Episode
Adopted by: M.J. Cogburn <aka>
QLDamsel
Additional info provided by: Brian
Greene
Synopsis:
Sam
leaps into a member of a teenage singing group...Supreme's style! He is
there to prevent one of the other girls in the group from signing a
contract with a man who has a hidden agenda. Can Sam fix things so that
she can still sing professionally and keep the relationship between her
and her father alive? Great songs and great soul in this episode!
TV Guide Synopsis: Sam (Scott Bakula) shimmies as
a member of a three-girl singing group, and he must stop (in the name
of love) a singing mate from forming a serious rift with her father.
Rev. Walters: Harrison Page. Lynell: Tammy Townsend. Bobby Lee: Eriq La
Salle. Paula: T'Keyah "Crystal" Keymah. JoJo: Richard McGregor.
Music (as sung by the cast):
"My Boyfriend’s Back" by The Angels
"He May Not Come When You Want Him, But He's Right On Time" sung by the
Church Choir
"Do You Love
Me?" by The Contours
"Stay" by
Maurice Williams
"Heat
Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas
"His Eye is on the
Sparrow" is sung by
Tamara Townsend
Video: ♫ "His Eye is on the Sparrow" ❖Tamara Townsend ♫
Sam Trivia:
When leaping into any situation, it’s hard to come in with the
knowledge of steps and words to a song while performing. It’s even
harder to keep from doing a head bob when dancing.
Throughout most of the episode, Sam is afraid to sing and does a lot of
lip syncing – or at least it appears hat way.
Sam's first thoughts of the Leap: Quantum leaping has taught me a lot about people and I
knew right away I liked this man. Even with all of his blustering and
bravado, Reverend Walters was saying everything I had wanted to say
since this leap had started and his concern for his daughter’s safety
and well-being was grounded in as much reality as the walk we had back
home.
Sam's Dresses:
1) Black strap tea length dress
2)
Red and white poodle skirt, white top with red cuffs, brown jacket
3)
Flowery sundress with bows on shoulders
4)
Light blue dress with pumps to match
5)
Long pink sparkly performing dress
Al Trivia:
When teaching moves to Sam and the girls for their finale, it’s
interesting to see that he’s doing his own little dance while they are
dancing to the song.
Al's
Outfits:
1) Tan jacket
Tan suit pants
Dark sparkling shirt
Dark sparking tie
Square with oval opal pin on his lapel.
2)
Red fedora hat
Light blue shirt
String tie
Multicolored vest with silver backing
Red suit pants
Red belt
Miscellaneous
Trivia:
The
Leap-out at the end of the previous episode features Bobby Lee asking
the singers to do a reprise, but in the full episode, the scene is
removed and replaced with audience shots added in.
The
conflicts between Lynelle and her father were derivative of what was
going on between Deborah Pratt and her then-husband Donald Bellisario
(according to Pratt at The Leap Back 2009 convention).
Character Trivia:
Cheree:
Cheree and her friends had formed a Supremes-style singing group called
The Dovettes. Cheree/Sam had to keep one of the members, Lynelle
Walters, from signing her life away to a sleazy promoter named Bobby
Lee.
Paula:
She is one third of The Dovettes who stood up for herself throughout
the episode. She tried her best to tell her friend, Lynelle, that lying
down for a man was not the way to make it into show business.
Lynelle Walters:
Lynelle is one third of a singing group called The Dovettes. She’s
destined to run away from home on April 9, 1963, unless Sam can prevent
it. If she did run away, she would end up in a slave contract with a
sleazy promoter named Bobby Lee.
Reverend Walters:
He is a Chicago Baptist minister and widower father of Lynelle. His
wife, Sylvia, died of unknown causes in 1958. Lynelle hated her father
because he was stern and she believed her mother died because she hated
her husband, but Sylvia was dying, and had tried to leave the family
when she found out her prognosis. In the original history, Lynelle ran
away and they never spoke again. He died after the church burned down
in 1972. Sam brought the two together, and it could be inferred her
presence helped keep him going after the fire.
Robert Z. "Bobby"
Lee:
A shady Chicago promoter who wanted to sign The Dovettes – Lynelle
Walters in particular – to a contract. Eventually, he ends up doing
twenty years for statutory rape of a thirteen-year-old girl.
Guest
Cast: Tamara Townsend as Lynelle Walters
T’Keyah
"Crystal" Keymah as
Paula
Harrison
Page as Reverend Walters
Eric
LaSalle as Robert "Bobby" Z. Lee
Richard McGregor as Jo Jo
G.
