"Memphis Melody"

Leap Date:

July 3, 1954

Episode Adopted by: Rindi
Additional info provided by: Stephen O'Leary

Synopsis:

Once again as a famous person, Sam leaps into Elvis Presley just two days before he gets discovered. While trying to help a woman persue her singing career, Sam must make sure that he doesn't mess things up for Elvis!

Audio from this episode
Production promo for this episode
Amazing Grace (Audio)
Amazing Grace (Video)*
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Audio)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Video)*
Baby Let's Play House (Video)*

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

Place: Memphis, Tennessee

Name of Person Leaped Into: Elvis Presley

Leap Date: July 3, 1954

Songs/Music:

Theme: Mike Post

Music: Velton Ray Bunch

"Dixie" performed by Scott Bakula

"Amazing Grace" performed by Scott Bakula and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" performed by Scott Bakula and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

"Blue Moon of Kentucky" performed by Scott Bakula

"Baby, Let’s Play House" performed by Scott Bakula

Project Trivia:
(1) Al says he is going to see Elvis perform back in the waiting room. Wouldn’t he actually be seeing and hearing Sam play.

Sam Trivia:
(1) Sam was an Elvis fanatic. (2) He programmed all of Elvis’s hits into Ziggy’s data bank and would drive Al crazy by singing them for days. (3) Sam said "Oh boy!" one time this episode.

Al Trivia:
(1) Al said "Oh boy!" two times this episode. (2) Al had a cigar all four times he appeared.

Miscellaneous Trivia:
(1) John Boyd West has the same last name as his character, Red West.

(2) Scott Bakula’s daughter Chelsy played the little girl in Taylor’s diner.

(3) When Scott Bakula is singing "Amazing Grace" his little girl looks at him out of the corner of her eye with a smile.

Al’s Outfits Worn in the Episode:
1^st appearance: Al was wearing a white button up shirt, an apricot colored suit jacket and pants to match, and a gold watch. The shoes could not be seen.

2^nd appearance: Same as 1^st appearance.

3^rd appearance: Al was wearing a dark purple jacket, with a pale purple button up shirt, with a cowboy like neck tie (a triangle at the neck with two strings hanging), a saxophone broach, black and purple checkered slacks, and black suede shoes.

4^th appearance: Al was wearing a black jacket with silver sparkles in a triangular patterns on the breasts and arms and a silver, curly, two pronged, fork shaped metal on the collar, a metallic gold button up shirt with a silver tint and black pin stripes with a thin black tie with a saxophone broach, gray slacks, black shoes, and a black banded and gold faced wrist watch.

Writers:
Robin Jill Bernheim

Directors:
James Whitmore, Jr.

Producers:
Co-Executive: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Supervising: Harker Wade
Supervising: Richard C. Okie

Broadcast Date:
April 20, 1993

Regular Cast:
Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett

Dean Stockwell as Al Calavicci

Guest Stars:
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Sue Ann Winters

John Scott Clough as Frank

Lisa Jane Persky as Marion

Garn Stephans as Gladys

Gregory Itzin as Mr. Philips

John Boyd West as Red West

Eric Bruskotter as Beau

Frazer Smith as DJ

Melissa Bernheim Julie

Stephanie Scott as Cute Girl

Michael St. Gerard as Elvis Presley/Mirror

Guest Star Cast Notes:
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn like many other Quantum Leap guest stars has appeared on STAR TREK Voyager, episode "Vis A Vis."

John Scott Clough appeared on Jag (2001) from the same creator of Quantum Leap, Donald P. Bellisario.

Lisa Jane Persky appeared on When Harry Met Sally (1989) with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. She has also appeared on Coneheads (1989) with Dan Aykroyd and Great Balls of Fire (1989) with Dennis Quaid.

Garn Stephans had no other credits.

Gregory Itzin was on Enterprise (2002) with Scott Bakula, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998), and Jag (1998 &1997).

John Boyd West had no other major credits.

Eric Bruskotter was on Jag (1995), Three For The Road (1987) with Charlie Sheen, Major League II (1994) with Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Tom Berenger, Major League: Back to the Minors (1998) with Corbin Bernsen and Scott Bakula and The Hollywood Sign (2001) with Tom Berenger.

Frazer Smith had no major credits.

Melissa BernheiM had no major credits.

Stephanie ScotT had no major credits

MICHAEL ST. GERARD played Elvis in the TV movie Elvis (1990).

Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes:
Eric Bruskotter played Red in the episode Liberation - October 16, 1968 (1993), and Glen in the episode Raped - June 20, 1980 (1991).

Personal Review:
This is a great episode for many reasons. The first reason is because I am an Elvis fanatic. The second is because I like the episodes where Scott gets to perform and show off his singing voice. The third reason is I like the episodes where Sam leaps into someone famous because it makes his mission even more crucial to put right what once went wrong and without tampering with any other life events. And finally I like this episode because all the songs in here are great and this is just an exciting episode in general.

Best Line:
"Everybody should be a dreamer. You gotta reach for the stars not the ceiling." --Sam "But the ceiling keeps you out of the rain." --Sue Ann

Best Scene:
The best scene is when Sam races into the diner and performs "Baby Lets Play House" for Mr. Phillips. Scott Bakula has a good singing voice and great carisma. It was a really fun scene to watch. This was a music filled episode and all the scenes where Sam performs are great.

Quotable Quotes:

" You sing like an Angel."--Sam

" Well then the good Lord must have been smiling down on me."--Sue Ann

" Yeah, well you must have been reaching for the stars cause I don’t think he could see

you through the ceiling." --Sam

" A white man with a black voice." --Mr. Phillips

" 1954 was an age of innocence. A time when people still believed in the American

Dream. I realized that I had leaped into a man that personified that dream. A man who went from being a truck driver to a superstar overnight. Walking a mile in Elvis Presley’s Blue suede shoes before he became the idol of millions made me realize he was just a normal person. I kept wondering if he would have been happier if he had stayed that way." --Sam

Kiss With History:
Sam inspired one of Elvis’s first hit tunes.

Sam is waiting with Al to go onstage when we hear the announcer say "Now come on, let's give a hand to little Billy C. all the way from Hope, Arkansas!" This is of course Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States. However, the writers must have overlooked the fact that Bill didn't change his last name from Blythe to Clinton until he was 15 years old. He was 8 years old in this episode. Watch a video of this scene here.