N
Night Terror
Guest
Maybe there were more, but right now I can remember at least two people who vanished from the show when the 5th season began. They were writers and producers, too. They even directed some episodes and a lot of what they wrote became classic. I'm talking about Chris Ruppenthal ("The B**gieman", "The Curse of Ptah-Hotep", "Glitter Rock" and "Good Morning, Peoria" among others) and Paul Brown ("Camikazi Kid", "Runaway", "Nuclear Family" and "Disco Inferno" among others).
The last episodes they wrote were both season 4 episodes. Chris Ruppenthal's was "... Ptah-Hotep", and Paul Brown's was "It's a Wonderful Leap", which he also directed, I think. They continued producing the show until the last episode of that season, but when the fifth one began, they just seemed to disappear, and, you know something, I really missed them. I loved season 5, but there were times when I thought that it would've been great to see other episodes written by them. It seemed kind of odd to me at first that they just didn't write anymore, but also didn't produce or did anything for the show anymore.
I have an idea why this may have happened: I think I saw someone mention here before that NBC got a new president when the 5th season started, and that new producers and writers like Chas. Floyd Johnson and Robin Jill Bernheim came to the show, so Chris and Paul may have been fired or maybe they just quit, I don't know... But, if that's really what happened, the question is why? Tommy Thompson, another classic QL writer, was still there in season 5, so does anyone have an idea of what happened to them? If I remember correctly, Jeff Gourson, another QL producer, and a classic name among the credits, was also gone in season 5, so it just seems kind of strange. It probably isn't a new thing at all. I mean, that's what happens to shows, after all. Some people stay, some people go, and maybe it seems odd to me because this is really the only show I ever cared about the most, but still... Like Deborah Arakelian. Do you remember her? She only wrote "How The Tess Was Won", produced all the episodes from season 1, and when the 2nd one began, she vanished from Quantum Leap forever. Or like all the other people who only wrote 1 episode in the entire series and never did anything for the show again (Ed Scarlach, writer of "Piano Man", comes to mind, or Charlie Coffey, writer of "The Americanization of Machiko"), and their episodes were actually great. All I could say was "what a shame, that was a great loss."
But anyway, if anyone can shed some light on what happened to Paul, Chris and Jeff Gourson, why they were not around during the last season of the show, and after all those years, it will be fully appreciated.
The last episodes they wrote were both season 4 episodes. Chris Ruppenthal's was "... Ptah-Hotep", and Paul Brown's was "It's a Wonderful Leap", which he also directed, I think. They continued producing the show until the last episode of that season, but when the fifth one began, they just seemed to disappear, and, you know something, I really missed them. I loved season 5, but there were times when I thought that it would've been great to see other episodes written by them. It seemed kind of odd to me at first that they just didn't write anymore, but also didn't produce or did anything for the show anymore.
I have an idea why this may have happened: I think I saw someone mention here before that NBC got a new president when the 5th season started, and that new producers and writers like Chas. Floyd Johnson and Robin Jill Bernheim came to the show, so Chris and Paul may have been fired or maybe they just quit, I don't know... But, if that's really what happened, the question is why? Tommy Thompson, another classic QL writer, was still there in season 5, so does anyone have an idea of what happened to them? If I remember correctly, Jeff Gourson, another QL producer, and a classic name among the credits, was also gone in season 5, so it just seems kind of strange. It probably isn't a new thing at all. I mean, that's what happens to shows, after all. Some people stay, some people go, and maybe it seems odd to me because this is really the only show I ever cared about the most, but still... Like Deborah Arakelian. Do you remember her? She only wrote "How The Tess Was Won", produced all the episodes from season 1, and when the 2nd one began, she vanished from Quantum Leap forever. Or like all the other people who only wrote 1 episode in the entire series and never did anything for the show again (Ed Scarlach, writer of "Piano Man", comes to mind, or Charlie Coffey, writer of "The Americanization of Machiko"), and their episodes were actually great. All I could say was "what a shame, that was a great loss."
But anyway, if anyone can shed some light on what happened to Paul, Chris and Jeff Gourson, why they were not around during the last season of the show, and after all those years, it will be fully appreciated.