Quantum Leap (season 3)
Season three of Quantum Leap ran on NBC from September 28, 1990 to May 22, 1991. It consists of twenty-two episodes.
| Quantum Leap | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 DVD cover | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 22 |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 28, 1990 – May 22, 1991 |
| Season chronology | |
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Leap location & date | Original air date | Prod. code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32 | 1 | "The Leap Home (Part 1)" | Joe Napolitano | Donald P. Bellisario | Elk Ridge, Indiana November 25, 1969 | September 28, 1990 | 66401 |
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Sam leaps into himself as a 16-year-old boy and Al tells him he is there to win a basketball game that was a turning point in many people's lives, but Sam wants to take the opportunity to prevent his sister from marrying an abusive alcoholic, his father from dying from a heart attack, and his brother from getting killed in Vietnam. Note: Scott Bakula plays a dual role in this episode, also appearing as Sam's father, John Beckett. | |||||||
| 33 | 2 | "The Leap Home (Part 2) – Vietnam" | Michael Zinberg | Donald P. Bellisario | Vietnam April 7, 1970 | October 5, 1990 | 66402 |
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Sam leaps into Herbert "Magic" Williams (Christopher Kirby), a soldier in his brother's platoon in the Vietnam War, where he is given the chance to keep his brother from dying, but at a terrible price. Notes: This is Sam's first leap out of the United States. Tia Carrere and Patrick Warburton also guest star. | |||||||
| 34 | 3 | "Leap of Faith" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Story by : Nick Harding & Karen Hall & Tommy Thompson Teleplay by : Tommy Thompson | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 19, 1963 | October 12, 1990 | 66408 |
| Sam leaps into Father Francis "Frank" Pistano (played by Bud Sabatino), a priest who must help prevent a fellow man of the cloth from losing his faith and self-control. | |||||||
| 35 | 4 | "One Strobe over the Line" | Michael Zinberg | Chris Ruppenthal | New York City June 15, 1965 | October 19, 1990 | 66409 |
| As Karl Granson (Danny McCoy Jr.), a well-known fashion photographer, Sam must protect a female fashion model from overdosing on illicit drugs. | |||||||
| 36 | 5 | "The Boogieman" | Joe Napolitano | Chris Ruppenthal | Coventry, Maine October 31, 1964 | October 26, 1990 | 66410 |
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Sam leaps into horror novelist Joshua Rey (Chris Ruppenthal) who is surrounded by death and mystery. Al and Ziggy don't seem to be able to predict what will happen and Sam is running out of suspects. Notes: One of the guest characters is an adolescent "Stevie" King. Joshua Rey (Sam's mirror image in this episode) is played by episode writer Chris Ruppenthal. Many fans claim weird real-life events have been associated with this episode. Some claim that it has the highest incidence of VCR / cable / local station failure than any other episode aired, although this appears to be anecdotal. There have been numerous reports of VCRs cutting out during the taping of this episode, local station and cable companies dropping their signal. Accordingly, superstitious fans often eschew spelling out the full title referring to it either as "The Boogiem*n" or "The Halloween Episode" (episode #3.5).[1] | |||||||
| 37 | 6 | "Miss Deep South" | Christopher T. Welch | Tommy Thompson | Louisiana June 7, 1958 | November 2, 1990 | 66406 |
| Sam leaps into Darlene Monty (Theresa Ring), 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. | |||||||
| 38 | 7 | "Black on White on Fire" | Joe Napolitano | Deborah Pratt | Watts, Los Angeles, California August 11, 1965 | November 9, 1990 | 66403 |
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Sam leaps into an African-American named Ray Harper (Garon Grigsby), a medical student engaged to a young white woman on the day of the Watts riots. He must prevent his host's girlfriend from being killed, while persuading her that they need to stay in Watts. Notes: Marc Alaimo and C.C.H. Pounder also guest star. Pounder later became Bakula's co-star on NCIS: New Orleans. | |||||||
| 39 | 8 | "The Great Spontini" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Cristy Dawson & Beverly Bridges | Oakland, California May 9, 1974 | November 16, 1990 | 66412 |
| Sam leaps into a traveling amateur magician named Harry Spontini (Dan Birch), he must perform some real magic to prevent losing custody of his young daughter to his ex-wife, as well as save the girl from performing a dangerous trick that will go wrong. | |||||||
| 40 | 9 | "Rebel Without a Clue" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Story by : Nick Harding & Paul Brown Teleplay by : Randy Holland & Paul Brown | Near Big Sur, California September 1, 1958 | November 30, 1990 | 66407 |
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Sam leaps into Shane "Funny Bone" Thomas (Kristopher Logan), 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. Note: Diedrich Bader and Mark Boone Junior also guest star. | |||||||
| 41 | 10 | "A Little Miracle" | Michael Watkins | Story by : Sandy Fries Teleplay by : Sandy Fries & Robert A. Wolterstorff | New York, New York December 24, 1962 | December 21, 1990 | 66414 |
