Episode
adopted by: Xeen Additional info provided by: Brian Greene
Synopsis:
As
a parapsychologist, Sam must save a woman from drowning in a lake as
per the family curse. Haunted by the voice of her dead husband, Troian
has hired Sam to prove the voice she is hearing real. But is there more
to it than just a ghost's curse?
Look
for Carolyn Seymour who also plays Zoey in the Evil Leaper episodes!
TV Guide Synopsis: Sam appears as a ghostbuster working
for a widow haunted by her husband's drowning, who soon needs Sam to
save her, too. Troian: Deborah Pratt. Miss Stoltz: Carolyn Seymour.
Jimmy: Robert Torti. Mrs. Little: Bett Ray. Sam: Scott Bakula.
Brodcast Date
(in the USA on NBC): December 13, 1989 - Wednesday
Air Date in Germany on RTL: March 8,1991
Air Date in France on M6: October 19, 1993
Air Date in the UK on Sky One: June 28, 1996
Project Trivia
The hologram frequency is registered as supersonic on the device used
by the ghost hunter.
An electroencephalograph would show Sam's brain waves instead of ones
of the Leapee.
Sam Trivia:
Sam has a talent at engineering things that could come quite handy if
needed.
Al Trivia:
Al is afraid of ghosts, ghouls, living dead, etc…. anything
supernatural.
Al's
Outfits Worn in the Episode:
Green and blue shirt, shimmery black and green vest and matching tie, green
slacks and shiny buckled belt.
Red hat and shoes, white stripped shirt and black and white
check suspenders.
White jacket, black shirt withred and white dots, black tie with
small white dots, pink slacks, red shoes, sunglasses pin on jacket.
Miscellaneous
Trivia:
Dean Stockwell did the whispering voice from the grave. "Troian…" …"Jimmy..."
Michael Zinberg was involved in 9 episodes of the show
This episode was written for the first season, but eventually aired
during the second season. In the opening summary, you may spot clips
from Camikazi Kid.
References to Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (Mrs Stoltz/Denver, dead
husband/wife) and Wilde's Portrait of Dorian Grey (the changes in the
painting).
Nathaniel Claridge was married to Priscilla Stoltz, 131
years ago.
Paul Brown, who was the story
editor on this episode and had various production roles during the
series, appears here as Julian Claridge.
Bloopers:
Kiss With History:
California's Sylmar earthquake. It was the worst recorded quake in the
city's history. Heaviest death toll was in San Fernando Valley,
epicenter of the jolting. Scientists at California Institute
of Technology said the quake measured 6.5 on the Richter scale.
Its epicenter was 10 miles east of Newhall. The quake was
the worst in the Southland since the Long Beach disaster of 1933. Gov.
Ronald Reagan declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County.
Guest Cast: Deborah Pratt - Troian Claridge Robert Torti - Jimmy Giovanni Carolyn Seymour - Priscilla Stoltz Bill McLaughlin - Coroner Bette Rae - Mrs. Little Donald P. Bellisario - Dr. Timothy Mintz (Mirror image) Dean Stockwell - Ghost voices Paul Brown - Julian Claridge
Guest Cast
Notes:
Deborah Pratt became the voice
of Ziggy in later seasons of Quantum Leap. She was a recurring character in "Airwolf"
(Marella), in Magnum, P.I. (Gloria). A talented writer and producer to
Bellisario's series and "The Net". As a producer and co-creator of the
show, she makes that only appearance along with Donald Bellisario in
that very episode. Troian is their daughter's first name.
Donald P. Bellisario who wrote and produced the episode appears as Dr. Mintz's mirror image.
Robert Torto had the recurring role of "Jay Clemens" in The
Drew Carey Show.
Carolyn Seymour is from UK. British accent really does well playing
villains! She was on Bellisario's Magnum, P.I. playing Elizabeth, Lady
Ashley in episode: "Echoes of the Mind: Part 1 & 2" (episode #
5.1/5.2.) and playing Leeann in episode The Love-for-Sale Boat (episode
# 5.17). She appeared in three different characters on episodes
of Star Trek: The Next Generation and played the recurring
role of Mrs. Templeton on Star Trek: Voyager.
