Identity Illusion

Tag Area: Time Travel Trope
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e01–02)

Genesis

Physicist and all-around good guy Sam Beckett rushes his time machine into production—funding is about to be cut!—and as a consequence, he leaps into the life of a USAF test pilot, where Sam and his holographic cohort Al have a moral mission. And after setting things right in that pilot’s life, Sam—“oh, boy”—takes a few moments to win the big baseball game in 1968. —Inmate Jan
One end of this string represents your birth, the other end your death. You tie the ends together, and your life is a loop. Ball the loop, and the days of your life touch each other out of sequence, therefore leaping to one point in the string to another . . .
A worried Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett), dressed as a test pilot, stares out of the small cockpit of the experimental X2 plane.
  • Eloi Gold Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Sports
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e03)

Star-Crossed

Why would anybody leap into English Professor Gerald Bryant during June 1972? Sam is certain that his mission is to he can reconcile his own future quantum physicist girlfriend with her father so that her fear of commitment won’t cause her to leave Sam at the alter in another twelve years. —Michael Main
Don’t ya see, Al? I’m here to give Donna and I a second chance.
Teri Hatcher (as Donna Elesee) and Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) study a book together at a library table.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e04)

The Right Hand of God

Sam leaps into professional boxer Clarence “Kid”Cody in 1974, where he must win his first legitimate fight in a year to save the sisters of St. Mary’s, start a new life with Dixie, and also—if things work out as expected in the Rumble in the Jungle—escape the mob. —Michael Main
That surprise punch in the last inning . . . it was inspired.
Michelle Joyner (as Sister Angela) leans to one side and waves into a boxing ring.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e05)

How the Tess Was Won

Sam leaps into Doc Young, DVM, back in 1956 Lubbock, Texas, where it seems his purpose is to out-rope, out-ride, and out-posthole-dig cowgirl Tess McGill in an effort to win her heart. —Michael Main
You can’t expect me to do this and not get involved. So if Tess falls in love with Doc, I’d appreciate it if you just leap me outta here as soon as possible.
Covered in mud in a pig sty, an exasperated Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) holds up a piglet.
  • Eloi Silver Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e06)

Double Identity

Sam does a double leap at one location: First into hitman Frankie LaPalma at the moment when he and Don Geno’s former girlfriend are in the sack together, and then as Don Geno himself. —Michael Main
Who ever heard of one lousy hairdryer blacking out all of the East Coast?
Dolled-up Terri Garber (as Teresa Pacci) leans back and reaches up to give Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) a romantic kiss.
  • Eloi Honorable Mention
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e07)

The Color of Truth

Upon arriving in an Alabama diner in 1955, Sam sits at the counter and sees an elderly Black man looking back at him from the mirror. —Michael Main
You’re hear to save her tomorrow, not to initiate the civil rights activity in the South.
Howard Matthew Johnson (as an older Black man, Jesse Tyler) looks out from a reflection in a window at Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett).
  • Eloi Silver Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e08)

Camikazi Kid

It seeems that the only way Sam can fulfill his mission of stopping 17-year-old Cam Wilson’s older sister from marrying shithead Bob is to race Bob “for pinks” in hopes that Bob will lose his cool and show his true self, but that’ll only work if Sam (as Cam) and his buddy Jill can soup up Cam’s pink mommobile with a blast of nitrous oxide at exactly the right moment of the race. —Michael Main
Older Brother: Come on, Mikey, we gotta rehearse.

