Every season of Quantum Leap ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Quantum Leap!

September 13, 1956: Sam Beckett wakes up in 1956, disoriented, suffering from amnesia, but he has the awful realization that he does not belong there...

Genesis (1)

September 13, 1956: After Tom Stratton comforts his wife and prevents her from having a premature birth, instead of leaping to save his wife and child. He instead realizes that instead of leaping home, he's lept into Ken Fox, a minor league baseball player in Texas at the end of the 1968 season, in the middle of a game, where he must make the winning play in order to leap further. Ken Fox makes a home-run, and Sam leaps into Dr. Gerald Bryant as a school teacher in the middle of a class.

Genesis (2)

June 15, 1972: Sam leaps into the persona of a womanizing college professor in 1972, encounters his lost love and attempts to reshape the past

Star-Crossed

October 24, 1974: Sam lands in 1974 as a young boxer caught between fight-fixing gangsters and hopeful nuns who now own his contract.

The Right Hand of God

August 5, 1956: Sam finds himself on a Texas ranch in 1956 as a submissive veterinarian in love with a tough rancher.

How the Tess Was Won

November 8, 1965: Sam becomes a hit man in 1965 whose romance with the godfather's girlfriend places him in danger.

Double Identity

August 8, 1955: Sam experiences racism firsthand when he leaps into the body of an elderly black man in the pre-civil rights South of 1955.

The Color of Truth

June 6, 1961: Sam leaps into the life of a teen-age hot-rodder who must stop his sister from marrying a wealthy bully.

Camikazi Kid

April 14, 1953: With looks that could double for Humphrey Bogart, Sam is Nick Allen, a private investigator looking for the murderer of his partner and, if he doesn't find the answer in time, himself. The case is solved with a number of Casablanca references as Sam launches a new pulp novelist along the way.

Play it Again, Seymour

April 27, 1960: As Tom McBride, a New York City cop on his honeymoon, Sam must save himself from a jealous, and sociopath, ex-husband. To make matters worse, the Project's funding will be cut off, stranding Sam alone in the past, unless he can prevent the U2 flight from being shot down over Russia.

Honeymoon Express

April 1, 1976: As a stuntman, Sam is to save the life of his younger brother, while trying to convince the pair's obsessive father to let the younger son go his own way, even if it means going into country-western music, rather than following the family tradition of stunt work.

Disco Inferno

August 4, 1953: As a sailor returning from Japan, Sam brings a foreign wife to a small town. He then has to fight against the prejudice of both a scheming ex-girlfriend, as well as his mother, in order to gain acceptance of his new bride.

The Americanization of Machiko

October 16, 1961: Sam is shocked when he learns he's leaped into a woman, Samantha Stormer. As a gorgeous secretary for an automobile company, Sam has to cope with sexual harassment by the boss, a suicide attempt by a roommate, and the effect his looks have on Al's lecherous tendencies.

What Price Gloria?

February 6, 1964: Although the concert pianist he leaps into is blind, a fact, which bothers his girlfriend's disapproving mother, Sam can still see. At least until an exploding flashbulb blinds him at the crucial moment: when he must rescue his girlfriend from a serial killer.

Blind Faith

September 9, 1959: Rock 'n' roll is about to become big, but not in Peoria. That is, unless Sam, as DJ Howlin' Chick Howell, can manage to keep the radio station where he's employed from being shut down by overly conservative town elders.

Good Morning, Peoria

February 2, 1974: Sam's task as a rabbi is to keep his sister-in-law from falling for a sleazy author and ruining her life. In the process he also helps the family recover from the year-old death of their son.

Thou Shalt Not...

October 14, 1964: Since mainstreaming the mentally disabled is not yet a popular concept, Sam must help Jimmy LaMotta, the "slow" young man he's leaped into, get a job and gain his co-workers' acceptance, to prevent his brother from returning Jimmy to the institution.

Jimmy

July 29, 1957: Though he can't remember much more than habeas corpus, Sam finds himself the defense attorney for a young black woman accused of murdering the son of the most powerful man in a small Louisiana town.