Story:
John Hill Scott Shepherd Director:
Michael Zinberg
Executive
Producer:
Donald Bellisario
Associate Producers:
David Bellisario Jeff Gourson
Executive Story Editor:
Paul Brown Music:
Mike Post
Supervising Producer:
Scott Shepherd
Co-Producer:
Deborah Pratt
Produced by:
Harker Wade
Director of Photography:
Henry Lebo
Production Designer:
Cameron Birnie
Edited by Ken
Dennis
Unit Production Manager:
Paul Cajero
First Assistant Director:
Roberto Villar
Second Assistant Director:
James Dillon
Casting:
Ken Carlson
Set Decorator:
Robert L. Zilliox
Costume Designer:
Jean-Pierre Dorleac
Costume Supervisors:
David Rawley
Donna Roberts-Orme
Sound Mixer:
Mark Hopkins McNabb
Stunt Co-ordinator:
Diamond Farnsworth
Panaflex®
Camera and Lenses by PANAVISION®
Guests who
appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes: Deborah Pratt is also the voice of Ziggy in "The Leap Back" and "Killin' Time." She also voices the opening narration in future episodes.
Carolyn Seymour plays the "evil observer" Zoey in three
episodes, starting with "Deliver Us From Evil."
Summary:
Sam has leaped into Dr. Timothy Mintz, a famous parapsychologist and
ghost hunter. He must prevent a young widow from sharing her husband's
fate at the bottom of a lake.
Dr Beckett leaps into a stormy night. He is in the middle of a cemetery
and a beautiful woman, standing at a doorway to a mausoleum,
is calling out. She presses him to check whether his electronic
machinery has picked anything because her dead husband, Julian, is
calling to her.
Jimmy, Troian's brother wonders whether Sam is helping her to further
his own ends. He tries to warn Sam off, with help from the eccentric
Ms.
Stoltz. He is worried that Troian is having a nervous breakdown since
every member of the Claridge family has died a violent and untimely
death, including Troian's late husband Julian who drowned in the lake
three years ago.
Best Line:
Al: "You tell Ziggy that if he doesn't center me on Sam right now, I'm
going to feed his.. microchips to Tina's crocodile!"
Best Scene:
Near the end of the show, at a very thrilling moment, Al yells at Ziggy
that he wants to be centered on Sam. One can expect Dr Beckett to be
far from the site. But he is rushing towards Al at that very moment and
Ziggy transports Al mere yards from his original position, just in time
to see him running past.
Say What? Julian's feet move in the scene where the bodies are laying on the ground near the end.
Mrs. Stoltz appears to be smiling a bit also as a dead corpse.
Quotable Quotes: I'm not into
necrophilia!
At last, something sexual he's not into!
-- Al and Sam, "A Portrait for Troian"
What happened? Did the storm knock the power out?
No, it was the b**gieman!
-- Sam and Jimmy, "A Portrait for Troian"
I'll tell you what I think, that lake is so cold, Julian needs someone to cuddle.
-- Al, "A Portrait for Troian"
You tell Ziggy that if he doesn't center me on Troian right now, I'm going to pull his sex
sensory microchips and feed them to Tina's crocodile!
-- Al, "A Portrait for Troian"
This family has suffered more drownings than unwanted kitty cats.
-- Al, "Portrait for Troian"
A fire would be dangerous.
So would pneumonia.
-- Ms. Stolz and Sam, "A Portrait for Troian"
Leaping into other people's lives, I feel a lot like Don Quioxte-- a stranger, out of
place in time on an impossible quest. Set to right the unrightable wrong, to fight
the unbeatable foe.[and the wild winds of fortune, will carry me onward, oh whither soever
they blow. Withersoever they blow. Onward to glory I go!] Uh, oh. If
this is glory, something tells me I'm in big trouble.
-- Sam, leap in from "Catch a Falling Star" to "A Portrait for Troian"
This is a fresh one.
1948?
It could still have... yucky stuff in it.
-- Al and Sam, "A Portrait for Troian"
Regional titles:
Germany: Die Stimme aus der Tiefe
France: Histoire de fantômes sournois
Italy: Il Ritratto di Nancy
