The Imaging Chamber

Zine
Title:	The Imaging Chamber
Publisher:	Monte Cristo - Amethyst Press (Be True to Your Press)
Editor(s):	Kitty Woldow
Type:	letterzine
Date(s):	October 1989-May 1993
Frequency:	quarterly
Medium:	print
Size:	digest sized
Fandom:	Quantum Leap
Language:	English
External Links:	flyer, click to read
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Imaging Chamber is a quarterly letterzine that has 11 issues. It was the first fan-produced Quantum Leap publication.

Summaries

In an ad in the back of issue #2 of Quantum Quarterly: "The first Quantum Leap "zine" to hit fandom was a letterzine (discussion and in-depth analysis of the show by fans) called "The Imaging Chamber." This digest size zine is up to issue #4 and includes letters, photos and information."

From Quantum Quarterly #3: "Published on an irregular schedule for no particular reason by Monte Cristo - Amethyst Press, which is just a fancy name for Kitty Woldow."

From July 1993 GAZ: "The first, the biggest, and the best, this letterzine devoted entirely to Leapers comes out approximately quarterly. Each issue contains mostly letters, but may also feature reviews of other QL zines on the market, articles, transcripts of panels or interviews with QL personalities, and other stuff."

Topics Discussed

• discussing episodes in great deal (by far the biggest topic)
• detailed discussion of time travel
• much discussion of smarm, a term Kitty Woldow (the editor) popularized
• the nature of the leaps: was it is his body, his mind, his aura that leaped?
• was God involved?
• fan behavior towards the stars, good fans and bad fans
• fan campaigns of various sorts
• an event called Leap Week in which NBC re-aired an episode each night, therefore growing their audience
• descriptions of "Quantum Leap" Screening for Fans (1991)
• how NICE Stockwell and Bakula were
• the appeal, or lack thereof, of crossover fanfic
• there was some discussion of fan fiction and zines, including zine reviews
• was Sam Beckett sexually repressed?
• did Al secretly dislike and not trust females?
• would Sam leap into a baby or a horse or a dog?
• the subject of slash was briefly mentioned, and always very much denigrated and reviled
• Sam leaping into a gay man or gay woman was discussed; some fans thought this would be okay as long as nothing sexual was portrayed
• many comments about Donald P. Ballisario (Don, DPB)
• the "Donna problem"
• fans loved it when Sam portrayed women and wore dresses
• network censorship of an episode in the fourth season that portrayed a gay character
• Dean Stockwell's star at the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• The episodes "Shock Theater" (highly regarded) and "The Leap Home" (troublesome because of certain plot points, and breaching trust between the show and fans, and trust between Sam and Al)
• declining fan support for the show

Two Disclaimers

From issue #6:

Lawyerspeak disclaimer: "The Imaging Chamber" is a non-profit publication published by and for fans of QL, who are solely responsible for its content. The copyright in the series QUANTUM LEAP and its components is owned by Universal City Studios, Inc., which reserves all rights therein. This publication does not intend to infringe upon said copyright, nor any copyright owned Belisarius Productions, Universal Television, Universal Pictures, Universal City Studios, Inc, or National Broadcasting Company, Inc., none of which has any responsibility for this publication. All rights in any contribution to this publication other than the right of first publication herein revert to the contributor following publication herein.

Fanspeak translation: This zine is done for fun by us and has no official status anywhere, but as long as we don't bother the production company too much the lawyers will leave us alone, and doesn't that beat a cease-and-desist order all to hell?

From issue #9:

[the identical "Lawyerspeak disclaimer" paragraph from issue #6]

Periodspeak translation: So that it may please the fans of QL, this letterzine is presented without hope of profit to the editor. It doth have no claim to the rights owned by any others named here nor any whose names are not known unto us, lest they might take offense at such presumption. Shouldst thou so desire, thy rights to thine contribution do return unto thee once this humble publication has had the honor to present them to to the public.

Regarding Editor's Interjections in Fan Letters

Editors, by nature of the job, had a first-hand preview to fans' comments before anyone else.

Editors of letterzines had to decide what, if any, their own comments to their letterzine would look like.

Some editors chose to add their own letter of comment along with other fans and made no distinction between themselves and other fans.

Some editors added their own comments imbedded in others' letters as if it were a direct conversation. Many fans did not mind this, but others did and cited the unfair privilege that editors had regarding prior information and that they had "the last word." With issues of letterzines at least a month, if not three, and sometimes four times a year, fans were well aware that their opportunity to respond was a long way in the future.

When editors chose this latter option, their interjected comments ranged from the very brief and somewhat innocuous (a quick agreement, a brief correction, a quick answer to a question). But some of these interjections were very long, very opinionated, and were basically letters unto themselves.

Woldow, the editor of "The Imaging Chamber" made a choice in the beginning to interject often and with length and strong opinion. She referred to these comments as "interstitial commentary." She did, however, offer fans the opportunity to ask her not to add her comments to their letters directly. From the first issue: " If you have strong objections to my style of jumping in midstream to reply, put a note on your LoC and I'll keep out of the body of it." Since this was not stated on each letter in a public way, it was impossible to know if a lack of Woldow's comments to a letter meant that the fan had requested she not due so, or if Woldow simply didn't find anything of interest in their contribution.

In all eleven issues, only one fan expressed her displeasure at Woldow's "interstitial commentary." That fan did not send in another letter.

From a fan, Kate Nuernberg, in issue #3:

I appreciate Kitty’s willingness not to break into letters with her comments if you don’t want her to. This is a pet peeve of mine from way back, and other letterzines especially. As the editor of a l/z myself, one the hardest things I have to do is not to break into people's letters with comments of my own. Unless they ask a specific question that requires information, I will not do it. If a particular point is being discussed. It seems as if the editor has "the last word" and we are left with her opinion with no chance at that point for rebuttal or further discussion. And it makes me, the reader, feel as if I'm eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. I prefer to remain on the same standing with the other readers.

[Woldow]: I respect your view, and have read other l/z's that also had a hands-off policy. The problem I find with them is that they end up being dull: an unconnected series of comments that's a lot like reading some stranger's mail. If there's an editorial presence throughout the zine, I feel it gives the whole thing some continuity, and having two sides of some subjects presented side-by-side makes the topic more three dimensional. I do like having the last word in each issue, I consider that one of the perks that makes the endless typing and other headaches of printing worth the effort, but anyone is welcome to jump in and reply to me next round. Since I don't write a LoC outside of the opening remarks, I consider my replies within the other letters to be the equivalent, since all I'm really doing is spreading my input out to the locations where its relevant, rather than making you hop pages to see what I mean when I refer to something somebody else said.

A fan in issue #4 responded:

Kitty, I also prefer editors who comment within letters. I like the give and take of two opinions which makes the letterzine seem more like a conversation between two friends. I quit subscribing to one l/z after the editor quit making comments (due to lack of time, not from complaints), because it got extremely dull.) A good editor, especially if somewhat humorous, can really liven up a l/z. I suppose there are editors out there who have used their space to frequently contradict or talk down to the letter-writer and then I would be angry, but fortunately I've never seen it.