So Help Me God

May 21, 1979: Sam leaps into Ray Hutton, the understudy for the role of Cervantes just seconds before curtain time. His mission: prevent the drunken star from falling and seriously injuring himself during a benefit performance of "Man of La Mancha." Sam isn't helped by the presence of his former piano teacher, on whom he once had a crush, and who now appears to have caught the star's eye as well.

Catch A Falling Star

February 7, 1971: Sam leaps into a renowned parapsychologist where he must prevent a young widow from joining her husband at the bottom of a lake, while proving that she's not crazy, despite her claims of hearing her dead husband calling to her.

A Portrait for Troian

October 19, 1967: Trapped in the body of Knut Wileton, better known as "Wild Thing," the typical frat jock, Sam must win the confidence of an attractive campus radical before she bombs the college's chemistry building as a protest against the war in Vietnam.

Animal Frat

September 30, 1981: As a divorced mother of three, Sam's job of preventing his teenage son from running away, never to be seen again, is made more interesting by the fact that his youngest daughter can see both him and Al.

Another Mother

November 6, 1962: Keeping his best friend from throwing the high school championship football game, costing both of them their scholarship offers, Sam must also get their families to consolidate.

All-Americans

September 26, 1973: Protecting a female member of the witness protection program from a mafia hitman proves difficult for Sam, since the FBI appears to have an informant confounding his attempts to hide her.

Her Charm

November 22, 1970: Rather than saving his grandfather's life, Sam has to escape from jail and elude the police long enough to get them both to the reservation, where the old man can die in peace, at home.

Freedom

November 9, 1957: Rather than saving the damsel of the episode, who supposedly committed suicide, Sam is the coroner trying to prove that she was murdered, and find out by whom.

Good Night, Dear Heart

September 4, 1954: In order to help his granddaughter save a small bar from the slimy loan shark holding a note on the place, Sam has to play pool like a pro...with a little help from Al and Ziggy.

Pool Hall Blues

November 18, 1958: Sam remembers he's afraid of heights when he leaps into a trapeze artist, whose sister wants him to catch her as she does a triple without a net. Dad is less than pleased, since his wife died a few years earlier while attempting the same stunt.

Leaping in Without a Net

March 11, 1963: Babysitting a kidnapped tot and a flaky, compulsively lying stripper keeps Sam busy as they cross Texas, on the run from the legal father and a squad of cops.

Maybe Baby

June 3, 1954: Aboard an ocean liner, Sam must stop the marriage of a young man's ex-wife to a mobster. In the process, he finds himself in one heck of a mess in the ship's garbage compartment.

Sea Bride

April 1, 1969: When Sam leaps into the life of an undercover cop, Al explains that his mission is to convince a navy nurse that her MIA husband is still alive, and to prevent her from marrying a lawyer she meets on the day Sam leaps in. But a series of coincidences causes Sam to wonder about the true nature of his mission.

M.I.A.

November 25, 1969: As himself at the age of 16, Sam has the opportunity to both win the high school basketball championship and save his family from their sad fates.

The Leap Home (1)

April 7, 1970: As a Navy SEAL in his own brother's squad, Sam must determine whether he is there to save Tom's life or ensure the success of the mission on which his brother was killed. Also Al from 1970 was a P.O.W.

The Leap Home (2): Vietnam

August 19, 1963: Sam finds himself in one holy mess as a priest in Philadelphia, trying to help an alcoholic priest deal with a killer and the death of a young parishioner.

Leap of Faith

June 15, 1965: Sam is a photographer who must protect a fashion model from a growing dependency on amphetamines and a predatory manager's ambitions.

One Strobe Over the Line

October 31, 1964: Things do more than go bump in the night when Sam leaps into Joshua Raye, a horror novelist on Halloween. Although Ziggy claims he's there to prevent the death of a church deacon, things get even stranger when two more people die without warning.

