s screaming at the child like a wild banshee.
LETA AIDER: Smiling that same evil smile she had at the service for my Violet.
ABAGIAL:  I just said that I was sorry that he died.
LETA AIDER:  That’s a lie.  She said that she was sorry that he fell that if he hadn’t been as mad at her he wouldn’t have fallen and hit his head.  She watched him die!
DOC KINMAN:  Is that true, Abagail?
LARRY STANTON:  You don’t answer that.
BO LOMAN:  Now I told you a hundred times, no soliciting in the Sheriff’s Office!
LARRY STANTON: Bo, the child has legal rights!
SAM: Hold on a second, my child does not need a lawyer!
ABAGAIL:  He fell down and died.  That’s not my fault. Just like Violet is not my fault.
LETA AIDER:  Lying.  Can’t anyone see that?
ABAGAIL:  I just came to go to a picnic.
LETA AIDER: CAN’T YOU SEE HER FOR THE DEVIL THAT SHE IS!!??
BO LOMAN: LETA!
LETA AIDER: CAN’T YOU SEE HER?
SAM: GET HER OUT OF HERE!
LETA:  TAKE HER!
DOC KINMAN:  Come on, let’s get some air.  Come on.
WILL KINMAN:  Are you okay, Abagail?
ABAGAIL:  I don’t like her.  I don’t like any of them: Violet or her father.
MARIE:  I just didn’t know.
SAM:  It’s okay.
ABAGAIL: Let’s go, Daddy.  Please, let’s go.
AL:  Sam?  Sam.  We gotta talk.
SAM: I just need to do one thing, okay?  Can you wait for me out here?
ABAGAIL: (nods)
SAM: Will you be all right?
ABAGAIL: Uh-huh.
SAM: Will?
WILL: Come on, Abagail.
MARIE:  The picnic basket is on Delta’s desk.  I’ll be home to fix supper.
SAM: (nods)
AL: Sam.

Sam walks into his office to sit down, and Al relocates into the office.

AL: What are you looking for?
SAM: The file on Violet Aider.  (He pulls out the file for Violet.  The front sheet of the file says, “Search for Violet Aider Abandoned; Investigation Closed”

PERSONAL NOTE:  I don’t think they expected anyone to read the information below the title.  This wouldn’t have been in the newspaper in 1955.  It reads:
“The gathering at the Biltmore was, for Los Angeles, a classic expression of coalition politics in which a cross-section of community leaders, representing business law, the clergy, and various civil rights groups, come together to lend an air of moral rectitude to a political campaign. 
“The point is this is not a black, brown, or gay group or any interest group with an agenda,” said one spokesman for the event.  “This is the best of the city coming together on behalf of what is best for the city.”
Opposing charter change is a group headed by actress Peggy Estrada.  The group has its share of the Urban League and Joe Duff, president of the local NAACP Chapter.  Several business leaders were present, including Roy Anderson, chairman emeritus of Lockheed Corp., and David Carpenter, Chief executive officer of Transamerica-Occidental Life.  Also on hand were a number of the city’s leading corporate and real estate lawyers, such as Gilbert Ray, Andrea Ordin, and Daniel Garcia, who is now vice president for real estate at Warner Bros. Leaders of prominent Jewish and gay groups were there, among them Rabbi Laura Geller of the American Jewish Congress and Roger Coggan, director of legal services for the Gay and Lesbian Community Service Center.”

(2nd page) Title says:  Massive Search for Aider Girl Continues – but the script below is not about the show either. It reads:
“He said many airports distribute employee access cards and do not confiscate the cards when an employee leaves the job.  “We want something that it updates hourly, it at all possible, to keep up with employees and their work schedule,” he said.
Los Angeles International Airport has submitted plans to the FAA for a similar plan to the schedule to be in operation by the end of this year, according to LAX officials.  A spokesman for Ontario International Airport, also owned by the city of Los Angeles, said there have been some delays in installing such a system, and it is uncertain when it will go into operation.
Officials at John Wayne Airport in Orange County installed an ID access system in September 1990, when the airport’s operations were moved to a new terminal. But O’Donnell said the system there does not meet the FAA requirements.  He declined to elaborate, saying that discussing security problems would provide helpful information to anyone trying to circumvent the system. 
Federal aviation officials said commercial airports throughout the nation were required to submit a plan for the installation of such improved security systems and to have the systems online before 1994.”

SAM:  According to this, when Violet disappeared, the whole parish searched for her.  They gave up when they found her sweater torn and covered in blood.  They thought a pack of wild dogs that had been running the woods killed her.  This says that they killed the pack of dogs, and Clayton Fuller called off the investigation.
AL:  This is – this is weird.  This is too weird.
SAM: Anything yet, Al?  Anything at all?
AL:  Yeah, that’s why I’m here. Uh… Ziggy picked up an item in your hometown – I mean, Clayton’s hometown newspaper, a place just south of Shreveport. And it said that tomorrow Clayton and his daughter burn to death in a fire at his home and the cause of the fire wasn’t determined.
SAM:  Al, do you think that Abigail, a little girl like Abigail, could be capable of murder?