Smokey Campbell as
Rainey (Bobby Lee’s Music Assistant)
Tiffany
Jameson as Cherea (Mirror Image)
Clyde
R. Jones as Raghead Teen #1
Tommy
Morgan as Raghead Teen #2
Christopher
M. Brown as Raghead Teen #3
Guest Cast Notes:
Tamara
Townsend as Lynelle Walters:She was
a series regular on the seventh and final season of OWN's acclaimed
drama series, "Queen Sugar." Townsend
has most recently booked the female lead role in BET+'s "Average
Joe." Townsend
previously starred as tough but loveable mom and veteran spy 'Kira
Cooper' in Disney Channel's live-action spy comedy series, "K.C.
Undercover." In addition, Townsend guest-starred on the Disney+ series,
"Big Shot," with John Stamos. She
landed her first TV role at the age of 14 with a guest spot on
"Diff'rent Strokes" with Gary Coleman and Todd Bridges. She soon found
work on such series as "In the Heat of the Night" and "Quantum Leap." Townsend
made her feature film debut in Robert Townsend's cult classic, "The
Five Heartbeats." Additional feature credits include "The Preacher's
Kid," "Simone" starring Al Pacino and Evan Rachel Wood, "Playing Mona
Lisa," "The Pest" with John Leguizamo and "The Brady Bunch Movie." She
went on to showcase her comedic and singing skills with her starring
role on "Sherri," opposite Sherri Shepherd. She had memorable roles in
such series as "9ine," "Rock Me Baby" and "Lincoln Heights." She has
also starred in numerous television movies, including "The
Mistle-Tones," "To Love and to Cherish," "Love Me or Leave Me" and
"Home of the Brave." As
a singer, Townsend has worked with many of the music industry's more
celebrated singers/musicians, including Branford Marsalis, R&B
singer/songwriter Tank, Gerald Albright, Norman Connors, Tamia and
guitarist Kevin Eubanks ("The Tonight Show"). She performed the hit
single 'One Kiss' from the "Preacher's Kid" soundtrack and has toured
with singer/songwriter Eric Benet. Townsend
is an outdoor enthusiast who lives for adventure! She loves
participating in activities such as hiking, snowboarding, 4-wheel
driving and fly boarding. When she's not working or outdoors, she
enjoys watching documentaries of all kinds. Travel is also a huge
passion of hers, and she recently traveled to Croatia. Follow
Tammy Townsend on Instagram & Twitter: @tammytownsend10
T’Keyah
"Crystal" Keymah as Paula: A
performer since childhood, performer, writer, producer and director
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh (Ta-Kee-ah Kristle Kee-Mah) studied theater,
dance, voice, and pantomime in high school, then turned down a business
scholarship to complete her studies at Florida A&M University with
a degree in Theatre, co-oping at Florida State University to graduate,
with honors, on time. After college, the Chicago native worked as a
singer, dancer and actress, and won the title of Miss Black Illinois
before placing 1st runner-up in the Miss Black America pageant. She
moved to Los Angeles after wowing casting directors with her original
performance piece, "In Black World..." in an open call for a pilot on a
young television network. That pilot turned
out to be Fox's groundbreaking, internationally successful, Emmy and TV
Land Award winning sketch comedy show In Living Color. The only female
to star in all five seasons, Keymáh delivered hilarious, spot on
impressions like those of Whoopi Goldberg and 'Edith Bunker,' created a
slew of iconic characters like Hilda Headley (Hey Mon), and Shawanda
Harvey (Go On Girl), and brought her own characters such as Cryssy (In
Black World) and LaShawn to the show. On the heels of In Living Color,
she went on to guest star on several live action and animated shows,
and went on to star in six other series, playing: sexy contractor
Scotti Decker on ABC's On Our Own; laid back television writer Denise
Everett on Fox's The Show; a dozen lead and guest character voices on
Damon Wayans's animated series Waynehead; flight attendant turned
lawyer, turn pastry chef turned teacher Erica Lucas, on CBS's Cosby;
firm, fun, caring mom Tanya Baxter, on Disney's That's So Raven, and
Johnny Carson's gate-keeping secretary on Seeso's There's Johnny. Keymáh
starred on "The Cool Crystal Show," a cultural magazine styled variety
show on her own online platform, The Keymáh Network (www.Keymah.com).
Eric
LaSalle as Robert "Bobby" Z. Lee:Erik
Ki La Salle (born July 23, 1962), professionally known
as Eriq La Salle, is an American actor, director, writer
and producer. La Salle is best known for his performance in the
film Coming to America (1988) and especially as Dr.
