The pilot episode. Sam, desperate to prove his time travel theory before the project runs out of funds, leaps before the kinks are worked out of the machine. He ends up leaping into the pilot of the experimental Bell X-2 aircraft, and has to pretend to be the pilot while trying to fill in the holes in his "Swiss cheese" memory. Later, Sam leaps into minor league baseball player Ken Fox, and has to win the game. This episode does not have the usual opening monologue and theme song; rather, it begins with Al flirting with a girl until he gets word that Sam is leaping.
Note: This episode was originally referred to as 'Pilot'. The title 'Genesis' has become more common in syndicated re-runs, especially in its two-part version.
As a lecherous old professor at a private college, Sam's mission is to stop a young coed from ruining her life by entering into an ill-advised marriage with Sam's host, but along the way, Sam tries to change his own history by reuniting Donna, the woman who will later leave him at the altar, with her father before he ships out to Vietnam. A young Teri Hatcher guest-stars as Donna.
Brushes with history: On June 17, 1972, Sam tries to bluff his way past the security guards in the lobby of the Watergate Hotel. He is ejected, but Sam manages to find a door with a piece of tape over the latch. He and his future wife sneak in, but the guard, noticing their car, does a check of the outside doors and reports a break-in.
Sam is a crooked boxer who must win the championship in order to win the money that his new managers (a group of nuns) need to build a new church. This episode has no major brushes with history, and Sam is also clearly getting better at fitting into character, and changing his character's behavior, without arousing suspicion.
Sam leaps into a veterinarian in rural Texas, and must decide if he needs to win the love of a wealthy Texas rancher or save the life of an important animal. The secret to Sam's leap indicates that this episode specifically takes place just outside of Lubbock, Texas.
Brushes with history: Sam inspires Buddy Holly to write the song "Peggy Sue", and as it transpires it is revealed that was what he was there to do.
On the eve of the Northeast Blackout of 1965, Sam leaps into a Mafia hitman -- and later leaps into the Mafia don, hence the episode's title -- as the Quantum Leap project tries to bring him home. The episode is the first to give a clear indication that Sam & Al's mission might be to align their fictional timeline with the viewer's timeline, as there would be little other reason to trigger the infamous power surge in the Lewiston Robert Moses power plant.
Sam leaps into an aging black chauffeur in the segregated South. He must save his wealthy white employer (the widow of the former Governor of Alabama) from dying in a car crash, while persuading her to play a more active role in the civil rights movement. This is the first episode where Sam has no love interest- his host is a widower. Al has his first experience being noticed by a human other than Sam, although she only perceives him as a ghostly voice. Inspired by the movie Driving Miss Daisy.
Sam leaps into a high school nerd who must prevent his sister from marrying an abusive man - an incident that reminds Sam of the fate of his own sister. The subject of domestic abuse pervades the episode, making it by far the heaviest and most depressing of the first season. In a strain for emotional balance, there are occasional screwball moments, such as a "brush with history" with a toddler Michael Jackson. Jason Priestley guest stars as a popular kid who has little respect for Sam's host.
Sam leaps into a private investigator looking for the murderer of his partner in a world akin to a Humphrey Bogart film -- or possibly, Sam suggests, a mystery novel. His host bears an uncanny resemblance to Bogart, leading to a "brush with history" with a young fan: Woody Allen. Claudia Christian plays Sam's love interest. The episode, and therefore season one, ends with Sam's first-ever leap into a woman. Unfortunately, the second season ended up being broadcast in a different order than expected, so the episode this teaser was meant for, "What Price Gloria?", actually is the 4th episode of season 2.
As Tom McBride, a New York City cop on his honeymoon, Sam must save himself from his wife's jealous and sociopathic ex-husband. To make matters worse, the Project's funding is in danger of being cut off, stranding Sam alone in the past, unless he can make a significant change in history... such as preventing the U2 flight from being shot down over Russia.
