321 "Nuclear Family"

Leap Date:

October 26, 1962

Episode adopted by: MikeKraken
Additional info provided by: Brian Greene

Synopsis:

In the body of a bomb shelter salesman during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Sam has to stop the killing of a neighbor during an air raid alarm which results in the conviction of his brother.

Audio from this episode

TV Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date
Name of the Person Leaped Into
Broadcast Date
Music
Project Trivia
Al Trivia
Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode
Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes
Best Scene
Synopsis & Review
Production Credits

Production # 66426

TV Guide Synopsis:
Sam must prevent a fateful killing when he falls into the brother of a fallout-shelter salesman (Timothy Carhart), whose family's tensions escalate during the Cuban missile crisis. Burt: Kurt Fuller. Kate: Kim Flowers. Stevie: Robert Hy Gorman. Sam: Scott Bakula.

Place:
Homestead, Florida

Leap Date:
October 26, 1962

Name of the Person Leaped Into:
Eddie Ellroy, a junior student at Oklahoma State, currently working for his older brother selling bomb shelters to make extra money.

Broadcast Date:
May 15, 1991 - Wednesday

Music:
Theme by Mike Post
Score by Velton Ray Bunch

Project Trivia:
Handlink: Colored Cubes / Gummy Bear

Al Trivia:
Al flew reconnaisance flights over Cuba during the crisis in a F-4 Phantom Escort, in the squadron that went in right after a U2 was shot down while photographing missile bases.

Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode:
First appearance: White dress coat and pants; white shoes, orange dress shirt; zebra-striped tie; some kind of circular pin on the right breast of his coat; lit cigar. Appears and leaves through the Imaging Chamber Door.

Second, third, and fourth appearance: Multi-coloured scaly purple and silver dress coat; wide, gold belt; white dress shirt; gray pants; black-and-white-striped tie; black shoes; cigar. (no Imaging Chamber Door)

Fifth appearance: Light brown vest; patterend orange dress shirt; gold tie; same pin from before, but on left breast; unlit cigar. (no Imaging Chamber Door)

Miscellaneous Trivia:
While "Duck and Cover" may seem futile during an atomic blast, doing it further away from the blast could protect you from being impaled by flying pieces of bursting windows and debris. Good advice!

A sketch of the bomb shelter is included in "The Complete Quantum Leap Book."

Kiss With History:
This episode takes place during the final days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a situation that occurred between Russia and the United States October 16-28, 1962.

Regular Cast:
Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett
Dean Stockwell as Al Calavicci

Guest Stars:
Timothy Carhart as Mac Ellroy
Kurt Fuller as Burt "the Turtle" Rosencranz
Kim Flowers as Kate Ellroy
Robert Hy Gorman as Stevie Ellroy
Candace Hutson (as Candy Hutson) as Kimberly Ellroy
Delia Salvi as Mrs. Klingman
Celia Lovsky as Piano Teacher
Patrick M. Bruneau as Eddie (Mirror image)

Guest Cast Notes:

Timothy Carhart as Mac Ellroy: Blonde, blue-eyed character actor who has worked on stage, film, and TV for the past 30 years. Born in Washington D.C., Carhart had a globetrotting childhood in Turkey and France before returning to the U.S. and studying theater. Carhart had some success on and off-Broadway and then moved on to small roles in such major films as Ghostbusters (1984), Witness (1985) and Working Girl (1988). He played Harlen who attempted to rape Geena Davis's character in Thelma & Louise (1991), and also had roles in the The Hunt for Red October (1990), Red Rock West (1993) and Air Force One (1997). Carhart has had many guest spots on television shows including a memorable guest turn as a police officer whose testimony against a murderer may reveal the sexuality he has tried to keep secret on The Practice (1997), and as a fat-sucking vampire on The X-Files (1993). He played Eddie Willows in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), the ex-husband of star Marg Helgenberger. He is, (...as of 2017) a recurring character on The Paramount Network series, Yellowstone, playing the Attorney General Stewart and starring Kevin Costner

