Theorizing that one could time-travel
within his own lifetime,
Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator
and vanished.
He woke to find himself trapped in the past
facing mirror images that were not his own
and driven by an unknown force
to change history for the better.
His only guide on this journey is Al,
an observer from his own time
who appears in the form of a hologram
that only Sam can see and hear.
And so Dr. Beckett
finds himself leaping from life to life,
striving to put right what once went wrong
and hoping each time that his next leap
will be the leap home.
October.
No, November.
Seed corn.
And where there's seed corn,
there's pheasants.
Did you get him?
Lisa?
Sibby said you always shortcut
through the corn after practice.
Sibby?
Uh, Lisa wants to know if you're taking anyone
to the Gobbler Hop after the game.
Oh, boy.
Oh, look. I knew he was shy, but that's ridiculous.
Sam, you scared 10 years out of me.
Mom!
Supper's ready!
John!
Supper!
Your father's getting deaf
from all those years on the tractor.
I tell him to stuff cotton in his ears,
but does he listen to me? No.
He could give stubborn lessons to a mule.
What is it?
What's wrong, Sam?
Nothing. I'm...
I'm just really glad to see you.
I'll go get Dad.
There you are.
Why don't you wipe Aggie down and hook her up?
Yes, sir.
Hello, Aggie.
You stayed after practice to shoot baskets, didn't you?
Uh, yeah, I guess I did.
Well, I admire your dedication, but, uh,
you got chores, Son.
It won't happen again.
The hell it won't.
Sam,
you're only 16.
You can't expect to play as good
as your brother did his senior year.
Tom was All-State.
Tom was 18.
You're still growing.
I'm not so sure about that.
Harriet,
you used to do a whole lot better.
But I guess we're all getting old.
You're not old, Dad.
You look just the way I remember you.
What, since you left for school this mornin'?
I love you, Dad.
Mamma says if you don't come to supper right now,
she's gonna feed it to the hogs.
Katey.
Look at you.
You can't have it.
What?
Daddy, he wants Tom's bedroom.
Well, Tom said I could ha-have it.
Mamma says I should have it because I'm a girl
and girls need more room than guys.
Why don't you let Sam use it
till he goes to college next fall?
Daddy.
It's okay, Dad. She... she can have Tom's room.
I can?
Of course you can.
You can have anything you want.
You're my little sister.
What happened to your shirt down there?
Come on!
Katey, you're getting heavy.
Mmm.
It's all very good.
I'm glad you like it.
Talk down at the feed mill is,
Coach Connelly is gonna try a combination zone this year.
Yeah, he did
and we almost beat Bentleyville.
Last year.
Uh, l-last year, we almost beat Bentleyville,
playing that man-to-man.
You know,
the key is gonna be stopping No Nose Pruitt.
That boy scored 20 points against us last season.
He was impossible to stop.
How tall is he?
6'4".
6'4"?
No Nose. He's about
6'4".
Doesn't the poor boy have a nose?
The tip was cut off during a reaping accident.
It's not a pretty sight.
You know, I heard Mary Lou on the phone the other day.
She said No Nose was going to kill you next Friday.
Oh, Katherine.
Why would this "No Nose" want to do that?
Because he's sweet on Lisa Parson.
And Lisa asked Sam
to take her to the dance after the game on Friday.
And do you know what Sam did?
Katey.
He ran away.
Figures.
I gotta do my chores.
I made peach cobbler for dessert.
Peach cobbler?
Oh, that sounds yum-ola.
It is.
What is?
It is
time to do my chores.
Well, you know, Sam, there, uh, might not be any cobbler left
by the time you get done.
I'll save you a piece.
Thanks, Mom.
I got a funny feeling, John.
Last time you said that,
we had a flood big enough to float the ark.
1957,
the year I was born.
I always figured
you were God's way of makin' it up to us.
The mind of a mature man in the persona of a 16-year-old
at the height of his sexual powers.
The possibilities are just mind-boggling.
They would be if you didn't run away.
Well, what would you do if you ran into a girl
you had a crush on 25 years ago?
Don't answer that.
I mean,
I'm a kid again, Al.
I'm 16,
and I'm home, and my dad's alive.
