505 "Star Light, Star Bright"

Leap Date:

May 21, 1966

Episode Adopted by: MikeKraken
Additional info provided by: Dave McEvoy and Brian Greene

Synopsis:

After encountering a UFO, Sam has to convince the parents and grandson of the old man he has leaped into that he is telling the truth before his son commits him to a mental hospital. Meanwhile, he needs to find a way to patch the relationship problems within the family, and a government agency is tracking Sam...and the UFO.

Audio from this episode

Bonus audio:
Sam discloses personal info,
security clearance code numbers,
and project info!

TV Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date
Project Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Broadcast Date
Music
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes
Best Scene
Synopsis & Review
Production Credits

TV Guide Synopsis:
Sam (Scott Bakula) touches down as an old man who believes he's seen UFOs, but others think he is just seeing things. Al: Dean Stockwell. Tim: Morgan Weisser. John: Guy Bond. Maj. Meadows: Michael L. Maguire. Dr. Hardy: H. Richard Greene. Eva: Anne Lockhart.

Place:
Charlemont, Massachusetts

Leap Date:
May 21, 1966

Project Date:
May 1, 1999

Name of the Person Leaped Into:
Maxwell Stoddard, a 79-year-old UFO chaser

Broadcast Date:
October 27, 1992 - Tuesday

Music:

"All Day and All of the Night" by The Kinks

"The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is covered by Sam on the guitar.

Project Trivia:
UMBRA is an operative code.

Handlink is the Gummy Bear style.

Sam Trivia:
Sam had a paper route at one time.

Sam tells Tim not to miss Jimi Hendrix play at Woodstock, indicating that he is a fan of the musician.

He knows how to play the guitar.

John Samuel Beckett and Thelma Louise Beckett are the full names of his parents.

Social Security Number: 563-86-9801

Department of Defense UMBRA Clearance Number: (Listen to the bonus sound file near the top of this page!) 004-002-02-016

Al Trivia:

Al can't remember the name of his second wife, but refers to her as "the Hungarian one".

Al's Women:
Al calls out a verbal request that everything he owns be left to his first wife, Beth.

Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode:
First appearance: Teal leather and suede jacket; white shirt with black collar and black design on the chest; lit cigar.

Second through fifth appearances: Pink suit coat; pink dress pants; silky brown shirt with reds-and-white design; glittery pink tie; brownish-red belt; foamy-looking pendant on left breast; cigar.

Sixth appearance: Beige suit coat; white dress pants; dark-patterened dress shirt; black string tie with silver buckle; watch with white face.

Miscellaneous Trivia:
Max came over from Ireland during the potato famine.

Al reminds Sam of the psycho-synergizing with Lee Harvey Oswald.

A shot of the city shown with a bridge over the bay is actually of Astoria, Oregon.

The Charlemont library burned down in 1968.

Scott Bakula is really playing the guitar when he covers "Battle Hymn of the Republic."

The entrance to Bellisarius Productions provides the facade for the asylum!

When the government men interview Sam, it's been three nights since Sam leaped in.

Sam mentions Project Blue Book, a real government project used to investigate UFOs.

The UFO is about 15 metres on the long axis, 10 metres on the short.

This is the only episode that provides proof of extra-terrestrials. However, the comic book "Time and Space" (#13 with story title "One Giant Leap") takes a much closer look!

Regular Cast:
Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett
Dean Stockwell as Al Calavicci

Guest Stars:
Morgan Weisser as Tim Stoddard
H. Richard Greene as Dr. Hardy
Michael L. Maguire as Major Irwin Meadows, U.S. Air Force Intelligence
Anne Lockhart as Eva Stoddard
Guy Boyd as John Stoddard
Joshua Coxx as Officer Milardi
Douglas Stark as Maxwell Stoddard (Mirror Image)

Guest Cast Notes:

Morgan Weisser as Tim Stoddard: Born on May 12, 1971 in Venice, California, USA. He is an actor, known for Space: Above and Beyond (1995), Quantum Leap (1989) and Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990). He has been married to Allison Creelman since September 8, 2002.

