History Series / QuantumLeap

* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Invoked in "What Price, Gloria?" Sam has lept into Samantha, a gorgeous blonde. One of the hassles he faces is Buddy Wright, a jerk of an executive with a penchant for sexual harassment. Before leaping out, Sam makes Buddy squirm by convincing him that he's lusting after a man. [[KickTheSonOfABitch Sam then decks him for good measure.]]

* NarniaTime: Essentially applies to Sam in terms of how long it takes Al and the Project to locate him each time he Leaps, as there's no way to know how long it is for the future project between Leaps even though Sam experiences the transition instantaneously. Sometimes it can take Al a few hours to show up even when Sam is in a tense situation, and other times Al has shown up immediately for reasons that include staring at the gorgeous women in the brothel owned by Sam's current host or warning Sam that his current host is a double-amputee without any legs.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/quantum_leap.jpg]]

* The warden in "Unchained" is also both corrupt and cruel (and homophobic, but that's not rare for the time period).

* * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: In "Moments To Live", Sam's character is kidnapped and [[Misery?from=Film.Misery held prisoner by an obsessed fan]].

* HurtingHero: Sam. Let's see, his father lost the family farm and then died relatively young, his brother was killed in Vietnam and his sister married an abusive alcoholic. And being the kind of person he is, he feels guilty about all of it - particularly the farm and his sister. The trope is particularly evidenced in "The Leap Home, Part 1," where Sam tries to change his family's future and finds that it's not so easy to do.

* AngelicTransformation: In "It's a Wonderful Leap", a woman named Angela claims to be a deceased-human-now-guardian-angel for Sam.

* DreamIntro: One episode opens with Sam on a beach making out with Creator/TerryFarrell - but then he wakes up, discovering that it was a dream and he's actually a Navy ensign accused of murder.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Invoked in the final confrontation with the Evil Leaper project; while Sam is trying to help Alia escape a prison with the aid of one of the guards, Alia asks the guard to explain why she's helping them because she wants to understand ''why'' someone would risk their life for someone else.

* FelonyMisdemeanor: In "Memphis Melody," Sam's actions accidentally cause Elvis not to get discovered. Al checks the changes to history and says that "Heartbreak Hotel" gets recorded by Music/TheMonkees and "Blue Suede Shoes" by Tony Orlando and Dawn, to which he responds by miming throwing up.

* ForegoneConclusion: You should already know at the start of "Lee Harvey Oswald" that Sam isn't going to save JFK. [[spoiler:He saves Jackie instead.]]

* FreudianExcuse: "Dr. Ruth" hints that part of Al's relationship difficulties stems from his growing up in an orphanage.

* GoodGuyBar: The bar Sam finds himself in during the final episode.

* LabPet: In "The Wrong Stuff," Sam leaps into a lab chimp in the space exploration lab, being prepared to go into space. His experimenter gets attached to him, and complains when he's transferred to helmet testing - which is basically "put a helmet on a chimp and bash its head with a giant hammer."

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler:In the final part of "Trilogy", Sam and Al realize that Sam is the biological father of the focus character's daughter, conceived when he leaped into the woman's fiancé during sex. However, Al says that she doesn't know this, despite working for the Quantum Leap Project in the "fixed" timeline.]]

* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: In "The Wrong Stuff", Sam mentions winning the Nobel Prize for Physics.

* SnapBack: In "Revenge Of The Evil Leaper", when Zoey dies, she leaps out, with her leapee returning unharmed. Alia also leaps out as she's being shot with her fate being ambiguous.

* TwoRoadsBeforeYou: In "Mirror Image," [[spoiler:Sam is essentially told that he can either continue leaping (where he will face even tougher challenges) or go home. Sam chooses to leap so that he can save Al and Beth's marriage.]]

* ArtisticLicenseLaw: In "Raped" after Sam accuses his rapist, the trial takes place ''the next day''. And the prosecution calls the defendant as its primary witness.