The Boogieman

June 7, 1958: As Darlene Monte, a contestant in the "Miss Deep South" beauty pageant, Sam must come to the aid of an innocent contender who faces disgrace when she poses for naughty pictures taken by a sleazy pageant photographer. As if things weren't bad enough, Sam must ensure that Darlene finishes third, so that she'll go on to become a doctor.

Miss Deep South

August 11, 1965: Sam leaps into a black med. student engaged to a white woman in order to ensure that he and his fiancée survive the Watts Riot together.

Black on White on Fire

May 9, 1974: Leaping into magician Harry Spontini, Sam has to prevent his estranged wife from taking their daughter away from him as she files for divorce, so she can marry her sleazy divorce attorney.

The Great Spontini

September 1, 1958: As "Bones," a member of a motorcycle gang, Sam is an uneasy rider who has to prevent a Jack Kerouac-inspired young woman from meeting her death on the road.

Rebel without a Clue

December 24, 1962: On Christmas Eve, Sam leap into Reginald Pierson, valet to a wealthy contractor, who is in danger of losing his soul in an attempt to demolish a Salvation Army mission, so he can build his "Blake's Plaza." Seeing a similarity to the Dickens's character, Sam and Al decide to "Scrooge" the greed out of the man.

A Little Miracle

July 4, 1964: On a cross-country car trip, Sam, as 13-year-old Butchie, must contend with a sadistic older sister and a mother on the verge of running away from an unfulfilling marriage, in search of the feminine mystique.

Runaway

November 15, 1955: Billie Jean Crockett is a pregnant teenager who will make the second biggest mistake of her life - giving her baby up for adoption - unless Sam, as Billie Jean, can convince someone to help her raise her child... before he goes into labor himself

8½ Months

October 6, 1957: Sam leaps Kenny Sharp, better known as "Future Boy," sidekick to Moe Stein, host of the kid's show, "Time Patrol," who also happens to be building a time machine in his basement. Unless Sam can prevent Moe's daughter from attempting to have her father committed, Moe is destined to be killed as he tries to hop a freight train.

Future Boy

October 6, 1979: An aspiring dancer working as a waitress in a strip club is in danger of being led into a life of prostitution unless Sam, as "Rod the Bod," can convince her to audition for a spot in a professional dance group. But, since she's deaf, the choreographer doesn't believe she has the time to give the young lady the attention she'll need.

Private Dancer

November 10, 1985: Joey Dinardo is a lounge lizard on the run from mob hitmen. When Sam leaps in, his ex-girlfriend, and former musical partner have found him, and now both are on a run for their lives from a killer who seems to know their every move.

Piano Man

August 4, 1961: It's the best little cathouse in New Orleans. No, it's the Gilbert Labonte Sewin' & Quiltin' Academy. As the proprietor of this worthy establishment, Sam must prevent the mysterious death of a resident who doesn't belong there.

Southern Comforts

April 12, 1974: Sam is a glitter rock star in danger of being stabbed to death after a performance, unless Sam can determine who, from a growing list of people, the real killer is.

Glitter Rock

June 18, 1976: It's the leap from hell as Sam, a bounty hunter handcuffed to a wily embezzler who will stop at nothing to get away from him, has to deal with his captive, as well as his attraction towards her, despite her countless attacks on him.

A Hunting We Will Go

May 12, 1971: "Just think of someplace far away" is the advice Sam hears as he leaps into Jesus Ortega, a Cuban-American being strapped into an electric chair. A last second stay of execution gives Sam just forty-eight hours to either prove himself innocent or fulfill his mission so that he can leap before the Big Switch is pulled

Last Dance Before an Execution

July 23, 1955: The heart of a champion belongs to Ronnie, a professional wrestler, who will die if he competes in the title match. Sam, as his brother and new partner Terry, must convince him of his hidden health problem, while avoiding his own health problem - the jealous wrestler-husband of a woman who has taken an amorous interest in Sam.

