Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap is an American science-fiction television series that originally aired on NBC for five seasons, from March 1989 through May 1993. Created by Donald P. Bellisario, it starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist who leaps through spacetime during an experiment in time travel, by temporarily taking the place of other people to correct historical mistakes. Dean Stockwell co-stars as Admiral Al Calavicci, Sam's womanizing, cigar-smoking companion and best friend, who appears to him as a hologram. The series features a mix of humor, drama, romance, social commentary, and science fiction. The show was ranked #19 on TV Guide's "Top Cult Shows Ever".

Year:
1989
9,086 Views

[Al has just told Sam that he has to fly an experimental aircraft in order to leap]

Sam:
There's got to be another way.

Al:
The next one's only got a 52% chance of working.

Sam:
I'll take it!

Al:
It requires you to be at ground zero during an atomic detonation. [Sam frowns] You asked.

Sam:
What else have you got?

Al:
This isn't a shopping list, you know. [consults handlink] The odds drop into the low teens after that. Your best shot is freezing the brain until all electrical activity has ceased.

Sam:
That's called *death*.

Al:
I never said it would be easy. You want a sure thing? I got it for you. You don't do anything, you just live. Barring accidental death or a fatal disease, you'll be back in forty years. That's your safest option.

Sam:
And Tom Stratton?

Al:
He'll go on living forward from where he's at now. Technically, he could end up the oldest man alive.

Sam:
Well, what about Peg and Mikey? I don't want to hurt them, but I can't go on pretending I'm Tom.

Al:
Hey, they were going to lose him on Monday anyway. Of course, if you bust Mach 3 and survive, they could have him around for another thirty or forty years.

Sam:
I can't fly!

Al:
I'll be your co-pilot.

Sam:
You're a hologram.

Al:
I'm also an ex-astronaut. The hardest part about flying is taking off and landing. The B-50 does the first part of that for you. After that, you just fire a couple of rockets, hang onto the stick and ka-za-zoom! Mach 3.

Sam:
And the second part?

Al:
Landing? [shakes head] You could *never* land the X-2, not even with my help. So, you don't.

Sam:
I eject.

Al:
[nods] X-2 does a crash and burn. You float back to earth on a pillow silk. The moment you touch down, you leap forward, Tom leaps back and the broad and I are gone to Las Vegas!

Sam:
It could work.

Al:
Of course it will work.

Sam:
A minute ago, you said it was crap.

Al:
That was before I thought it out.

Lee Harvey Oswald:
I admire the president very much!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
You admire him, but you're gonna kill him.

Lee Harvey Oswald:
That's what this is about! You're secret service and you're detaining me because you think I'm going to shoot the president.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
I KNOW you're going to shoot the president. What I want to know is are you acting alone?

Lee Harvey Oswald:
I don't even own a gun!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
You own a 6.5mm Mannlicher-Carcano rifle and an S&W .38 special. The rifle is wrapped in a blanket at Ruth Paine's house and the pistol is at your rooming house at 1026 North Beckley. You ordered both of these guns through the mail under the alias of Alex J. Hidell.

Lee Harvey Oswald:
Marina! She told you these lies!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Marina told me nothing. But, when questioned, she'll talk about the shot you took at General Walker. And she'll talk about locking you in the bathroom when Nixon came to Dallas because she was afraid that you were going to try and shoot him too!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
I want a lawyer!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
There's no lawyer here, there's just you and me and the truth!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
I know my rights. I'm a member of the ACLU and I have...

Admiral Al Calavicci:
[grabs Oswald's shirt and pulls him close] You're going to shoot the president from the sixth floor window of the Texas schoolbook depository!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
You're crazy!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
You're damn right I'm crazy. [pulls a gun out of his back pocket] I'm crazy enough to blow your brains out through your ear if I don't get the truth!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
I don't believe in killing someone just because I disagree with their politics!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
ARE you acting alone?

Lee Harvey Oswald:
I-I want a lawyer. [Al pulls the trigger right next to Oswald's ear] I'M DEAF! I'M DEAF!

