ONE GIANT LEAP

How lee Harvey oswald inspired quantum leap

Many Quantum Leap episodes feature historical figures, but the memorable two-parter that opened Season 5 is unique. Sam leaps into JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, in a move inspired by a real-life meeting between showrunner Bellisario and the young Oswald while both were in the Marine Corps. In 1958, Staff Sergeant Bellisario visited friends at a base in Santa Ana. He found a loner – Oswald – sitting on the floor reading Pravda. “Communist Russia is the enemy, as bad as it can get, and this guy is reading Pravda.” Challenged, Oswald started spouting propaganda and Bellisario “almost went for him” when a friend grabbed him back, and claimed of Oswald, “He’s harmless”. Not so much, as it turned out. After Kennedy was shot, Bellisario recognised the assassin’s photo. He always believed Oswald was a lone gunman (the show rubbishes Oliver Stone’s JFK conspiracies), but even in fiction he couldn’t undo Oswald’s crime. So Sam doesn’t prevent the assassination of the President but he does “save” Jackie Kennedy, who we’re told would otherwise have died, for a happy-ish ending. helen o’hara