From Woldow in issue #6:

Repetition is the reason my interstitial commentary is steadily decreasing. With so many contributors to each issue, usually a question or point raised in one letter is answered or considered from a different angle in another concurrent letter. I'm not giving up my prerogative of interjecting remarks, but since I don't want to say the same thing too many times, I may answer a certain issue in one letter and not another. This explanation is an attempt to prevent any feelings of persecution on the part of those to whom I do reply, or fear of rejection by those whose letter brings up the same point but gets no apparent attention from me. The order in which I review, format, make spelling corrections, and add my observations to your letters is not based on any system at all; I don’t go by date of original writing or arrival here, alphabetically, or even by how well I know the author personally. Consequently, when the final printing file is assembled, often a comment will show up ahead of one I made earlier in time, and those of you who read from cover to cover may end up wondering about the incredible confusion of my mental processes. No, I do not intend to change my method, but I wanted to let you all know that if things sound out of sequence occasionally you're not imagining it, they are.

Extensive Computer Submission and Readability Guidelines

From issue #10 in 1992:

Computer Compatibility Specifications for Submissions to "The Imaging Chamber"

Disks should be mailed in some form of protective sleeve to minimize chances of damage. Mailers specifically designed for disks are available in most office supply stores. The disk and mailer will be returned to you with your copy of TIC.

Electronic Publishing: If you prefer to receive TIC in electronic form, provide a disk and $1.50 for mailing per issue desired. Copies will only be provided in either Microsoft Word for DOS 5.0 or Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0 (WIN 3.1). Only text of the zine will be provided, no graphics will be included. Issues 7 and onward only are available in this format.

Computer Type: IBM style PC, XT, AT, etc., MS-DOS vers. 2.0 to 5.0 Disk Size: 5.25" and 3.5"

Density: 360K 720K 1.2M 1.44M

Word Processing programs: Virtually any. If using one of the major brands (WordStar, WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, etc.) you may save the file as you normally would and the translation program I use will interpret any print enhancements you have used (italics, underlines, boldface) correctly. If you have a more esoteric processing program, please save the file as ASCII (text-only). If you're not certain how off-brand your program is, drop me a postcard (or call) with the name and version of it and I will let you know if I can read it direct or will need ASCII. If sending ASCII, please be sure to strip all control characters and save the final version as a newly named file.

Computer Type: Apple Macintosh compatible with Ilci only, no other Apple models (HE, etc.) supported

Disk Size: 3.5" only

Density: 720Kand 1.44M

Word Processing programs: WordPerfect and Microsoft Word only. Final copy to be dragged to disk must be saved by renaming and using "replace original file" option, not fast-save.

Computer Type: Commodore (Amiga and 64 both supported, but special requirements apply to translation from 64s. Please SASE for separate instructions if planning to send files from a 64, and Eillow a lot of extra time to get your submission in prior to the deadline as the translator is not local.)

Disk Size: 5.25" and 3.5"

Density: Amiga standard

Word Processing programs: Convert all files to ASCII for transfer from this type of computer.

Dedicated Word Processors: Only those which format disks specifically to be compatible with Real Computers. If your machine gets some other number of total K than those listed above for either of the two sizes of disk, the tracks are formatted n such a way that I cannot read the disk, even if the files are ASCII. Check your manual and if the disks are specifically formatted to be compatible with IBM DOS type machines, chances are I will be able to read the files.

Direct Modem Transfer: 2400bd and slower, via most of the common protocols (XModem, Kermit, etc.). I do not have a dedicated dataline, so call or write ahead to arrange time and specifics for exchange. Can be sent via FIDONET to local node, if arranged in advance.

FAX: Can be accommodated on special request. Not preferred for long documents.

Issue 1

The Imaging Chamber 1 was published in October 1989 and contains 32 pages.

cover of issue #1

Cost: Available for $1.50 per copy including postage, until such time as it gets a lot bigger and I have to raise the rates. Publication: Approximately quarterly, with allowances for slow issues and unforeseen disasters. This is just a hobby!

Next issue: Probably January or February, 1990. Tentative LoC deadline: January 15, 1990. If you're working on a letter real close to the deadline, drop a postcard or phone to check on the updated schedule. I will not close the zine ahead of the announced date.

[...]

My editorial policy is pretty flexible; there’s no limit on letters in either length or content, although I will avoid publishing anything that smacks of personal attack. I run a clean, friendly letterzine! Well. OK. feelthy language permitted as appropriate. I'm not a prude. Since I do retype letters. I will correct spelling and outrageous grammatical errors, but I don't rewrite what comes in. If you have strong objections to my style of jumping in midstream to reply , put a note on

your LoC and I'll keep out of the body of it.

• Editorial (1)
• Fan Letters (5 of them) (6)
• Episode Guide (25)
• Scott Bakula Stage Credits (31)

Issue 1: Excerpts from Letters

[the editor's comments]:

I can't recall just when I went over the edge and decided to do zines on this show, but I do know it's a new record for speed of addiction. I was planning the l/z before the fourth episode had aired. Yes. hopefully there will be a fiction zine to accompany this, start cranking up your typewriters and beat the rush. Title and print date still unknown, but I'm already working on a story for it and have heard of several others out there in the early throes of creation.

Back to the show. It's slightly unusual in that it's so good, it doesn’t rely on mere physical appeal to involve you with the characters, and it was probably about the time I realized this that I was a gonner. Sam and Al are both personable and cute as hell in their own ways, but neither one makes my hormones stand up and salute - still I love them both, as if they were close family. The kind of brothers where you creeb about their small flaws to their face and would unhesitatingly defend them to anyone else. There's a common moan. "I don't need another fandom!" and I disagree with it more every day. I can always use another set of hunky, smarmy guys who inspire me enough to go out find contact other fen, and to look into new ideas and research for stories. Oh, brave new world that has such programs in it! OK, you can put your hipwaders away, it shouldn't get this deep again. The point being, I love the show, it is truly a wondrous age we live in, and didn't Scott's hair look totally fab when he had it longer?!

[...]

Hopefully, next issue I'll be more together and can expound upon the many interesting Crackpot Theories I know of regarding QL’s many facets, from the variable nature of Sam’s interference (he can either change things totally, or be an integral part of something that already happened, so no wonder we have a tough time anticipating his goal!) to the great friendship, fab hair, wild outfits, and witty dialog all found in this unusual show. By the way, if anyone wants to chat, my number is [redacted]. Just don't call Wednesday nights between 9 and 10 mountain time!

Since most of my friends and I are QUANTUM LEAP fans, we were pleased to discover several months ago that Scott Bakula is originally from St. Louis and that his parents still live here. Our local NBC affiliate did a short segment about this one Friday night. Since "fan" is no longer short for "fanatic" in my vocabulary, I only contemplated camping on his parents’ doorstep every holiday to see if Scott ever visited them at home - I would never do it! However, on July 2nd my Mends and I heard Scott was to be a guest speaker at the local July 4th celebration (the V.P. Fair). We were all interested in going to see him but, since this meant Joining 800,000 other people on the Gateway Arch fairgrounds, getting there around 9am (on a day off!), paying astronomical rates for parking, walking about a mile in 90-95 degree heat and standing in the hot sun for the entire ceremony, it turned out I was the only one who went. (Maybe "fanatic" still is a word in my vocabulary.)