Note: This episode is unusual in that it opens and closes in the present time (in the context of the series), as Al struggles to justify keeping project Quantum Leap running to a committee. This is also the first episode where we see the effects of Sam's actions on history. Just as the previous senator was about to deny funding for Project Quantum Leap, his host's wife becomes the senator in charge of the committee and approves funding.
Sam is unhappy about leaping into a stuntman on the set of a disco film, but he must prevent his brother, a fellow stuntman, from being the victim of a freak accident while steering him toward a career in music.
Sam is a war veteran returning from overseas to his American small town with his Japanese bride. He must help his host's mother accept his new bride and fend off racist responses from some of the townspeople.
Sam leaps into a woman for the first time. He must prevent his host's female roommate from killing herself when her married boyfriend (who is also Sam's host's boss) refuses to divorce his wife. Sam also has to deal with sexual harassment from the same man.
Sam leaps into a blind pianist, must save the pianist's girlfriend from being killed by a serial killer in Central Park, and convince her mother that he is not bad for her. Her mother begins suspecting that he is not really blind, but Sam is blinded by a camera flash just as he needs to save the girl and thereby convinces her mother that he really is blind.
Brushes with history: Sam leaps into his host on the eve of The Beatles appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, and crowds of rabid fans can be seen whenever Sam is outside. He even catches one fan as she passes out.
Sam leaps into the DJ of a radio station in a city where local politicians are trying to ban rock & roll. He and the station owner barricade themselves in the station and thwart several attempts by the authorities to take the station off the air. Patricia Richardson guest stars.
Brushes with history: Sam teaches Chubby Checker how to do the Twist.
Sam is a rabbi who must prevent his brother's family from being torn apart by the death of their son in a plane crash and the mother's subsequent affair.
Sam leaps into a mentally handicapped young man that needs to show he can keep his job at the docks or else he will die in a mental institution. Michael Madsen guest stars as a dock worker that teases and intimidates Sam for being disabled.
Sam becomes a defense attorney in a capital murder case, defending a black woman accused of murdering a prominent white man in a town steeped in racism. (Sam even slightly resembles Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird).
Sam is the understudy to an alcoholic actor on a way-off-Broadway production of Man of La Mancha. He must prevent the obnoxious actor from ending his career with a drunken fall on stage that breaks his leg. This situation is greatly complicated when Sam decides he doesn't want to leap after meeting his old piano teacher, whom he had a boyhood crush on- and who is in love with Sam's host.
Sam is a parapsycologist working with a young widow who insists that her late husband is haunting her. The Sylmar earthquake and an aftershock occur during the episode. A device that Sam's host invented to record paranormal activity allows those near it to hear Al.
Sam leaps into an all-American college jock that must prevent anti-war protests from turning violent and resulting in the destruction of the science block while a student is inside, thus ruining the life of a young woman opposed to the war.
Sam is the mother of three children, one of whom will disappear in the next 48 hours. Sam must juggle motherhood and his rescue mission while Al watches over the youngest child - a burden made much easier by the fact that he and Al can be seen by the woman's youngest daughter.
Sam leaps into a high school football player who must prevent his best friend from throwing the big game and ruining both their chances at college scholarships.
Episode note All says that he is watching Super Bowl XXX and that the Steelers are down by three. In fact the Steelers did play the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX.
A woman's apparent suicide by drowning turns out to be a possible murder tied to her romances, and Sam, as the coroner, must find the truth. Robert Duncan McNeill and Marcia Cross guest star.
Sam is an aging black man, one of the greatest pool men in America and Al's childhood mentor. He must help his granddaughter keep her nightclub and rescue it from under the corrupting influence of a criminal loan shark.
Sam is part of a family of trapeze artists and must prevent his host's sister from performing a dangerous stunt that will result in her death, a mission which is made more difficult by his fear of heights.