I know, kid. I know.
And you're in Elk Ridge, Indiana.
It's 19...
69.
Sometime around Thanksgiving.
How did you know that?
Well, um,
'69 was my senior year,
and we always opened the basketball season
against Bentleyville the day after Thanksgiving.
Which is why you're here.
Why I'm here? Yeah.
Well, I...
I haven't been thinking much about why I'm here.
You're gonna love it, Sam.
Yeah?
Yeah, well, your team lost that game, right?
Well, no.
No?
No... no, l... I lost the game.
No Nose, he beat me on offense
and on defense
and when the ref wasn't looking
he just plain beat me.
I can't tell you how many nights I lay awake
wishing I could play that game over again.
Ha! Well, you just got your wish, kid.
You're kidding?
I would never kid about basketball.
Ziggy says that game was a turning point
in the lives of a lot of people.
If you guys could've beat Bentleyville,
you'd have gone on to win the state championship.
Elk Ridge, State Champs?
Yeah, and your coach would have accepted an offer
to the University of lowa
and eventually wound up in the NBA.
Yeah, and two of your teammates,
um, Moslick and Lonegro
they got college basketball scholarships.
They ended up doctors.
Last time I heard,
Sibby was a bank teller at First Farmers
and Herky was a... a... a mechanic at John Deere.
Herky?
Al, I mean, that's... that's wonderful.
All I have to do is help them win the game?
That's right, kid.
You beat Bentleyville Friday,
you're out of here.
Al,
listen, um...
I... I don't want to be out of here.
Sam.
Come on, Al.
My... my dad dies of a coronary in '72.
That gives me three years to prevent it.
And... and... and Katey,
she eloped with Chuck... somebody,
a-a-an abusive alcoholic.
How do you convince a 12-year-old
that she shouldn't marry some guy
she hasn't even met yet?
And Tom.
Tom came home...
Tom comes home for Thanksgiving
before shipping out to Vietnam.
Al, I can save Tom.
I don't think so, Sam.
You can't change something
that isn't meant to be changed.
Look, I can try.
Like I did with Beth?
Even though we tried,
Beth still married that stupid lawyer.
And I came home to an empty house.
It wasn't meant to be.
Yeah, well,
this is different.
What's different? The only thing that's different
is because this time it affects you.
Exactly.
Look, Al.
I've been leaping around, putting right
whatever God or fate or time
or whoever it is that's leaping me around wants put right.
Why?
Well, you got a lot of Boy Scout in you, Sam.
And, well, because with luck,
one of these leaps might be your leap home.
I am home.
No, this is not your home.
Yes, I am.
Well, it might have been in '69,
but this is not 1969.
It is to me, Al.
I... I think I'm being rewarded.
Well, that might be true.
But Ziggy says...
Oh, I don't give a damn
what that hybrid computer says.
I can save my father and my brother's lives,
and change my sister's for the better.
Now, if you were in my shoes, what would you do?
Mornin', Sam.
Morning, Dad.
Sam, you seen my cigarettes?
Uh, no, not lately.
Got an extra pack of L-Luckies in here.
Where's your mother?
Cleaning the silverware for Thanksgiving.
Thelma, you seen my cigarettes?
They're in the pantry where they always are.
Want any breakfast, Dad?
Just coffee.
I'll, uh, eat breakfast after I finish milking.
Oh, milking's done.
Chickens are fed and the, uh, hogs are slopped.
I finished a half-hour ago.
What time did you get up?
Oh, I don't know, um, early.
I couldn't sleep.
Did you find your cigarettes?
No, I have not found my cigarettes.
You must have smoked them all.
Can't have.
It's only Tuesday.
A carton always lasts me till Friday.
You know that, Thelma.
What is this?
Coffee.
Son, this may be a lot of things,
but coffee, it isn't.
It's decaffeinated coffee.
Decaffeinated?
Old ladies drink decaffeinated coffee.
And people who need to lower their caffeine intake.
I like my caffeine intake.
It gets my heart started.
So do my cigarettes.
I didn't know we had any decaffeinated coffee.
I found it in a jar in the back of the pantry.
Oh, Lord.
That was Grandma Nettie's.
It's been in there since she died.