Heart of a Champion

October 26, 1962: Sam finds himself the brother of a fallout shelter salesman during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where he must defuse a potentially explosive situation as panic sets in on the night of John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation.

Nuclear Family

October 3, 1954: Leaping into Sam Bederman, a mental patient who is suffering from acute depression, Sam receives an overloaded electroshock treatment, which causes his Swiss-cheesed memory to be replaced by personas from previous leaps. Al, finding himself visible to the mentally absent, must try to complete Sam's mission, and convince him to take another shock treatment, in order to leap Sam out before contact is lost forever.

Shock Theater

June 15, 1945: Struck by lightning, Sam and Al find their roles reversed, as Sam returns to the future, and to a long-lost love, while Al leaps back to 1945 to prevent the death of a returning World War II hero and his former girl friend.

The Leap Back

August 6, 1961: A pitcher on a minor league baseball team, Sam must decide if he's there to help a fellow team member, get his host back into the major leagues, or baby-sit the porcine team mascot, all while resisting the amorous advances of the women in his life.

Play Ball

August 17, 1969: Sam meets Camille, and possibly a killer, when he leaps into a deputy sheriff in a small Mississippi town, lying in the path of a deadly hurricane.

Hurricane

May 11, 1965: Sam must don the robe of a Ku Klux Klansman in order to save the life of an ambitious young civil rights leader, who is trying to register black voters.

Justice

June 2, 1983: Sam leaps into Frank Bianca, a hairstylist in leather pants, to prevent the death of a young murder witness and his mother.

Permanent Wave

June 20, 1980: It's up to Sam to try to bring a rapist to justice when he leaps into the perp's victim, a young woman who may have been unwilling to press charges against the young man - the son of the pillar of the community.

Raped

January 24, 1961: The fates make a monkey out of Sam when he leaps into Bobo, an astro-chimp who must avoid succumbing to the experiments of an Air Force neurologist.

The Wrong Stuff

February 28, 1979: It's more like a nightmare when Sam leaps into a detective, investigating a gruesome murder. He may be next if he doesn't find out who eviscerated the victim and his only hope is the victim's catatonic son and her husband's psychiatrist. The horrific flashbacks he's experiencing don't help matters much either.

Dreams

September 7, 1953: A devastating drought will be the ruin of a small town unless Sam, as Billy Beaumont, "purveyor of precipitation and maker of rain," can find a way to make it rain, while keeping his family together in the process.

A Single Drop of Rain

November 2, 1956: Sam and a fellow convict named Boone are the defiant ones when Sam has to rescue his companion from a fifteen-year sentence on a chain gang.

Unchained

September 9, 1969: May meets December when Sam leaps into a young actor in love with an older woman, who is also an aspiring singer. If he can't boost her confidence and help her get her career on track, she will face a "fate worse than death," returning with her son to Cleveland.

The Play's the Thing

June 11, 1964: As a track star in a Navy college, Sam must prevent the death of his ex- roommate, who was expelled because he was gay, and who is slated to die at the hands of a group of bigoted cadets.

Running for Honor

February 1, 1985: A serial killer stalks San Francisco while Sam as Dillion Powell, a TV reporter, protects a beautiful psychic who's working on the case, from becoming the next victim. The young lady is very clear of sight, as Sam and Al soon discover.

Temptation Eyes

November 28, 1957: Sam finds himself in the life of Tyler Meanes, a teller of tall tales who faces death at the hand of an old friend in a shootout at high noon.

The Last Gunfighter

April 7, 1963: As a backup singer in a black, amateur girl group Sam finds between the fifteen year-old lead singer and her father as he attempts to rescue the girl from a sleazy night club owner's clutches.

A Song for the Soul

August 13, 1956: Flying over the Bermuda Triangle, Sam, as the co-pilot, must prevent the flight from returning to Virginia, to get a seriously ill passenger to a doctor before she dies. Flying through the triangle is riskier than it seems, and Sam, deprived of Al's help when the hologram fades out, must get them through alive.

