520 "Memphis Melody"


Leap Date:

July 3, 1954


Episode Adopted by: Rindi
Additional info provided by: Stephen O'Leary and Brian Greene


Synopsis:

Once again as a famous person, Sam leaps into Elvis Presley just two days before he gets discovered. While trying to help a woman persue her singing career, Sam must make sure that he doesn't mess things up for Elvis!

 

Audio from this episode
Production promo for this episode
Amazing Grace (Audio)
Amazing Grace (Video)*
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Audio)
Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Video)
Baby Let's Play House (Video)*



TV Guide Synopsis
Place
Leap Date

Name of the Person Leaped Into
Music

Project Trivia
Sam Trivia
Al Trivia

Al's Outfits Worn in the Episode

Miscellaneous Trivia
Kiss with History
Writers
Director
Producers

Crew
Broadcast Date
Guest Stars
Guest Cast Notes
Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes
Personal Review
Best Lines
Best Scenes
Say What?
Quotable Quotes

 



Production # : 68123



TV Guide Synopsis:
History might get all shook up when Sam takes the form of Elvis, who's on the verge of being discovered. Sue Anne: Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. Frank: John Scott Clough. Marion: Lisa Jane Persky.




Place:
Memphis, Tennessee




Leap Date:
July 3, 1954




Name of Person Leaped Into:
Elvis Presley




Broadcast Date:
April 20, 1993 - Tuesday





Music:

Theme: Mike Post
Score: Velton Ray Bunch

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken" performed by Scott Bakula and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

"Dixie" performed by Scott Bakula

"Amazing Grace" performed by Scott Bakula and Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

"My Happiness" is performed by Scott Bakula

"Blue Moon of Kentucky" performed by Scott Bakula

"Baby, Let’s Play House" performed by Scott Bakula



 

Project Trivia:
Al says he is going to see Elvis perform back in the Waiting Room.



 

Sam Trivia:
Sam was an Elvis fanatic.

He programmed all of Elvis’s hits into Ziggy’s data bank and would drive Al crazy by singing them for days.

Sam said "Oh boy!" one time this episode.



 

Al Trivia:
Al said "Oh boy!" two times this episode.

Al had a cigar all four times he appeared.




Al’s Outfits Worn in the Episode:
1st appearance: Al was wearing a white button up shirt, an apricot colored suit jacket and pants to match, and a gold watch. The shoes could not be seen.

2nd appearance: Same as 1st appearance.

3rd appearance: Al was wearing a dark purple jacket, with a pale purple button up shirt, with a cowboy like neck tie (a triangle at the neck with two strings hanging), a saxophone broach, black and purple checkered slacks, and black suede shoes.

4th appearance: Al was wearing a black jacket with silver sparkles in a triangular patterns on the breasts and arms and a silver, curly, two pronged, fork shaped metal on the collar, a metallic gold button up shirt with a silver tint and black pin stripes with a thin black tie with a saxophone broach, gray slacks, black shoes, and a black banded and gold faced wrist watch.



 

Miscellaneous Trivia:
John Boyd West is the real life son of actor and stuntman Bobby Gene "Red" West. He played his own father in this episode!

Scott Bakula’s daughter Chelsy played the little girl in Taylor’s diner. When Bakula is singing "Amazing Grace" his little girl looks at him out of the corner of her eye with a smile.

Dean Stockwell broke a handlink during the filming of this episode!



 

Kiss With History:
Sam is waiting with Al to go onstage when we hear the announcer say "Now come on, let's give a hand to little Billy C. all the way from Hope, Arkansas!"  Watch a video of this scene here.

Elvis cut a record for his mother's birthday in real life.




Crew:


Writer:
Robin Jill Bernheim


Director:
James Whitmore, Jr.


Producers:
Co-Executive: Deborah Pratt
Co-Executive: Chas. Floyd Johnson
Supervising: Harker Wade
Supervising: Richard C. Okie

 

 


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



 

Guest Stars:
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Sue Ann Winters
John Scott Clough as Frank Begley
Lisa Jane Persky as Marion Keisker
Garn Stephens as Gladys Love Presley
Gregory Itzin as Mr. Phillips
John Boyd West as Bobby Gene "Red" West
Eric Bruskotter as Beau
Frazer Smith as DJ Dewey Phillips
Melissa Bernheim Julie Winters
Stephanie Scott as Cute Girl
Michael St. Gerard as Elvis Presley (Mirror Image)
Chelsy Bakula as Girl in Diner
Elliott J. Brown as Greaser
Mark Thompson as Guy in Diner
Brian Phelps as Guy in Diner
Bob Harks as Violin Player



 

Guest Cast Notes:

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn like many other Quantum Leap guest stars has appeared on STAR TREK Voyager, episode "Vis A Vis."

