Samantha Beckett said:
Neither did I. That explains why it feels kind of awkward in the leap out/leap in sequence that separated those two eps when they aired on scifi. I dunno....it just seemed like a weird segue to me. But if was a continuous 2 hour episode, that explains it.
Yeah, it does seem awkward when you see them in syndication. That's why I prefer the original "movie" versions. Same thing with the pilot episode. In fact, the first time I ever saw the pilot episode was when QL premiered in syndication on USA Network. It was shown in its original 2-hour format, but it was edited to include the Season 4 opening credit sequence, which cuts in right after the scene with Al's car heading toward the project and right before the flash of light. Immediately following the opening credits, they show the clouds and show the title, "Genesis," followed by the guest cast , etc., etc. It looked weird to me then, and then when I had bought the VHS cassette of the pilot episode, I got to see it the way it originally aired. It doesn't really work as a 2-part episode, because it wasn't designed as a 2-part episode.
"Lee Harvey Oswald" started out the same way it does in syndication with the Season 5 saga cell, followed directly by the opening credit sequence, except it debuted the "rock" version of the opening theme (which was subsequently used in all of the 5th season episodes except for "Mirror Image"). Syndication doesn't use the Season 5 "rock" version (another reason why I don't like watching them in syndication). It then goes directly into that JFK/Oswald montage followed by the leap-in. In syndication, it remains intact for the most part up until the very end of Part 1. You miss out on a whole scene where the KGB guy stops recording when he sees Sam stalling for time, and then sits down in front of him to tell him a story about his own childhood. He talked about what a horrible man his father was and how he had made him strip naked and soak in an ice hole in the back of their house as punishment for something he did. He got frostbite, lost several toes and spent most of the winter with pneumonia; but despite that, he "still loved the bastard. After all, he was my father." Then he says that their native lands are a lot like that, and we see how he persuaded Oswald to betray his country, despite the fact that he loved it. That's when Oswald takes over and Sam blinks and says, "My name is Lee Harvey Oswald..." As he says his serial number and all that stuff, the screen fades to black and goes to commercial, which is where it says "To be continued..." in syndication.
As for "Trilogy Parts II & III," it was definitely easy to divide each part up because they're 2 separate leaps. The way it was originally broadcast was that it begun by showing scenes from Part I (no saga cell), and after leaping into Will Kinman, it went straight into the opening credits, immediately followed by the words "Trilogy Part II" in that fancy script on the black screen, with "Unchained Melody" playing in the background. Then, it cuts back to Sam and Abigail in bed together, and we see the date appear at the bottom, followed by the guest cast and production information for both parts. Now, the way QL normally works is that there's the saga cell/teaser/opening credits, 4 acts, and the ending credits, with commercial breaks in-between. For this movie (along with the pilot episode and LHO), there were 7 acts stretched out over 2 hours. Plus, whenever a 2-hour movie was shown, there were no commercial breaks in-between the teaser and Act 1. So, during Act 4, Sam leaped out of Will Kinman and into Larry Stanton, immediately going straight into Part III without listing the title or date. Basically, Act 4 of Part II and the teaser/Act 1 of Part III are all combined into the middle act of the 2-hour movie. They simply took out the shot of Sam looking in the mirror and saying, "Oh boy!" That shot does appear at the end of Part II in syndication, except it doesn't say "To be continued..." at the end.
"Return/Revenge" is the most awkward one in terms of how they decided to divide each leap up. In the original 2-hour movie version, it started with the saga cell, which then faded out and the words "Evil Leaper I ? Reprise" appeared on a black screen as Scott's voice-over said, "Here are some scenes from Evil Leaper, Part 1" (which was "Deliver Us From Evil"). After those scenes (which I believe are slightly different in syndication), it fades to black again and says "Evil Leaper II," followed by Sam's leap-in, then the opening credits, followed immediately by Act 1 (no commercial break). Then the title "Return" appears, followed by the date, then the guest cast and writer/director for both episodes. (You see it say something like, "Part II Written by..." and "Part III Directed by...") Ultimately, there were 8 acts; the end of Act 4 was the end of "Return," and had Sam saying, "Oh boy," as the camera faded out and went to commercial. The beginning of Act 5 continues with Sam and Alia being led to the warden's office and the title "Revenge" then appears on the screen, followed by the date. At the end of Act 8, after Sam leaps out and into the Marilyn Monroe episode, instead of going to a commercial break, there was a special 5-minute promo for the next 4 upcoming episodes which was introduced by both Scott and Dean while on the set of the Civil War episode (which I assume was originally supposed to be the last of the 4 before the finale). At the end of the promo (which used the Suite from "Lee Harvey Oswald" during the Civil War scenes), the screen faded to black again, followed by the words "Coming this spring on Quantum Leap," then directly into the ending credits (no commercial break). In syndication, they retitled the individual episodes, "Return of the Evil Leaper" and "Revenge of the Evil Leaper," and actually overlapped both episodes from the moment Sam and Alia are being led to the warden's office to the moment where Alia is thrown into the broom closet and that guard tells her, "The warden's got plans for you, Angel... big plans!" I assume that's what you were referring to, Claire, about the weird segueway into "Revenge."
Okay, now that I've wasted enough time with this, I shall take my leave of you all for now. What, me obsessive-compulsive? Never!!!
Damon