PART FIVE

We see Sam and Abigail at a picnic.  Sam’s being introspective and Abigail is picking flowers.

SAM NARRATING:  Murder by nature is an ugly word, but the thought that someone as seemingly innocent as Abigail might be capable of such a heinous act had left me feeling very confused.  Confused about the needs of a lonely child to create her dead mother’s vision in the night.  But more than the vision, there was a woman.  I saw her.  As insane as it all seemed, I saw her.
ABIGAIL:  Look at the flowers, Daddy.  Aren’t they beautiful? They smell just like…  (she drops the flowers)
SAM:  What’s wrong?
ABIGAIL: They smell like my mom.  She shouldn’t have gone away.  It wasn’t my fault.
SAM:  Of course, it wasn’t your fault.
ABIGAIL:  She said it was.
SAM: Your mother would never say that.
ABIGAIL:  But she did.  She yelled at you for a long time before she went away.
SAM:  Abigail, do you remember what momma yelled at me about?  (she nods) Would you tell me, because I can’t remember and it would help me make sense of everything.
ABIGAIL:  I remember the rain and lots of thunder and mom and I could pretend that the dinosaurs were coming. Do you like the rain, Daddy? 
SAM:  Yes, I do.
ABIGAIL:  Momma would say it would make us all clean again.  Oh, the thunder was so loud.
SAM:  What?
ABIGAIL: It was so hard to hear, but I heard momma yelling.
SAM:  About what?
ABIGAIL:  You remember.
SAM:  No, Abigail, I can’t remember what she said.
ABIGAIL:  She said Violet had lied.
SAM:  Violet lied about what?
ABIGAIL:  Violet said Nana Lumschuk was crazy.  She killed all her babies except momma. Said momma was crazy and me too.  She said that if I had babies, they’d be crazy, too.
SAM:  No, you aren’t.  You aren’t crazy, Abigail.
ABIGAIL:  That’s why I hit her.
SAM:  You hit Violet?
ABIGAIL:  She was teasing me about the locket.  She said we were poor and crazy, and I hit her.  I hit her until my hand hurt.  Her nose was bleeding, and it went all over her white sweater.  She started to cry and said she was gonna tell her momma; then she ran away. No one ever saw her after that.
SAM:  Violet’s death was not your fault, Abigail.
ABIGAIL:  But I wanted her to die.
SAM:  Wanting someone dead and killing them are two different things.  You didn’t kill Violet, Abigail.
ABIGAIL:  I wished Mr. Aider dead, too.
SAM:  Did you hit Mr. Aider?
ABIGAIL:  He was yelling at me to give the locket back. 
SAM: Where is Violet’s locket?
ABIGAIL: It’s not Violet’s locket.  It’s mine.  Momma and I were saving up all our money to buy it, and Violet knew it.
SAM: She bought your locket.
ABIGAIL: She did it just to be spiteful.
SAM:  Did you take the locket, Abigail?
ABIGAIL: I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
SAM: If you don’t tell me what happened, I can’t help you.
ABIGAIL:  I didn’t kill them! I didn’t kill either of them!
SAM:  I never said you did.
ABIGAIL:  Momma said you’d keep me safe.  She swore on her heart. 
SAM: Safe from what?
ABIGAIL: Daddy?  Tell me all the ways that you love me.  Please, tell me.

As the camera moves away from Sam and Abigail, we see Leta Aider standing beside the car, watching.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sam is back in the sheriff’s office looking through the newspapers again when Will Kinman knocks on the door and enters.

