313 Future Boy

[alsplacebartender]

Future Boy
October 6, 1957

St. Louis, Missouri


Leaping into the television character of Future Boy, Sam must find a way to prevent his co-star, Mo Stein, from being committed to a mental institution because of his "wild" theories about traveling in time. Now...where did Sam get the idea for his string theory?


Written by: Tommy Thompson
Directed by: Michael Switzer


Rate and comment on this episode!

[Vince Beckett]

This was good. Sam tells Mo about the string theory and Mo tells young Sam about it on his show.

[SamBeckett94]

I enjoyed the epsiode 'Future Boy', and found it oddly amusing to see Mo Stien explain the string theory to young Sam. Mo Stien actually came close to 'leaping', because you probably have noticed that when he sits into his machine, he begins to glow blue, and electric sparks flow through him, but then they fail. I was surprised to see Al dress properly instead of in crazy clothes. I know an Al who dresses strangely, but he is called Alistair.

[Sam Beckett Fan]

I am watching this episode now, and I very much enjoy it. I love seeing Sam watching his own previous struggles with Project Quantum Leap from a third person point of view. To meet someone else who shares his dream only way ahead of him It was great to see Sam fighting for Moe's dream almost like he was making up for the fight he never got, being the person that he never had by his side to believe in him (Al doesn't count, I mean someone outside the project). Because even after he leaped Al was the only one that believed in him, if you remember in Star Crossed Al mentions that Witzmen wanted him promounced Non compos mentis(I think thats how you say it).

I liked a lot, the scene where Sam tells Moe his theory, it almost makes me want Sam to blurt out "Guess what, I am doing it right now, I am Quantum Leaping, I'm from the future" lol. I just love how Sam sands up for what he believes in and for other people's beliefs.

The other thing about this episode that I liked was a desplay of evidence to justify the theory of Kristen's and mine that Sam missed his father's funeral because he was at MIT. Irene explains to him outsisde the studio that Moe did not show to his wife's funeral and if you watch Sam's reaction closely you can tell it stings. Other episodes that desplay evidence of this are "A Single Drop of Rain" and "Promised Land".

But my absolute fav thing about This ep is:


hahahahahahahah

MR. SCRUBO!
I laughed my butt off the first time I saw it, and it still gets a laugh out of me every time. You gotta love Sam in the sponge outfit, its adorable.
*rofl*

oh, and of course the letter at the end from Little cute four year old Sam to Captian Galaxy, yay. that's soo cute. I keep wondering what Al says though cuz hes about to say something when Sam leaps. :P

This is a good episode.

[samnal]

I love this episode because it is so touching. Mo and Sam are paralleling each other and if you watch Mirror Image when they repeat the same statement and drink the same time it's a sweet echo of this episode. I too love Mr. Scrubbo. I about die every time that comes on. And when Al calls him a "Baked Potato". Al really is loving this leap--but in the end Mo takes his breath away when he nearly leaps. I think he learned a lesson somewhat from Mo. All the ep he stated that Mo is crazy, ect. He actually shows a little disgust when Mo shows up with the pyramid hat. At the end I think he learned something from Mo about not always rating a book by it's cover.

[LadyKayoss]

I love the costumes in this one - if I could whip up a Future Boy costume in time for the convention, that's how I would dress. And Mr. Scrub-o is just too funny... Moe was a great character; he's one of the guest stars that I remember most.

[isz]

An excellent episodes. I really enjoyed it. This is one of the episode in the series you just can't forget. Well done,Great acting By all of the Actors(and Actress) - Touching,Entertaining but most of all - "This is a letter from 4 year old Sam Beckett,from Elk ridge,Indiana..."
Great work by all of the stuff. Could be in my top 3,But...well it's a cruel competition and... "The "B**gieman","MIA","good night,Dear heart", "The leap home I" and 1 or 2 more episodes are just in a different level...

[Sam Beckett Fan]

Originally Posted by isz

"This is a letter from 4 year old Sam Beckett,from Elk ridge,Indiana..."

I know cute little four year old Sam. I wish Leap Home or something would have showed some baby pictures or something, I wanna see Little Sam.

[Bexter]

I really enjoyed this episode, it was fun, touching and I just loved eccentric Mo. The costumes where great too. This is one I'll watch again when I just want to sit back and enjoy.

