Quantum Leap - Jump the Shark? Never!!

Enterprise

Project QL Intern
Mar 3, 2006
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Newcastle, UK
I've just found out that the next issue of SFX magazine will have a 2-page feature on whether 'Quantum Leap' ever Jumped the Quark. I'll keep all of you posted when I get the mag.:hmm
 
I actually found a website not long ago in a google search that had a list of specific moments in QL and serveyed them to see which ones were the point where it jumped the shark.

in first place it was "It never jumped the shark"
and in second place was Alia.

I don't have to the link unfortunatly.
 
LadyKayoss said:
At the risk of sounding like a moron...

Uh... "Jump the shark?"

You beat me to it!

I think I've sorta worked out what it means from the context of the weblink - I might say 'lost the plot' or 'gone off the rails' or something like that.

But I echo LK - "Jump the shark"??? Huh? Why jump the shark???
 
leaper1 said:
You beat me to it!

I think I've sorta worked out what it means from the context of the weblink - I might say 'lost the plot' or 'gone off the rails' or something like that.

But I echo LK - "Jump the shark"??? Huh? Why jump the shark???

Below is an exerpt from what I found on the Wikipedia website:

...."Jump The Shark - Chronicling the Moments of When TV Shows go Downhill
The phrase specifically arises from a scene in the hit TV comedy series Happy Days. Towards the end of the show's run, the writers were challenged to come up with new, fresh stories; they developed a story where Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli is on water skis, wearing his trademark leather jacket despite the well-known negative effects of salt water on leather, and, quite literally, jumps over a shark."

Here's the link if you want to read the whole article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_the_shark

Eleiece
 
I heard of Jumping the Shark and knew what it meant right off the bat... actually saw that particular Happy Days episode when I was little. But I didn't know that Growing The Beard meant a show getting better. Makes sense to me, being a HUGE Star Trek: the Next Generation fan. :D

See the article on Jump the Shark to know what Growing the Beard means, if you aren't a TNG fan.

Kat
 
It's funny, but most of the Jump the Shark moments identified for QL are simply episodes that were different or not as popular, not actual JTS moments. From its inception, the JTS concept was sort of point of no return, where the show betrayed its fundamental premise in an attempt to stay on the air. So Fonzie's literal jump was roundly ridiculed because Fonzie was the epitome of "cool" and the Jump was so totally not cool. As in, the Fonz could never recover from that stunt (as opposed to the smash derby episode, which was coolness). The complaints about QL were more about the quality of the scripts, because the premise itself did not change. A plot line or character that you don't like, or a slightly different direction that is, in and of itself, still in keeping with the premise of the show, is not a Jump.

Compare that with Laverne & Shirley's Jump. They move the women from the beer plant in Milwaukee to LA, and Shirley is in a full body cast (only mouth and eye holes) because the actress, Cindy Williams, didn't want to return to the show and they used a body double. The show was so fundamentally different (and unfunny) that it, to me, represents a bigger Jumping of the Shark than Fonzie's actual jump!
 
Thanks for the explanation! I'd heard of that particular episode, but I had no idea it'd become slang for the point when every other show has gone downhill. And I'm with the majority of the people on that site who believe that QL never 'jumped the shark!'
 
ziggysego said:
Enterprise, when is this copy out? I might be interested in obtaining a copy myself. There seldom is anything in magazines now about Quantum Leap. So whenever there, I snap it up.

PS It never jumped ;)

The issue will come out on Wednesday 25th October. I completely agree - it's worth buying just for the QL coverage alone, not much of that around now.:cry

>>> (and yeah, QL NEVER jumped... except maybe when the themetune was changed but that was only the titles and no reflection on the episodes so it doesn't count).
 
No I don't think that Quantum Leap ever "jumped the shark" I can think of a couple of shows I like that have done that.

I must agree the theme tune to the season 5 episodes (well at least they changed it back for 'Mirror Image') was terrible. When first heard it, I looked at my twin who looked back at me with a "what the heck??" look.

Some people may say though that 'The leap Between The States' was different, and betrayed the show....but I never thought it did. If you think about it...leaping was based on the string theory...a theory. But the theory has Sam found out has a little twist in it. I always thought that it was a clever way to bend the rules. If you think it through it is kinda logically sound. :)

I'm going to keep an eye out for that magazine...not seen QL in a cult mag for a while! :)
 
I remember Scott saying at one of the Creation QL cons that changing the theme had been his idea -- he thought updating the theme would give the show a fresh look, or something to that effect. He said he was very disappointed/dismayed when there was a huge uprising against the new theme.

Myself...I do love the old theme. I don't dislike the newer one, but the old one (along with the saga cell, or sell, whichever) was really an integral part of the show.

As for jumping the shark -- I don't think it did. Don had to cave in to a lot of little weirdnesses coming from the network suits, but I don't think the essence of the show changed. (I remember from that same con, they referred to season 5 as "the tabloid season" -- what with its use of Elvis, Marilyn, Bigfoot and so on.)
 
CarolD said:
I remember Scott saying at one of the Creation QL cons that changing the theme had been his idea -- he thought updating the theme would give the show a fresh look, or something to that effect. He said he was very disappointed/dismayed when there was a huge uprising against the new theme.