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Sam leaps into Reginald Pearson (Milan Nicksic), a personal valet to a Scrooge-like industrialist who is bent on demolishing a Salvation Army mission, forcing Sam and Al to 'Scrooge' him by showing him his past, present and future in an attempt to change his mind. The industrialist is unique in that he can clearly see and hear Al. Note: Charles Rocket and Melinda McGraw guest star. | |||||||
| 42 | 11 | "Runaway" | Michael Katleman | Paul Brown | Carbon County, Wyoming July 4, 1964 | January 4, 1991 | 66405 |
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Sam leaps into Butchie Rickett (Buff Borin), a 13-year-old boy who is on a family roadtrip from which the mother will soon disappear, while also dealing with the bullying of his host's older sister. Note: Sherman Howard also guest stars as Hank Rickett. | |||||||
| 43 | 12 | "8½ Months" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Deborah Pratt | Claremore, Oklahoma November 15, 1955 | March 6, 1991 | 66421 |
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Sam leaps into Billie Jean Crockett (played by Priscilla Weems), 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 seems to be pregnant even though he lacks the 'equipment' to carry a child. Note: Parley Baer also guest stars. | |||||||
| 44 | 13 | "Future Boy" | Michael Switzer | Tommy Thompson | St. Louis, Missouri October 6, 1957 | March 13, 1991 | 66417 |
| Sam leaps into Kenny Sharp (a.k.a. Future Boy and played by Matt Marfoglia) 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 because of his "wild" theories about traveling in time. 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. | |||||||
| 45 | 14 | "Private Dancer" | Debbie Allen | Paul Brown | New York City October 6, 1979 | March 20, 1991 | 66416 |
| Sam is Rod McCarty (a.k.a. "Rod the Bod" and played by Chris Solari), 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. | |||||||
| 46 | 15 | "Piano Man" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Ed Scharlach | Tularosa, New Mexico November 10, 1985 | March 27, 1991 | 66419 |
| Sam leaps into Joey DeNardo (a.k.a. Chuck Danner and played by Sam Clay), a lounge singer in the witness protection program who must keep himself and his accident-prone girlfriend Lorraine, played by Marietta DePrima, from being killed for the murder he witnessed three years ago. | |||||||
| 47 | 16 | "Southern Comforts" | Chris Ruppenthal | Tommy Thompson | New Orleans, Louisiana August 4, 1961 | April 3, 1991 | 64422 |
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Sam leaps into Gilbert LaBonte (played by Richard White), the owner of a New Orleans brothel to prevent one of his girls from disappearing after a confrontation with her abusive husband. Note: Diane Delano also guest stars. | |||||||
| 48 | 17 | "Glitter Rock" | Andy Cadiff | Chris Ruppenthal | Detroit, Michigan April 12, 1974 | April 10, 1991 | 64404 |
| Sam is Geoffrey "Tonic" Mole (Bruce Michael Paine), the lead singer of a KISS-inspired rock band who in the original history was murdered by an unknown stalker. Sam must find out whether it was the manager (Peter Noone), a band member, a random fan, or his host's estranged son who did it, and stop them before the deed can take place. | |||||||
| 49 | 18 | "A Hunting We Will Go" | Andy Cadiff | Beverly Bridges | Arkansas June 18, 1976 | April 18, 1991 | 66424 |
| Sam leaps into Gordon O'Reilly (Ken Kells), a bounty hunter handcuffed to a compulsively lying woman (Jane Sibbett) who is suspected of embezzling a large sum of money, and must decide whether his mission is to help the woman escape or bring her to justice. | |||||||
| 50 | 19 | "Last Dance Before An Execution" | Michael Watkins | Story by : Bill Bigelow & Donald P. Bellisario & Deborah Pratt Teleplay by : Deborah Pratt | Tallahassee, Florida May 12, 1971 | May 1, 1991 | 66421 |
| Sam leaps into Jesuś Ortega (Stephen Domingas), 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. | |||||||
| 51 | 20 | "Heart of a Champion" | Joe Napolitano | Tommy Thompson | Atlanta, Georgia July 23, 1955 | May 8, 1991 | 66425 |
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Sam leaps into Terry Sammis (a.k.a. "Nikolai Russkie" and played by Jeff Hochendoner), a professional wrestler who must prevent his brother from dying of a heart attack in the championship match. Note: Terry Funk also guest stars. | |||||||
| 52 | 21 | "Nuclear Family" | James Whitmore, Jr. | Paul Brown | Homestead, Florida October 26, 1962 | May 15, 1991 | 66426 |
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Sam leaps into Eddie Elroy (Patrick M. Bruneau), a college student helping his brother sell nuclear bomb shelters during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and must prevent their neighbor from being shot during a false air raid. Note: Kurt Fuller also guest stars. | |||||||
| 53 | 22 | "Shock Theater" | Joe Napolitano | Deborah Pratt | Havenwell, Pennsylvania October 3, 1954 | May 22, 1991 | 66428 |
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Sam leaps into Sam Beiderman, a depressed mental patient who receives shock therapy as soon as Sam leaps in. This causes Sam's personality to become displaced, resulting in his 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 ill people. He must also find a way to restore Sam's personality so he can leap, or else risk losing contact with him forever. Note: This is the only episode where it is Al, not Sam, who does a musical number. | |||||||