[ohboy]

This was a great episode, not only because it was funny, but because it sort of told the moral that it is okay to be an individual, and that we are not weird, but simply different. Mo Stein, in a way, showed us all that we are not strange, but just misunderstood, and that if you really get to know a person, you could be surprised by the outcome.

[Sam's Crow]

Originally Posted by ohboy

This was a great episode, not only because it was funny, but because it sort of told the moral that it is okay to be an individual, and that we are not weird, but simply different. Mo Stein, in a way, showed us all that we are not strange, but just misunderstood, and that if you really get to know a person, you could be surprised by the outcome.

Well said, ohboy. It's important to be yourself. If you're pretending to be something that you're not to someone you love then they aren't really loving you, they're loving who you're pretending to be.

[marie1439]

I was reading the review of Private Dancer. In there it mentions that Scott was on painkillers during the dance segments because he hurt his ankle in Runaway. So when we see Scott limping around in Future Boy it probably is because his ankle really does hurt.
Bonnie

[NYCSciFiFan]

I really liked this episode, the costumes, the "do the right thing" attitudes, and esp. the string-links between Mo and Sam.

My kids loved it when Mo started up his time machine - they started shouting "Look - look! He's glowing! He's gonna leap!" It was a great episode to watch with the family.

The remarks about Sputnik were interesting - I never really had a feel for when that event took place.

[Al R.]

it was an awsome episode with the gud bit a the end where Capt. Galaxy tells sam the string theory which as great, but sam must be as clever as they say he is because that was said back when he was four years old, the stat of the leap is what sucked us all straight into the episode, but i dno if eveyone agrees but Al looks very dull in normal clothes ha ha

[ohboy]

Originally Posted by Al R.

i dno if eveyone agrees but Al looks very dull in normal clothes ha ha

I second that!

[CynthialovesQuantumLeap]

I love this episode too. It was touching the way Sam cared about Mo Stien. One of my many favorite parts was when As future boy they were at a public appearance and a young boy asked the question what kind things will there be in the future. Sam answers and tells the surprised boy and the other children. Then when one boy asked about his dog in heaven they answered it with such love and compassion.
An episode I would defintely watch a lot of times.

[Sam's Crow]

One of my favourite bits was Mr. Scrubo.

[iMonrey]

Originally Posted by marie1439

I was reading the review of Private Dancer. In there it mentions that Scott was on painkillers during the dance segments because he hurt his ankle in Runaway. So when we see Scott limping around in Future Boy it probably is because his ankle really does hurt.
Bonnie

Oh, I wondered about that! They seemed pretty consistent with the limp and I wondered if they needed to write that in for some reason.

This show seemed to be firing on all four cylinders right about now - so many good episodes right in a row and this is a definite favorite of mine. That ending just nailed it: "And this week's letter is from little Sam Becket in Elk Ridge Indiana, who writes, Dear Mr. Galaxy, can you please explain to me your theory of time travel." Sam and Als' jaws drop and then Sam leaps - one of the funniest leap-outs ever.

Granted, if it's 1957 Sam would have only been four years old, but then again he was a super genius . . .

My one nitpick with this episode is that even though Sam realizes Moe has a similar string theory about time travel, neither he nor Al ever examine the time machine to acknowledge it could actually work, and Moe does in fact seem to start leaping when he turns it on. They don't acknowledge that either.

Still rated this one as excellent though. I don't know which was funnier - Sam's Future Boy costume or Mr. Scrubbo. Or the irony that Sam is playing Future Boy when that's exactly what he is!

[Donofrio_QLTD]

This is one of my all-time favorite episodes from Quantum Leap. Simply perfect from the beginning to the very end. The chemistry between the actors, Scott and Richard Herd, and then the chemistry between the characters themselves, Moe and Sam, is so darn great. The screenplay... so smooth and very well paced. No single wrong turn. The best one by Tommy Thompson, in my opinion. It had the correct amount of many things at the same time: Drama, laughter, light-heartedness, seriousness, adventure, life-lessons, references to Sam himself and of course kisses with real history, you name it.