Sam leaps into the middle of an infant kidnapping scheme, with a ditsy, compulsive liar as his partner (Julie Brown). Sam and Al cannot agree on whether Sam is there to help the pair succeed or return the baby to its rightful guardian.
Sam leaps into a police detective and is caught between two missions; saving his partner's life and preventing a young woman from losing hope for her husband who is MIA in Vietnam... a situation made even more awkward by the fact that the woman in question is Al's first wife.
Sam leaps into a horror novelist and fails to prevent several suspicious deaths caused by the Devil himself, who resents Sam "putting right what I made wrong". Brushes with history Inspires Stephen King along the way
Sam leaps into a beauty pageant contestant who must protect a naive fellow contestant from ruining her life by posing for nude photographs, and in the process must ensure that his host places at least third in the pageant so that she can win a scholarship and become a doctor.
Sam leaps into an African-American medical student dating a white woman on the eve of the Watts Riots. He must prevent his host's girlfriend from being killed, while persuading her that they need to stay in Watts.
Sam leaps into a magician who must perform some real magic to prevent losing custody of his young daughter to his ex-wife (Mirroring Kramer vs. Kramer), as well as save the girl from performing a dangerous trick that will go badly wrong.
Sam leaps into a member of a biker gang where he meets a truck stop restaurant owner who lost his son to the war and an idealistic young woman who is going to die unless she gives up her reckless dream of living the hard life of Jack Kerouac.
Sam leaps into an assistant to a Scrooge-like industrialist who is bent on demolishing a Salvation Army Mission, forcing Sam and Al to literally 'Scrooge' him by showing him his past, present and future (A task made easier by the fact that his brainwaves are so similar to Sam's that he can see Al).
Sam leaps into a 13-year-old boy on a family roadtrip from which the mother will soon disappear, while also dealing with the bullying of his host's older sister.
Sam leaps into a pregnant teenager who needs to keep her baby and obtain the support of her father, a fact made all the more confusing by the fact that Sam still seems to be pregnant even though he lacks the 'equipment' to carry a child...
Sam leaps into an actor on a children's sci-fi show and must work quickly to keep his eccentric co-star from being killed or committed to a mental institution. In the process, Sam learns, much to his surprise, that the actor has independently come up with Sam's own 'string theory' of Quantum Leaping...
Sam is a Chippendales dancer who must help a deaf woman find success as a professional dancer, before she goes down a road of prostitution and dies of AIDS.
Sam leaps into a lounge singer in the witness protection program who must keep himself and his accident-prone girlfriend from being killed for the murder he witnessed three years ago.
Sam is the lead singer of a KISS-inspired rock band who in the original history was murdered following a concert; Sam must find out whether it was the manager, a band member, a random fan, or his host's estranged son who did it, and stop them before the deed can take place.
Sam leaps into a bounty hunter handcuffed to a compulsively lying woman who is suspecting of embezzling a large sum of money, and must decide whether his mission is to help the woman escape or bring her to justice.
Sam leaps into a man about to be executed by the electric chair, until he is suddenly given a temporary 48-hour reprieve to (apparently) try to prove his innocence.
Sam leaps into a college student helping his brother sell nuclear bomb shelters on the eve of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and must prevent their neighbour from being shot during a false alarm.
Sam leaps into a depressed mental patient who receives shock therapy as soon as Sam leaps in. This causes Sam's ego to become displaced, resulting in him assuming the identities of people he has leaped into before. It's up to Al to complete Sam's mission by helping a mentally challenged young man learn how to read, which he is able to do when he discovers that he and Sam can be seen by mentally insane people; he must also find a way to restore Sam's ego so he can leap, or else risk losing contact with Sam forever.
Sam and Al switch roles after lightning strikes the Waiting Room. This allows Sam to return home to his wife, but when Al is set to be killed by his lover's jealous ex-fiance, Sam must act as his hologram in order to save Al and continue to leap through time.
Sam is a washed-out baseball player who has to help a younger and angrier player get into the major leagues, the player reminding him of Al when they first met.