Admiral Al Calavicci:
You're gonna be dead in a minute if you don't tell me the truth!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
Okay, Okay. Just don't hurt me. I'm not gonna shoot the president. [Al grabs his shirt again] But, I know is.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Who?

Lee Harvey Oswald:
Hidell. The guy who ordered the guns in the mail. He's the one who - [changes to Sam's voice] I'm lying Al.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Sam!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
[in Sam's voice] There is no conspiracy. I'm acting alone and you have got to stop me.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
I can't reach you Sam. He's taken over completely!

Lee Harvey Oswald:
[in Sam's voice] You have to. You have to, or else it's gonna happen all over again. You have to find - [changes back to Oswald's voice] - Hidell. Find Alik J. Hidell. That's the man who's going to shoot the president.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
I read this book Nick's writing. That's why I know everything. It's not d?j? vu.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Another illusion shattered forever.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
Nick and Alison loved each other but they were too loyal to Phil to do anything about it. Listen to this: "The heat between us was like a six-day jaunt in the Sahara, but out ties to Phil were as tight as the drunk on the corner stool."

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Not exactly Faulkner.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
You can say that again. I think I'm here to find Phil's killer so that Allison and I can live happily ever after.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Sam, don't you mean Allison and Nick?

Dr. Sam Beckett:
Well, yeah, sure.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Sam, you know, Allison could be the killer.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
No.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
No? Why do you say no? Because "her body could part the Red Army?"

Dr. Sam Beckett:
No, because we've got Klapper.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Careful, Sam, there was no cure for that in 1953.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
Al, Klapper is the dropper who shot Phil. At least that's the rumor.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Yeah, but people hire droppers.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
It wasn't Allison. But whoever it was is probably here in Nick's book. So, if you could just find me "Dead Men Don't Die".

Admiral Al Calavicci:
I doubt that it was published under that title.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
Check under Nick Allen.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Maybe he used a nom de plume. I would.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
Just have Ziggy do it, okay? That's what computers are for. Just find me the rest of this book, because for the life of me, I can't remember how it ended.

Admiral Al Calavicci:
Well, it wasn't with Allison and Nick living happily ever after.

Dr. Sam Beckett:
You read it?

Admiral Al Calavicci:
No, but if it ended like that, why would you be here?

[Dr. Ashton has discovered that Dr. Winger is performing head impact research on chimps]

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
How many chimps have you killed testing helmets?

Dr. Frank Winger:
Doctor, do you know how many test pilots we lost at Edwards?

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
No.

Dr. Frank Winger:
One in four. If there'd been better helmets and protective equipment, maybe some of those men might be alive today. And besides, what are you getting on me for? You test chimps.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
The chimp research in Project Mercury is not lethal.

Dr. Frank Winger:
Well, how do you know they won't die of G forces or, or burn up on re-entry?

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
We don't know for sure, but we're doing our best to insure their safety.

Dr. Frank Winger:
To insure the safety of the astronauts.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
Right.

Dr. Frank Winger:
Well, that's what I'm trying to do for the pilots.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
But bashing chimps and trying to extrapolate to humans won't show you anything. In the Cameroons, I saw chimps fall from over fifty feet from trees, land on their heads and walk away. A man could die falling off a six-foot ladder.

Dr. Frank Winger:
The neurological structure of a chimp's brain is just a miniature version of a human's.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
But the frontal supraorbital ridges of his skull are two times thicker than ours. If you want to study human head trauma, study it in a human.

Dr. Frank Winger:
Well, that would be irresponsible.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
Oh, and it's not irresponsible to kill a chimp?

Dr. Frank Winger:
Doctor, you're getting very emotional here.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
No, Doctor, I'm being rational and scientific.

Dr. Frank Winger:
'Doctor', is that an MD or is that a vet's degree?

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
I got my degree from the Royal Veterinary College and my PhD in animal behavior from London University.

Dr. Frank Winger:
And mine is an MD with eight years of training at Harvard, specializing in neurology. I know neurotrauma.

Dr. Leslie Ashton:
And I know chimpanzees.


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