H. Richard Greene as Dr. Hardy: In his NY debut, he received critical acclaim as MacDuff in Macbeth with Rip Torn and Geraldine Page. He was a resident member of the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center. His other Broadway credits include The Survivor, Romeo and Juliet, and the International Tour of Brighton Beach Memoirs, directed by Gene Saks. On the West Coast, Mr. Greene was seen as The Headmaster in The Ahmanson's production of The History Boys. He is a Guest Professor at UCLA's School of Theatre, Film and Television. He has been in numerous TV shows and movies such as Mad Men and Armageddon, The Wonder Years, and Boston Legal.

Michael L. Maguire as Major Irwin Meadows: Born on February 20, 1955 in Newport News, Virginia, USA. He is an actor, known for Star Trek: Voyager (1995), Great Performances (1971) and Live from Lincoln Center (1976). He was previously married to Marita Geraghty.

Anne Lockhart as Eva Stoddard: Appeared in small roles, often uncredited in films such as "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial," "City Slickers," and "Risky Business." She used also her voice talents in the animated film "Chicken Little."

Guy Boyd as John Stoddard: A reliable and renowned supporting actor since his film debut in Between the Lines (1977). His acting career began studying Shakespearian dramas and on-and-off Broadway productions before starting a lengthy career in films, usually playing tough authority figures. In twenty years, Boyd has starred in nearly fifty motion pictures and is probably best known for his funny and sometimes sick performance as Detective McLean in Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984). Boyd won the Venice Film Festival's Golden Lion Award for Best Actor for his role in Robert Altman's Streamers (1983). Most recently, he was seen co-starring on the science fiction television series Black Scorpion (1995).

Joshua Coxx as Officer Milardi: American Actor and Director. He was born in New York City and graduated from the prestigious Actor Training Conservatory at S.U.N.Y. Purchase College alongside fellow classmate Edie Falco. His fellow alumni include Stanley Tucci, Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Melissa Leo & Steven Weber. He is known for Strong Medicine (2000) Thor (2011) Babylon 5 (1994) He is also an avid Surfer and a Helicopter Rescue level 1 trained Scuba Diver.

Douglas Stark as Maxwell Stoddard: Born on August 4, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Quantum Leap (1989), The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair (1939) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993). He was previously married to Mary Judy Stark. He died on October 2, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.

Say What?

"Oh boy, oh boy!" - Sam says this at the beginning of the episode when the flashing lights are shining around him. However, if you watch his mouth, he was saying something else; perhaps "Oh wow, oh wow!"

"The real Mr. Stoddard" - When Al first appears to Sam, he tells him that Max Stoddard, back in the Waiting Room, thinks that he's on his way to Venus, he doesn't say "Mr. Stoddard", he says something else, probably "Max" instead of "Mister".

Al mis-speaks when he says to Sam, "Ziggy says your memory is Swiss-cheesed with the real Mr. Stoddard, but who, by the way, right now is in the Waiting Room, and he thinks he's on the way to Venus." The term swiss-cheese has always been used to describe memory loss. Al meant "psycho-synergised" referring to their minds merging.

The stock footage used to show the town is sometimes freeze framed. There are cars stopped in the middle of the streets.

Apparently, Mr. Stoddard was a teenager when he left Ireland to escape the potato famine. The Potato Famine ended before 1865. (There's no definite ending but let's just say 1865). If he was 18 in 1865, then in 1966 he's be 101 years old! He is stated as 79 years old in the episode.

Material that Sam sees references Jack and Lydia Katash, who disappeared in Los Angeles 1992, and another clip about the rap persona Vanilla Ice putting a homeless man at gunpoint, in 1991, both events well outside the time frame of this Leap.

According to Sam, Jimi Hendrix will play Woodstock “within the year”. Woodstock didn't happen until 1969.

How does Sam know the Project date is May 1st, 1999?

If Sam’s remembers his social security number correctly, 563 is a California birthplace - but he's supposed to be from Indiana.