I really can’t wait to see the episode wherein Sam is occupying a woman’s body. I'm hoping the writers do something really good with this, it has some real promise. I love seeing Sam seeing the face of the person whose body he's occupying and can't wait to see how he reacts to seeing he’s a female. I also find it challenging to try to keep imagining Sam as the people around him see him rather than as the face we're really seeing. One of the other neat things about QUANTUM LEAP is that Sam really doesn’t know how to do many of the things he’s required to do when he replaces someone, whether it’s flying a plane or roping a steer. It’s awkward for him, especially when Al isn’t around to bail him out or help him but it's great to know he isn’t being written as a sort of superman who can do anything.

I have really enjoyed the human aspects of the show and the way that Sam involves himself in the lives of the people he touches as well as changed the course of the life whose body he inhabits. I really like the character of Sam Beckett because he has a lot of sides to him. He is funny, vulnerable, and most of all, he is displaced emotionally as well as in body. He feels a loss of his own identity at having to piece his memory and his existence together and yet he is also feeling a sense of despair at the prospect of never being able to return to his own life. Scott really injects those feelings through the character and as a viewer, I really feel for him. Think of the enormous weight that kind of realization must carry, yet despite that very real fact of his own non-existence, there is a feeling of hope that he will return to the life he had before and also an uplifting experience that he feels from helping people. He has a purpose and though it is reluctantly at first, he does feel a sense of satisfaction at having helped someone and in some cases, saving a life or two.

QL really touches on the It's A Wonderful Life concept which is that each of us alters, changes, and affects everyone we come into contact with, whether bad or good, and that influence is an important part of how we live our lives.

...think of the possibilities for

TV and fannish stories! Early on in the series, 1 grumbled that the show was nice, but Sam was always going to leap into white males in the prime of life. Bless the writers, they proved me wrong quickly! Now let's hope that Jesse, Cam, and the (upcoming) secretary are not mere tokens. I don't expect Sam to be female 50% of the time, or black 10% of the time, but let's hope they have the guts and originality to continue more non-conventional stories. And not to get too heavy, they should continue the fun stories, the ones sort of based on popular films, etc. For my money, the best episodes combine fun elements with more serious issues, one example being the teen hotrodder. There are storylines the fans could tackle that I don't expect to see on TV.

[...]

On a purely fannish vein, there are also crossover possibilities. Usually I dislike crossovers. They're almost impossible to do well, because even if universes can be brought together convincingly, even if the writer knows both universes extremely well and both sets of characters are "themselves" (and that’s often a big problem). It’s often impossible to reconcile the conflicting tones of the original source material. Even though the Doctor can go anywhere in space and time, and even though DOCTOR WHO and BLAKE'S 7 are both British sf series. DWs lighthearted tone really clashes with the rather grim B7. QL has a bit more range than its humorous moments might indicate, so in the hands of a skilled writer, certain crossovers could work. Could Sam leap into Vincent (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) and solve his problems? There's a tall order. Imagine the first time he looks in the mirror....

I LOVE It!!!! What's not to love? Sam has got to be the sexiest, cuddliest teddy bear I have ever seen, and I don't usually go for cuddly teddy bears. But, he is when irresistible, REALLY! I would give him anything when he has that lost little puppy look, even before that. He is good looking, intelligent, sensitive, charming, witty, very capable, independent, but also has that irresistible little boy quality about him. He is the perfect opposite for Al, bordering almost on a goody two shoes, but not quite. His is more just human concern and compassion, good qualities indeed. And, boy, can these guys smarm. Who ever thought there could be smarm with holograms? It is perfect male bonding and smarm.... Rip the heart from my chest and stomp that sucker flat! Sam is such an outgoing, friendly, easily smarmy kind of guy that you know it has to tear him up not being able to touch his best friend at all if he ever gets back to his own body, you can bet there'll be some world-class glomming... Oh, I just hurt myself thinking about it!

I have fallen for quite a few rogues in my time, they always have the most character, the most excitement, and they definitely have the most sex appeal. It all started with Han Solo, then Starbuck, now Al. But. unlike the aforementioned rogues, the "good" guy was usually very bland indeed. I mean, really, Luke was such a yutz, so wimpy. Apollo had possibilities, but he was definitely a goody two shoes. They have finally perfected the "good guy." Sam is just right as the "good" guy and Al is just honorable enough as the rogue. They are a perfect team. So, I love this show, I love these two guys, and I hope it lives long and prospers. I'm beginning to feel like a jinx, any show I like (or character, i.e. Col. Ironhorse) seems to bite the dust in a very short time. So. I hope that QUANTUM LEAP lives a very long life; it’s all I have left on TV now. I need it for my sanity.

Issue 2

The Imaging Chamber 2 was published in January 1990 and contains 36 pages.

cover of issue #2

• Editorial (1)
• Fan Letters (6 of them) (6)
• Save the Leap, "Project Keep Quantum Leap" (how to write letters in support of the show, this fan campaign is run by Mary A. Schmidt) (31)
• Episode Guide (32)
• Suggested Reading (mainstream novels and books) (35)

Issue 2: Excerpts from Letters

I'd like to thank everyone who's been participating in our early writing campaign. I don't know if we can claim any responsibility for that seven episode pick-up but it sure felt good to know we're trying and seem to be winning one for once. Mary Schmidt deserves special mention for her work circulating flyers and creating the sponsor list. Sally Smith is also to be commended for getting the great geek network in on the project (Save the Leap!). With all the good press the show has gotten and the vague blessing of "good demographics", we do have hope for another season or seven, but please continue to write to NBC to express your support and appreciation for the program... Remember that the decisions for next year's schedule are made in about March to April of this year, so it's important not to quit now.

Speaking of "frustration" or "anguish" or other emotional distress words used in our vocabulary about this show, Kitty, could you please explain your definition of "smarm" as you used it in the last letterzine? I think I know what you mean, but I’m sorry, "smarm" has a very negative connotation to me. My American Heritage Dictionary defines "swarmy" as "gushingly or unctuously flattering" and that’s nicer than I thought it would be. Our group here in St. Louis uses the word "angst" to describe the feeling I think you mean, but I certainly don’t mean to suggest that you change to suit me. However, I think others as such as myself might wonder just exactly what you mean when you say that you loved a "smarmy" scene in the show.

Fair enough. I realize that the term is one of my own definition and not in general usage, although I have seen zine flyers starting to use it in the same meaning I do entirely outside of my own circle of acquaintances. The definition of "smarm" that is meant in these pages is in the simplest terms, "the visible expression of affection." More specially, any demonstrative action or verbalizing of the non-sexual love existing between two friends of the same sex. It's the comfort in h/c. Angst brings on smarm, and can be apart of it in some manifestations, but smarm is not limited to "a feeling of anxiety or dread, worry, fear, guilt, or remorse." I prefer to use the term because there is no other one I know of which encompasses the same meaning; all the words for the situations - bonk, trash, h/c, angst, etc. - specify the unhappiness that precedes any good showing of positive emotion, and I wish to reference not only the occasions which include pain, but the small happy moments of unguarded caring that are so special and such an important part of the sort of friendship we admire.