My favorite part: Moe escapes and goes home to try his time machine for one last time and the daughter and Sam and Al think that he's going to get cooked on the machine but it actually begins to respond. He starts to leap and we even get to see his blue aura, which indicates that he's ready, but just when the aura is at the exact point of changing to the full leap, the machine stops functioning and Al sees him at the far end with an expression of "what a shame, it was actually working but it didn't have enough energy or power to go on." Priceless! Then Moe steps out of the machine and talks to his daughter about what he intended to do. He wasn't crazy, he wasn't entitled to his own ideas, he wasn't being selfish or trying to escape from anything about the reality that surrounded him. He just wanted to fix the mistakes he made in the past with her and his whole family. Very, very relatable and likable character Moe!! That whole scene always makes me roll a tear (many, actually). So touching and perfectly crafted.

Other favorites include the ending, of course, with Captain Galaxy reading a letter from Sam as a kid and then he begins to explain the string theory (very perfect and fitting ending), and when he changed the director's screenplay at the beginning. "This is not the Future, Time Cadets. This is only the disturbed vision of a man..." or something like that. Great comment he has on violence on TV shows. The Mr. Scrubo part... classic and very hilarious.

Parts I didn't like: There aren't any. Loved them all.

My rating: Excellent. One of the first things I think about everytime I remember Quantum Leap, and I dare to say I'm not alone in this, is of course Captain Galaxy. He's one of the most emblematic characters not only from this show, but from TV's history. Great, great!! Timeless episode.

[Sam Beckett Fan]

It's time to revise my review for this episode though what I scanned of my original wasn't too bad.

As I said the first time Sam getting a third person perspective of himself, his own devotion to time travel was a fascinating concept. Moe was an excellent character who in a way represented an alternative result to Sam's pursuit of PQL. Who knows perhaps if not for a combination of the time period and Sam's IQ he might have been considered for admission to a mental facility as well (*chills* Shock Theater flashes ). The connection on an even more personal level than this was brilliant, the fact that this was Sam's idol, the inspiration for PQL. We're shown this with the 'gyrometer' that Captain Galaxy uses in the very beginning while they were shooting an episode of Time Patrol. The prop design is identical to the gummi bear handlink. So in a way this episode took us to the first seed which grew PQL.

Something occurred to me watching this episode today.
When Moe flees the hearing and tries to take off in his machine we actually see a small amount of leap light embrace him somewhat like the retrieval attempt in The Leap Back. Sam and Al were both staring as this happened, did they not see it?

The way he responded to the Irene character was also well done. There are a few instances including here where we see Sam respond to someone not attending a funeral (Moe didn't attend his wife's) seemingly personally, suggesting that Sam himself had not returned to Indiana from for his own father's funeral in '72. Either because he was too involved at MIT or because he felt it would be too difficult for him. Perhaps a little of both. Somehow I thought there had been a specific mention of it in this episode but I was wrong there. Still there was a lot of strength in those moments in Scott's performance.

Mr. Scrub-o just never gets old, I'll never forget how hard I cracked up the first time, maybe even the first couple of times I watched it.

By far my favorite part of the episode was, drum roll please....
"Today's letter is from little Sam Beckett of Elk Ridge Indiana."

Granted in a typical situation this would not have made sense. Sam was four years old in 1957 and a four year old should barely be learning to read stuff like Dr. Suess let alone write. This is Sam Beckett however, child prodigy. We even know from Honeymoon Express that he was reading at the age of two. So it works here and creates an interesting Chicken and the Egg paradox. Adult leaping Sam gave Moe the theory that he then gave to that four year old child. Hmm, who was first?

Originally Posted by marie1439

I was reading the review of Private Dancer. In there it mentions that Scott was on painkillers during the dance segments because he hurt his ankle in Runaway. So when we see Scott limping around in Future Boy it probably is because his ankle really does hurt.
Bonnie

Originally Posted by iMonrey

Oh, I wondered about that! They seemed pretty consistent with the limp and I wondered if they needed to write that in for some reason.

This is correct.
Scott injured his foot during the shooting of Runaway, the way I heard it he'd tripped over a cable or something and twisted it.
So there were excuses for him to limp written into both this episode and Piano Man(He's shot in the knee outside the lounge right after the leapee's car blows up).
Private Dancer required pain killers instead because it was a dancing role.

[Lightning McQueenie]

Originally Posted by Sam Beckett Fan

Something occurred to me watching this episode today.
When Moe flees the hearing and tries to take off in his machine we actually see a small amount of leap light embrace him somewhat like the retrieval attempt in The Leap Back. Sam and Al were both staring as this happened, did they not see it?

