Quantum Leap - TV-PG

Classic sci-fi series hops and skips through time.

TV Rating: TV-PG Network: SciFi Cast: Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell, Deborah Pratt Genre: Science Fiction
Available on: DVDDownload

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this sci-fi series revolves around time travel and the idea that a visitor from the future can return to alter history. Each episode is set in a different time and place and features a new ensemble cast (aside from the two stars), which might make it difficult for younger kids to follow. The ever-changing storylines often tackle mature topics, including extramarital relationships, unplanned pregnancy, and murder, just to name a few. Despite a bit of pause-worthy content, this show is a thoughtful, engrossing adventure that older tweens and young tweens will love.

Families can talk about making amends for past faults. Have you ever done something that you still regret? What was it? If you could go back, how would you do things differently? Families also can discuss scientific advancements. What kinds of things are possible now that weren't 20 years ago? How have science and technology made our lives easier or more enjoyable? What do you think will change in the future because of science?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Emily Ashby

QUANTUM LEAP debuted in 1989 and was a sci-fi fan favorite during its four-year run on NBC. Now a whole new generation can enjoy this classic show, which still airs in syndication and is available on DVD.

The series is set in the near future (which was 1999 back when the show began...). Brilliant theoretical physicist Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) is hard at work on a secret project that would enable time travel throughout the span of a person's lifetime. When funding runs out, he's pressured to produce results, so he steps into the time accelerator chamber himself to test it out. He wakes up to find himself trapped in the past in someone else's body, suffering from a form of amnesia that gives him only partial recollection of his own life.

Without knowing why or how, Sam is driven to solve mysteries and correct past wrongs within whichever body he lands in during each episode. While viewers see him most often as himself, his appearance switches to his host's body when he's shown through the eyes of another character or when he looks in a mirror.

Sam is helped along the way by a supercomputer named Ziggy (voiced by Deborah Pratt) and a holographic version of his friend, Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell), whom only Sam can see or hear. Once Sam has succeeded in fixing history, he leaps to another locale, which takes him into the next episode (and a fresh chance to utter the show's catchphrase: "Oh, boy!").

Quantum Leap is a winner on many levels. The writing remains fresh and funny as it takes on new characters and plotlines in different episodes. And the acting is first-rate; Bakula in particular provides memorable performances as (among many others) a blind concert pianist, a pregnant teenage girl, and a Vietnam veteran amputee. He even appears as real-life characters like Elvis Presley and Lee Harvey Oswald. Viewers will love watching him adjust to the nuances of each new role and the gender-based (or species-based, in the case of one chimpanzee character) challenges each presents.

Since the show tends to tackle some pretty mature topics (from murder to unplanned pregnancy), it isn't really suited for young kids. But it will have definite appeal for tweens and teens who can look past its now-dated look and feel.

Fans may also enjoy Highway to Heaven, The 4400, and Stargate SG-1.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Kissing and mild groping scenes, as well as some suggestive language and insinuating looks. Al is an oversexed single guy who comments on women's figures and talks about his need to "get some."
Violence Depending on the episode's plot, the show may include gunfire or fistfights.
Language Infrequent uses of very mild words like "hell."
Message
	Social Behavior Sam's goal in each episode is to right a wrong done in the past, and he strives for honesty and treats everyone he meets with respect. His upstanding nature helps counteract Al, who can come across as a tad sleazy and sex-obsessed.
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Most episodes show characters smoking, as Sam's travels take him through the 1950s, '60s and '70s, when it was more prevalent in public places. Scenes set in social situations also include alcohol, but only adults partake.