Ghost Ship

January 27, 1982: Sam, as "Roberto!" is a tabloid talk show host a la Geraldo who, with an asthmatic rival and co-worker, tries to uncover a mystery at a local chemical plant, a mystery, which may prove to be deadly for his co-worker.

Roberto!

May 10, 1958: Sam finds himself behind the wheel of a New York taxicab, in the life of Max Greenman, a driver striving to win his own tag, a license to drive his own cab. His mission is aided with the help of a woman who claims to be a guardian angel.

It's A Wonderful Leap

May 4, 1985: Sam is a soap opera heart surgeon and the obsession of a love-struck, if somewhat deranged fan. He must escape from the woman and her husband who kidnap him for reproductive purposes

Moments to Live

March 2, 1957: It's almost as though Sam were on vacation when, as Egyptologist Dale Conway, he gets to read hieroglyphics, search lost tombs, and, of course, visit Egypt. But between an encroaching sandstorm, computer glitches back at the Project, the suspicious deaths of the guides, and a 3000-year-old curse to round things off, Sam has very little time to play in the sand.

The Curse of Ptah-Hotep

April 30, 1959: Sam, as the singing half of a comedy team, soon finds that trying to convince two people that they're truly in love is no laughing matter, especially when one of them is the object of a sleazy casino owner's desire.

Stand Up

June 25, 1957: Sam leaps into Al Calavicci to prevent the death of his married lover. But when Sam accidentally alters history, and finds out too late about her untimely demise, it could mean the gas chamber for Al and disturbingly a whole new situation at Project Quantum Leap.

A Leap for Lisa

October 5, 1957 - November 22, 1963: As a result of leaping again before he had a chance to complete his original mission, Sam finds himself leaping back and forth through the life of Lee Harvey Oswald. Following the sole assassin theory, Sam and Al attempt to prevent Oswald's attack on John F. Kennedy. But, with each leap giving Oswald more control over Sam's body, history seems doomed to repeat itself.

Lee Harvey Oswald (1)

Lee Harvey Oswald (2)

September 27, 1956: It's Robinson Crusoe with a twist when Sam leaps into a Greek sailor stranded on a deserted island with a beautiful young rich woman who appears to be less than fond of both him and their stranded situation.

Leaping of the Shrew

August 10, 1968: As a Marine captain whose legs were amputated after a mishap in Vietnam, Sam finds himself in a veteran's hospital, where he must prevent the suicide of a fellow patient who would rather be dead than face life paralyzed from the neck down. Making matters worse, his wife seems incapable of accepting the fact that she and Sam's host can still lead a normal life, in spite of his condition.

Nowhere to Run

June 18, 1958: Sam leaps into a tricky situation as an escaped killer holed up in a house with a mother and daughter as hostages. Escape isn't going to be easy for either Sam or his hostages, when the real killer breaks out of the waiting room, stranding Sam in the past, destined to die at the hands of a vengeful sheriff.

Killin' Time

May 21, 1966: Sam leaps into a 79-year-old man whose son wants to have him committed when he claims to have seen UFO's. Sam is kept busy as he tries to keep the family together, prevent the future drug overdose of "his" grandson, and avoid the sinister plans of the military, all before the next anticipated UFO sighting.

Star Light, Star Bright

March 19, 1966: Things are already on there way downhill when Sam leaps back into Jimmy LaMotta. Despite Sam's inaction, history continues to change for the worst. The cause is unknown until Sam discovers another time traveler on the scene, one who's determined to destroy Jimmy's family, as well as Sam.

Deliver Us from Evil

August 8, 1955: A pair of unsolved murders marks just the tip of the iceberg when Sam leaps into a sheriff in a small Louisiana town. Rumors of a history of family insanity, the suspicions surrounding his daughter Abigail's involvement in the murders, and ghostly visions of his institutionalized wife just make matters worse.

Trilogy (1)

June 14, 1966: Finding himself back in the same small Louisiana town, in the arms of Abigail, now twenty-one, Sam must prevent an angry crowd of townspeople from lynching his fiancée, following the disappearance of a young boy whom she had been babysitting.