Quotable Quotes:
Al: "Ziggy says your memory is Swiss-cheesed with the real Mr. Stoddard, but who, by the way, right now is in the Waiting Room, and he thinks he's on the way to Venus."
Sam: "He must be terrified."
Al: "Au contraire, he's in Heaven. He keeps fingering our clothes, he wants to know what we eat... you know what he says to me? He says, he says, 'Take me to your leader,' so I turn him over to Gooshie, told him that he was the King of the Planet Halitosis."

Sam: "Is Ziggy sure that that's why I'm here?"
Al: "Seventy-eight-point-one percent."
Sam: "What are the odds of me being here to prove the existence of extra-terrestrials?"
Al: "Seventy-three-point-three percent. I win!"
Sam: "Yeah, but that's very close."
Al: "This isn't horseshoes, Sam."

Sam: "Don't call 'im an old cout."
Al: "Okay, he's a young cout."

Al: "I changed my mind! You are crazy!"

Al: "Dr. Jekyll and Major Hyde, uh, listen, try to find them, you slimebuckets."

Best Line:
Sam: "I'm so unbelievably lucky to be on the cutting edge of solving one of mankind's oldest riddles, and now, now, I have the chance to solve a second one in the same lifetime. Nobody gets that chance. Nobody."

Best Scene:
I think the best scene, for humor anyway, is when Sam is playing the electric guitar, and we see the mirror image of Max Stoddard playing in Tim's bedroom. Other than that, the ending is kinda cool.

Synopsis & Review:

Sam leaps into the body of 79-year-old Maxwell "Max" Stoddard, who has been seeing UFOs and has been telling everyone who will listen to him. He lives with his son and his daughter-in-law who think he is delusional and decide the time has come to have him committed to a mental institution. His grandson believes him and tries to protect him but with little success. It turns out the military also has an interest in what Max has seen. Meanwhile, Sam tries to repair the deteriorating relationship between Max's son and grandson.

Personal Review by MikeKraken:

A flying saucer and a feuding father and son... Is Sam, as Max Stoddard, being given the chance to prove that extra-terrestrials exist, or make sure that Max's grandson Tim reconsiles things with Max's son? Things don't get any easier when two men from the government begin to investigate Max's claims of seeing UFOs.

I think this is a pretty good episode, with a nice mix of drama and comedy. We feel sorry for poor old Max Stoddard, and similarily, Sam, both of whom have indeed seen unidentified-flying objects, and nobody will believe them, not Max's family, and not even Al. At the same time, we can understand everyone being skeptical at the claims of seeing a flying saucer from another world.

This spells double trouble when Sam talks to Al, and all of Max's family see him speaking to thin air, convincing them that Max is losing his sanity. Sam's secondary objective, to prevent Tim from over-dosing on heroin, is simple enough to overlook, but was also rectified easily.

All in all, it's one of those episodes we can briefly forget, but it's certainly an interesting one, especially with Max Stoddard going with the aliens. In addition, we learn a few interesting things about Sam, such as his parents' full names, his social security number, and his UMBRA clearance number. Both of these aspects have been used in some of the many theories behind the evil leaper project.

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: Harker Wade, Tommy Thompson
Supervising Producer: Richard C. Okie
Producer: Robin Jill Bernheim
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Richard C. Okie
Directed by: Christopher Hibler

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: Jon Koslowsky, A.C.E.
Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
First Assistant Director: Bob Mayberry
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

Quantum Leap Podcast: Star Light, Star Bright

Watch the skies for elliptical orbs, because it’s time for Star Light, Star Bright!

Join Allison Pregler, Matt Dale and Christopher DeFilippis for a close encounter with special guest host Richard C. Okie, who wrote this episode.

Rick recounts the genesis of Sam’s brush with extra-terrestrials in the now-infamous “UFO episode” and chats about his time as a writer/producer on Quantum Leap during its fifth season.

His credits include such memorable S5 outings as Leaping of the Shrew, Goodbye, Norma Jean, and The Leap Between the States.

Rick also reveals the unlikely origins of the Evil Leapers!

We also welcome a new producer to the podcast, and take a geeky deep dive into some heavy international video artwork.

Here’s are the video covers we discuss! (Genesis and The Leap Home in Spanish!)