Kansas Alumni Magazine (Kansas University)

Research by Layla (and her minion ;-) )

Scott Bakula would be the last person to call on Sam Beckett for help.

Sam, played by Scott Bakula, is the affable hero of NBC's quirky "Quantum Leap." A scientist trapped in a botched time-travel experiment, he bounds back and forth from the 1950's through the 1970's, landing inside an amazing array of characters: middle-aged black man, mother of a sulky teenager, a retarded young man. With each thud into a new year, Sam sighs and mutters, "Oh boy."

Sam and his shifty partner, Al, successfully redirect lives that have veered off course. They prevent bad decisions, mend torn relationships, even save lives.

Bakula, [class of] '79, himself once faced a bit of a fix. Leap back to 1975, and you'll see that things looked shaky for our hero.

He has left KU after two years to perform in a national tour of "Godspell." But the tour falls through, and Bakula, a former business major, bides his time for a year in his hometown, St. Louis. Returning to school does not appeal. ("I remember my first day of accounting, when the teacher said he was out to flunk everyone," he now says. "I think that sparked my doubts about continuing.")

So Bakula, who for years has studied piano and voice, forgets about one day following his father into law practice. In 1976, he forsakes security and moves to New York City to become an actor.

Should Sam and Al step in?

Hardly, after only a week, Bakula lands a role in a dinner-theater production of "Shenandoah." Soon after he appears on Broadway as Joe DiMaggio in "Marilyn: An American Fable." The show fizzles, but the high of performing on a fabled stage lingers. Bakula wants another chance.

After a string of off-Broadway productions, he gets a second shot in "Romance/Romance." In 1988, he is nominated for a Tony Award.

Meanwhile, Bakula has read a script for "Quantum Leap," created by Donald Bellisario, the brains behind "Magnum P.I." Bakula wants to be Sam Beckett. "I love this idea," he thinks. "Even if it turns out to be only a two-hour movie of the week, it would be great."

This Spring, NBC renews "Quantum Leap" for a fourth season. Bakula is nominated for an Emmy. And the series that once faired poorly in the ratings wins its Wednesday time slot.

Bakula revels in Sam's escapades. Recent leaps land him in all kinds of trouble: He withstands pregnancy, the electric chair, a stay in a mental institution and a stint in all-star wrestling.

Coaching him through these ordeals is Al. Played by Dean Stockwell, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in "Married to the Mob," Al appears as a hologram whose sidelong glances, wry asides and bad behavior are seen only by Sam.

During Summer Reruns, Bakula will film a feature, "Necessary Roughness," the story of a former high-school football star who begins his college career at age 35, playing for a school that must start over after suffering the NCAA death penalty.

Next fall, he'll return to "Quantum Leap," where, along with stories on the homeless and environment, more lighthearted adventures await.

"I want to be a baby," Bakula says. "There's talk of that for next year. And I'll probably be an animal – a dog."

Oh boy.