Trilogy (2)

July 28, 1978: Sam is an aging lawyer, recruited by Abigail, now thirty-three, to defend her when she is put on trial for the murder of Leta Aider, the woman whose daughter Abigail was accused of killing almost twenty-five years earlier.

Trilogy (3)

December 22, 1971: Sam leaps back to Elk Ridge, Indiana to help save the lives of the Walters boys as they try to save their farm from a banker with designs on getting rich from foreclosure.

Promised Land

February 25, 1958: As a horse-playing, traveling brush salesman, Sam finds himself with two wives and two families. Although Ziggy predicts that Sam's mission is to choose between the two lives, the choice is made more difficult by the fact that there's only a 50/50 chance that he'll choose the right one. As if things weren't bad enough, Sam finds that his penniless host owes a pair of bookies some big bucks.

A Tale of Two Sweeties

October 16, 1968: Leaping into a housewife and mother of two on the verge of women's lib, Sam must prevent the death of his daughter during a sit in, while convincing the girl's father that his marriage can survive a liberated wife and daughter.

Liberation

April 25, 1985: While Sam is in 1985, running her radio talk show, playing matchmaker to her producers, and trying to help a young secretary who's being sexually harassed by her boss, Dr. Ruth Westheimer spends her time in the Waiting Room, counseling Al on his feelings towards his five wives, as well as his relationship with Tina.

Dr. Ruth

March 10, 1975: As an eccentric, possibly vampiric, artist just outside of London, Sam must bear with Al's superstitions, while trying to prevent the death of his host's young wife, at the hands of a couple who are taking a sacrificial ceremony in honor of the "blood moon."

Blood Moon

October 8, 1956: As Arnold Watkins, better known as The Midnight Marauder, Sam has to persuade a fraternity to stop using chicken races as a part of their hazing ceremonies, while Al tries to convince Arnold to stop trying to get himself killed in retaliation for his parents' deaths twelve years earlier. When Alia, the evil leaper, appears on the scene, Sam becomes determined to take her with him when he leaps.

Return of the Evil Leaper (1)

September 16, 1987: Having simu-leaped, both Sam and Alia find themselves trapped in a women's prison, accused of murdering a fellow inmate. Their efforts to unmask the real killer are not their top priority as the two attempt to keep Alia's location hidden from her observer, Zoey, who leaps into the same place and time, determined to make Alia pay for her betrayal.

Revenge of the Evil Leaper (2)

April 4, 1960: As chauffeur to Marilyn Monroe, Sam must try to prevent Marilyn's tragic death. But when a well-meaning plan backfires, it could mean the end of Marilyn's career, even if her life is saved.

Goodbye Norma Jean

November 6, 1972: Sam leaps into Henry Adams, one of a trio of friends who fought in Vietnam and came home each with their own personal scars and the memory of a lost buddy. He has to save the life of a friend, Roy, as well as of a young boy, Daniel, who ventures into the woods of Washington looking for proof of Bigfoot.

The Beast Within

September 20, 1862: In a bizarre twist of a genetic coil, Sam leaps into his great-grandfather, Captain John Beckett, during the Civil War. He must not interfere with his ancestor's romance with a riled southern belle named Olivia. He must also avoid being hanged as a Yankee dog by some home guard Confederate soldiers.

The Leap Between the States

July 3, 1954: Sam swivels his hips into Elvis Presley, mere days before he is discovered. Along with making sure that Elvis does become the King, Sam must help Sue Anne, a local songbird, from being trapped in a not-so-gilded cage of marriage.

Memphis Melody

August 8, 1953: Sam lands in a not-so-ordinary bar in a coal-mining town, where strange things are happening and familiar people don't know him. With the help of another Al, he still has something to set right ... or is there more than one thing he needs to change?

Mirror Image

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.

The Best Seasons of Quantum Leap

The Best Seasons of Quantum Leap

Season 3

Season 1

Season 2

Season 4

Season 5