WILL KINMAN:  Sheriff, can I get you to s – s – sign these? Daddy said he’s going to have the coroner from S-S-Shreveport come and do to a full autopsy on Mr. Aider.
SAM: Whatever he thinks is best.
WILL KINMAN: Uh… is… is she all right?
SAM:  Mrs. Aider is going through a rough time.
WILL KINMAN:  No, not her. I uh… m-meant Abigail.
SAM: Well, Abigail is very upset, but I thank you for asking.
WILL KINMAN:  I hate the way Mrs. Aider t-talked to her.  I hate those lies she’s been saying. 
SAM:  What lies?
WILL KINMAN:  All that stuff about M-Mrs. Fuller and Abigail being crazy. Crazy because old Ms. Lanchet was crazy.
SAM:  Yeah, well, you know those stories have been around a long time.
WILL KINMAN:  As long as I remember.
SAM: But you don’t think that they’re true?
WILL KINMAN:  Well, I wasn’t around when Mrs. Lanchet c-c-cut her own throat. 
SAM: She slit her own throat?  I mean, uh, sometimes it’s hard for me to believe.
WILL KINMAN:  I probably shouldn’t be t-talking with you about your family business.
SAM:  No, that’s okay.  Uh, look, I – I’m kinda curious as to what you heard.  Why don’t you sit down?  Go on – sit down.
WILL KINMAN: Well, I… I knew old M-Mr. Deveraux who worked at the hospital near Peach Hill and she said that he uh, found all of those children with their throats c-cut open.  All of them except your wife.
SAM:  Laura’s mother killed her children and then herself?
WILL KINMAN:  Old Mr. Deveraux s-said that Rhetta Lanchet lost her husband and then lost all of her money, and then she lost her mind.  As the story goes, s-she said she’d rather k-kill her babies than see them starve.  So, is that true?  All that stuff, I mean?
SAM:  That’s what they say.
WILL KINMAN:  Sheriff, do you think what L-Leta Aider says about that kind of craziness is true? About Abigail being touched because of her m-m-momma and her grandmomma? 
SAM:  Emotional breakdowns aren’t hereditary. 
WILL KINMAN:  Leta Aider says that your wife couldn’t stand the truth…
SAM:  Abigail’s not crazy, Will.
WILL KINMAN: I know, Sheriff.  Well, I – I’ll take care of this p-paperwork and uh tell Mr. Taikens to drive Bart Aider on up to Shreveport.  Sheriff?
SAM:  Thank you, Will.
AL: Sam.  Abigail still gets killed tonight.
SAM: She’s not going to get killed tonight, Al, because she’s going to be anywhere near the house, okay? She’s spending the night at Marie’s house so, she’s not going to get killed.
AL:  Ok, well, Ziggy’s got something else.  Your w-wife… Clayton’s wife, Laura, isn’t dead.
SAM: What?
AL:  Yeah, she’s in a private asylum just off the parish road. It’s called Peach Hill Home for the mentally ill.
SAM:  That’s great, Al.  She’ll be able to give some answers.
AL: Yeah, if she’s not too mentally ill.
SAM: Al, I need you and Ziggy to find out what happened to Laura’s family—the Lanchet Family. Lanchet.
AL:  What do you mean, what happened?
SAM:  Well, except for Abigail’s mother, Laura, they were all murdered.
AL:  By who?
SAM: Laura’s mother – Rhetta Lanchet and then she killed herself.
AL:  Get out of here – she killed her own kids?
SAM: Yeah – she… she slit their throats, and then slit her own throat.
AL: This is too weird.  At least we know that Laura survived this because she’s alive. It’s no wonder she’s in the nut house.  Where are you going?
SAM:  To meet my wife.

PART SIX

“Laura Fuller was alive.  Now, Abigail’s story of her mother’s departure began to make sense.  Laura had been committed that night, leaving her daughter and some dark secret behind.  A secret that would set Abigail free.”

SAM:  It’s her, Al.  She’s the woman I saw in the hall.
AL:  She’s completely gone.  You heard what the caretaker said; she’s been like this ever since you, I mean, Clayton, brought her here two years ago.
SAM:  Hello Laura.  I need to talk to you.  I… I need you to tell me what happened the day that Violet disappeared.  (pause) Please.  If you tell me, I can help your Abigail. (pause) I’ve got to find some way to unlock her mind so I can figure out what she knows. 
AL:  Well, maybe she doesn’t know anything.  Maybe she’s just seen too many bad things.
SAM:  She knows something, Al.  I mean, she knows why Clayton closed Violet’s case, right?  She’s gotta know why Leta Aider is so angry with Abigail. 
AL:  Well, we know that Leta thinks that Abigail killed her daughter and her husband.
SAM:  Wait a minute.  Abigail told me that when she and Violet were fighting that Violet called her crazy and said that her mother, Leta Aider, said that she shouldn’t be allowed to live and have more crazy children.
AL:  So, it has to be Leta that starts the fire and makes it look like an accident and in her twisted mind she thinks that it’s a community service.
SAM:  Check on Abigail would you?
AL:  You said that she was with…
SAM:  Just check on her.
AL:  Oh no.
SAM:  What?
AL: Well now Ziggy says that Abigail still dies in the fire and so will you.
SAM: Abigail is at Marie’s house.
AL: No, no, she’s not.  She’s at your house. You better get there.
SAM: What?!
AL:  Gooshie!  Center me on Abigail!

The audience sees Laura reach out to where Al was standing with tears rolling down her cheeks.

