TVS Question

newleaper

Project QL Intern
Jan 23, 2005
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Oklahoma
I don't know if I'm supposed to put this here, being with all the messed up junk from the hacker, but I will, and if it needs to be moved, I'm really sorry.

I've really been wanting to get into TVS. I've read all the Starbright, but that's because it wasn't all that much reading. Are there things to aid me and make reading TVS easier (episode guide, must read list, etc) I don't have time to read every episode, but if I could read the must reads and know what happens in the rest, that would be perfect!

Thanks
newleaper
 
Well, I think that I may leave this one to Damon. He knows the list (I think that he actually made one at one point for all to read up to the recent).

There really isn't a "know it all guide" to read up to the end of the eleventh season. I'd hate to point you to the A to Z on the site and say... have at it.

That's not what that is to be used for. That's mainly for the authors who are writing the stories... a reference guide if you will.

I should know which ones that you SHOULD read, but there has been so much within the last 6 seasons that it's hard for me to not say, just start at the beginning. Sorry.

Damon will be online again this evening, I believe.
MJ
 
I WAS online last night and was about to respond to this, until we had a second-long blackout with no warning... Internet connection was lost, so I'm not at my home computer right now. Damn heatwave. *grumble* Anyway...

It's funny you should ask this, because I've been working on a character list, including pictures, for the past few days, and was going to post it here so that people can get a better idea of who's been "cast" as the newer characters. Greg and I usually use the General Discussion to post about TVS, so it's fine.

All right, well let me see here... this is just my own personal recommendation, based on what I liked the most (and what I think were important events in the continuity). This is still quite a lot of stories, but remember there are 6 years worth of continuity to keep up with; there are just too many great stories to NOT recommend them, IMO...

To simplify things just a tad, I'm going to color code some episodes. Without giving away too many spoilers:
Episodes that continue the "Evil Leaper" storyline (begun in Season 5 of the original series) shall be in RED;
Episodes that are part of the "Rogue Leaper" storyline (begun by myself in Virtual Season 10 and continuing throughout Season 12) shall be in YELLOW;
Episodes that pertain to or include characters that are prominently featured in the "Project Liberty" storyline shall be in BOLD;
Episodes that directly tie in with Brian's prequel series, The Starbright Project, shall be in BLUE;
In some cases, these will overlap... you'll see what I mean:

SEASON 6:
601 "Double the Leap, Double the Danger" (SEASON PREMIERE)
608 "I'll Be Home for Christmas, Part I" (recommended)
609 "I'll Be Home for Christmas, Part II" (recommended)
610 "Battle Scars"
618 "Hostile Takeover" (SEASON FINALE / CLIFFHANGER)

SEASON 7:
701 "Hostile Takeover, Part II" (SEASON PREMIERE)
703 "Heart and Soul" (introduces a new character)
710 "And Then Came Another, Part I"
711 "And Then Came Another, Part II"
715 "Nightstalker" (reminiscent of the Halloween episode; recommended)
717 "One Voice Was Heard"
718 "The Little Girl"
721 "Leap for Life, Part I"
722 "Leap for Life, Part II"
724 "Fallen Hero, Part I"
725 "Fallen Hero, Part II"
726 "I'm Not Sure You'd Understand, Old Fruit" (introduces a new character)
732 "Vietnam Revisited, Part I" (recommended)
733 "Vietnam Revisited, Part II" (recommended)
734 "Leapers Who Need Leapers" (SEASON FINALE / CLIFFHANGER)

SEASON 8:
801 "Leapers Who Need Leapers, Part II" (SEASON PREMIERE)
805 "A Promise Fulfilled" (sequel to "Another Mother" )
807 "I Will Love You Forever, Part I"
808 "I Will Love You Forever, Part II" (introduces a new character)
811 "Life's Probability Leap"
819 "Brotherhood, Part I"
820 "Brotherhood, Part II"
827 "Stripped Free" (if you're female and are a Scott fan, you will probably LOVE this one!) :p
829 "Mercenaries" (begins a 3-episode story arc that is somewhat important)
830 "Shadows of the Moon"
831 "Poo to You" (introduces a new character)
832 "Leap From Hell, Part I" (SEASON FINALE / CLIFFHANGER)