* BlackGalOnWhiteGuyDrama: In "So Help Me God," Sam leaped into a lawyer trying to prove a black woman innocent of the murder of the son of a rich white man in the 1950's. It turned out that [[spoiler:the woman, Delilah, had been in an abusive and initially non-consensual relationship with him (possibly referencing how white men would often rape their female slaves/servants). When she was about to leave him and stop being a servant in his father's house, he attacked her and his own mother shot him to stop it.]]

* BottomlessMagazines: Downplayed in "Play It Again, Seymour". The episode's antagonist does stop to reload, but fires about twice as many shots as the weapon he carries would be able to hold.

* CaptivePush: Sam leaps into a Navy SEAL during the Viet Nam War. His platoon is on a mission to rescue three American [=POWs=], and we see them being rushed along a path while an embedded photojournalist hides in the brush and takes photos. [[spoiler:One of the [=POWs=] is Al as a younger man.]]

* ChekhovsGun: "Miss Deep South" contains a textbook example. Early in the episode, we see a conspicuously-placed poster advertising a Jerry Lee Lewis concert. Al even points it out to Sam. In the episode's final act, Sam is under pressure to maintain his leapee's original third-place finish in the pageant (since she used the money she won to go to school and become a doctor). Sam sees the poster again and decides to perform Lewis' signature song "Great Balls of Fire" for the talent competition. [[spoiler:The performance delights the crowd and the judges (and Al, who dances to the beat), and Sam is named the ''winner of the pageant''.]]

* DumbButDiligent: One episode had Sam leap into a mentally handicapped man who worked in a warehouse. He was well liked by his family but had problems with a few co-workers who had prejudice against him. In particular, one had trouble reading all the barcodes and labels and was afraid of being grouped together with Sam's host.

* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: During the HalloweenEpisode, Sam and {{Satan}} [[ItMakesSenseInContext try to strangle each other]]. [[BadassNormal Sam]] ''wins''.
* DiedOnTheirBirthday: In "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E17GoodNightDearHeart Good Night, Dear Heart]]" Sam must discover the truth about the death of a beautiful young woman and determine whether she died by suicide or if she was murdered. After Al informs him of the date, Sam pulls the victim's ID out of her purse and realizes its her 19th birthday.

* DisguisedInDrag: At the start of "M.I.A.," Sam leaps into an undercover cop dressed as a woman for a case. (He initially thought he had again leapt into a woman and was rather annoyed.)
** What should have tipped him (and the audience) was the fake boobs. Whenever Sam leapt into a woman, he just wore the clothes naturally. In this case, the detective was dressed up "to enhance enticement."

* DownLADrain: In the episode "Camikazi Kid" [sic] Sam leaps into a 16-year-old racing enthusiast in San Gabriel Valley, CA. He and the bad guy of the episode have their climactic race in the Los Angeles River / storm drains.
* DreadedKidsTable: In "Camikazi Kid", having leaped into a 16-year-old boy named Cameron Wilson, Sam is humiliated at having to sit at the kids' table during the rehearsal dinner for Cameron's sister Cheryl's wedding.

* EveryoneHasStandards: In "Camikazi Kid", Bob's two friends join in in the bullying of Sam by pantsing him, but draw the line when Bob tries to run him over.

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: "Lee Harvey Oswald." [[spoiler:Are you ''really'' surprised Sam can't save [=JFK=] in the end?]]
* FamousFamousFictional: In "Glitter Rock," Sam and Al discuss high-profile assassination attempts by {{Loony Fan}}s, including Music/JohnLennon, UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan, and Tonic of King Thunder (Sam's current leapee).

* FixFic: The ComicBook story "Up Against a Stonewall" is one for the episode "Good Night, Dear Heart", setting up a RedemptionQuest for that episode's murderer [[spoiler:[[LipstickLesbian Stephanie Heywood.]]]]

---->'''Sam''': If she was so perfect, why aren't you still married to her?
---->'''Al''': [[BlatantLies That's not important.]]

---->'''Sam''': ...Al? How was he killed?
---->'''Al''': (guarded) ...who?
---->'''Sam''': [[DramaticIrony What do you mean "who"?!]] [[BaitAndSwitch Chris!]]