Tastes like it.
I'll make you a fresh pot.
Mom.
Regular coffee's not good for Dad.
Since when?
Too much caffeine elevates the blood pressure.
Doesn't he sound like a doctor?
No doctor I want to have.
Well, since the milking's done,
guess I might as well eat breakfast.
Right here on the table, Dad.
Fruit, skim milk, some bran cereal.
A healthy well-balanced breakfast.
For a hippie.
For me, breakfast is eggs,
bacon, hash browns...
And a zillion milligrams of cholesterol
to clog your arteries.
...and a cigarette with regular coffee.
Dad, you're going to have to stop smoking
and cut out foods
that are high in cholesterol and saturated fats.
That's mostly eggs, milk, and cheese, Dad.
"Make Love Not War." Katherine Beckett,
where did you get that shirt?
Stop eating what we raise?
No, not completely, Dad.
Take if off and give it back.
I don't believe this.
Lots of kids are wearing them.
Not my daughter.
I don't believe this.
It's Elaine and Mary Lou's older sister, Karen.
She came home from college...
Our own son is anti-dairy.
I'm not anti-dairy, Dad.
I'm just trying to save...
I just want you to be healthy.
I am healthy. I haven't had a cold in years.
Skimmed milk?
Not since we almost lost Harriet in the drifts.
And that was what?
Six years ago. Six years ago.
Take that shirt off, now.
I'm healthy because I work hard,
I sleep good, and I eat dairy products.
Did you know a person can thrive
on nothin' but whole milk?
Not survive, but thrive.
Dad,
all I'm saying is you've spent your entire life
eating food high in cholesterol.
And that promotes cardiovascular disease.
Now look, you can reverse the damage you've done
if you stop smoking
and start on a low-cholesterol,
low-fat diet, and start exercising.
What the hell do you think I do all day?
Well, y-y-you work hard.
But that's anaerobic.
I mean, you've got to get on
an aerobic exercise program
that... that will help your cardiovascular system
get back into shape.
He's going to be a doctor.
I know you mean well,
but aside from my cigarettes,
I'm about as healthy as an American can be,
and that is damn healthy.
Dad,
you're wrong.
After a lifetime of cigarettes and saturated fats,
your arteries are as clogged a-a-as our water pipes.
And if you don't do something about it,
you're going to prematurely...
I'm gonna go into town for some cigarettes.
You need anything, Mother?
Cranberries, two cans. The whole kind.
Sam,
that was a horrible thing to say to your father.
I know. I just want to shock him
into taking care of himself,
so he'll live longer than another...
So that he'll live longer.
What makes you think he won't?
Grandpa Beckett died when he was 57.
You still haven't taken off that shirt.
And if you don't get a move on,
you're going to either miss your breakfast or the bus.
Thanksgiving vacation starts today.
Then you can help me clean the silver.
What did you do with them?
Pardon?
Your father's cigarettes.
I burned them with the trash.
It's just a waste of money.
What? My burning them, or his smoking them?
Mom, he's got to stop.
You're as stubborn as your father.
I'm his son.
Well, maybe I can cut out some fat in our meals.
After Thanksgiving.
That would be great.
But I don't want to hear any more
about his father dying.
No one knows better than Daddy
how young his father was when he passed on.
Yes, ma'am.
Al.
Did you hear? It's going to work, Al.
I'm going to change their future.
I hope so, Sam. I hope so.
But in the meantime,
You've got to be at basketball practice in 30 minutes.
I'm not going to basketball practice.
Why? Don't you want to see your old buddies again?
Shoot some hoops with, uh, Sibby and, uh, Jerky?
Herky. Herky.
That would be great.
It's all like a dream, Al.
Well, you better enjoy it before you wake up.
Okay. Okay.
But I'm not playing in that game on Friday.
Why not?
Because I don't want to leap, that's why not.
Then you don't really believe
you're here to help your family?
Of course I do.
Then why are you worried about leaping
if you win the game?
Stand up, sit down.
Fight.
Come on. Move.
Cougars, Cougars. Fight, fight, fight.
Yay, Cougars!
Move the ball around, guys.
Move it around! Move it around!
Don't be afraid to shoot that thing.