I guess my only major complaint [with the show] is some problems with continuity, paradoxes, time travel inconsistencies, and "the God thing." But Bellisario has made it clear that they’re not going to worry about any of that if it stands in the way of a good story. So in that case, I can usually forgive them and just enjoy the story as long as it is good. (After all, most of us have been reading fanzines for years using this premise.)

You're probably right about Isaac Asimov hating this show, although I expect his main dislike will be not so much for the idea that time travel can be done as that God is supposedly running it. There are more paradoxes inherent with stating that a higher being is fixing things than in the initial assertion of time travel if whatever it is is so powerful, why did it screw up the first time? If all of history has been messing up the way recent times seem to be, why isn't Sam being sent back to work on the rest of time? What about the world outside of the USA? If we are to assume from the trend of problems Sam's involved with that the desired value of the higher being is minimizing human suffering, shouldn't he quit mucking with these one-shot deals and do something about some of the problems causing anguish on a massive scale?

...the suggestion of love between Sam and Al, and likewise between Sam and Gloria [in the episode "What Price Gloria"] was handled in an adult manner that didn't offend. It might set up the series for slash fan fiction, unfortunately, but I wish that slash writers would start learning the fine line between good, close friendships and love. Overall, the best heterosexual relationships result from friends who are married. And my favorite kind of fan story is where some kind of crisis (usually a good hurt/comfort situation) forces the two male friends to realize how close they are. However, I don't think that should bleed into slash. Essentially, Al was right when he said that love is part of friendship.

I have suspected since the pilot first planed that part of the reasoning behind having Al as a intangible hologram was to circumvent a slash angle at the start.

Issue 3

The Imaging Chamber 3 was published in April 1990 and contains 52 pages.

cover of issue #3

From the editorial:

First of all, a grateful, down-on-my-knees, kissing-the-keyboard-you-type-on thank you to everyone who sent In their LoC on disk. If not for those easy transfers, this Issue would be considerably later than it already is. One note for you computer submitters. It'll help even more if you run a hardcopy of your letter to send along with it and then strip out the print enhancement before shipping the disk; I can read and translate text just line but those alien printer commands give Questor a headache. This is also a good place to say thanks to Tom Johnson, my computer consultant and the guy responsible for all the font abuse I indulge in as well as the screening of the photos. When three LoCs came in on 3" disks, sending them out for translation to 5" began to look too cumbersome to use as a continuing option and he installed a new 3" drive for me. I suppose I could cite this as yet another example of how QL is continually affecting my life but it would start to sound like I'm trying to pattern my world around a TV show, for heaven's sake. Well, OK, so I did apply for personalized plates [for my car] that say "Leaper", my registration was due for renewal anyway.

• Editorial (1)
• Fan Letters (11 of them, one letter is a detailed report about having brunch with other fans at Star Fest '90) (4)
• Episode Guide (35)
• QL Panel (a complete transcription of the Los Angeles Museum of Broadcasting panel where Dean Stockwell, Scott Bakula, Don Belllsarlo. and Deborah Pratt answered questions about the show) (37)
• Film Reviews (40)

Issue 3: Excerpts from Letters

I fell in love right away, with the concept, the characters, and the actors [of the show]. It's so lovely (and unusual) for me to be involved with a show from the beginning, rather than come in on it late only to have it cancelled the next season (as happened with B7, MPI, H&McC, etc. etc.). What makes this show work for me is summarized by Scott Bakula's comments in a local article on our native son: "I like Sam's values and his relationships with the people around him..." We can tell that Sam is a very nice person, not to mention warm, tender, caring, honest, ethical, strong, smart... The perfect fantasy man! Which is why I wince at the inconsistencies and the pseudo-scientific garbage but don't let them get in the way of the thing that Belllsario is so good at, the Relationships.

Al? What can you say about a guy who, by his very definition, you would never let your daughter go out on a date with?

My daughter, never. Me, any day! Current polls amongst QL femmefen indicate that most women want to marry Sam Beckett - after a protracted torrid affair with Al!

So many suggestions such as "does Sam actually leap into the person's body" or "how long does it take Sam to get from one body to another" or "who is really in control of Sam's leaping" may never be answered, even years after QL's last episode. Fans will end up talking and debating them over phone lines or through letters, or even over convention tables. But, after all, isn't that the fun part about fandom?

[Thank you for defining "smarm" in the previous issue]. Your definition fits the way I use hurt/comfort, when I say I love hurt/comfort zines, it’s because of the "smarmy" feeling that they allow the characters to have. I agree that small moments are important as well.... By the bye, Kitty, do you and any other "smarm” fans out there find that h/c zines are very good catharsis? I think so, but I’m digressing from the topic.

If the topic is smarm, which is usually the case in any zine I print, then you're not digressing at all. Yes, it's marvelous adjustment therapy; when the world is really awful I tend to drag out one of my favorite h/c zines and revel in the stuff to renew my optimism and hope for humanity. I've always been a closet smarmer, since the first TV show I can remember watching I can also remember making up h/c scenarios for the characters. It wasn't until I discovered fandom and found that I was far from alone in this tendency that I came out of the closet, as it were, and began actively writing and publishing in the smarm field.

I really liked your comment on the slash aspects (or non) of [the episode of] 'What Price Gloria"; so I’m not the only one who thought "Slash!" when I watched it. See my LoC in #2, (which I had written after reading my first and quite probably last slash zine, unless it was just this one UNCLE zine that had such awful characterization). Besides, the zine seemed awfully preoccupied with sex. But that’s neither here nor there, no matter how much it may have affected my outlook while writing the LoC on "Gloria".

I don’t want to get into a discussion of the relative merits, justifications, and applications of slash fiction, it's not a topic that relates to QL at all. But I will warn you that whatever zine you read, you may rest assured that rotten characterization is not unique to that one, it’s endemic to the genre from the very nature of the premise.

I appreciate Kitty’s willingness not to break into letters with her comments if you don’t want her to. This is a pet peeve of mine from way back, and other letterzines especially. As the editor of a l/z myself, one the hardest things I have to do is not to break into people's letters with comments of my own. Unless they ask a specific question that requires information, I will not do it. If a particular point is being discussed. It seems as if the editor has "the last word" and we are left with her opinion with no chance at that point for rebuttal or further discussion. And it makes me, the reader, feel as if I'm eavesdropping on someone else's conversation. I prefer to remain on the same standing with the other readers.

I respect your view, and have read other l/z's that also had a hands-off policy. The problem I find with them is that they end up being dull: an unconnected series of comments that's a lot like reading some stranger's mail. If there's an editorial presence throughout the zine, I feel it gives the whole thing some continuity, and having two sides of some subjects presented side-by-side makes the topic more three dimensional. I do like having the last word in each issue, I consider that one of the perks that makes the endless typing and other headaches of printing worth the effort, but anyone is welcome to jump in and reply to me next round. Since I don't write a LoC outside of the opening remarks, I consider my replies within the other letters to be the equivalent, since all I'm really doing is spreading my input out to the locations where its relevant, rather than making you hop pages to see what I mean when I refer to something somebody else said.