* HoodHopping: During the climax of one episode, Sam is trying to stop a woman from being murdered, and the taxi he's in gets caught in a traffic jam. Having no time to spare, he exits the cab and runs to the woman's apartment by leaping from car to car. To make things more awesome, at the time, Sam had leapt into Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

* {{Jerkass}}: In "Runaway," the leapee's big sister harasses Sam throughout the episode and gets a smug grin whenever he gets into trouble (usually her fault). After resolving the main issue of the episode, Sam doesn't leap out until he threatens the girl into being nicer to her brother (by dangling her over an old well).

* MisterSeahorse: The episode "8 1/2 Months" had Sam leap into a pregnant woman... and later on, he began to gain the symptoms of pregnancy, despite not ''really'' being pregnant. When Sam ultimately leaps out, [[spoiler:''he's in the middle of giving birth''!]]

* ModelScam: In "Miss Deep South", an unscrupulous photographer talks a beauty pageant contestant into a "tasteful" photo shoot by promising that he can get her modeling work. Then he gets her drunk and persuades her to take off more clothing, reassuring, "I won't shoot anything that will embarrass you." The photos show up in a nudie calendar a few months later, ruining the girl's career, unless Sam can stop it from happening. [[spoiler:He does!]]

* MusicalEpisode: "Catch a Falling Star" sort of. The setting is a theater performing ''Literature/DonQuixote'' and the musical numbers are done in the context of performances/rehearsals. The last act is mostly composed of the final performance.

* NitroBoost: In "Camikazi Kid", Sam rigs up a nitro boost to win a drag race.

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The final scene from "Raped." Sam, in a female rape victim's host body, is lamenting that the rapist in question [[spoiler:got off scot-free in a court case, because of the boy's reputation.]] All of a sudden, while Sam's talking to Al, the boy shows up again, [[spoiler: [[WouldHitAGirl knocks Sam to the ground]] and attempts to rape his victim ''again.'' However, this guy isn't messing with a terrified young girl anymore; he's dealing with a pissed-off Sam Beckett, who gets up and beats that son of a bitch to a bloody pulp.]]

* ParanormalEpisode: The episode "The Boogieman". [[http://quantumleap.wikia.com/wiki/The_Boogieman_%28episode%29 The episode]] apparently has Sam going up against the Devil himself. However, it might have been AllJustADream.

-->'''Al:''' Calling somebody we know?
-->'''Sam:''' You. So we can talk and I won't look like a lunatic.

* PostRapeTaunt: The 1991 episode "Raped," set in the early 1980s — even then, a time when rape was too often defined as being "the woman's fault" — saw Sam leap into the body of a rape victim. Her attacker, the town's all-American boy who has several college scholarships in hand, has been acquitted of all charges. The night after the trial ends, he goes to her house to taunt her and try to attack her once more ... only this time, Sam-as-the-girl [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge gives him]] [[GroinAttack an attack he won't ever forget]].

* TheProfessor: Sam gets to be this in the second episode, except it's a college professor who's having an affair with one of his students.

* PunchClockVillain: In "Justice", Sam leaps into a man named Clyde who was pressured into joining TheKlan, and while it's treated with all the ominousness it deserves, the next scene has them, out of costume, talking about their mundane lives and offering to help each other out with projects unrelated to their racism. Sam isn't suckered into it for a second, and all it does is [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse underscore their insidious nature]]. Although it does help him appeal to his father-in-law's humanity when he tries to stop a lynching (and succeeds).

-->'''Al:''' Are you gonna be all right?
-->'''Sam:''' What matter wounds to the body of a knight-errant, for each time he falls, he shall rise again and woe to the wicked! Al?
-->'''Al:''' Here, your grace.
-->'''Sam:''' My armor, my sword!
-->'''Al:''' More misadventures?
-->'''Sam:''' Adventures, old friend.

* RevolversAreJustBetter: In "MIA," when Sam leaps in, he cowers in the middle of the gunfight he's caught up in. When it's revealed that he's a male cop in drag and not a woman, his partner asks him if his pistol jammed again. One of the other cops tells him "Get a revolver, Jake. You'll live longer."