Sam leaps into a small-town sheriff in the middle of Hurricane Camille. He must keep his host's girlfriend from being killed in the storm... or by anyone else.
Sam leaps into a man just as he is about to join the Ku Klux Klan, out of respect for the racist family he has married into. He must prevent a black civil rights leader from being lynched by the Klan while trying to explain to his host's son the evils of racism, and simultaneously not act so 'out of character' that he is kicked out before he can change things.
Sam is a male hair stylist living with his girlfriend, a single mother. When the kid witnesses a murder of a mall drugstore clerk, Sam must prevent the killer from getting rid of any loose ends.
Sam leaps into a woman who has just been raped by the town's all-American boy. He must make sure that justice is done, resulting in the woman herself being brought into the Imaging Chamber to testify at her trial. It losesly represents the Alex Andrew Kelly case.
In a very bizarre one-off out-of-human host, Sam leaps into one of a group of chimps that are bound to be destroyed in an Air Force testing experiment.
Sam leaps into a cop just as he finds a man that murdered his wife, before killing himself and emotionally crippling their children. He must uncover a childhood trauma of the man he leaped into (which has unfortunately remained in Sam's head after the Leap) and catch a murderer before his host becomes the next victim.
Sam is the leader of a group of traveling rainmakers in a farming community suffering from a drought, who has to make it rain while preventing his host's brother's wife from running away with him.
Sam leaps into a man dating an older woman and must convince her not to return to her square, small-town life. Along the way he has to perform in an off-broadway production of 'Hamlet' in the nude.
Sam leaps into a honor-roll cadet at a Naval Academy who might be gay. His roommate was kicked out of the Naval Academy for being gay and Sam must stop his former roommate from being killed by a bigoted gang of midshipmen, while also dealing with Al's own homophobia.
Sam is a television reporter who needs the help of an attractive psychic (who can see who he really is) to try to track down a serial killer in San Francisco.
Sam is a retired gunfighter living with his family in an Old West town that is used for tourism and films. He must face his former partner, who wants to kill Sam because his host stole his heroic antics for his own, while also preventing his host's grandson from ruining his life after his image of his grandfather is ruined.
Sam leaps into a copilot of an air taxi that is transporting two young newlyweds, one of whom is very sick with appendicitis. But that's the least of his worries when the plane flies into the Bermuda Triangle and he loses contact with Al and Quantum Leap...
Sam is a television talk-show host who works with his co-worker to unmask a local fertiliser and pesticide plant that is researching and producing chemical weapons.
Sam is a taxicab driver in New York City trying to earn enough money to get his father his own medallion. Along the way he meets a woman who claims to be an angel and can see him and Al for who they really are.
Sam leaps into a soap opera actor who is kidnapped by an obsessed fan who wants him to father her baby... and, in the original history, his host ended up wandering the countryside with a gunshot wound to the head that rendered him totally amnesiac.
Sam is part of a trio comedy act, with his male and female partner so in love with each other that they cannot face it. Sam must get the couple to see that they love each other, and prevent one of the comedians from being killed by the Mafia.
Sam leaps into a younger Al who is on trial for the murder and rape of his commander's wife, but when Sam's actions unintentionally prevent the witness whose testimony cleared Al in the real history from testifying before she dies, things take a turn for the worse as Sam suddenly finds himself with a renamed Ziggy (Now called 'Alpha'), a married Gushie and Tina, and a new Observer...
Sam leaps into various points in Lee Harvey Oswald's life in an effort to seemingly prevent him from killing President John F. Kennedy, but the objective is made more complex by the fact that their minds are merging; if Al can't bring Sam back, it will be Sam Beckett who pulls the trigger on Kennedy that fateful day in Dallas...
Sam finds his patience tested when he leaps aboard a lifeboat with a bratty, self-obsessed heiress and ends up stuck on an island with her from which they will not be rescued for nine years... Brooke Shields guest stars.