The discussion in TIC is getting into some good areas. My philosophy of letterzines is that one of their purposes should be to provide a resource for ideas leading to terrific fan stories. I think there is definitely some of that starting here.

[One thing] I've noticed about this fandom is that it's the most generally educated; there are more people in QL fandom with advanced degrees than there are among the Beasties or any of the other major fandoms I can think of right now. Which observation has naturally engendered yet another Crackpot Theory: Any fandom will tend to fill with people who reflect the abilities and attitudes of the program's characters.

How would Sam react if he leaped into the body of a gay man? (For those uninterested or uncomfortable with a gay topic, skip the next couple of paragraphs.) Would he run screaming from the room, or actually learn what it’s to face the daily discrimination, humiliation, and outright hate gay men and women face? Would this make him more sympathetic? Al would be no help. Like Sam and most other people, he’s a heterosexist who can’t conceive what it’s like to be gay and doesn’t even try. For them, there’s only One Way to go! Frankly I figured he would never get past heterosexism, but after seeing [the episode] "Good Night, Dear Heart," I’m not so sure. In this one he didn't seem judgmental, and actually seemed sympathetic!

I don't think Sam would run screaming, since unless he was leaped in right in the middle of a clinch, it would: take him awhile to figure out that he was supposed to be representing a gay person. From there his reactions would depend on what was expected of him, he would always fight to be recognized as a human being, but he would find some way to worm out of doing anything he found personally distasteful. Al's reactions would be the interesting ones, since he would be viewing his best friend in some pretty strange situations, and confronting a lot of issues that he may not have spent much time thinking about. But we're talking about a guy who went on the civil rights marches and got arrested and beaten for his belief in freedom.

Well it is now two days since StarFest ‘90 and brunch with Dean [Stockwell]. What an event! It was quite an experience. StarFest this year, in its wisdom, decided to try out Brunch With The Stars. We sent in our reservations and money, with a request to be seated at least in the vicinity of our favorite guest at the Con. Can you guess who mine was? Our choices were Jonathan Frakes, Dean Stockwell and much later Ronny Cox. We were to be seated according to when the reservation was received and It was only for 150 people. I figured at least I would be in the same room with Dean, and hopefully my table would not be across the room but close. I knew I was going to talk to him no matter what.

The morning finally arrived, I took special care with my outfit, hair, etc., etc. I had tried for an Al look, which was not easy and the only thing close was the silver lame tie.

[...]

I said hi and started to sit down. The man on my left said hi, I said hi. and did a quick double take, saying "Oh my God, hi!" I was seated next to Dean! Well, I got a laugh, even from Dean. I said something about not having any coffee yet, and he poured me a cup to get me going. Then he continued with the story he was telling. There were seven people at the table, and all but Dean were female.

[...]

...he was asked if this was his first convention. He had been at a Creation Con in January, which was his first convention. He was asked about Scott attending a convention, and he again said he thought Scott would love too. Maybe we could get him for ours.

[...]

I got a picture of Dean and Kitty, and then Dean and me. I think somewhere in here or before this, we discussed all the home pictures of holiday family gatherings. The ones where you are always seen shoveling food into your mouth, or are taken just as you make a face. This was brought up because we were asked to use discretion in our picture taking, not by Dean, but by the people running the brunch and the con.

[...]

The topic turned to VCR’s after that. We all owned one, and we all recorded QL faithfully (except for one). One of the gals at the table owned five VCR's! Five! I have one that works only 40% of the time, which we discussed too. Dean just took all this in, and his only comment was, "Aren’t we lucky to be living where we do?" Talk about affluent America! We all also recordALIEN NATION, and he said he has never been able to lee it. He doesn’t watch much TV, due to his schedule, and he wants to spend as much quality time with his family as he can. He and his wife are very careful about what they allow the children to watch, so therefore hey don't watch a lot of the programming offered on television. Which I bought was very admirable. I agree about the programming on TV.

[...]

Dean was was asked if there was a QUANTUM LEAP fan club yet, and he said no. He does think it's a very good idea, and thought we should get it started. The seven of us tossed the idea around, including Dean. The best we came up with was first taking some kind of survey on the interest and going from there. There will probably be a fan club in the future, folks.

Dean is very strong environmentalist, and is active in the "movement." I have no problem with this, having felt this way before there was a "movement" or even a word to describe it. My dad taught me this. Dean told about how it has now been accepted that when he and his wife go to parties, they will stay and collect the empty aluminum cans for recycling. I recounted how we collect them to the point that when we open the car doors, they fall out. This is because we go around picking car them up from the side of the roads and in the mountains as well. The car would fill up quickly. He did give each of us a booklet for personal guidance in conservation, recycling, helping the environment, etc. (He gave them to anyone who would take them during the convention.)

Issue 4

The Imaging Chamber 4 was published in August 1990 and contains 36 pages.

cover of issue #4

From the editorial:

Not only does TIC have a healthy number of subscribers, but it's currently being sent to England and Australia as well as the US, and there are inquiries pending from Ireland and West Germany. That’s part of the reason you may have noticed that the print size keeps shrinking. It won't get any smaller than this, however, for legibility’s sake. If the zine continues to expand until it's unmanageable in digest format, I’ll move into a larger layout. I sort of expect that four years from now when the show’s pulling top ten ratings every week that the zine will be 100 full size pages of tiny print, and perfect bound. And nothing over a half page long will be allowed in on-disk!

• Editorial (1)
• Fan Letters (14 of them) (5)
• Episode Guide (31)
• Ratings Review (32)
• Stockwell Filmography (34)

Issue 4: Excerpts from Letters

Thanks to all of you who dropped into the QL party at MediaWestCon, I think it was a success even if it did end up leaping to a new location half way through. For those of you who didn't make it this time, we'll probably be doing it again next year, though perhaps not up against the art auction this time. Not that it nurt attendance any, but maybe if we hold it right next door to the auction we can keep a better handle on when the QL pieces come up for bid.

QL Week was the occasion for another party, this one organized by some local Leapers. (Where the hell did NBC get the idea that anybody called themselves "Leapheads”?? Members of this fandom have been known as Leapers since last summer!) In what appears to be a requisite maneuver, the party had to leap from the initial location to a secondary one, but fortunately it was done in time to settle into the new place before [the episode] "Machiko" started, and was a popular success. We cheered for Sam and Al, booed the bad guy, and decided it had all been so much fun we'll have to do it again. One’s in the works for mid-August, and we’ll probably do it again the week of the start of the new season.