Slap this, Sibby.
Again.
When you girls are done playing patty cake,
I'd like your butts over here.
Let's go.
Go.
Hey, you girls are pretty good.
Against each other.
But come Friday, you're not gonna be
playing against each other, are you?
Friday you're gonna be playing against Bentleyville and...
No Nose Pruitt.
Exactly.
The most intimidating high school player
I have ever seen.
So, I've got someone bigger and uglier
for you to scrimmage against.
Kong.
Kong will be taking Manja's place.
All right, let's go, girls. Come on, move.
Red team, this way.
Watch that monkey, Sibby, watch him. Watch him.
See that? You didn't protect the ball, Sibby.
Don't let him intimidate you.
Only I am allowed to intimidate you.
All right, girls, run it again.
Go, Cougars!
Don't tell me, let me guess.
Herky is the guy with the hairy face.
I know him, Al. I know him.
Cheerleaders.
I'll bet you Lisa's the one with the cute pompoms.
They don't have...
Anytime before Thanksgiving, Beckett.
Cougars, Cougars! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Go, Cougars!
Take it to him!
Damn!
Block that shot.
Don't show it to him.
Go! Hustle, hustle!
Who is that guy?
You're good.
I know you, don't I?
At least give me a hint, huh?
Tom?
Hello, little brother.
The first six weeks were the worst.
Especially hell week.
We ran through evolutions 24 hours a day.
Evolutions?
Training exercises.
If you trained 24 hours a day,
when did you sleep?
We didn't.
I got a total of four hours sleep that whole week.
Of course, they fed us hot meals
every six hours. That kept you going.
That and learning not to think
beyond the evolution that I was in.
I know about that.
Oh, do you now, little brother?
Well, sort of, I mean.
I have to take things one evolution at a time.
And, uh, what evolution are you in now?
Trying to figure out how to keep you from going to Vietnam.
Oh, don't tell me, my little brother's a dove?
Not exactly.
I-I'd hate to think of you as a hippie.
Burning your draft card, shoutin':
"Hell no, we won't go."
I'd never do that.
Well, I've got to admit
it's a catchy slogan.
Look, Vietnam is a losing battle.
It'll drag on for a few more years, but...
well, it'll take more of us
and more of them with it,
but in the end, we're gonna get out
and the North will swallow up the South anyway.
So you're saying it would be okay to go if we were winnin'?
I just believe that if you're going to risk your life,
it should mean something.
You don't think I'm coming back, do you?
That-that's a possibility.
Yeah, I guess it is.
But I didn't join the SEALs to miss out on the action.
Vietnam is not a... a basketball game, Tom,
it's a war.
What's happened to you, Sam?
You used to be for the flag, apple pie, and the Fourth of July.
I still am.
I just don't want to see my brother die in a lost cause.
Sam, in BUDIS, they pushed us to the limit
and then beyond until we collapsed.
They did it to show us that we have our limits.
Now maybe that's what Vietnam is doing for America.
Showing us our limits.
That's not a lost cause.
Is it enough to die for?
Well, if it's not, how about duty?
I took an oath, Sam,
to do my duty to God and country.
I know that, Tom, but...
Besides,
I am not going to get killed in Nam.
You can't say that.
But you can say that I will?
The truth is, little brother,
neither of us can see into the future.
I can.
Can what?
See into the future.
You can, huh?
You're going to flush two birds up there.
Hit the first one, and miss the second.
How many times did you, uh, flush a brace of birds?
Uh, quite a few from that field.
And how many times did you miss the second bird?
More than I care to admit.
Sam's an extremely sensitive and imaginative young man
under a great deal of pressure.
Pressure? What... what kind of pressure?
He's only 16, John.
And with scholarship offers from how many colleges and universities?
About a dozen.
Has he made a choice?
Well, uh, he's narrowed it down to MIT and Caltech.
Although...
I think he's holdin' out
for a basketball scholarship from Indiana State.
No. I talked him out of that.
Why?
That professor from MIT told me Sam's got a brain
that comes along once in a generation.
I mean, uh, maybe even once in a couple of generations.
I don't want to see him waste it at Indiana State.
I went to pre-med at Indiana State.