Kurt Fuller as Burt "the Turtle" Rosencranz: Born in San Francisco and raised in the agricultural heartland of California's San Joaquin Valley, Fuller became passionate about acting while attending UC Berkley, where he received a degree in English literature. After graduating, he made the move to Los Angeles with everything he owned stuffed into the back seat of a Dodge Dart (including a king size foam rubber mattress). For the next ten years he was a Realtor by day and a stage actor by night. Then, in 1986, he created the leading role in Steven Berkhoff's explosively successful "Kvetch", earning rave reviews on both coasts.  Fuller has gone on to have a very successful career, working with some of Hollywood's best directors, including David O. Russell, Tony Scott, Harold Ramis, and Ivan Reitman, among others. His numerous film credits include "Auto Focus," "Ray," "Pushing Tin," "The Jack Bull," "Ghostbusters II," "Mr. Woodcock," "Nailed" and "The Pursuit of Happyness." Kurt still returns to the stage occasionally, most recently in the acclaimed "Greedy" for Red Dog squadron. He's also worked at the La Jolla Playhouse and the Mark Taper Forum. He is married to Jessica Hendra, a published author. They have two daughters, Julia and Charlotte. His birthday is September 16.

Kim Flowers as Kate Ellroy: Kim Flowers is known for Alien Resurrection (1997), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) and Clear and Present Danger (1994).

Robert Hy Gorman as Stevie Ellroy: Robert Hy Gorman was born on April 3, 1980 in Los Angeles, California, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991), Leprechaun (1992) and Forever Young (1992).

Candace Hutson (as Candy Hutson) as Kimberly Ellroy: Candace Hutson was born on May 3, 1980 in Savannah, Georgia, USA. She is an actress, known for The Land Before Time (1988), Dolly Dearest (1991) and Evening Shade (1990).

Delia Salvi as Mrs. Klingman: Delia Salvi was born on October 17, 1927 in Naples, Italy. She was an actress, known for Fatso (1980), Quantum Leap (1989) and Shadow Play (1986). She died on March 1, 2015 in California, USA.

Say What?
The actual leap date is October 26 and last a couple of days. However, the Presidential address seen on the TV was from November 2nd. Sam apparently stuck around a few extra days simply to give Mac the idea to sell swimming pools? Similarly, the Presidential address shown before the blackout was from September 13th.

Kate speaks without moving her lips in one shot near the beginning.

Mac says he's been trying to sell Burt a shelter for three years. A few moments later, he says it's been two years.

Sam states he was eight years old during the Cuban Missile Crisis, but he was actually nine years old.

The "Mr. Ed" episode seen on TV was actually aired in January of 1961. It was the first episode.

The Woody Woodpecker cartoon was from 1969, seven years after the setting of this episode.

Quotable Quotes:
Sam: "Then why waste your money on a shelter?"
Mrs. Klingman: "You're right! You're not much of a salesman!"

Al: "Long enough to see that you are a real mensh."
Sam: "Mensh?"
Al: "Mensh. It's means 'good guy'. It's a word that my fourth wife... third... third or fourth wife, Ruthie, used to use. She never used it about me, though."

Stevie: "Whatcha doin'?"
Sam: "Nothin'. What are you doing?"
Stevie: "Nothin'. Wanna join me?"
Sam: "Maybe later."

Al: "Annuals or perennials?" (pops up behind Sam burying shotgun shells)
Sam: "Do you have to sneak up on me?"
Al: "Well, I'm sorry, do you expect a hologram to knock?"

Al: "Oh, 'Duck and Cover', I remember that. Isn't like an air-raid show for kids to duck and..."
Sam: "Yeah, it teaches them that if they hide under a picnic blanket, it works wonders against atom bombs."

What do you expect, a hologram to knock?
-- Al, "Nuclear Family"

Survive in style!
-- Motto of Ellroy Atom Bomb Shelters, "Nuclear Family"

Best Line:
Sam: "Let's just pretend that you can travel into the future and look back at this time right now. You'll see that the Russians never hurt you or your family, and you'll see that you were spending a lot of your time and energy being afraid of something bad that never happened."

Best Scene:
Sam is giving Mrs. Klingman a tour of the bomb shelter, and what he says triggers her memory of the Holocaust.

Synopsis & Review:

Sam leaps into Eddie Elroy in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Sam was very young at the time and cannot understand everyone's panic that the Russians are going to kill them all. Al remembers that time very well (he flew missions during that time) and tries to explain it but it is something that had to be lived through to be understood.