The other thing that went on during QL Week was my attempt to forward the buttons to you all. Those of you who received empty envelopes, assuming you still have it lying around, should check the edges for a tiny, neat slit through which your button was extracted by a special machine at the post awful. The old saying is true, the PO is a Cylon plot. As I estimate it, nearly 20 were lost in transit, and since the current mailing list stands at nearly 70, I suppose the PO is right when they claim their efficiency is improving - years ago they hardly would have been able to ruin half that many people's days. Phooey. I did get them to cough up 7 which were apparently found on the floor around the stripping machine, and those will be sent with this issue to those who wrote me asking he empty envelopes. Since there aren’t enough to go around to those that were lost. I’ll just have to do it by what order the letters are on my pile and hope the rest of you forgive me, or at least transfer the bulk of your enmity to where it more properly belongs.

Speaking as an aging baby boomer, the producers often seem to know just what buttons to push. I think that was the main reason the project was set just six years in the future. We can all sense Sam's frustration at not being able to get dry beer and veg out in front of the VCR with some microwave popcorn. Could we truly identity with someone who misses the simple pleasures of the holodeck? I think not

... [I want to tell you] what for me is probably the most amazing thing about QUANTUM LEAP: As a direct result of the program. I have been challenged to take a bold step and risk falling flat on ray face. I recently started a QL fanfic piece. The more I wrote, the more it began to look like a script, so I fashioned it that way. I showed it to a friend of mine, who promptly gave me the name of her agent and told me to send it to him. So by the time this makes print. I’ll probably have another rejection slip to plaster on my wall. If not, and you hear an unexplained sonic scream emanate from the North Texas area, you’ll know the leap worked! Happy Leaping!

Now that I’ve recovered from QUANTUM LEAP Week. I can sit down and write this LOC! Five consecutive nights of Quantum Leap is almost more than I can stand (but I would LOVE the opportunity to do it again soon) and I am so very pleased to see that it was a success. Judging from what I’ve been hearing, fully 35 to 40% of the people who watched QL during that week were new viewers and I've been hearing that they liked what they saw! Here’s hoping the new viewers QL acquired during QL Week will stay with us. Many thanks to you and Dean Stockwell for the "QUANTUM LEAP Week" button. It’s started more than one conversation about QL, which naturally is my favorite subject!

I’m still haunting the book stores looking for QUANTUM LEAP novelizations. I’ve seen novelized episodes of TV shows that were very good, some that were very poorly done too, but for the most part, what I've seen I've liked tremendously.

We were amazed that NBC even tried something like QL Week. We can't remember a network ever promoting another show in this manner and think it’s great that they tried it with "our" show. Somebody at NBC likes us!

Kitty, I also prefer editors who comment within letters. I like the give and take of two opinions which makes the letterzine seem more like a conversation between two friends. I quit subscribing to one l/z after the editor quit making comments (due to lack of time, not from complaints), because it got extremely dull.) A good editor, especially if somewhat humorous, can really liven up a l/z. I suppose there are editors out there who have used their space to frequently contradict or talk down to the letter-writer and then I would be angry, but fortunately I've never seen it.

I was on the staff of ORAC, a B7 con, last April. There I met so many other Leapers and we hit it off right away. I wasn't alone! Thank heavens for reruns so I can catch up with what I'd been missing.

QUANTUM LEAP Week was heaven on earth. Three of the five episodes were all new to me. It's also wonderful to be a fan of a show that the network is actually supporting.

Let me begin by pointing out that I'm a dedicated DOCTOR WHO fan. Lord President of the United Whovians of Tucson. As such I have some major objections to QUANTUM LEAP. Only one objection actually: QL is proving to be a major distraction to the UWT staff. The High Cardinal who is supposed to be editing our 'zine (TARDIS TIME LORE), is spending a considerable amount of time creating QUANTUM LEAP episode guides, and going to great lengths to obtain the very few episodes she doesn't already have. My Chancellor (and President Heir Apparent) is in a trance in front of the television set watching "Good Morning, Peoria” over and over again, when she's not out searching for Broadway Musical Soundtracks. (Man from La Mancha: found. Romance, Romance: still looking.) Furthermore one of the council members participated with the two mentioned staff members in an all day QUANTUM LEAP video trading marathon on the fourth of July. (Admittedly it was out of the question to do a DOCTOR WHO marathon on American Independence day.) But now things have just gone too far. They've hooked me into it. I admit it. I was also at the infamous marathon. I rarely go a day without watching a bits QUANTUM LEAP episode and often find myself humming the theme song and of "Man from La Mancha.” Okay. Okay, and I'm seriously in lust with Sam. This is all very distracting.

However things aren't quite out of hand yet. We haven't started a QUANTUM LEAP fan club, yet. We can still avoid this time consuming task, if someone out there will please step forward and tell us they've already started or seriously intend to start an official QUANTUM LEAP fan club. You'll be doing a public service; stopping innocent DOCTOR WHO fans from ruining their delicately balanced schedules and mental health. Let's hope it's not too late. The High Cardinal just called to tell me she'd made a QUANTUM LEAP t-shirt.

... MediaWestCon over Memorial Day weekend. The Saturday night party was wonderful, a chance to see the original pilot, to watch "Al" lead the Houra to "Call Me Al" and to dub some great music videos. My eternal thanks to Denise Hamlin for lugging her vcr in and dubbing copies for all of us though I know it took her 'til the wee hours to finish. It was also nice to meet so many Leapers - some I knew from other fandoms. Another big thanks to Mary Schmidt for bringing her TV pix -they were very nice!

I sure hope [a fan] will write a Sam leaps into a gay body - male or female, that’s a story I’d like to read. Since he's amazingly adept at avoiding sexual situations when he wants to, I don't think that angle would upset him. The main interest would be how he would deal with the prejudice and the lifestyle.

I agree with what other writers have said about the impossibility of QL slash. I know both characters are proven heterosexuals, but that never stopped a slash writer before. I think the real barrier with this series is that (a) the friends can't touch in any way and (b) [the episode] "Gloria" nipped that concept in the bud. Good thing too. I like gay characters - I've created several - but I don't like seeing existing characters warped out of shape just because someone decides they "must" be gay. I also dislike long, dull, non-arousing descriptions of gay sex, which is the other stock-in-trade of slash writers.

...about Sam and sexuality. I think Sam has a conservative view of sex only to the point where he believes strongly in monogamous relationships. He does ride Al a bit too heavily at times for Al's promiscuity. However, I've never felt that Sam would have a problem with gay relationships (not monogamous ones, at least). His non-reaction to the sexuality of the murderer in "Good Night, Dear Heart" indicates that he doesn’t see it as wrong or bad. We’ve seen Sam face discrimination as a black man and as a woman, maybe we'll see him face it as a homosexual. Unfortunately, they wouldn't even have to set the story in the past.

Regarding aging. I think it would make sense for Sam to keep aging. Consider this exchange in the pilot: Sam wonders if he could be leaping around "forever." Al: "No one lives forever."

The wide appeal of h/c is most interesting. I used to make up h/c type scenes with TV characters when I was a child. I always suspected there was something wrong with this until I started reading zines and found out how many fans enjoyed it. The problem with the stuff on the screen is there is never enough comfort. It could be overdone, though.