They probably did, but neither would have had no idea that it was a leaping effect - remember that neither of them knows what a leaping effect looks like...

The way he responded to the Irene character was also well done. There are a few instances including here where we see Sam respond to someone not attending a funeral (Moe didn't attend his wife's) seemingly personally, suggesting that Sam himself had not returned to Indiana from for his own father's funeral in '72. Either because he was too involved at MIT or because he felt it would be too difficult for him. Perhaps a little of both. Somehow I thought there had been a specific mention of it in this episode but I was wrong there. Still there was a lot of strength in those moments in Scott's performance.

It was in Season 5's "Promised Land" where this is mentioned.

By far my favorite part of the episode was, drum roll please....
"Today's letter is from little Sam Beckett of Elk Ridge Indiana."

Granted in a typical situation this would not have made sense. Sam was four years old in 1957 and a four year old should barely be learning to read stuff like Dr. Suess let alone write. This is Sam Beckett however, child prodigy. We even know from Honeymoon Express that he was reading at the age of two. So it works here and creates an interesting Chicken and the Egg paradox. Adult leaping Sam gave Moe the theory that he then gave to that four year old child. Hmm, who was first?

It must have been Moe who thought of it first, after all, he started telling Sam about it BEFORE Sam helped him refine it. In the original history, they both probably worked on string theory separately and independently, coming to the same conclusions. After all, in the original history, Moe Stein died, so how could he possibly pass on the info to Sam? It was just a fantastic stroke of luck that their paths should meet.

Interestingly, in the revised timeline, where little Sam Beckett learns about the string theory when he is four years old, that probably means that Sam would have had all those extra years to refine it even further. Who knows, maybe it was that extra refinement which helped Sammy Jo to come up with her theory to bring Sam home?

[Sam Beckett Fan]

Originally Posted by Lightning McQueenie

They probably did, but neither would have had no idea that it was a leaping effect - remember that neither of them knows what a leaping effect looks like...

Of course I'm aware that neither of them knows what leaping look like but still this should have caught their interest like as Stawpah's leap out had Sam's in Mirror Image.

Originally Posted by Lightning McQueenie

It must have been Moe who thought of it first, after all, he started telling Sam about it BEFORE Sam helped him refine it. In the original history, they both probably worked on string theory separately and independently, coming to the same conclusions. After all, in the original history, Moe Stein died, so how could he possibly pass on the info to Sam? It was just a fantastic stroke of luck that their paths should meet.

I'm not counting Moe's original theory here which was off, but in the events of the revised timeline. Though I can see where you are headed here. Clearly Moe was always his inspiration (the gyrometer prop confirms this as it was always there) but enabling his four year old self to hear his letter answered probably only eliminated quite a bit of need for revising.
By the way I forgot to mention how priceless I find Al's reaction to that letter.XD I wonder what that line he was about to say would have been had Sam not leaped out and cut him off.
And Sam's expression was all "What?....uh I don't remember that letter." LOL.

[Lightning McQueenie]

Originally Posted by Sam Beckett Fan

Of course I'm aware that neither of them knows what leaping look like but still this should have caught their interest like as Stawpah's leap out had Sam's in Mirror Image.

Seeing the electricity running through Moe, they probably thought he was being electrocuted. It's a bit like a train wreck, can't do anything but can't look away either...

Some more interesting trivia about this episode: at "The Leap Back" convention, Richard Herd stated that this is his absolute favourite role that he has EVER played. And if you look at his resume, it's quite extensive. Just goes to show how great the show was and how well everyone was treated

[Sam Beckett Fan]

That's quite a statement, he is indeed a renowned actor best known I believe for Star Trek: Voyager. My late father used to watch that so I wish I could remember Herd in it but I do not.

Originally Posted by Lighting McQueenie

Just goes to show how great the show was and how well everyone was treated

Agreed, and this was shown in other ways as well.
For Trilogy Part 2 Scott was coached to perform Will Kinmen's stutter accurately and after the episode's airing the show received a letter of appreciation from an organization supporting people with stutters for a well done and non-offensive portrayal.

I've also heard how much Brad Silverman who played Jimmy absolutely loved doing the show and working with Scott because of how incredibly nice he was.

[leaper1]

Herd played Admiral Paris in Voyager - Tom Paris' father