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The Worst Episodes of Quantum Leap

Every episode of Quantum Leap ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Quantum Leap!

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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

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Quantum Leap Season 3 Episode 16 - Southern Comforts
    4.8/10(5 votes)

    #1 - Southern Comforts

    S3:E16

    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.

    Director:Chris Ruppenthal
    Writer:Tommy Thompson

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  2. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 4 - What Price Gloria?
    5.0/10(13 votes)

    #2 - What Price Gloria?

    S2:E4

    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.

    Director:Alan J. Levi
    Writer:Deborah Pratt

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  3. Quantum Leap Season 4 Episode 12 - Running for Honor
    5.0/10(6 votes)

    #3 - Running for Honor

    S4:E12

    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.

    Director:Bob Hulme
    Writer:Bobby Duncan

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  4. Quantum Leap Season 3 Episode 14 - Private Dancer
    5.3/10(6 votes)

    #4 - Private Dancer

    S3:E14

    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.

    Director:Debbie Allen
    Writer:Paul Brown

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  5. Quantum Leap Season 5 Episode 5 - Killin' Time
    5.3/10(6 votes)

    #5 - Killin' Time

    S5:E5

    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.

    Director:Michael W. Watkins
    Writer:Tommy Thompson

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  6. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 17 - Good Night, Dear Heart
    5.5/10(11 votes)

    #6 - Good Night, Dear Heart

    S2:E17

    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.

    Director:Christopher T. Welch
    Writer:Paul Brown

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  7. Quantum Leap Season 4 Episode 11 - The Play's the Thing
    5.5/10(6 votes)

    #7 - The Play's the Thing

    S4:E11

    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.

    Director:Eric Laneuville
    Writer:Beverly Bridges

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  8. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 20 - Maybe Baby
    5.6/10(11 votes)

    #8 - Maybe Baby

    S2:E20

    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.

    Director:Michael Zinberg
    Writers:Paul Brown, Julie Brown

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  9. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 21 - Sea Bride
    6.2/10(8 votes)

    #9 - Sea Bride

    S2:E21

    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.

    Director:Joe Napolitano
    Writer:Deborah Pratt

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  10. Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 4 - How the Tess Was Won
    6.4/10(12 votes)

    #10 - How the Tess Was Won

    S1:E4

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

    Director:Ivan Dixon
    Writer:Deborah Arakelian

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  11. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 10 - Catch A Falling Star
    6.4/10(9 votes)

    #11 - Catch A Falling Star

    S2:E10

    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.

    Director:Donald P. Bellisario
    Writer:Paul Brown

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  12. Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 7 - Camikazi Kid
    6.6/10(14 votes)

    #12 - Camikazi Kid

    S1:E7

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

    Director:Alan J. Levi
    Writer:Paul Brown

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  13. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 6 - Good Morning, Peoria
    6.6/10(9 votes)

    #13 - Good Morning, Peoria

    S2:E6

    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.

    Director:Michael Zinberg
    Writers:Chris Ruppenthal, Michael Zinberg

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  14. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 11 - A Portrait for Troian
    6.6/10(9 votes)

    #14 - A Portrait for Troian

    S2:E11

    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.

    Director:Michael Zinberg
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 16 - Freedom
    6.6/10(9 votes)

    #15 - Freedom

    S2:E16

    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.

    Director:Alan J. Levi
    Writer:Chris Ruppenthal

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  16. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 12 - Animal Frat
    6.7/10(9 votes)

    #16 - Animal Frat

    S2:E12

    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.

    Director:Gilbert M. Shilton
    Writer:Chris Ruppenthal

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  17. Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 3 - The Right Hand of God
    6.8/10(12 votes)

    #17 - The Right Hand of God

    S1:E3

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

    Director:Gilbert M. Shilton
    Writer:John Hill

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  18. Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 8 - Play it Again, Seymour
    6.8/10(12 votes)

    #18 - Play it Again, Seymour

    S1:E8

    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.

    Director:Aaron Lipstadt
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 19 - Leaping in Without a Net
    6.8/10(9 votes)

    #19 - Leaping in Without a Net

    S2:E19

    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.

    Director:Christopher T. Welch
    Writer:Tommy Thompson

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  20. Quantum Leap Season 3 Episode 5 - The Boogieman
    6.8/10(4 votes)

    #20 - The Boogieman

    S3:E5

    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.

    Director:Joe Napolitano
    Writer:Chris Ruppenthal

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  21. Quantum Leap Season 1 Episode 5 - Double Identity
    6.9/10(12 votes)

    #21 - Double Identity

    S1:E5

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

    Director:Aaron Lipstadt
    Writer:Donald P. Bellisario

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  22. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 5 - Blind Faith
    6.9/10(9 votes)

    #22 - Blind Faith

    S2:E5

    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.

    Director:David G. Phinney
    Writer:Scott Shepherd

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  23. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 7 - Thou Shalt Not...
    6.9/10(9 votes)

    #23 - Thou Shalt Not...

    S2:E7

    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.

    Director:Randy Roberts
    Writer:Tammy Ader

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  24. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 14 - All-Americans
    6.9/10(10 votes)

    #24 - All-Americans

    S2:E14

    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.

    Director:John Cullum
    Writers:Donald P. Bellisario, Paul Brown

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  25. Quantum Leap Season 2 Episode 15 - Her Charm
    6.9/10(10 votes)

    #25 - Her Charm

    S2:E15

    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.

    Director:Christopher T. Welch
    Writers:Donald P. Bellisario, Deborah Pratt

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Southern Comforts" is the worst rated episode of "Quantum Leap". It scored 4.8/10 based on 5 votes. Directed by Chris Ruppenthal and written by Tommy Thompson, it aired on 4/3/1991. This episode scored 0.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "What Price Gloria?".