I'm sorry, Doc. You know what I mean.
Okay, Tom, I understand.
Being on the Alumni committee, I had to protest a little.
Sam places a lot of store
in what his big brother says, doesn't he?
Hmm. I don't think so.
Oh, Tom.
Since Sam could walk,
he's followed Tom around like a puppy.
Maybe if I had a... a mind like Sam's,
I'd create a fantasy
to stop my big brother from going to Vietnam.
Then what he told Tom, he just made it all up.
Obviously so.
No one travels in time.
But he may not have done it consciously.
What are you sayin', Doc? Uh...
Are... are you saying that Sam's crazy?
John.
Thelma, what else can you call it?
He's not crazy, John.
He's troubled, and his mind has invented
a creative way of handling it.
It's a lot better than getting drunk,
or... or joyriding in a stolen car.
So what do we do, Doc?
We go along with him.
At least try to accept that he may believe
what he's telling you.
Then after some of the pressure's off,
he'll realize that this traveling through time
was nothing more than a wishful dream
to help him cope with his fears.
I hope this doesn't affect his, uh,
playing against Bentleyville.
"Bad" is good?
Yeah, for a while, that was the slang.
Far out.
Nobody says "far out" anymore.
They say...
uh, well, "awesome" for a while,
and then "radical," and...
"Awesome"?
Yeah. Oh, wow.
That's a lot better than "far out."
Awesome.
Oh, boy.
So what else can you tell me about the future?
Well, you're going to meet a boy
in a couple of years named Chuck.
Yuck! I could never go with a guy named Chuck.
You're going to elope with him.
Awesome.
Katey, there's a little problem.
Chuck has
a... a drinking problem.
Got it.
Don't go out with Chuck.
When I meet him.
You're just humoring me, aren't you?
Like Dad and Mom and Tom.
None of you really believe me.
Oh, my God.
If you really are from the future you know if he's dead.
Chuck?
Paul McCartney. The White Album.
If you play Revolution 9 backwards,
the Beatles are singing "Paul is dead."
No, Paul's not dead.
After the Beatles split up...
The Beatles split up?
Pretty soon, I think.
Oh, God.
Wait till I tell Elaine.
Paul forms this group called Wings.
And they come out with some great tunes.
And John?
What's John going to do? He's my favorite.
Uh, Katey,
John...
Don't tell her.
John is going to write my favorite song.
Your favorite song, in the future?
Yeah.
Well, sing it to me.
Or are you gonna use
that Swiss-cheese brain excuse you gave me
when I asked you who'd be my first boyfriend?
Katey, what is it?
I've never heard that before.
Of course not.
Lennon is not going to write it
for another couple of years.
No.
Sam.
Katey, what is it?
I don't want to believe you.
Why?
I don't want to believe you know the future.
Because if you do, Tom is gonna die.
Oh, Katey.
Katey.
I don't want my brother to die in Vietnam.
Hush, child. Hush.
He's not going to die.
What happened?
Sam told her Tom is going to die.
- I didn't... - Sam.
I told you to keep that to yourself.
Sam, tell them you made it up.
I can't.
Katey, come here.
I'm not going to die, okay? I'm not going to die.
Sam, you are not changing anything.
Your father still dies in '72.
Tom still gets killed in Vietnam
and Katey still marries Chuck.
You are not changing their future, Sam.
All you're doing is making their present miserable.
Okay.
I made it up.
I made it all up.
I made up everything
because I didn't want Tom to go to Vietnam.
Oh, Sam.
I'm sorry.
Let him go, Tom. He needs to be alone.
I know it hurts, Sam.
But you did the right thing.
I always do.
I always do the right thing, Al.
And what does it get me?
Why can I s-save strangers and not the people I love?
I don't know.
Well, I'm not gonna do it anymore, Al.
I'm not gonna do it.
You hear that?
Whoever you are, wherever you are,
I'm not doing it anymore.
I quit.
Sam!
Feel better?
No.
No, I don't feel better.
It's not fair, Al.
I mean, come on, it's not fair.
Well, I think, uh...
I think it's damn fair.
What?
I'd give anything
to see my father and my sister for a few days.
Be able to talk with them again.