Peter Benton in the NBC medical
drama ER (1994–2002; 2008–2009) which earned him
three NAACP Image Awards and nominations for a Golden
Globe Award and three Primetime Emmy Awards.
Harrison
Page as Reverend Walters: Harrison
Page was born on August 27, 1941 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He is an
actor, known for Lionheart (1990), Sledge Hammer! (1986) and Bad Ass
(2012). He has been married to Giles, Christina since September 17,
2013. They have one child.
Richard McGregor as Jo Jo: Richard McGregor is known for Stir of Echoes (1999), EuroTrip (2004) and Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017).
G.
Smokey Campbell as
Rainey (Bobby Lee’s Music Assistant): G.
Smokey Campbell is a veteran performer of Stage, Film and Television.
He was chosen to study with the famous Negro Ensemble Company (NEC) of
New York for three years in a row and also was a performing member of
the NEC. In Los Angeles his stage performances earned him three Los
Angeles NAACP Image Awards for the Best Actor in a Stage Performance.
Smokey has been most recognizable from being a Series Regular on the
WNET show " Watch Your Mouth " and as a Co Star in the Percy Adlon
film, " Bagdad Cafe ". He received an Associate Arts Degree from Los
Angeles City College in Radio / TV Broadcasting. He also graduated from
the University of Southern California with a Double Major and received
his degrees in the areas of Film / Television Production and Dramatic
Arts. His technical experience affords him yet another career as an
IATSE member who works as a Lighting Technician within the
Entertainment Industry. G Smokey Campbell continues to "Live the Dream"
because he believes that "Nothing Happens Unless We Dream".
Clyde
R. Jones as Raghead Teen #1: Clyde
Risley Jones was born in Louisiana, USA. He is known for Who Killed
Soul Glow? (2012), Coming to America (1988) and 13 Sins (2014).
Tommy
Morgan as Raghead Teen #2: After
Robert Townsend, and Keenan Ivory Wayans gave him his first job, in the
movie "Hollywood Shuffle", Morgan has co-starred, or guest-starred in
over sixty different television programs and films. His TV credits
include, LA Law, MacGyver, Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show, In Living
Color, China Beach, Living Single, and The Young & The Restless to
name a few. Morgan partnered with longtime friend, actor/director Blair
Underwood, and they formed their company, Intrepid Inc., which has sold
shows to The CW Network, BET, TLC, Oxygen, and NBC. Morgan and
Underwood have an Emmy Award for their series, "Give", currently
shooting season 2, on NBC.
Christopher
M. Brown as Raghead Teen #3: Christopher M. Brown is known for Alien Avengers (1996).
Say What? During a mirror scene, Scott Bakula is
seen backing out of the scene too early to make way for the mirror
image of
Cherea to take his place.
The scenes of the club audience are the
same during both performances.
PAULA:
Who in the heck would want to talk to your ugly behind?
TEEN
#2: You talking to me, Paula? Hey come on and why don’t you bring your
fine brown body over here?
PAULA:
I don’t talk to night crawlers so you can just crawl back into whatever
cave you came from.
*** SAM: What do you know?
LYNELLE:
Know about what?
SAM:
Whatdoya know? You still have this old picture of us.
AL:
Good recovery, Sam.
LYNELLE:
I just had that printed last week.
AL:
Oh… not so good.
SAM:
Time sure does fly when you have fun, huh?
AL: You should have quit while you were ahead.
***
REV.
WALTERS: Hallelujah!
AL:
Hallelujah!
REV. WALTERS: Glory, hallelujah!
AL:
Glory, hallelujah! All it takes is one good preacher to let you know
that the devil is out to get you.
*** SAM: Well, then, I’m right. I’m here to help Reverend
Walters support his daughter to … to… to accept her and understand her.
AL:
So, how you gonna do that?
SAM:
Ehhh… well, I don’t know. I mean, maybe… maybe you know… if he heard
how good they were… no no no no… then I’d have to sing!
AL:
So?
SAM:
So, first I don’t know any of the songs or the routines and secondly,
I’m a man and not a sixteen-year-old girl!
AL:
That never stopped you before.
*** AL: Well, I do. I can teach you some moves.
SAM:
You can teach me some moves? (laughing)
AL:
I was in the Regal Theatre in its hey day. I remember the Marvelettes,
Smokey, Martha and the Vandellas, James Brown – the hardest working man
in show business. You have to remember to keep your harmony tight and
remember to say…
(song
cuts him off with… "Do you love me?" in the background)
***
Video
look: The girls are being shown the moves that Al is giving to Sam and
the girls are having a hard time getting the moves right.