Myself...I do love the old theme. I don't dislike the newer one, but the old one (along with the saga cell, or sell, whichever) was really an integral part of the show.

As for jumping the shark -- I don't think it did. Don had to cave in to a lot of little weirdnesses coming from the network suits, but I don't think the essence of the show changed. (I remember from that same con, they referred to season 5 as "the tabloid season" -- what with its use of Elvis, Marilyn, Bigfoot and so on.)
I wasn't totally against it being used I just didn't like it. But that's just me of course. Everyones got their own preference.
 
Now, I'm probably going to get smacked for this, but, in retrospect, I'm actually quite relieved that QL didn't make it to a 6th season, as I feel that season 5 was showing a definite downward trend (even though I love Nowhere to Run, Killin' Time, Memphis Melody and Lee Harvey Oswald), and there were a greater number of blah episodes. For me, QL never jumped the shark, but it came periously close with Blood Moon.

I hate to see shows I love go on past their prime, and I'm glad QL went out when it was still, for the most part, better than anything else on television.

Don't hurt me!
 
The nice thing about season 5, I thought, was that we finally got to see a little of Project Quantum Leap itself. And it was high time we saw Al relating to someone besides Sam. (Whoa... I don't want that to come across the wrong way--but it's very unusual to have a character who only talks to one other character, and rather limiting. Al's role was starting to seem like the same thing every week--he pops in, gives Sam information, and leaves.) "A Leap for Lisa" happened to be one of the first episodes I ever saw, and I didn't realize that this was the first time the waiting room was shown, though it was already the end of season 4. So after that, as I was watching the episodes in order, I couldn't believe it took so long to see any of PQL, meet Gooshie, etc. The show had a great format, but I think expanding it a little was a good thing.

And no, I don't think the show ever leaped the shark. Er, I mean jumped the shark. I liked it when they tried something new. After all, just because Sam has a theory doesn't mean that theory's correct or complete.
 
I am sad to say it jumped the shark when they started messing with actual historic events like the Lee Harvey Oswald,the Civil War?The Elvis and Marilyn Monroe episodes it just showed the writers couldn't think of any more plotlines with "normal" people.I have plenty of plots they could have used.
 
Mesmer Ice said:
I am sad to say it jumped the shark when they started messing with actual historic events like the Lee Harvey Oswald,the Civil War?The Elvis and Marilyn Monroe episodes it just showed the writers couldn't think of any more plotlines with "normal" people.I have plenty of plots they could have used.

I'm willing to give Lee Harvey Oslwald, Elvis and Marilyn as "messing with actual historic events" but not the Civil War. If that's the case then there are many other episodes that would also fit the description. "Black on White on Fire" which involves the Watts Riots, "Rebel Without A Clue" where his meeting with Jack Kerouac gives him pause to rethink his ideas, "The Wrong Stuff" and it's relation to the space program. In different ways all of the episodes dealt with changing history and even though they may have been personal changes for the people Sam affected, they would have had wide ranging changes just through a ripple effect.
 
jmoniz said:
I'm willing to give Lee Harvey Oslwald, Elvis and Marilyn as "messing with actual historic events" but not the Civil War. If that's the case then there are many other episodes that would also fit the description. "Black on White on Fire" which involves the Watts Riots, "Rebel Without A Clue" where his meeting with Jack Kerouac gives him pause to rethink his ideas, "The Wrong Stuff" and it's relation to the space program. In different ways all of the episodes dealt with changing history and even though they may have been personal changes for the people Sam affected, they would have had wide ranging changes just through a ripple effect.
Ok I did enjoy the Vietnam and Watts riots episode and have no problem with the actual historic events once in a while.But at the end of the show you could tell they were desperate for ideas.

First off the Civil War is out of his lifespan so that showed "writer desperation".Then the guy he freed bloodline goes to Martin Luther King?Come on now.
 
The last season showed pressure from NBC to do episodes like that into real people. Don didn't want to go there, but wanted the series to stay on the air, so he gave in and tried it.

He finally ended the series on NBC when they wanted him to leap into the future possibly with a teenage sidekick.

That's the real reason behind the 5th season celebrity leaps and ultimately the end of the entire series.
 
alsplacebartender said:
The last season showed pressure from NBC to do episodes like that into real people. Don didn't want to go there, but wanted the series to stay on the air, so he gave in and tried it.

He finally ended the series on NBC when they wanted him to leap into the future possibly with a teenage sidekick.

That's the real reason behind the 5th season celebrity leaps and ultimately the end of the entire series.
The sidekick might have been interesting once in a while sometimes they just happen to leap into the same time.Imagine they are at the opposite ends but they both have to take the path to save someone.Like a Democrat vs. Republican.
 
Yeah it would have been good to have 2 leapers in the same place competing to complete their task - who would succeed?

But if i'm going to be honest I enjoyed the 'Celebrity Leaps', the JFK and Elvis episodes were some of my favourites! But I have to say that 'Blood Moon' and 'Dr.Ruth' are just plain awful. Bad. Bad. Bad. I cringe at Sam's voice for DR and uughh. Just awful.

That was a 'Jump the Shark' moment for me but then it came back on form for the end, so maybe when I say 'JTS' then it would be just for individual episodes and not the entire series.

QL always ruled, that's why we're all here on this board today.