Why read this? Well, the show may have ended long ago (the early 90's, oooohhh), but it's five seasons still stand as some of the best television around. The series is episodic and for the most part you don't have to see more than one episode at a time to be connected to another (though the teasers at the end of each connect you to the next one sequentially). It's probably the greatest anthology series carried through by only two characters, neither of which are a host.
What if Sam Beckett had not stepped into the quantum accellerator and vanished, awaking to find himself facing mirror images that were not his own, leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping that each leap will be the leap home? Well, then ya wouldn't learn nuthin' wouldya?
Whether it was in the 50's or the 80's, as a man or a woman (yes, he even leaped into a pregnant woman once), Sam was given the challenge, unwanted though it may have been, to upright the crooked nature of a life somehow gone awry. With his brain "swiss-cheesed" at each leap, he must piece together his new situation quickly and adjust before trouble strikes. He's basically the unknown angel, aided with friendship and vital information from the future by his "spiritual guide" Al.
Each episode features a real human problem that can usually be solved and have the future be altered for the better. Humanity is in the people all around us, but also in the eyes that gaze right back through our reflections. The phrase "walk a mile in another's shoes" is all the more real here. By stepping into the shoes of another (and living within their physical being as well), Sam has undertaken what we all cannot truly do: live life as someone else for a short time, learning and giving through that experience. I'm all for a good hero with the power to make an impact in the lives of others, and in his journey though time, Sam Beckett becomes the truest form of hero.
If you've never seen this show, or have never sat and given it your full attention, then may you leap at your next chance to do so.
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