"Play it Again, Seymour"

Leap Date:

April 14, 1953

Episode Adopted By: Allison (YankeeSNL01)
Additional info provided by: Brian Greene

Synopsis:

You dirty rat! Sam has leaped into a guy that could be the spitting image of Bogart. He's holding a gun over a dead body and the police come in. Oh Boy.

He's there to find the killer, possibly a dropper named Clapper or some other hard harry out there. He's a peeper... a private detective that is...a gumshoe if you will and things get a little sticky when a sultry woman steps into the picture. Did she do it? Was it Seymour? Or did Sam do it? There's a book about it, but it was never finished, so Sam must unravel the mystery before the Clapper claps him. Or something like that.

Audio from this episode

TV Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Music
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes

Production # 65009

TV Guide Synopsis:
Sam, in the body of a Bogie-like shamus, teams up with a "neat kid" to find the hit man who killed his partner. Seymour: Willie Garson. Allison: Claudia Christian. Chuck: Steve Nevil. Lionel: Paul Linke. 

Place:
New York City, New York

Leap Date:
April 14, 1953




Name of the Person Leaped Into:
Nick Allen, Private Detective

Broadcast Date:
May 17, 1989 - Wednesday (Season Finale)




Music:
"Young at Heart" 
"You, You, You" by Sam Cooke
"Blue Moon"
"As Time Goes By"

Project Trivia:
Al is attempting to locate the book that Sam talked about in the present time.





Sam Trivia:
It's April 14, 1953, just shy of 4 months before Sam's birth. So we now know that Sam can leap into times after his conception, not just his birth.





Al Trivia:
Wants to follow Allison into the powder room.  It's not the last time he wants to do so.

Al's Women:
Al mentions that his first wife was a redhead, and that he's been married four times.

Tina is again mentioned.

A redhead in the billing department is brought up when Al sees Allison.






Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode:
First appearance: Gray suit with black dress shirt, fedora and glasses with a transparent tie. 

Second appearance: Solid white suit with military style medals attached to the breast of the jacket.

Miscellaneous Trivia:
Los Angeles' Bradbury Building is featured in the episode.

"Oh Boy" is not said until midway through the episode when Allison arrives.

The phrase "Play it again, Sam" was never said in the movie Casablanca, which this episode imitates.

James Cagney also never said "You dirty rat" in the manner that people usually quote.

The leap-out of this episode is into "What Price Gloria?". However, the production crew decided to start the second season with "Honeymoon Express" instead, creating an inconsistency.

Kiss with History:
The neurotic child in the airport at the end was supposed to be a young Woody Allen. 

Regular Cast:
Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett
Dean Stockwell as Al 



Guest Stars:
Claudia Christian as Allison Grimsley
Willie Garson as Seymour
Paul Linke as Lionel
Tony Heller as Nick (Mirror image)
Steve Nevil as Chuck
Don Keith Opper as Crooner
Richard Riehle as Lieutenant Lannon
Jeanette Miller as Old Lady
Don Maxwell as Policeman
Kevin Mockrin as Woody Allen
Barbara London as Mama
Ron Ulstad as Bandleader
Hap Lawrence as Bartender
Jeff Olson as N.Y. Taxi Driver





Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes:
Willie Garson, who played Lee Harvey Oswald on the episode of the same name (5th season opener in 1992). 

Paul Linke, who played Ben Masters in "The Boogiem*n."

Richard Riehle played Clifford Vargas in "Leaping in Without a Net"

Crew:

Personal Review:
This was one of the BEST early efforts, and was a great way to end the first  season.  The nostalgia factor was really high for this episode, and it reminds me of a story I wrote 3 years ago.  Just really fun, and that mirror image really did look like Humphrey Bogart!





Best Line:
"Allison is a killer!"--Al





Best Scene:
The beginning, when Sam is holding the gun over the dead body.  Couldn't get any scarier than that!

Say What?
The Dodgers opening game that the police officer talks about was not played until five months after the setting of this episode.

Sam takes a newspaper from Seymour's newspaper stand, but when he gets off the lift, he no longer has it.

Even though Al says there is no cure for Gonorrhea yet, a cure had been around for centuries in various forms. 

The stunt double can be seen when Sam is swinging from the lift.

The actors hair stay remarkably dry during the storm.





Quotable Quotes:

I don't know if I could love a man who killed my husband.
-- Allison, "Play it Again, Seymour"

Al, we've got Clapper.
Careful, Sam, there was no cure for that in 1953.
-- Sam and Al, "Play It Again, Seymour"

I'm just wondering how in 20 years 'main squeeze' gets from Seymour to Black slang.
-- Al, "Play it Again Seymour"

Can I help it if I look good in black? Besides I hadn't planned on dressing tonight.
-- Allison, "Play it Again, Seymour"

Who's Al?
A friend, a *real good* friend.
Well, let's not get all mushy about it.
-- Seymour, Sam, and Al, "Play it Again, Seymour"

Allison is a killer!
-- Al, "Play It Again, Seymour"

Al, so help me, if you start in on one of your sleazy sex stories, hologram or no hologram, I'll slug you.
-- Sam, "Play It Again, Seymour"

Some women have kinky taste in men, thank God.
-- Al, "Play It Again, Seymour"

You want to have safe sex with her, you'd better wear a bullet proof vest.
-- Al, "Play It Again, Seymour"

I'm going to check the ladies room.
AL!
Somebody's gotta do it.
-- Al and Sam, looking for Allison, "Play It Again, Seymour"

Your instincts got you married FIVE times ...
-- Sam, "Play It Again, Seymour"