ABIGAIL:  Daddy?  Daddy?  Daddy?  Where is he?  You said my daddy was here.
LETA AIDER:  He wanted to talk with you, Abigail.
ABIGAIL:  You told me it was her. 
LETA AIDER:  I want you to tell me the truth.
ABIGAIL:  Where’s Marie?
LETA AIDER:  Marie isn’t coming, Abigail.
ABIGAIL:  You said she was right behind us.  I want my father! 
LETA slams the door shut.
LETA AIDER:  It’s just you and me, Abigail.  No one to disturb us.  No one to hear your lies and see your perfect little performance. 
ABIGAIL:  I don’t know what you're talking about.
LETA AIDER:  I want the truth.  I want Violet’s locket.
ABIGAIL: Daddy!
LETA AIDER:  They’re all dead – Violet and Bart.  But you – oh, not you.
ABIGAIL:  Let me go!
LETA AIDER: They think you are so sweet and innocent, but I know the truth.  You killed my Violet, and you killed my Bart.
ABIGAIL:  That’s a lie. I didn’t kill them!
LETA AIDER: You had a fight with Violet, didn’t you?
ABIGAIL: She said I was crazy!
LETA AIDER:  So, you killed her! 
ABIGAIL:  NO!
LETA AIDER:  You hit my only daughter!
ABIGAIL: NO!
LETA AIDER:  So, she said you were crazy and then you hit her.
ABIGAIL:  I just wanted her to stop – she wouldn’t stop.
LETA AIDER:  So, you hit her, and you hit her, and you hit her.
AL:  Hey, hey hey!  Let her go, you witch!
ABIGAIL:  Her nose was bleeding.
AL:  Sam!  You better get here quick!
LETA AIDER: She tried to run away, and you grabbed her, and you tore that sweater.  You tore it right off of her.
ABIGAIL: No, I didn’t!  She ran home!
LETA AIDER:  She tried to run away, and you grabbed her, and you hit her and you kept on hitting her until she didn’t move anymore!
ABIGAIL:  STOP IT.  STOP IT.  STOP!  PLEASE.  YOU’RE HURTING ME!
LETA AIDER: Did Violet ask you to stop?  Did she beg you to stop hurting her?
ABIGAIL:  Let me go!  Let me go!
LETA AIDER:  Did she beg you for mercy?
AL: Gooshie!  Center me on Sam!
LETA    AIDER:  You killed her, Abigail!
ABIGAIL:  I DIDN’T KILL HER!  (she picks up a vase of flowers and hits Leta over the head with it and tries to run away – gets to a door then screams bloody murder when Leta gets to her)

Sam in the car driving.

AL:  Sam, you gotta get there.  Let’s got Abigail, and she’s accusing her of killing her daughter and her husband all that she’s getting violent.
SAM:  How much time do I have?
AL: There’s no way to know.
SAM:  How much time…
AL: There’s no record, Sam
SAM:  until I get to the house?
AL:  Seven minutes and thirteen seconds.
SAM:  Damn, these back roads.
AL:  Well, if you could fly, you’d be there by now.  Just hurry up.
SAM: I want you to go back to the house, Al.
AL: There’s nothing I can do there, Sam.
SAM:  Just go and be with her.  Be with her.

Back at the house:

LETA AIDER:  Did you hide it upstairs?
ABIGAIL:  I told you I don’t have her locket.
Leta slaps Abigail hard across the face.
AL: DON’T YOU HIT HER!
LETA:  Give it to me, and then I’ll know.
AL:  ABIGAIL JUST SAY YOU HAVE THE LOCKET EVEN IF YOU DON’T HAVE IT JUST SO YOU CAN GET AWAY!
ABIGAIL:  Yes.  Yes… I have it. 
AL: There you go!
ABIGAIL:  Just don’t touch me. Don’t hit me.  It’s upstairs in my treasure box.
AL:  Okay. Now let her go!
LETA AIDER:  I knew it.
ABIGAIL:  It’s up in my room, I’ll go and get it. 
AL: Good good good!  Now, run run run!
Abigail starts up the stairs but Leta grabs her.
LETA AIDER: Show me.  Take me up there, and you show me where it is.
Abigail takes her feet up and pushes Leta down the stairs and rushes up the stairs toward her room.
AL:  All right.  Go, Abigail, go!

Back in the car:

Sam is racing toward the house, and Marie steps out, and he hits her with the car.  He quickly gets out and rushes to her.

SAM:  Oh God.  Oh no!  Marie.  Marie.
MARIE:  Sheriff, she’s gone.   She’s gone.  I was making supper in the kitchen, and there was someone calling at the front door, and Ow!  Abigail was sitting at the kitchen table, but nobody was at the front door, and when I came back, Abigail was gone, and the backdoor was banging open.
SAM: Marie, you’ve got a broken leg.
MARIE: She’s got to be around here.  I know she is.
SAM: She’s at my house, Marie.
MARIE:  No, she can’t.  She can’t.
SAM:  She’s in terrible danger, Marie. 
MARIE:  Then you go to her.
SAM: I can’t leave you here, Marie.  I don’t know if I can come back and get you.  Now, come on, you put your arm around me, and I’ll lift you up.  You’re going to be in a lot of pain, all right – just come on.  Come on.