-->'''Al''': [[AmbiguousSituation Well, was Tommy... gay or not?]]
-->'''Sam''': [[MathematiciansAnswer Does it matter? (starting gun fires; Sam leaps out mid-run)]]

* ShowWithinAShow: Several, actually, but arguably the most important was ''Time Patrol'', from which a young Sam got his string theory of time travel.

* SixIsNine: In "The Boogieman", Sam leaps into the body of a horror writer whose street address is 966. Near the climax, [[spoiler:the 9 flips upside down to reveal that the devil is amongst them]].

* TeenPregnancy: Sam once leaps into a pregnant girl -- and barely makes it out before the birth.
* TemporaryBlindness: In "Blind Faith" Sam leaps into the body of a blind pianist. Although able to see for most of the episode, he is temporarily blinded by a camera flash at the climax of the episode just as he needs to save the girl. This works to his advantage near the end of the episode. The girl's mother thinks he is a fraud and suddenly lights a lighter in front of his eyes. He is still blind due to the camera flash, so he doesn't flinch.
* ThanatosGambit: [[spoiler:In the final part of "Trilogy", Abigail is accused of murdering the woman who's been harassing her for years (said woman having been convinced that Abby murdered her daughter and husband). Sam, as her lawyer, eventually realizes that the dead woman killed herself with the intent of framing Abigail and getting "revenge", having long since crossed the DespairEventHorizon.]]

* VerySpecialEpisode: Simply titled "Raped." It's as dark as it sounds.

* WhereDaWhiteWomenAt: In "Black on White on Fire," Sam leapt into Ray, a black medical student in the 60's who was engaged to a white woman. Neither of their families approved (although Ray's mother was more concerned about Susan's safety -- the episode took place during the Watts riots -- than disapproval of her son dating a white woman.)

--->'''Sam''': You said that [the leapee's sister] could die on the trapeze.
--->'''Sybil''': Not as long as you catch her.
--->'''Sam''': As long as I... Wh-Why didn't you say that wh-while she was here?
--->'''Sybil''': Well, I didn't think it... (unsure) was necessary... (leans in slightly) I never noticed before how many times you've been reincarnated.
--->'''Sam''': (uncomfortable) I, um... I don't believe in reincarnation.
--->'''Sybil''': You would if you could see all the souls I see in your eyes.
* YouCantFightFate: The painful lesson of "The Leap Home, Part 1," where Sam tries to prevent his father from dying early, his brother Tom being killed in Vietnam the next year and his sister Katie from marrying an abusive alcoholic. As Al tells Sam, he's not changing their futures; he's only making their present miserable. [[spoiler:Partially subverted in the next episode, where Sam leaps into Vietnam and manages to save Tom's life.]]
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Played painfully straight in "The Leap Home, Part 1." Sam is thrilled to be back in his hometown as his sixteen-year-old self, but his failing efforts to prevent the tragedies that befell his family terrify them and sends him into a HeroicBSOD.

* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: In "The Cam-ikazi Kid", Sam leaps into a dorky teenager who is harassed by bullies. He protests, "You can't pants a guy with glasses!" The bully replies, "What glasses?", takes the glasses, and pantses him anyway.

