Quantum Leap

On the premiere episode of "Quantum Leap," Sam Beckett wakes up in 1956, disoriented, suffering from amnesia, but he has the awful realization that he does not belong there. He is Captain Hank Stratton, Air Force Pilot. He has a pregnant wife named Peg and a son named Mikey. When Sam goes up in the B-50 aircraft with Hank's best friend Capt. "Bird Dog" Birdell and Capt. Tony LaMott, they think he is joking when he insists he does not know how to fly. Part 1 of 2.

Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a brilliant scientist, takes part in the Quantum Leap experiment which lands him in 1956 as a test pilot. With the help of his holographic "Observer" (Dean Stockwell), Sam remembers the experiment and learns that his fate is to "quantum leap" back and forth in time with the hope of returning to his own present in the conclusion of the premiere episode written by series executive producer Donald P. Bellisario and directed by David Hemmings. Part 2 of 2.

Poised with chalk in hand, Sam is Dr. Gerald Bryant, an English Literature professor, who faces a classroom filled with ‘adoring’ mini-skirted college co-eds. The Observer informs Sam that he has become Bryant to steer Jamie Lee, who is hopelessly in love with him, back to her boyfriend Oscar, a football player from Ohio State University. Apparently, Dr. Bryant and Jamie Lee were married in a shotgun wedding that ruined their lives. However, Sam is solely interested in rekindling a relationship with Donna (guest star Teri Hatcher) -- the girl who left him at the altar.

Sam Beckett looks into the mirror and sees the face of "Kid Cody," a boxer who has won the majority of his 37 fights but bears scar tissue on his face and his soul. He learns from Sister Sarah and Sister Angela that his previous owner willed his contract to Saint Mary's Church. The good Sisters and Father Muldooney transform their bingo parlor into a workout room to prepare for Cody's upcoming championship fight. Sister Angela hopes that with the $20,000 winnings from Cody's match they will build a new chapel to help the poor.

Sam finds himself tending to a sick piglet, knee-deep in muck on the formidable 50,000 acre ranch known as Riata. He overhears Tess tell her father Chance McGill she will not marry any man who cannot keep up with her. Tess bets her father if any man she picks can keep up with her for one week -- she will marry him; if not, Chance will drop the word marriage altogether. She scans the ranch hands' faces, settling on handsome Wayne...but to everyone's surprise, chooses Doc/Sam whose name is actually Patrick Young.

Following a quantum leap, Sam is in a dusty attic and Teresa is telling Frankie he is a terrific lover. He tidies up his tuxedo and rejoins the wedding reception for Primo, Frankie's brother and Angela, the Godfather's daughter. Sam is treated like royalty despite the fact he does not understand or speak Italian. While his wife is busy with the reception, Don Geno wants his men to find out who is 'messing' with his girlfriend Teresa. Sam is even coaxed into singing 'Volare' and is relieved when the Observer/Albert prompts him with the lyrics. The Observer has little information on Frankie, except for the fact that he is a hit man and the son of Tony, a small-time Mafia hood who took a bullet meant for Geno.