Sam leaps into a legless Vietnam vet in a veterans' hospital and must save the life of a quadriplegic soldier while still keeping his wife from leaving him so that his eldest son can save a tank troop in the Gulf War. Jennifer Aniston guest stars.
Sam leaps into a dangerous criminal named Leon Styles who has taken a mother and her young daughter hostage. Meanwhile, Al must find the homicidal Styles, who has escaped from the project waiting room, leaving Gushie to act as a temporary Observer. Cameron Dye and Beverley Mitchell guest star.
Sam is an eccentric grandfather living with his son and his family. He must prevent his teenage grandson from running away and getting caught up in the drug culture while also preventing the grandfather from being sent to a mental institution for his wild stories about UFOs. Anne Lockhart and Guy Boyd guest star.
Sam leaps back into Jimmy LaMotta, but is perplexed when he finds that the happy future he supposedly ensured in his previous leap is not taking place, and his brother's marriage is falling apart. Shortly thereafter, Sam finds something he never expected; a female quantum leaper named Alia, apparently there to "put wrong what once went right". Carolyn Seymour and Kristen Cloke guest star.
In a three-part story arc, Sam leaps into various people in a small Southern town in an effort to break a family curse that is tormenting a young girl, protect her from a woman who is convinced that the girl killed her husband and daughter, and ensure that another young girl grows up to work for the Quantum Leap Project... specifically, Sam's own daughter. Meg Foster and Max Wright guest star.
Sam finds himself between the proverbial rock and hard place when he leaps into a bigamist, with a 50% chance of picking the right family to stay with.
Sam leaps into a housewife who must convince her husband that the family can survive and even thrive with feminism. He must also persuade the daughter that advances for women must come about through nonviolent means and persuade a woman working in the husband's firm to be more assertive about her ideas for the company. Max Gail guest stars.
As the famous sex doctor, Sam must help a woman stand up to the sexual harassment of her boss and get his coworkers together, while the real Doctor Ruth helps Al deal with his fear of abandonment and his inability to tell a woman that he loves her.
Sam leaps into an eccentric artist who lives a strange, gothic lifestyle. He has only a few hours to save his wife from a grisly death, supposedly at the hands of a vampire, while dealing with Al's own conviction that his host actually is the walking dead.
As a nerdy college kid who dresses up as a superhero, Sam must stop a fraternity from holding chicken races as part of their initiation while back in the waiting room, Al must convince Sam's host to give up his dangerous lifestyle and help him deal with the murder of his parents. However, the sudden return of the Evil Leaper makes the task significantly harder. Neil Patrick Harris guest stars.
Leaping into a women's prison (accompanied by Alia), Sam must keep the reformed Evil Leaper from being caught by her former Observer while also trying to keep his host from being executed for the murder of a fellow inmate.
Sam is a Vietnam war veteran living in the forest with an epileptic fellow veteran who will die unless he gets his medicine. However, he is opposed in this task by the sheriff living in town, who served in the same unit and doesn't want to face his past.
Sam leaps into his own great-grandfather during the American Civil War to ensure that his family line continues and to help an ancestor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. make it to freedom in the North.
As Elvis Presley, Sam must help a struggling female musician, but at the same time must ensure that he doesn't prevent the king of rock n' roll from being discovered.
Sam arrives at a mining town as himself on the date and hour that he was born. Patrons of the town bar look familiar from past leaps, other patrons seem to be leapers, and the bartender implies that he might be God, Fate or Time. While trying to figure things out, Sam has to help save some trapped miners, regain contact with Al, and decide where his final leap will take him...
For this final episode, the original version of the opening credits theme, as used in the first four seasons, was brought back. (However, on some later versions, the fifth season theme is used — even though the visuals are still from an earlier season.)
Bruce McGill, who played Al the Bartender in this episode, also appears as Weird Ernie in the very first episode.