John Scott Clough appeared on Jag (2001) from the same creator of Quantum Leap, Donald P. Bellisario.

Lisa Jane Persky appeared on When Harry Met Sally (1989) with Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. She has also appeared on Coneheads (1989) with Dan Aykroyd and Great Balls of Fire (1989) with Dennis Quaid.

Gregory Itzin was on Enterprise (2002) with Scott Bakula, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998), and Jag (1998 &1997).

John Boyd West is the real life son of actor and stuntman Bobby Gene "Red" West. He played his own father in this episode!

Eric Bruskotter was on Jag (1995), Three For The Road (1987) with Charlie Sheen, Major League II (1994) with Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, and Tom Berenger, Major League: Back to the Minors (1998) with Corbin Bernsen and Scott Bakula and The Hollywood Sign (2001) with Tom Berenger.

Michael St. Gerard played Elvis in the TV movie Elvis (1990).

Bob Harks as Violin Player: Harks came in at the tail end of the television western era, it was only natural for him to find work on the unpaved streets of several television westerns like Bonanza and Gunsmoke. With the downturn of popularity in westerns, Harks made the transition from a cowboy to a detective. Over the next 15 years, he would frequently be seen on shows like Kojak where he'd appear around the squad room and also on shows like Lou Grant where he'd make crosses. In the early 1970s, Harks gained work as a utility stand-in on the Bill Bixby show The Magician and it would be his big break. Both he and fellow Magician stand-in Edna Ryan would later find themselves working on another show Bixby starred in called "The Incredible Hulk." Bixby was very fond of Bob and would frequently have him appear in roles that require Hark to be upgraded to a pay rate than you usual extra role. Harks would usually drive the car that would either pick up Bixby at the end of the episode or he would use his car to pass Bixby's character up as he was hitchhiking to his next destination. After the closing of The Incredible Hulk, Harks got regular work as Bixby's stand-in on the short lived show Goodnight Beantown. As Bixby's career started to wind down, Harks found work as a stand-in on the show Alien Nation and he worked on it for the rest of his career not only appearing in the series but also most of the subsequent television movies. It was during this time that Harks decided to retire and move Wisconsin to be closer to his sister Sue and the rest of his family bringing a 30+ year career to a close.



 

Guests who appeared in other Quantum Leap episodes:
Eric Bruskotter played Red in the episode "Liberation", and Glen in the episode "Raped."

Elliott J. Brown also played Stuart in "Return of the Evil Leaper."

Bob Harks also appeared as Townsman in "The Leap Back" and Club Member in "Liberation."



 

Personal Review:
This is a great episode for many reasons. The first reason is because I am an Elvis fanatic. The second is because I like the episodes where Scott gets to perform and show off his singing voice. The third reason is I like the episodes where Sam leaps into someone famous because it makes his mission even more crucial to put right what once went wrong and without tampering with any other life events. And finally I like this episode because all the songs in here are great and this is just an exciting episode in general.



 

Best Line:
"Everybody should be a dreamer. You gotta reach for the stars not the ceiling." --Sam "But the ceiling keeps you out of the rain." --Sue Ann



 

Best Scene:
The best scene is when Sam races into the diner and performs "Baby Lets Play House" for Mr. Phillips. Scott Bakula has a good singing voice and great charisma. It was a really fun scene to watch. This was a music filled episode and all the scenes where Sam performs are great.




Say What?
Sam is waiting with Al to go onstage when we hear the announcer say "Now come on, let's give a hand to little Billy C. all the way from Hope, Arkansas!" This is of course Bill Clinton, the former president of the United States. However, the writers must have overlooked the fact that Bill didn't change his last name from Blythe to Clinton until he was 15 years old. He was 8 years old in this episode.

The pinball machine in the diner wasn't created until 1970.

The bass player in the diner seems to be readily available to play. Such a large instrument would probably not be brought in to have a meal with.




 

Quotable Quotes:

" You sing like an Angel."--Sam

" Well then the good Lord must have been smiling down on me."--Sue Ann

" Yeah, well you must have been reaching for the stars cause I don’t think he could see

you through the ceiling." --Sam

" A white man with a black voice." --Mr. Phillips

" 1954 was an age of innocence. A time when people still believed in the American

Dream. I realized that I had leaped into a man that personified that dream. A man who went from being a truck driver to a superstar overnight. Walking a mile in Elvis Presley’s Blue suede shoes before he became the idol of millions made me realize he was just a normal person. I kept wondering if he would have been happier if he had stayed that way." --Sam


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