Mikey: [waving] Bye-bye!
In the front seat of an old car, Holly Fields (as Jill) explains the workings of a new dashboard gadget to Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett).
  • Eloi Honorable Mention
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s01e09)

Play It Again, Seymour

Sam arrives in 1953 as a private eye who looks like Humphrey Bogart and has to solve the mystery of his partner’s murder while trying to figure out his relationship with his partner’s wife and the eager kid at the newsstand. —Michael Main
Kid, if I’m lucky I’m gonna spend the rest of my life leaping around from one place to another instead of face down in a pool of blood.
Dressed in overcoats and fedora hats, Claudia Christian (as Allison Grimsley) and Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) stare into each others eyes.
  • Science Fiction
  • Mystery and Crime
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s02e01)

Honeymoon Express

Sam pops into newly married Tom McBride (a New York policeman), who is headed to Niagara Falls with his new bride (a budding lawyer and the daughter of a senator). The two of them engage in the usual honeymoon activities—fighting off ex-boyfriend thugs, rolling underneath moving trains, studying for the bar exam—while unbeknownst to Sam, Al is at a Senate committee meeting in Washington, D.C., fighting for the life of Project Quantum Leap. Oh, yes, and it’s now official: Sam and Al believe that God has taken control of the project, although Al refuses to be pinned down as to which god she is. —Michael Main
This committee has decided that your 2.4 billion dollar funding request for Project Quantum Leap . . .
Dean Stockton (as Admiral Al Calavicci) sits at attention in his dress-white uniform.
  • Eloi Bronze Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s02e02)

Disco Inferno

Sam finds out what it’s like to be a stuntman in a family with broken dynamics and (to him but not Al) in an era with broken music. —Michael Main
Disco’s not gonna last forever. I got a feeling it’s probably gonna die in a couple of years.
Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett in a white suit with wide lapels) strikes a disco dance pose with one hand pointing high into the air.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s02e03)

The Americanization of Machiko

In 1953, Sam steps off a bus as a sailor returning home from Japan with—surprise! to Sam and everyone else—a new bride named Machiko. —Michael Main
“I try to find a husband . . . to find my husband”
Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) and Leila Lee Olsen (as Machiko, dressed in a Japanese robe) pick daisies on the roadside.
  • Eloi Bronze Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s02e04)

What Price Gloria?

Sam leaps into the body of executive secretary Samantha Stormer during a time rife with sexual harrassment that hadn’t yet been challenged or even given a name. —Michael Main
You know, this is degrading. First he chases me around the office, then he says I gotta wear lipstick
A fed-up Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) sits at a dinner table wearing a fancy, low-cut dress and frilly hat.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s02e05)

Blind Faith

Who knew that if Sam leaped into a blind pianist’s body that he’d be able to see with his own eyes and stop a Central Park killer? —Michael Main
He says he wants to play.
In a tux and sunglasses, Scott Bakula (as Sam Beckett) sits at a concert piano while Dean Stockton (as Al) holds his sheet music.
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
TV Episode

Quantum Leap (s02e06)

Good Morning, Peoria

Somewhat disoriented Sam—as Howlin’ Chic Howell at a 50’s radio station—must help station owner Rachel Powell defend rock’n’roll from the town elders and mobs of pitchfork-carrying, record-burning hayseeds. —Michael Main
Fred, I appreciate your opinion, but no matter how many editorials you publish, I am not gonna stop playing rock’n’roll.
No image currently available.
  • Eloi Gold Medal
  • Science Fiction
  • Definite Time Travel
Feature Film

Hot Tub Time Machine

Three middle-aged losers (along with a nephew) head back to their teenaged bodies at a ski resort twentysome years earlier. —Michael Main
Yes, exactly. You step on a bug and the fucking Internet is never invented.
An equation! Old mug shots of the four cast members plus alcohol plus squirrel equals young mug shots and a hot tub.
  • Science Fiction
  • Comedy
  • Definite Time Travel
Early Chapter Book

The Magic Tree House 29*

A Big Day for Baseball

Jack and Annie go back to Jackie Robinson’s major league debut at Ebbett’s Field in 1947. The story has a twist we haven’t seen before: When they put on two magic hats, everyone sees Jack and Annie as if they were teenage bat boys rather than little children. —Michael Main
One minute he’s tall! The next he’s short! One minute he can throw the ball! The next he can’t!
Dressed as a ballboy and ballgirl, young Jack and Annie watch Jackie Robinson swing a baseball bat.
  • Fantasy
  • Audience: Children
  • Definite Time Travel