Quantum Leap

For the past wee while the only time the TV is on for anything other than sports or movies is that time after my daughter gets home from school, between homework and bedtime. The routine is always the same: Friends 5 - 6 and Third Rock From The Sun 7 - 7:30, sandwiched by an hour in the unsettled life of Dr. Sam Beckett and his holographic aide Al, played by Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell respectively. The show, of course is Quantum Leap, one of the biggest sci-fi hits of the 90s, alongside Star Trek, which later took Bakula on as the first captain of the Enterprise. I used to watch it as a matter of course back then, rarely missing an episode in my late teens - it was original, well written and for the time cutting edge in terms of effects (very hard to believe now!). Why my daughter loves it so much I couldn't really say for sure, but to see her face when she watched her first episode and realised the possibilities of the central premise was priceless. Re-watching it with her you realise that its success is a mix of the terrific writing, the chemistry between Sam and Al and the incredibly likeable performance of Bakula, who really does come across as an angelic figure as he faces every moral dilemna you can think of in his mission to save the lives of those he meets and ultimately strives to "leap" home. I had a quick look at some old fansites of the show and was amazed to find that although he turned up in his own town during his own lifetime a few times he never did actually make it home! That idea makes me a bit melancholy, but also makes me smile to think that somewhere he might still be out there... If half of todays shows aimed at family viewing were half this good I'd still be watching more TV. Kx