SEASON 9:
901 "Leap From Hell, Part II" (SEASON PREMIERE)
902 "Leap From Hell, Part III"
914 "Obsession: Deceit" (interesting trilogy; recommended)
915 "Obsession: Revelation"
916 "Obsession: Repatriation"
917 "The Valley of Death, Part I" (great Al story; highly recommended)
918 "The Valley of Death, Part II"
922 "Cosmic Leap" (standalone, but cool story, IMO)
928 "Cross Currents, Part I" (Body Vs. Soul Debate thrown topsy-turvy)
929 "Cross Currents, Part II"
930 "Mirror Expression I" (sequel to... take a wild guess!) ;)
931 "Mirror Expression II"
932 "Mirror Expression III" (SEASON FINALE)

SEASON 10:
1001 "The Final Solution" (SEASON PREMIERE)
1002 "The Final Solution II"
1009 "A Time to Remember" (standalone, but highly recommended... plus, it sort of sets up what follows)
1010 "Eeny Meany Miny Mo"
1011 "Eeny Meany Miny Mo II"
1012 "Where the Buck Stops" (standalone, but good)
1013 "Second Genesis" (introduces a new character; will play a major role in Season 12, if all goes according to plan)
1014 "Second Genesis II"
1015 "To Say Goodbye" (standalone, but HIGHLY recommended)
1018 "The Picnic" (reminiscent of "Mirror Image"; recommended)
1019 "Guinea Pig" (introduces a new character; plays major role in Season 11)
1020 "Guinea Pig II"
1024 "Four Minute's Warning, Part I"
1025 "Four Minute's Warning, Part II"
1026 "Leap to the Rescue, Part I" (introduces two new characters)
1027 "Leap to the Rescue, Part II"
1028 "Leap to the Rescue, Part III"
1029 "The Little Things" (about autism; HIGHLY recommended)
1030 "Touch 'Em All" (standalone, but I liked it)
1031 "Future's End"
1032 "Past's Prologue" (SEASON FINALE / CLIFFHANGER)

SEASON 11:
(Unless otherwise noted, all stories listed here are part of the "Project Liberty" storyline)
1101 "Present's Convergence" (SEASON PREMIERE ? sets up "Project Liberty" )
1106 "True Callings, Part I: The Fellowship of the Leapees" (beginning of "Project Liberty" )
1107 "True Callings, Part II: The Two Sams"
1108 "True Callings, Part III: The Return of the Hero"
1109 "War Bride" (not part of "Project Liberty," but there's some character development)
1114 "The Enemy"
1115 "Skin Deep" (standalone 2-parter, but recommended)
1116 "Skin Deep II"
1117 "Eternal Shadows: The Dawning"
1118 "Eternal Shadows: The Emergence"
1119 "Eternal Shadows: The Supremacy"
1120 "Eternal Shadows: The Enchantment"
1122 "I Left a Little Piece of Myself On the Farm, Part I: Hospitality" (not part of "Project Liberty" )
1123 "I Left a Little Piece of Myself On the Farm, Part II: Hostile Measures"
1124 "I Left a Little Piece of Myself On the Farm, Part III: Hospitalization" (spinoff for a non QL-related virtual series)
1127 "And Then Darkness Falls" (not part of "Project Liberty," but sort of sets up the chaos that follows)
1128 "Quantum Evolution"
1129 "Quantum Departure"
1130 "Give Me Liberty"
1131 "Give Me Death" (conclusion of "Project Liberty"; sets up the Quantum Retribution timeline)
1132 "Leap for the Future" (SEASON FINALE)

If this is still too much, I can try to whittle the list down a bit. Or, if you want to just get a quick summary of most of the major developments that have happened so far (Season 11 is still to come), go here:

www.quantumleap-alsplace.com/virtualseasons/main/thusfar.html

This contains some spoilers though.

