- During an experiment into time travel, a scientist finds himself trapped in the past, "leaping" into the lives of different people, sorting out their problems and changing history in hopes of getting back to his own life in the present.
- Theorising that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator, and vanished. He awoke and found himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.
- Theorizing that a person could time-travel but only from within their own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett is hired by the Government and the Military to lead an elite group of scientists to develop a top-secret project which would only be known as "Quantum Leap". Setting up in an underground bunker in the New Mexico desert Beckett is pressured by the top military brass and government officials to prove his outlandish theories correct or lose the funding necessary to continue the project, so Dr. Beckett decides to test out the newly built time machine by going against the wishes of the other scientists and the projects Supercomputer Ziggy by stepping into the project accelerator where he vanishes. Dr. Beckett awakens to find himself in the past having successfully time traveled or leaped (as the series calls it), but he ends up suffering from partial amnesia and doesn't recognize who he is and the face in a mirror is not his own. Fortunately, contact with Sams own time is maintained through brainwave transmissions with Albert "Al" Calavicci, the project observer, who can only appear in the form of a hologram that only Dr Beckett can see and hear. After filling Sam in with the information as to who he is and why he is there and tells him that someone from the past is now in Sams time and that Sam has switched places with that person. The pair deduce that Dr Beckett can only return home by putting something right that once went wrong in that person's life. After fixing the past he once again ends up "Leaping" into a different person's life in another point in history. Dr Beckett realizes that to get home he must help as many people as he can, and ends up hoping each time that he does, that his next leap will ultimately be the leap home.
- Physicist Sam Beckett finds himself trapped in time due to an experiment gone awry, leaping into the body of a different person each week. Al Calavicci, at first known only as The Observer, is Sam's holographic adviser -- he provides Sam with some details about his new identity and gives him guidance on how to help the people affected by his presence. But with little memory to help guide him, our hero is forced to bluff his way through many a wacky situation.
- Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) is a brilliant scientist with six doctorates, whose efforts to return to the present following a flawed time-travel experiment keep him bouncing back and forth in time replacing people he never knew or heard of. His partner on the Quantum Leap experiment, Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell), first known as the projects Observer, appears as a hologram only Sam can see or hear. The Observer is an eccentric quantum physicist, ex-astronaut, ex-Golden Gloves boxing champion and womanizer, who assists Sam in adapting to the different time periods and personas. This proves both challenging and amusing, providing high drama as the perplexed hero valiantly tries to live each life he's been forced to assume without any of that person's skills or knowledge. Quantum Leap is the promise of a second chance. With each leap, Sam is given the opportunity to make things right -- change the lives of the people he becomes for the better and in the end, hopefully, make the world a better place one leap at a time.
- Dr. Samuel "Sam" Beckett, a brilliant physicist with six doctorates, theorized that a person could time-travel, but only within their own lifetime. Sam is approached by both the United States government and the United States Military to lead an elite group of scientists into the New Mexico desert to develop Sam's dream time travel project in secret, known only as "Quantum Leap." In 1995, under pressure from top military brass and government officials to prove his theory correct or lose the funding necessary to continue his project, Sam decides to test the newly built time machine. Against the wishes of other scientists and the project's supercomputer Ziggy (which Sam himself built), he steps onto the project accelerator, vanishing into the past.
Moments later, Sam awakens in 1956, having successfully time-traveled or "leaped" into the body of Air Force test pilot Tom Stratton. However, he suffers from partial amnesia and doesn't recognize himself when he sees the reflection of Tom in the mirror. Fortunately, contact with Sam's own time is maintained through brainwave transmissions with Albert "Al" Calavicci, the project observer, Sam's best friend and partner on the project. Al can only appear in the past as a hologram that only Sam can see and hear.
After filling Sam in on his identity and the purpose of his mission, Al reveals that the real Tom Stratton from 1956 is now in Sam's time. Sam and Al deduce that Sam can only return home by putting right something that once went wrong in Tom's life. According to historical records, Tom is due to pilot the experimental Bell X-2 aircraft, which ended up exploding, killing Tom. All Sam has to do is fly the X-2 to Mach 3 so he can leap out. Sam corrects the X-2 incident that originally killed Tom, then saves Tom's pregnant wife, Peggy, from losing her baby. Sam manages to fix the past, but instead of leaping home, Sam leaps into a different person's life at another point in history. Soon, Sam realizes that he keeps bouncing back and forth in time, replacing people he never knew or heard of. With help from Al, who reveals he is an ex-astronaut, ex-Golden Gloves boxing champion, and womanizer, Sam tries to adapt to the different time periods and personas. This proves both challenging and amusing, providing high drama as the perplexed hero valiantly tries to live each life he's been forced to assume without any of that person's skills or knowledge.
Quantum Leap is the promise of a second chance. With each leap, Sam is given the opportunity to make things right - change the lives of the people he becomes for the better and, in the end, hopefully make the world a better place one leap at a time. Sam realizes that to get home, he must help as many people as he can, hoping with each leap that his next one will be the leap home.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content