PAULA:Damn,
Cheree! You dance like a white girl!
***
AL:
Ziggy says this whole thing is going to be a catastrophe.
SAM:
Ziggy should have a little more faith in human nature.
AL:
Ziggy says that’s the problem.
***
SAM:
A prophet name Gibran once said, hold your children with open arms and
they will always know they can come home to you.
***
SAM:
God only gives us what he thinks we can handle.
Best Lines:
There was only one little part that seemed the best to me:
SAM: Al, I think I figured
out why I’m here.
AL: There’s a 90% chance
that your here to keep Lynelle out of show business.
SAM: Wrong.
AL: Wrong?
SAM: Wrong. I think that I’m here to make sure
that her father supports her and if I can do that… that will keep their
relationship in tact.
AL: No, no… Ziggy… no, no…
SAM: Ziggy has been *known*
to be *wrong*. (does a head nod that’s precious)
AL: But we have to trust
Ziggy’s statistics over yours.
SAM: Why?
AL: Why? Because Ziggy keeps better records.
Best Scene:
The ending is precisely the best scene in this episode – point blank.
Hearing a man say that he’s lost his daughter to the music industry and
then for her to come in singing "The Sparrow" is enough to make me cry
every single time especially when they tell each other that they love
each other. There is nothing better than a happy ending… don’t care
what you say!
Why
should I feel
discouraged?
Why
should the shadows
fall?
Why
should my heart feel
lonely
and
long for heaven and
home?
When
Jesus is my portion
A
constant friend is he
His
eye is on the sparrow
And I
know he watches…
he watches me.
I
sing because I’m happy
I
sing because I’m free
His
eye is on the sparrow
And I
know he watches…
he watches me.
Yes,
I know he watches…
he watches me.
as
sung by
Tamara Townsend (Lynelle Walters)
Awards: Emmy
Nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1992:
Harrison Page
Emmy Nominations for Outstanding
Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Series in 1992:
Cameron Birnie, Ellen Dambros-Williams and Robert L. Zilliox
American Cinema Editors Award:
Jon Koslowsky
Synopsis & Review:
Dr.
Beckett leaps into 15-year-old Cheree Watkins , a member of an all-girl
teenage R&B trio, and must prevent Lynelle Walters, a high school
classmate of Cheree's and one of the other singers (Tammy Townsend)
from signing a cheap contract against the wishes of her widowed pastor
father Reverend Walters (Harrison Page) as well as the other singers in
the group, and ruining their lives.
Al, through the help of Ziggy
that there's a 95% chance that Sam is there to make sure that Lynell
has a successful singing career but Sam thinks otherwise, believing
he's there to create a better and more understanding relationship
between Lynell and her father, Rev. Walters, who will have nothing to
do with his daughter having a secular singing career. When Lynell gets
involved with a sleazy club owner, Bobby Lee (Eriq LaSalle), who also
tries to make romantic advances on her, Sam has to try to convince
father and daughter to reconcile their relationship. Source
Personal Review by M.J. Cogburn:
This is a perfect story of how a father and
daughter are split apart by a death in a family and then a putting your
trust in your offspring brings them back together. It’s a wonderful
story and those who don’t get misty-eyed at the end are completely
insane! I love this episode. It shows more than just Sam’s legs!
Production Credits:
Theme by: Mike Post
Music by: Velton Ray Bunch Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt Co-Executive Producer: Michael Zinberg Supervising Producer: Harker Wade Produced by: Jeff Gourson, Tommy Thompson Produced by: Chris Ruppenthal, Paul Brown Created by: Donald P. Bellisario Written by:Deborah Pratt Directed by:Michael Watkins Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario Associate Producers:James S. Giritlian, Julie Bellisario
Coordinating Producer: David Bellisario Director of Photography: Michael Watkins, A.S.C. Production Designer: Cameron Birnie Edited by: Jon Koslowsky, A.C.E. Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow First Assistant Director: Ryan Gordon Second Assistant Director: Kate Yurka Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac Costume Supervisor: David Rawley
Art Director: Ellen Dambros-Williams Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth Sound Editor: Greg Schorer Music Editor: Bruce Frazier
Special Visual Effects: Roger Dorney, Denny Kelly
Choir Arrangement and Supervision: Rose Stone
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.
The
characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any
similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Bellisarius Productions in association with Universal Television, an MCA Company
Quantum Leap Podcast: A Song For The Soul
Keep your harmonies tight because we’re singing A Song for the Soul!
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