Back at the house:

AL:  Hurry up, Abigail, she’s gonna be coming.  You’ve got to find someplace to hide.
We see Leta trying to turn on the lights, but none of them come on. Instead, she lights a lantern.
AL: Come on, find a place.  Be quiet!  Oh, she’s lit a candle or something; she’s going to be coming up.  Quiet Abigail.  Hurry up.  Hurry up – don’t come back this way.  She’s coming up the stairs – hurry up – find a place to hide.  Hurry! 
We see Abigail get into a closet.  The latch to the closet closes shut behind her.
AL:  Good good, that’s a good place to hide.  Now, don’t make a peep Abigail – not a peep!
Leta has made it upstairs and is slowly making her way with the lantern to find Abigail.
AL:  Sam, come on, get here!
Leta hears a noise and then starts toward the noise with the lantern raised.
AL: Why don’t you drop dead, lady? 
Leta starts toward the closet where Abigail is.
AL: Stay away from that!
Leta is about to open the closet when there’s another louder noise.
AL: What the hell was that?
SAM:  Abigail! 
Sam comes busting through the door.
AL: Sam!  Don’t call her name; she’s hiding!
SAM: Where is she?
AL: She’s upstairs in the cabinet, and Leta is right next to her.
LETA AIDER:  No, no!  Get away! I’ll kill you.  I’ll kill you all.
The lantern drops, and a fire immediately starts from the fuel. 
ABIGAIL:  DADDY!
AL:  Hurry up!

Sam races upstairs as Abigail is screaming for him.  We see Leta standing at the other end of the hall beside the closet.

AL:  Hurry up, Sam! Hurry up.  She’s in this thing right here, Sam!  Abigail, he’s coming! 
ABIGAIL:  Daddy!  (She’s banging on the cabinet door trying to get out)
SAM:  I’M COMING! 
ABIGAIL:  DADDY!
SAM:  HANG ON!  HANG ON!  (He rushes through the fire with a blanket around him)
AL:  HURRY UP!  COME ON, SAM!
ABIGAIL:  DADDY!
AL: HURRY UP! 

Sam opens the door, pulls Abigail out of the cabinet, and tries to take her into another area of the house.

AL: NO SAM, NOT THAT WAY.  TAKE HER OUT THAT WAY – OUT OF THE WINDOW.

Sam sets her down and tries to open the window, but it seems stuck.

ABIGAIL:  Daddy!  Daddy, hurry up!
AL: IT’S JAMMED SAM!  BREAK IT.  TAKE THE CHAIR AND BREAK IT.  BREAK IT.  HURRY UP.

Sam then breaks the window and clears the glass slightly before he picks up Abigail.

AL: PUT HER OUT THERE ON THE ROOF!  HURRY UP!

Sam then puts her through the window and out on the roof.  We do see Will Kinman and a neighbor come outside to see the house on fire, and then we see Marie standing outside of the car.

MARIE: My god!  Abigail is in there!  Someone help them!

We next see Will Kinman halfway up the side of the roof trying to help Abigail get down.

ABIGAIL: DADDY!  GET MY DADDY DOWN!
WILL KINMAN:  WE GOT TO GET YOU OFF OF THE ROOF SO THAT SOMEONE ELSE CAN GET DOWN!
AL:  GO ON OUT THE WINDOW!  YOU TOO!

Sam sees Laura Fuller within the flames, looking back at him. He also sees Leta, standing toward the end of the hall.

SAM: Leta?
AL:  IT’S OKAY!  SHE GETS OUT THE BACK WAY.  GET OUT!  GET OUT! HURRY UP!  (Al looks around, then turns around to see a board about to come down on his friend) SAM!  LOOK OUT!

Sam ducks, but he leaps.

Music:

"Ain't That A Shame" by Fats Domino plays in the bar.

"Mockingbird" (A lullaby) – depending on the time in the show, it can be anywhere from sweet and calming to eerie.

Sam Trivia:

Sam has Leaped in on his 2nd birthday!

This Leap is also the same date as "The Color of Truth", so Sam is in two places at once.

Al's Outfits:

1) Light blue shirt
Pink neon shiny tie
Multicolored (pink, red and blue) vest
Blue suit pants
Black belt.

2) White suit
Black string tie
Talisman on lapel.

Miscellaneous Trivia:

Each time Al appears through a doorway, it costs the prodution about $12,000!

Abagail Fuller's name is spelled "Abagail" in the script.

Although it is not acknowledged in the episode, the date of this leap (August 8th 1955) is the same day Sam leapt into Jesse Tyler in The Color of Truth. This meant that three versions of Sam were present in the same time period: his 2-year-old self in Indiana, the one who leaped into Jesse in Alabama and the one from this episode. Source

Progression of Trilogy Characters - Part I:

Bart Aider:
Abagail Fuller was the last person to see him alive. When Sam Leaped in, he found Bart dead of what appeared to be a blow to the head, but the local doctor pronounced it to have been a heart attack. The question was did the blow happen before or after?

Leta Aider:
Her daughter, Violet was presumed dead in 1953 and her husband was killed two years later, and Leta believed Abagail Fuller was responsible for both deaths.

Violet Aider:
Next to Abagail fuller, she was the prettiest girl in the parish in 1953, but she vanished after the two girls had an argument over a locket. The entire parish searched for her until they found hre bloody sweater and decided a pack of wild dogs roaming in the area must have killed her. They destroyed the dogs and Sheriff Clayton Fuller closed the case.

