"Leaping In Without A Net"

Leap Date:

November 18, 1958

Episode adopted by: Xeen

Synopsis:

As a part of a Hungarian family Arial act, Sam must save his sister from falling to her death when she tries to perform the deadly "triple" trapeze act without a net.

Audio from this episode

Place
Leap Date
Project Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Songs
Music Artists
Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Women
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers
Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Cast members who have passed away
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say what? (things in the episode that make no sense)
Quotable Quotes
Awards

Season 2, Episode #19
Production Code: 65421

First aired in the USA on NBC
Broadcast date: March 28, 1990

Germany - March 25, 1992 ("Ohne Netz")
France - M6: airdate October 29th, 1993 ("Un saut sans filet")
UK - Sky One: airdate July 10th, 1996

Leap date: November 18, 1958

Leapee: Victor Panzini, a young Hungarian trapeze artist

Place: part of the episode takes place in Denver

Kiss with history:
On November 1956, Soviet tanks invaded Budapest to restore (communist) order and 30,000 people died in the process. The Flying Panzini escaped Hungary at that time.

Summary:
Sam leaps into a young trapeze artist and finds out the hard way that he is afraid of heights. Victor's sister, Eva (who is 18 and beautiful -says Al), wants to perform a triple with his help. But Laszlo blames his son for his wife's accident and refuses to let them rehearse.
If Sam cannot perform the act with Eva, his father will fail to catch her because of a bad arm and she will meet the same fate her mother met in attempting the same stunt on the first anniversary of her death.

Songs
* Tequila by The Champs (it was number one hit in the US for 6 weeks in March April 1958 and favorite song to Al) - was used in "All-Americans"
* Cuanda La Gusta by Carmen Miranda (Sam will sing it in "Miss Deep South")

Project Trivia:
Gushie can focus Al's hologram in every space plan, arranging for him to float in the air next to Sam on the trapeze.

Sam Trivia
* Sam sleeps naked.
* He is acrophobic since he played Tarzan with his brother Tom when he was 9 after they saw the movie (the rumour says that Scott Bakula is acrophobic as well).
* When he was a boy, he liked circus because of the clowns and above all, the elephants!
* Sam does not believe in horoscope and fortune cards. But somehow he must believe in God, Time, Fate or Whatever ;o)

Al Trivia
* At the orphanage, he had a roach - whose name was Kevin - as a pet.
* Al was in a circus for some times after he escaped the orphanage.
* One of Al's wives was a Hungarian (second or third).
* "Al" stands also for Alvira, not Al the observer but Al the stripper!

Miscellaneous Trivia:
* There are stock shots of the Circus Vargas at the end of the show.
* The title of this episode uses the same pattern as the series "Remington Steele Investigation"  (for instance "License to Steele" or "Steele Crazy After All These Years"). There are only 10 episodes of QUANTUM LEAP with the word LEAP in the title.
* The writers must have had Carol "the 3rd Man" Reed film "Trapeze" in mind when they wrote that script: the hero once fell, when performing a triple.

Character Trivia
* Sybil, the fortune teller, sees in Sam's eyes the souls she assumes to belong to Victor from his previous lives. She can feel Al's presence and believes he is an angel.
* In his trailer, Victor has a poster in French, advertising The Flying Panzini: "La famille Panzini, les acrobates les plus fameux et les plus acclamés du monde entier". In his father's, there is another one probably in Spanish (?).
* Eva and Victor's mother, Maria, died in a trapeze accident the year before in Chicago. She was sick at that time and suffer from dizziness due to an ear condition. Anniversary of her death would be a week from the leap (on Thursday next).

Al's Outfits:
* Black suit with white-stripped lining showing on the sleeves, white shirt and red, yellow, black tie and a hat.
* Black shirt with white patterns and reddish flowers, black tie, silver suspenders, dark grey pants and red shoes.
* Black shirt with big white and red dots, white pants.

Best Quote:

Al - "Sam, it's gonna be a hell of a lot easier for you to catch her if you open your eyes!"
Sam - "Is that you, Al?"
Al - "No, it's Peter Pan!"

Quotable & Miscellaneous Quotes:

Al - "You know, sometimes you take out all the fun of being a hologram!"

Al - "Am I ever wrong? ... Marriages don't count!"

Sam - "Al, you're floating in thin air!"
Al - "I'm a hologram, I am thin air!"

Al - "Here we go! Now let go of the bar!"
Sam - "I can't!"
Al - "What are you, a wimp?"
Sam - "Yes!"
Al - "LET GO OF THE BAR!"

Sam - "Did you know about this?"
Al - "Would you have gone through with this if I had?"
Sam - "No!"
Al - "Yeah, well, then I didn't know!"

Sam - "I don't think I could do that again!"
Al - "Well, sometimes once is enough! But personally, that's not my opinion!"

Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes:
Richard Riehle (Vargas) was "Lt. Lannon" in  "Play It Again, Seymour" (episode # 1.8)
Jan Eddy (Benny) played "Whittler" in "Glitter Rock" (episode # 3.17)

Guest Cast Notes:
Fabiana Udenio (Eva) was on "Designing Women" after Scott Bakula left the show.
Phil Fondacaro (Big Moe) stands 3 feet 6 inches tall, and is best known for his moustache and beard. He was a Vohnkar in "Willow" and an Ewok in "Star War, the Return of the Jedi".

Regular Cast:
Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett
Dean Stockwell as Al, the observer


Guest Stars:
Jan Triska as Laszlo Panzini
Fabiana Udenio as Eva Panzini
Ted Nordblum as the leapee (Victor Panzini/Mirror Image)
Richard Riehle as Clifford Vargas
Phil Fondacaro as Big Moe
Roya Megnot as Sybil the
Jan Eddy as Benny Sky
Kristopher Antekeier as Ringmaster
Vivian Paxton as Stripper
Maria Lauren as Carmenina

CREW

Writer:
Tommy Thompson

Director:
Christopher T. Welsch

Executive Producer:
Donald Bellisario

Associate Producer:
David Bellisario

Supervising Producer:
Deborah Pratt

Co-Producers:
Paul Brown
Jeff Gourson
Chris Ruppenthal

Produced by:
Harker Wade

Edited by:
Mario Di Gregorio

Music:
Mike Post

Additional Music:
Velton Ray Bunch
Jerry Grant

Music Editor:
Tom Gleason

Supervising Sound Editor:
Paul Clay

Director of Photography:
Eric D. Andersen

Production Designer:
Cameron Birnie

Story Editor:
Randy Holland
Tommy Thompson

Unit Production Manager:
Ron Grow

First Assistant Director:
Paul Sirmons

Second Assistant Director:
Rob Mendel

Casting:
Ellen Lubin Sanitsky

Set Decorator:
Robert L. Zilliox

Costume Designer:
Jean-Pierre Dorleac

Costume Supervisors:
David Rawley
Donna Roberts-Orme

Additional Photography:
Michael Watkins

Sound Mixer:
Mark Hopkins McNabb

Stunt Co-ordinator:
Diamond Farnsworth
Some locations furnished by Circus Vargas
Panaflex®
Camera and Lenses by PANAVISION®