Laugh with them.
Tell them how much I love them.
I'd give anything to have what you have, Sam.
Anything.
Dear Lord,
please see fit to protect and watch over our son Tom.
Amen.
Would you pass me those cranberries,
or are you going to sleep with them tonight?
Are you going to the dance with Lisa after the game?
Katey.
Hoo yah!
Hoo yah? What's hoo yah?
It's a yell we use in SEAL training.
Uh-uh. No.
That hook won't work against No Nose.
He's bigger than you are.
Try addin' a jump to it.
Did you have a good Thanksgiving, Sam?
The best.
What?
You're the best.
Thanks.
But, uh, I'm not eligible to play,
so learn to jump-hook.
It will impress the hell out of Lisa.
You know he's right, Sam.
A good jump hook can melt a woman's heart.
Ask Bill Walton.
Lisa's going to marry No Nose.
No Nose?
Never.
You're right, Sam.
She marries No Nose in about a year,
they have a couple of kids,
then, uh, oh, they get a divorce.
Listen, come here.
Stick your left arm in his face when you jump
to hold him off.
You gotta beat Bentleyville tomorrow.
You're my revenge, little brother.
Revenge?
Yeah, don't you remember?
No, not... not really.
No. Come on, in my face.
When I played for Elk Ridge,
Bentleyville was the only team we didn't beat.
Yeah, right.
Give me the ball.
Hey, Tom
how bad do you want this revenge?
What?
Would you be willing to trade for it?
Sam.
You little dork, don't you want to win?
Just give me one day.
A day?
The eighth of April.
The day Tom is killed.
How do I give you a day?
By doing what I ask.
Which is?
Find the deepest hole you can,
and crawl into it for 24 hours.
Oh, Sam.
Come on.
Don't... don't start this again.
He's right, Sam.
Look,
I'll win the game. I swear I will.
You just give me
April 8.
Oh, what the hell.
You beat Bentleyville tomorrow,
and on April 8,
I will crawl
into the deepest, thickest, concrete bunker in Vietnam.
All right?
Okay.
Hoo yah!
Defense! Defense! Not patty cakes, defense!
Patty Cake?
That's high five. That's called high five.
And why are you yelling "defense"?
You should put them into a press.
I feel like Dennis Hopper in Hoosiers.
Lucky shot, Sam. Lucky shot.
Go, Cougars, go!
Give him room, Sibby.
Breathe, Sam. Deep
and slow.
You just got the wind knocked out of you.
I'm gonna kill that No Nose.
Just keep your promise.
Okay. He's gonna be all right.
Just win the game, all right?
Attaboy, Sam.
You look a... a little shaky, Sam, you all right?
He got the wind knocked out of him, Mom.
Why the hell is he talking to himself?
I gotta win this game.
The game's over, jerk.
Hey, don't listen to senza beak there.
You got plenty of time.
Now all you have to do is remember
that free-throw shooting
is 80 percent mental concentration.
You just got to think positively.
You say to yourself,
"I'm not gonna miss this free throw.
I can't miss this free throw."
And all you have to do is concentrate,
you concentrate on taking this little bitty tiny ball
and put it in this great big hoop...
Why don't you go ahead and shoot?
Thank you.
All right, that's one.
Go, go, go!
You going to shoot or pose, wimp?
Go, Cougars!
So, we win by one.
You gonna freeze the ball, wimp?
Defense!
Defense! Defense! Defense!
You got 22 seconds, Sam.
Shoot it!
What are you waiting for?
Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!
Shoot!
Sam, shoot the ball.
Come on, shoot.
We're running out of time.
Bye, Dad.
Awesome!
You did it, Sam. You changed history.
You guys are going on to be State Champs.
Everything is working out just the way Ziggy predicted.
My brother! What about my brother Tom?
He's over there.
Sam.
Lisa doesn't marry No Nose.
She doesn't marry you either.
But at least she doesn't marry No Nose
and have a couple of bulldogs.
What about Tom?
Oh, it's coming up.
I'm sorry, Sam.
He's still killed in Vietnam.
Sam!
Hoo yah!
All right, little brother!
Tom!
Tom?
How'd you know they were there?
Oh, boy.