* GenderBender: Each episode of the original 1989 series has Sam Beckett's mind "leaping" into some person in the past, sometimes male, sometimes female. Regardless of who Sam has leapt into, the audience sees Scott Bakula in the role, only getting a glimpse of the person's real appearance in a reflection or photograph. Through the series Sam had nine female hosts that we see. There may have been other leaps never shown on screen. In addition, we had an "evil leaper" leap into the opposite sex as well.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E04WhatPriceGloria What Price Gloria?]]" - Sam leaps into secretary Samantha Stormer.
*** An abbreviated verion of this episode's beginning was shown (erroneously) at the end of "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E09PlayItAgainSeymour Play It Again Seymour]]" as though this would be the next episode after it.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E13AnotherMother Another Mother]]" - Sam leaps into suburban mother Linda Bruckner
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E12AnimalFrat Animal Frat]]" to tease the next episode.
*** The abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was also shown (erroneously) at the end of "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E11Runaway Runaway]]".
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E06MissDeepSouth Miss Deep South]]" - Sam leaps into beauty contestant Darlene Monte.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E05TheBoogieman The Boogieman]]" to tease the next episode.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E128AndAHalfMonths 8 1/2 Months]]" - Sam leaps into unwed mother Billie Jean Crockett.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E06Raped Raped]]" - Sam leaps into rape victim Katie Mc Bain.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E05PermanentWave Permanent Wave]]" to tease the next episode.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E15ASongForTheSoul A Song For The Soul]]" - Sam leaps into singer Cheree Watkins.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E14TheLastGunfighter The Last Gunfghter]]" to tease the next episode.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E13Liberation Liberation]]" - Sam leaps into feminist Margaret Sanders
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E12ATaleOfTwoSweeties A Tale of Two Sweeties]]" to tease the next episode.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E14DrRuth Dr Ruth]]" - Sam leaps into Dr Ruth Westheimer
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E13Liberation Liberation]]" to tease the next episode.
** "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E17RevengeOfTheEvilLeaper Revenge of the Evil Leaper]]" - Sam leaps into female convict Elizabeth Tate, while evil leaper Zoey leaps into warden Clifton Myers.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning (Sam's leap into Elizabeth Tate) was shown at the end of the preceding episode "[[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E16ReturnOfTheEvilLeaper Return of the Evil Leaper]]" to tease the next episode.

* GenderBender: Each episode has Sam Beckett's mind "leaping" into some person in the past, sometimes male, sometimes female. Regardless of who Sam has leapt into, the audience sees Scott Bakula in the role, only getting a glimpse of the person's real appearance in a reflection or photograph. Through the series Sam had nine female hosts that we see. There may have been other leaps never shown on screen. In addition, we had an "evil leaper" leap into the opposite sex as well.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E04WhatPriceGloria What Price Gloria?]] - Sam leaps into secretary Samantha Stormer.
*** An abbreviated verion of this episode's beginning was shown (erroneously) at the end of [[Recap/QuantumLeapS1E09PlayItAgainSeymour Play It Again Seymour]] as though this would be the next episode after it.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E13AnotherMother Another Mother]] - Sam leaps into suburban mother Linda Bruckner.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E12AnimalFrat Animal Frat]] to tease the next episode.
*** The abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was also shown (erroneously) at the end of [[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E11Runaway Runaway]].
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E06MissDeepSouth Miss Deep South]] - Sam leaps into beauty contestant Darlene Monte.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E05TheBoogieman The Boogieman]] to tease the next episode.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E128AndAHalfMonths 8 1/2 Months]] - Sam leaps into unwed mother Billie Jean Crockett.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E06Raped Raped]] - Sam leaps into rape victim Katie Mc Bain.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E05PermanentWave Permanent Wave]] to tease the next episode.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E15ASongForTheSoul A Song For The Soul]] - Sam leaps into singer Cheree Watkins.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E14TheLastGunfighter The Last Gunfghter]] to tease the next episode.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E13Liberation Liberation]] - Sam leaps into feminist Margaret Sanders
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E12ATaleOfTwoSweeties A Tale of Two Sweeties]] to tease the next episode.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E14DrRuth Dr Ruth]] - Sam leaps into Dr Ruth Westheimer
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E13Liberation Liberation]] to tease the next episode.
** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E17RevengeOfTheEvilLeaper Revenge of the Evil Leaper]] - Sam leaps into female convict Elizabeth Tate, while evil leaper Zoey leaps into warden Clifton Myers.
*** An abbreviated version of this episode's beginning (Sam's leap into Elizabeth Tate) was shown at the end of the preceding episode [[Recap/QuantumLeapS5E16ReturnOfTheEvilLeaper Return of the Evil Leaper]] to tease the next episode.

** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS4E15ASongForTheSoul A Song For The Soul]] - Sam leaps into singer Cherea.

** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS3E06MissDeepSouth Miss Deep South]] - Sam leaps into beauty contestant Darlene Monty.

** [[Recap/QuantumLeapS2E13AnotherMother Another Mother]] - Sam leaps into suburban mother Linda Bruckner

* GenderBender: Sometimes a leap takes our hero into the body of a female.