P.S. By the way, I'm still working on the season finale for The Starbright Project, but it's going to take me some more time to get it finished unfortunately. It's called "Conceptions" and is meant to act as the prelude to my "Rogue Leaper" storyline. Hopefully, I'll have it done by the end of June or beginning of July sometime. (Sorry, Brian.) :\
 
Thanks a lot :D It's a great help! I've found some spare time, so right now I'm just reading away! I'll probably go through and read the 'must reads' now and catch with the rest when I have the time! I would love to get to where I could read the new ones as they come out and understand most of the history! Thanks again! *off to read*
 
Sue Johnson's story, The Final Solution was very well written, a great story overall, and I'm warning you now you may cry. A very emotional episode. I wasn't an official rater so I rated it a 5/5 on the poll.

Mirror Expression brings back a familiar face. I don't want to spoil it for you though so I won't tell. :)

Damon, what did you mean by Hospitalization being a set up to a non QL related series?

Steve
RossBeckett
 
These stories are so wonderful! I've been reading every spare second of the day and will be starting season nine later today when I have a few more spare seconds!

Thanks again!
 
I would also suggest that if you find a particular writer that you like among that group of stories, you could always go to the Authors link and see which stories they've written. Some people, like AJ Burfield, MJ, Doug Laird, Peta Stanford, have written quite a number of stories over the past few years. As of now, there are 28 different writers that have written and/or are continuing to write for TVS, with at least 2 new writers coming this season; not all of these writers have been included in that list.

I basically just tried to provide a list that would get you up-to-date on major developments in continuity (with a few strongly suggested standalone stories thrown in).

Like Doug Laird, for example...his stories tend to be standalone most of the time, more often than not based on actual historical events: the New York Blackout of 1977 ("Darkness Over the City"); the sinking of the U.S.S. Doria ("Grand Dame of the Sea") which is sort of like a Titanic type story; a real incident that occurred during Bob Hope's first USO tour in the late 60s ("Where There's Life"); even more recently, a story about the eruption of Mount St. Helens ("To Helen and Back"); and his writing is pretty standard fare IMO, but some of his more recent stories are touch-and-go with me. It just has to do with the subject matter and whether it interests me or not; that's just my own personal preference though.

There are also a few stories based on the authors' lives and events that happened to them: MJ's near-fatal car crash 2 years ago ("A Time to Remember"); Sue and her creep of an ex-husband ("Four Minute's Warning, Part I"), among others...

Then there are other writers, like myself, who like to push the envelope and give people stuff that is unexpected, shocking and/or just all-out weird: having Sam get caught in a sort of time-loop by "re-leaping" into his very first leap ("Second Genesis II") and intersecting with "himself"; having him be gone for nearly 30 years and seeing that Project Quantum Leap has turned into a religious cult led by fanatics ("Future's End"); having Sam become the leapee and be tortured ala The Passion of the Christ by one of Lothos' cronies ("Present's Convergence"), etc., etc.

And to answer Steve: Mike and Erin's 3-part "Farm" story is basically meant to be sort of like a "back-door" pilot for their own original virtual series called Union County, I believe (it says this in their tag if you want to take a look at it). Think of it like how that one 2-part JAG episode a couple years back focused more on the NCIS characters... all of the background characters of that particular leap (the Mulhill brothers, Sheriff Billy Boone, etc.) will be part of the ensemble cast of Union County, which is based on the first leap from the Future's Past RPG that Mike started a few years back. Both Sam and the "Rogue Leaper" just happened to have a major role in how that particular back-story developed because of their interference.
 
Thanks again! You've made catching up as easy as possible! Of course, until I get done (in season 10 now) I'm pretty useless to the rest of the world ;)
 
Instead of just making a new topic, I'll post it here. I spent the better part of today restoring as much as I could at the Virtual Seasons board (ratings, users' comments, etc.). Since it appears that ezboard has done all they can do at this point, I figured it was time to try to put back what was lost as best as I could.

So, feel free to leave comments again. At this point, I was only able to salvage about half of Season 11, so if anyone wants to help MJ and I fill the board back up again, it would be appreciated. :)