Abagail Fuller:
The whole town believed this little girl was cursed crazy because her mother and grandmother were "touched". When Sam leaped into her father Clayton, Abagail had just found the body of Bart Aider, father of Violet, a girl Abagail had been accused of murdering two years before. The girls had gotten into a fight over a locket, and Abagail said Violet had run off and that was the last she had seen of her. Violet’s body was never found, but her bloody sweater was. Clayton was the sheriff, and he closed the case, saying a pack of wild dogs must have killed the girl. Violet’s mother Leta never stopped haranguing Abagail, insisting she killed Violet. And when her husband Bart died under mysterious circumstances, she believed Abagail killed him, too. Leta tried to get Abagail to admit she killed Violet, and then set the Fuller house on fire, hoping to kill Abagail. Sam rescued Abagail and Leaped just before Clayton was killed.

Clayton Fuller:
Sam found himself as this Louisiana sheriff with a murder investigation on his hands. He and his daughter Abagail were going to die in a house fire on August 9, 1955, unless Sam changed history. The fire was started by Leta Aider, who had lured Abagail to the house in hopes of getting the child to confess the murder of her daughter. Sam rescued Abagail and leaped seconds before Clayton died.

Laura Blanchette Fuller:
Clayton Fuller’s wife. After Sam leaped into Clayton, he was under the impression that Laura was dead., but saw a "vision" of her when a gust of wind blew closed his bedroom door. He found out from Abagail that the night Violet Aider died, Laura and Clayton had a terrible argument and she left. Sam found out that she had been committed to Peach Hill Home fore the Mentally Ill that night. He visited and found her uncommunicative, rocking in a chair and staring into space, though she did seem to notice Al.

Reta Blanchette:
Laura Fuller’s mother killed all of her children except Laura after she lost her husband and her money. Then she cut her own throat. The local story was that she preferred to kill her babies than to see them starve. Mr. Devareaux, who found the carnage, said she’d lost her mind. The local legend had it that the family had one cursed child every generation. First Reta, then Laura, now Abagail. Later it came out the reason Laura wasn’t killed was that she had slipped down between the beds and was not seen by her mother.

Marie Beth Billings: She worked as the housekeeper for the Fuller family for thirty years.

Willis Gunerson Kinman:
Will Kinman was the son of a local doctor, and spoke with a stutter.

Doc Kinman:
Doctor in a small Louisiana town where Sam found himself as sheriff. He couldn’t determine the cause of death of Bart Aider, and had to have the coroner from Shreveport come in. His son is Will Kinman.

Bo Loman:
Clayton Fuller’s deputy who also helped to take Bart Aider’s body to Doc Kinman.

Guest Cast:

Guest Cast Notes:

Mary Gordon Murray as Leta Aider: Born on November 13, 1953 in Ridgewood, New Jersey, USA. She is an actress, known for Junior (1994), Quantum Leap (1989) and Poison Ivy (1992). Nominated for Broadway's 1982 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for a revival of "Little Me." She was awarded the 1991 Drama-Logue Award for Performance for "The Most Happy Fella" in the 25th Anniversary Season presented by Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson at the James A. Doolittle Theatre (University of California) in Los Angeles, California.

Stephen Lee as Sheriff Bo Loman: Born in Englewood New Jersey in 1955. Having lived in Europe the first 15 years of his life, Stephen comes from a "casino" background with his father selling and making slot machines. Stephen started acting when he came to the U.S in 1970 and eventually getting a partial scholarship to Avila College in Kansas City, Missouri.He has appeared in over 200 TV shows, 5 TV series and over 20 pilots. He has also played in 39 movies including: La Bamba (1987), WarGames (1983), Purple Hearts (1984), RoboCop 2 (1990), The Negotiator (1998), Dolls (1986) and many others. He speaks English, German, French and Spanish. His interests include golf, tennis, horseback riding (when time permits) and biking around his Sherman Oaks, CA neighborhood.Other guest staring appearances are NCIS (2003), Fear Itself (2008), Boston Legal (2004) (for which he received critical acclaim), Bones (2005) and 'Til Death (2006) . He is grateful everyday for a roof over his head and hopes for a more prosperous future for himself and everyone who has experienced such hard times.

Fran Bennett as Marie Beth Billings: Graduated from the University of Wisconsin with an M.A. and subsequently spent twelve years acting and as voice and movement director with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Her Broadway debut was a leading role in the short-lived play Mandingo at the Lyceum Theater in 1961. Thereafter, Bennett concentrated on stage acting and education, serving for many years on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts, latterly as head of acting and director of performance at the CalArts School of Theater (1996-2003). Her credentials included a teaching spell at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and voice production workshops at several American universities. As an ensemble member of the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company, her dramatis personae tended to be powerful individuals (Othello, King Lear, Oberon, and others). Bennett's screen work has likewise shown a predilection towards sober, resolute authority figures: doctors, judges, head nurses, community leaders and family matriarchs, even a Fleet Admiral on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987). Her TV debut was as early as 1952 but she did not become prolific in that medium until the late 70s. From then on, she regularly guest-starred in episodes of popular fare, ranging from soapies (The Bold and the Beautiful (1987), Dynasty (1981)) to crime drama (Simon & Simon (1981), Crossing Jordan (2001), NCIS (2003)) and science fiction (The Twilight Zone (1985), Quantum Leap (1989)). The Arkansas native was a 2005 inductee into Arkansas Black Hall of Fame. Her honours have included an NAACP Theatre Award and the inaugural AEA/AFTRA/SAG Diversity Award.