I can't wait for the new season. I'm already buying the pro-grade tape and getting the Kleenex ready for the season opener. It's gonna be another tear-jerker, watching Sam being in his own body and knowing what's going to happen to all the people he loves. I'd like to see something back at the project--can you picture how excited young Sam would be to find himself in the future? He's going to be asking a million questions. Imagine his reaction to things we take for granted, like portable computers and CD players. It'd be too cute for words.

I still wish there was more [Quantum Leap] merchandise. I was forced to buy VICE and MAGNUM stuff instead. I also wish they hadn't sold the rights to those scum-sucking money grubbing soulless people from Creation. Puts me in a big moral dilemma as to how much I want the stuff vs. how much I hate giving them money. Well, considering the show deals with moral dilemmas all the time, I guess we'll figure it out.

Seems like other people besides us are finally beginning to notice what a great show QL is. Viewers for Quality Television has put on its "Tentatively Supported" list, and in their annual awards ballot. Scott was nominated for best actor in a drama. Motivated me to vote, enthusiastically!

Issue 5

The Imaging Chamber 5 was published in November 1990 and contains 52 pages.

cover of issue #5

This episode has a detailed account of several fans meeting and talking to Scott Bakula on the set of the show. They did not get to meet Dean Stockwell: "We were rather disappointed, but settled tor taking few snaps of Al's empty admiral uniform."

About a possible donation to Hollywood Walk of Fame:

A Star on the Boulevard for Dean: His agent has agreed to submit the application to get a star put on Hollywood Boulevard for Dean Stockwell. The fun part is, the entire $4800 fee is to be raised through recycling. No account or committee has been set up yet, it's still in the planning stages, but start saving those cans, bottles, and newspapers now. Recycle station receipts will probably be required with contributions, as there may be some interesting incentives offered to major supporters. Further information will be available through this zine or Quantum Quarterly, as it becomes known.

• Editorial (1)
• Letters of Comment (22 of them) (3)
• Episode Guide (47)
• QL Fanac (short blurbs about zines, clubs) (49)
• VQT Award Ceremony on October 12-14, 1990, description by Mary Schmidt (52)

Issue 5: Excerpts from Letters

Hello fellow Leapers, thanks to you I am learning to use a friend's PC. I have a Master's in Computer Science but I've only worked on larger machines (I administer a VAX named Orac). At work I'm on the same network as Sally, Deb and Nancy (Usenet or the Internet please, not "the great geek network"). A little fannish background - I've been going to cons and collecting fiction zines for 13 years now, but I inherited my inclination to fandom. I watched first run Trek with my parents when I was 9 and my mom wrote to NBC during those letter campaigns. I collect zines in lots and lots of fandoms but this is the first l/z I've participated in, though the net is rather like a letterzine with a very short response time.

I watched the QUANTUM LEAP pilot because TV Guide pointed out that it was a new Bellisario show. I had enjoyed TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY from its beginning but got into AIRWOLF and MAGNUM fandoms rather late. More often than not, I get into a fandom on reruns, I resist what "everyone else" is watching because, like the rest of you "I don't need another fandom," only to read neat zine stories and start watching the show anyway. So I got into QL unusually early. Unfortunately I didn't start taping it until "Good Morning, Peoria." At least they reran everything I missed so I now have everything but the pilot on tape.

[...]

In the 10+ years I've had a VCR, there have been many shows where I taped occasional episodes to keep and there have been 5 shows that I taped every episode of. Including QL. But this is the first show ever where I tape every episode AND rewatch each one at least once, perhaps 2 or 3 times, in the week before the next episode airs.

I disagree in part with your comments on QL cross universe stories. If the writer knows both universes well enough it can work just line. You haven't totally lost the character Sam leaps into, Al can report on them or, unlike the show, you can write about their experiences in the waiting room. But Sam must have a reason to be there, a task to perform as the purpose for the leap or it does become "two sets of characters watching and admiring each other", which doesn't work at all, like "Leap Year" in Chalk and Cheese #6. "Leap Year" is the first QL fan story I found. As a Pros story it is OK but for me the QL contribution is lacking. Granted it was written very early in QL, but it just didn't work for me at all. Sam had no specific task to perform.

Personally, I, too, would like to see Sam leaping into a homosexual, male or female, and seeing how he deals with it. Or how about someone in a wheelchair...

I'm rather surprised that [a fan] says there were some complaints about the lesbian character from "Dear Heart." It seems some people will complain about anything. What's to complain about? It's not like we SAW anything, and the dialogue wasn't graphic or offensive. For the record, my religion teaches the Bible view that homosexuality is condemned by God as detestable and unnatural and I agree with that, but I was in no way offended with this episode (and wouldn't have been even if it appeared on a show other than QL). I hope the show didn't lose valuable sponsors because of this.

8:00 o'clock? Yes, I know of several friends who couldn't survive the late airing due to an early job and higher need for the "zzz" supplement. Friday? No way, Jose! This is a killer slot with only a torrid past behind it. Doesn't anyone at NBC recall it canned STAR TREK once and for all in that position citing poor ratings? I'm sure they're still kicking themselves for that move. QUANTUM LEAP was killed in that slot during LEAP Week, too. Get a clue, guys! When I see movement in, not just the time, but day of the week, I begin to suspect a plot, and a poorly written one at that. Heavens! Do they think we're stupid (aka Leapheads!!? Almost every single time a show moves, it loses gobs of viewers and begins a decent into oblivion. It took the vast majority of my friends MONTHS to figure out when QL aired and to finally set a routine around it. There are people I know who worked evening college classes around the time slot to avoid missing it! Maybe we need to spell it out: D.O.N.T. C.H.A.N.G.E. A. G.O.O.D. T.H.I.N.G!!!

At first I didn't want to like QL because it was too good for a network.... QL had very good story lines and it made you think. As soon I begin to like a show, it's often off or not renewed. For example, ALIEN NATION - look at what that did at end of the season, a cliff hanger!!! And the didn't even bring it back.

What I like most about the show, along with everybody else, is the relationship between Sam and Al. I was in BLAKE'S 7 fandom for years off and on, and coming into this show is something of a relief. I like the people. I like their interaction. I like the caring we see. I come away from each episode feeling good and awaiting the next one eagerly. I am dying to see the fan fiction that comes out. I've enjoyed the little I've seen so far and have contributed to it with great enthusiasm. SinceMediaWest alone, I've written eleven QL stories. I can't remember ever writing so many so fast in any fandom before. There are at least a few more inside screaming to get out.

Another thing about this show is that it's made me try something else I'd not done before: color art. I'd done a lot of pen and ink art, but never experimented with color. Other favorite shows never called for it. But I've done about 5 pictures of Al so far. I'll get it right eventually. But the show is urging me to get out and experiment and not fall back on the same old things. A fandom that encourages creativity in any form is a positive experience.

[...]

I'm just back from Orbit, and for a BLAKE'S 7 convention, there were sure a lot of QL fans there. I had a real go around with someone who informed me that Sam was boring. I wonder if she is watching the same show we are. But aside from that, there were a lot of people just waiting to be converted and I did my bit to help, including dressing up in a vaguely Al-like outfit complete with cigar - for my panel.

