Oh Boy
Being thrust into a life to “put right what once went wrong” was such a worthy endeavour that one couldn’t feel sorry for Sam Beckett no matter how difficult the leap. However, I did feel sorry for Scott Bakula, since he had to prepare for one leap while filming another, i.e. play a broncobuster and between scenes learn to fly the high wire.
I wrote “Oh, boy” on the second page of the pilot script when Sam rolled over to find a pregnant woman in bed with him. Of course, Scott’s delivery had a lot to do with making it a catchphrase. It’s difficult to name a favourite episode or leap… there are so many really good ones, such as MIA, The Leap Home, What Price Gloria, Mirror Image and, of course, Lee Harvey Oswald, which was the only leap that was based on a real event: the assassination of JFK. It took me quite a while to figure out how to make that work so that it was believable, since Sam obviously couldn’t save Kennedy’s life. I didn’t know until the last minute how the series would end or if it would end.
Truthfully, I didn’t know Sam wasn’t going home until the day before the last episode aired. That’s when I made the decision to let him continue leaping through time. As a character, he always wanted to go home, but in the final episode, set in my dad’s bar, he realised that he could have leaped home anytime… if that was what he truly wanted.
There has been so much interest in continuing it either in television or a feature, all I have to do is find the time to write it.________________________
Mapping: Josh Jones
Words: Donald P. Bellisario, Quantum Leap creator
Sources: quantumleap.wikia.com | wikipedia.com
I wrote “Oh, boy” on the second page of the pilot script when Sam rolled over to find a pregnant woman in bed with him. Of course, Scott’s delivery had a lot to do with making it a catchphrase. It’s difficult to name a favourite episode or leap… there are so many really good ones, such as MIA, The Leap Home, What Price Gloria, Mirror Image and, of course, Lee Harvey Oswald, which was the only leap that was based on a real event: the assassination of JFK. It took me quite a while to figure out how to make that work so that it was believable, since Sam obviously couldn’t save Kennedy’s life. I didn’t know until the last minute how the series would end or if it would end.
Truthfully, I didn’t know Sam wasn’t going home until the day before the last episode aired. That’s when I made the decision to let him continue leaping through time. As a character, he always wanted to go home, but in the final episode, set in my dad’s bar, he realised that he could have leaped home anytime… if that was what he truly wanted.
There has been so much interest in continuing it either in television or a feature, all I have to do is find the time to write it.________________________
Mapping: Josh Jones
Words: Donald P. Bellisario, Quantum Leap creator
Sources: quantumleap.wikia.com | wikipedia.com