Travis Fine as Will Kinman: The writer, producer, director and editor of award-winning independent films, Travis Fine does not shy away from challenging or provocative material. THE SPACE BETWEEN, starring Academy Award winner Melissa Leo, takes audiences on a cross country journey with a young Pakistani boy on September 11, 2001, as he desperately tries to determine the fate of his father. In the 1970s period drama ANY DAY NOW, starring Alan Cumming and Garrett Dillahunt, Fine explores the definition of family as two gay men attempt to adopt a young boy with Down Syndrome. THE SPACE BETWEEN debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, received a Special Jury Award for Leo's performance, and was purchased by the USA NETWORK and served as special programming for the cable network to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11. ANY DAY NOW received over 20 Audience and Best Picture awards at film festivals all over the world, including Tribeca Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, and Outfest. The film was also recognized by the prestigious gay rights organization GLAAD with their 2013 Media Award for Best Film. After debuting on just one screen in Tokyo in April 2014, ANY DAY NOW became a cultural phenomenon in Japan, with long lines at the theaters, huge box office numbers, a one plus year theatrical run, and unprecedented media coverage for an indie film. ANY DAY NOW was remade in Korea, and in 2020 its world premiere as a stage musical in Japan.

Kimberly Cullum as Abagail Fuller: Born on November 29, 1981 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Quantum Leap (1989), Maverick (1994) and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). Daughter of Leo Cullum, a cartoonist for New Yorker magazine.

Meg Foster as Laura Fuller: Blue-eyed brunette Meg Foster was born in Reading, Pennsylvania on May 10, 1948 to David and Nancy. She has four siblings and grew up in Rowayton, Connecticut. Foster studied acting at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse.Foster's first role came about in 1969, when she appeared in an episode of NET Playhouse (1964). Throughout the '70s, she guest starred in numerous TV shows including Barnaby Jones (1973), The Six Million Dollar Man (1974), and Hawaii Five-O (1968), and played Hester Prynne, a young woman who has an affair with a pastor, in the miniseries The Scarlet Letter (1979). Foster did not really come to attention until 1982, though, when she replaced Loretta Swit as Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey (1981); she herself was later replaced by Sharon Gless (CBS reportedly wanted a more "feminine" actress playing the role of the detective). Foster began to appear in more movies throughout the late '80s, primarily Masters of the Universe (1987), in which she played the nefarious Evil-Lyn. Other notable films include the satirical science fiction flick They Live (1988), the horror sequel Stepfather II: Make Room for Daddy (1989), and the comedic martial arts movie Blind Fury (1989) (Terry O'Quinn also appeared in the latter two). Foster continued to work prolifically throughout the '90s, mostly appearing in science fiction films. She also guest starred in many popular television shows such as Quantum Leap (1989), ER (1994), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Murder, She Wrote (1984), and Sliders (1995). After appearing in a 2000 episode of Xena: Warrior Princess (1995), Foster took a decade-long break from the acting industry. She returned in 2011 with roles in indie flicks 25 Hill (2011) and Sebastian (2011), and had a villainous role as a revenge-seeking witch in Rob Zombie's '70s-esque horror movie The Lords of Salem (2012). Additionally, Foster appeared in the TV show The Originals (2013), as well as Pretty Little Liars (2010) and its short-lived spin-off Ravenswood (2013). She re-teamed with Rob Zombie in 2016 for his horror film 31 (2016), in which Foster plays a kidnapped carnival worker. Foster has a son, Christopher, with Ron Starr. At one point, she was married to actor Stephen McHattie.

W.K. Stratton as Laurence “Larry” Stanton, III: Born on August 2, 1950 in Front Royal, Virginia, USA. He is an actor, known for Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World (2011), Shoot 'Em Up (2007) and Machete (2010). He is married to Maureen Denise Lacoste. Appeared in the pilots of four different series created by Donald P. Bellisario: Magnum, P.I. (1980), Airwolf (1984), Quantum Leap (1989) and JAG (1995). Holds the unique distinction for having "flown" (in character) a Corsair, a Viper, and Airwolf. (three aircraft used in Bellasario productions).

Heather Lauren Olsen as Violet Aider: Born on November 12, 1982 in San Jose, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Quantum Leap (1989), Days of Our Lives (1965) and Internal Affairs (1990).