Eddie lives with his brother's family and helps sell fallout shelters to put himself through school. Sam already dislikes the constant fear everyone lives in but it gets worse when he discovers that the brother "Mac" (played by Timothy Carhart) shoots and kills one of his neighbors during a false alarm when the man tries to break into his fallout shelter.

Sam tries to reassure at least the children that they're not going to die but they get even more upset when he tries to say that the Russians don't want to kill them. The daughter is convinced disagreeing with her father means that Sam is calling her father a liar and is hysterical. Sam has more luck with his sister-in-law in that she doesn't burst into tears and run from him but she is still unconvinced that they will survive.

Because Sam knows that fallout shelters would be useless even if something were to happen, he does not have much luck selling them. He tries to get the neighbor destined to be shot Burt (played by Kurt Fuller) to not buy a shelter but Burt is adamant. He also manages to convince the children's piano teacher not to buy one because she and her husband cannot afford one. As she is a Holocaust survivor, he cannot convince her that she is safe but that with so little time left there is no point in wasting her money.

Mac gets angry and threatens to kick Eddie out for sabotaging sales and for scaring his children. Sam decides to take matters into his own hands and buries the bullets from the fallout shelter so that Mac can't shoot Burt. The family dog digs up the shells, however, and Mac and Sam narrowly manage to get them back. Mac knows that it was Eddie and tries to kick Sam out of the house but he won't leave until he saves Burt.

Things come to a head as the family is watching a presidential bulletin when someone panics and initiates a blackout. Convinced that the end has come, the family goes down into the fall-out shelter. Since Burt's shelter has yet to be built, he tries to break into the shelter and Mac holds him off with a gun (although he insists to his wife he is just scaring him). Al realizes that Mac has the wrong gun to have shot Burt and son Stevie took the right gun and snuck out the other exit to the bunker. He is so terrified that he sees his neighbor as an invading Russian and Al realizes that he must have always been the shooter and Mac felt so guilty that he took the blame. Sam climbs up and tries to talk Stevie down. Stevie recognizes his uncle but doesn't listen. Desperately, Sam recalls one of the cartoons Stevie was watching about what to do when a nuclear bomb hits and gets Stevie to duck and cover so he can grab the gun.

When the crisis is over, Mac realizes that Sam was right and thanks him for stopping Stevie, allowing him to stay. Everyone cancels their fallout shelter orders and Mac is upset because he already has all the construction equipment. Sam suggests they go into the pool installation business. Al laughs that off but then checks and realizes that Mac and Eddie have a very successful pool company. Source

Personal Review by MikeKraken:

I would have to say this is one of Sam's easier leaps. Simple mission: stop Bert from getting shot, which Ziggy gave a 99% probability. The only real obsticle was keeping the kids from being so scared and Mac happy with Eddie's salesmanship. It's a pretty good episode that delves into the psyche of the people at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Very intruiging!

Production Credits:

Theme by: Mike Post
Music by: Velton Ray Bunch
Co-Executive Producer: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive Producer: Michael Zinberg
Supervising Producer: Harker Wade
Co-producers: Paul Brown, Jeff Gourson
Produced by: Chris Ruppenthal
Created by: Donald P. Bellisario
Written by: Paul Brown
Directed by: James Whitmore, Jr.

Executive Producer: Donald P. Bellisario
Associate Producer: James S. Giritlian
Executive Story Editor: Tommy Thompson
Director of Photography: Michael Watkins, A.S.C.
Production Designer: Cameron Birnie
Edited by: Jerry U. Frizell, A.C.E., Ken Denisoff
Unit Production Manager: Ron Grow
First Assistant Director: Ryan Gordon
Second Assistant Director: Kate Yurka
Casting by: Ellen Lubin Sanitsky
Set Director: Robert L. Zilliox
Costume Designer: Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Costume Supervisors: David Rawley & Donna Roberts-Orme
Sound Mixer: Barry D. Thomas
Stunt Coordinator: Diamond Farnsworth
Sound Editor: Paul Clay
Music Editor: Donald Woods

Panaflex ® Camera and Lenses by: Panavision ®

This motion picture is protected under laws of the United States and other countries. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or exhibition may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.

Copyright © 1991 by Universal City Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

Bellisarius Productions and Universal, an MCA Company

Quantum Leap Podcast - Nuclear Family

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