Quantum Leap -- Episode 42: Future Boy

Sam Leaps Into: 

Kenny Sharp, an actor in a sci-fi children's show.

Objective:

Keep his older co-star safe and out of a mental institution.

Date:

10-6-57

Location:

St. Louis, Missouri

Memorable Quote:
Look at me...I'm standing here...I'm dressed like a giant tv dinner talking to a hologram!  ~Sam

Highlight:
The very end where Captain Galaxy reads a letter from "Little Sam Beckett in Elk Ridge, Indiana." It's a memorable moment and one that stuck with me from when I was a kid, and it's very clever how they set it up earlier in the episode when Sam explains his version of string theory to Moe and which Moe now conveys to "Little Sam."

Lowlight:

While Moe was eccentric in a mad scientist kind of way and clearly needed some help taking care of himself (e.g. driving off the road or burning soup), he didn't seem even remotely crazy, and it was hard to buy into the premise that his daughter wanted him committed to a psychiatric ward.

Other thoughts, observations, and questions I didn’t ask when I was in fourth grade:

• Great opening to this episode as Sam fumbles his lines while the director is going nuts.
• I wonder if the twisted ankle was to cover for a real injury to Bakula -- not sure why else they'd include it in the script.
• The sound effects on QL are very well done, and I like how at the 11 minute mark we can hear the opening and closing of Al's door without seeing it, and the sound is enough to tell us exactly what is going on.  Other distinctive and consistent sounds related to Al that we hear during this scene include when he moves, when he hits his handheld device, and when something passes through him.
• Irene said that she drove 10 hours from Milwaukee to St. Louis when her dad was having trouble, but it's only about 5 and a half hours (unless she was including the way back).
• Another fun scene where we see Sam filming a commercial as Mr. Scrub-O. "Boy, if only the guys at M.I.T. could see you now," Al says.
• Strong scene at the roller skating rink when a kid asks Captain Galaxy and Future Boy if they can travel back in time to close his gate and save his dog, and Sam comes up with a nice answer.
• The actor, Alan Fudge, playing the doctor appeared in two episodes of MacGyver: he was Webster in Slow Death and Michaels from Dalton Jack of Spies.  I didn't recognize him at all.

Final Analysis:

Plenty of fun to be had in this episode.  It's maybe not quite the episode I had remembered it as (again, Moe's lack of craziness made the main storyline hard to buy into), but it's still a classic, all of the Captain Galaxy/Future Boy moments are gold, and the ending is special.  Ranking it 7 out of 42.