James Whitmore, Jr. as Clayton Fuller (Mirror Image): James Whitmore Jr. was born on October 24, 1948 in New York City, New York, USA. He is a director and actor, known for Black Sheep Squadron (1976), Hunter (1984) and Tequila and Bonetti (1992). He has been married to Salesha Ali since March 28, 1972. They have four children. He appeared in The Twilight Zone (1985) while his father James Whitmore appeared in The Twilight Zone (1959). Son of James Whitmore, father of James Whitmore III, stepson of Noreen Nash, ex-stepson of Audra Lindley, brother of Steve Whitmore and Dan Whitmore, and stepbrother of Lee Siegel. Has directed Scott Bakula in episodes of four different series: Quantum Leap (1989), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1996), Star Trek: Enterprise (2001), and NCIS: New Orleans (2014). Played Capt. Jim Gutterman in Black Sheep Squadron for the first season but was not in the Second Season (no explanation given as to why or what happened to his character). Whitmore appeared at the Peterborough Players Theater in Peterborough, New Hampshire in the play "Tuesdays With Morrie" with his father, James Whitmore in June and July, 2006.

Guests Who Appeared in Other Quantum Leap Episodes:

W.K. Stratton also appeared in the episodes "Genesis", "Good Night, Dear Heart," two different radio despatchers in "Black on White on Fire" and "Hurricane", and the trilogy episodes "For Your Love," and "The Last Door."

Fran Bennett also played in "Justice."

James Whitmore, Jr. (Clayton Fuller's Mirror Image) also played Bob Crockett in "8½ Months" and hthe Police Captain in "Mirror Image."

Say What?

The calendar in the sheriff's office has 30 days, but it's August, which always has 31.

Sam's shirt magically produces sweat stains between shots.

The newspaper with headlines “Search for Violet Aider Abandoned” is from the 1990's. The first article is about coalition politics with the NAACP Chapter for the Gay and Lesbian Community Service Center, and the other article is about officials at John Wayne Airport in Orange County installing an ID access system in September 1990 and 1994.

Violet's file has a death certificate for a male person, but Violet is female!

Quotable Quotes:

Abagail: Daddy?
Sam: Yeah?
Abagail: Tell me all the ways that you love me.
Sam: Well… I love you like the stars love the sky… like the sea loves the sand… like the flowers love the bees.
Abagail: I love you daddy.

Al: Sweet kid. That’s such a great age around 9 or 10.
Sam: Shhhh!
Al: So who’s gonna hear me? When is the last time a hologram woke someone up?

Sam's first thought on the Leap:
Leaping in Time has brought me into many strange new encounters but coming face to face with a dead man is probably my least favorite. It happened if I remember correctly, twice before and each time the same words echo through my brain. ‘I’m late. I’m too late.’

Sam’s Best Line:
It’s okay to talk to people who have gone away. It helps to keep them in your hearts.

Best Scenes:

# 1: When Sam sees the vision of Laura Blanchette Fuller standing in the hallway beyond his bedroom door! AWESOME effects!

# 2: When Sam tells Al about the Blanchette family… it’s interesting to see the reactions!

Al: Clayton’s wife isn’t dead.
Sam: What?
Al: She’s in a private aslym just off Parish Road called Peach Hill for the mentally ill.
Sam: That’s great Al. She’ll be able to give us some answers.
Al: Yeah, if she’s not too mentally ill.
Sam: Listen Al, I need you to have Ziggy find out what happened to Laura’s family. The Blanchette family. Blanchette.
Al: Whaddaya mean, what happened to them?
Sam: Well… except for Abagail’s mother, Laura, they were all murdered.
Al: By who?
Sam: Laura’s mother -- Reta Blanchette and then killed herself.
Al: Get outta here! She killed her own kids?
Sam: Yeah, she… she slit their throat then she… slit her own throat.
Al: This is too weird. Well, we know that Laura’s still alive. No wonder she’s in the nut house. Where you going?
Sam: To meet my wife.

# 3: Sam leaping into the arms of a beautiful woman making love to her.

Awards:

Kimberly Cullum won the Young Artists Award Best Young Actress Guest Starring in a Television Series for all three episodes of the Trilogy.

Michael Watkins received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Series in 1993.

Production Credits:

Theme by: Mike Post
Musical Score By: Velton Ray Bunch
Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive Producer: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Supervising Producers: Richard C. Okie, Harker Wade
Supervising Producer: Tommy Thompson
Producer: Robin Jill Bernheim
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Deborah Pratt
Directed by: James Whitmore, Jr.

Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Associate Producers: Julie Bellisario, Scott Ejercito
Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario
Director of Photography: Michael Watkins A.S.C.
Production Designer: Cameron Birnie
Edited by: Michael S. Stern
Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
First Assistant Director: Ryan Gordon
Second Assistant Director: Brian Faul
Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky, C.S.A.
Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox
Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Costume Supervisors: David Rawley, Katina Kerr
Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams
Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas
Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth
Make-up: Jeremy Swan
Hairstylist: Andrea Mizushima
Fashion Concepts: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Sound Editor: Greg Schorer
Music Editor: Bruce Frazier
Special Visual Effects: Roger Dorney, Denny Kelly

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.

Copyright © 1992 by Universal City Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Some of the characters portrayed in this motion picture are based upon actual persons. Although some of those events have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes, otherwise the characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Bellisarius Productions and Universal Television, an MCA Company