Issue 6

The Imaging Chamber 6 was published in February 1991 and contains 53 pages.

cover of issue #6

an announcement for "Quantum Leap" Screening for Fans (1991) -- it was printed without comment or context in issue #9

The price of the letterzine is going up:

Those of you who are aware of the cost of xerox and have noticed the postage on the envelopes may have thought that this must be costing me a bundle to put out. Yup. It wasn’t too bad at first, you know and I didn’t mind spending a few bucks every couple months to entertain myself, meet new friends, and get the last word in print. The time has come to acknowledge that I can't afford to subsidize it at this rate any longer, and to jack the cost up so you all can have another reason to hate the PO.

The other side effect of the "zine getting so large is that we have virtually every opinion represented. Every episode was liked by at least one person, and disliked by at least one other. This gives the whole l/z a less uniform outlook on the show, but I happen to think diversity is good and I haven’t made any effort to edit anyone’s letter to remove non-flattering statements. Outside of blatant insult or gratuitous slamming, I will continue to encourage everyone to express their honest opinions.

• Editorial (1)
• Fan Letters (24 of them) (3)
• Interview: Chris Ruppenthal (49)
• a review of Quantum Mechanics, see that page (52)
• Episode Guide (53)

Issue 6: Excerpts from Letters

I’m a little uncomfortable with some of the trends I see both here and in other QL zines. As near as I can make out, we fans are pestering the *heck* out of Scott and Dean. We’re following them around, looking up their old high school annuals, reporting ordinary episodes of politeness as it was something remarkable. Another zine's editor reportedly met Scott at some function where he had his hands full carrying something. When she offered to help, he said something like "Thanks, but I’m fine." Editor goes all gushy when reporting the conversation — gee, isn’t he NICE? As a matter of fact I think Scott IS nice — but that particular quote was exactly what anyone would have said under the circumstances. It just proves he has elementary manners. We need to develop a sense of proportion around here.

I’m not saying don’t gush over the series. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do obsessive-compulsive things relating to QL, if there fun. I've been tracking down Dean's old (often bad) movies as fanatically a s

anyone I know. But Scott and Dean (and the production crew) *as people* deserve a bit of a break. If you meet one of these gentlemen in person, the best thing you can possibly do is act like an adult. I’ve been in SF fandom for nearly 10 years now. I’ve met a lot of writers and quite a few actors. Almost every one of them enjoyed meeting fans and hearing praise about their work. But there's no faster way to put off a celebrity than by drooling on his/her shoes. Don’t treat them like gods. Don’t even treat them like Sam and Al, because they're not. Treat them like interesting people you respect but have never met — that’s exactly what they are.

At a small gathering of a few Leapers to watch some video (OK, so we sat through every episode of GUNG HO ever shown, and parts of one several times), there was a temporary break between tapes and the background station was showing "Fiddler On The Roof." Waiting for another tape to be put into the vcr, the scene of Russian soldiers trashing the feast came on and someone asked the question, "So just why did they hate the Jews so much?" It took a couple minutes of thought, in which a theory involving cultural differences and economic priorities was geeked up, but the whole antipathy wasn't anything any of us could really understand. And it occurred to me that someday, with shows like QL to help, maybe a similar group of fans will sit around a living room, a few scenes from [the episode] "Black On White On Fire" will show between tapes, and the same question will be asked about the strife between black and white. May the answer be as hard for them to grok as it was for us.

For those of you In the Denver area who are planning on going to StarCon in March, look up the Bakula-Stockwell Club open party, to be held in the hotel someplace, one night or the other. I will be cohosting and Jill Richards, nominal leader of the Club, plans a midnight showing of that cinema classic, "Werewolf Of Washington." I'm also involved in negotiations to provide a QL programming event at the con, the exact nature of which has yet to be determined. And if you just want to be sure to meet me, I'D be on the usual Fanzine Writers' Workshop panel.

SCOTT BAKULA: I had to stop typing there for a second. Tears came to my eyes, and I couldn't see my 'puter screen. What can I say? I started watching QL specifically because of Scott Bakula. I was fascinated by the white streak in his forelock (so sue me, who knows what attracts the human heart?). I think Scott is a super actor and, after seeing "Super Bloopers and Practical Jokes," I know he’s a saint. I admire his versatility. I love the integrity he gives all the people he’s played in QL. and especially respect his portrayal of women and Blacks.

I love that he’s a great family man. I don’t recall seeing him on any talk show where he doesn’t talk about his family. Seeing him with his wife, Krista, at the Golden Globes gave me that "warm fuzzies" feeling. I wrote my first fan letter in ten years to Scott. I was embarrassed, but since he has had some impact on my life, I couldn’t not write. I've got to meet and talk with this guy, and I pray for the opportunity to do so every day. So Scott, if you’re reading this, be forewarned that a short little Black woman is going to run into you sometime, somewhere.

[...]

[The episode] "Black On White On Fire" was excellent. For those of you who've been upset that Sam seems to dread being a woman, go back and watch this one. Sam didn't seem too happy to be Black in this one, and he was downright scared, not only because there was a riot coming but because he was surrounded by angry Blacks (angry whites he can handle - "The Color of Truth," "The Americanization of Machiko" — because it's easy for him to be moral and righteous in those situations) and preaching understanding and restraint to oppressed people can take on a hollow ring. I have to say, though, that Scott Bakula made this one work. It it had been any other show or any other white man saying the things that Sam said to Lonnie, I'd have been offended but Scott made the dialogue work. I talked to a friend of mine about this who is not so smarmy about Sam/Scott, and she confirmed that she was so amazed that she wasn’t angry at Sam for the way he preached to Lonnie. If anyone would like to discuss this further, or don't understand what I'm talking about, please do so.

Does anyone notice how songs that have been played on QUANTUM LEAP take on new, and sometimes emotional, meaning to you personally? Unchained Melody, La Bamba, Do the Twist, and the songs from [the episode] "Animal Frat" have lots of special meaning and smarm content for me now. I watched the NutraSweet Skating Championships (Yes, I know they preempted QL) and when I saw Torville and Dean skating to "Imagine," I started crying remembering [the episode] "The Leap Home".

Yes, I have the same associative process! Most fans seem to, and between all the songs LEAP has used and all the ones already significant to some other show, it's getting so I can't listen to the radio without tearing up repeatedly over one thing or another!"

THE GOLDEN GLOBES: Trash 'em. Stomp on 'em. But don't throw 'em out to see (they're probably not biodegradable). Dean and Scott must be maybe to good to complete with others, so the 84 old men (maybe there are some women in there too in minority numbers) who vote on the Globes, must have given it to the second-best actors. But then again I didn't see anybody else's performances on a regular basis, so I should probably keep my mouth shut.

Kitty is so busy I like to send her a disk that she can just pop into her computer. Sometimes it’s so difficult at times to find a word processing program Kitty can use. I have an old Radio Shack CCO 2 with only 64k memory; a program that the cavemen must have used. What I try to do is use my school computer with WordPerfect during class... shh... don't tell on me.

I received a phone call stating my household will be part of the Neilsen rating system. They're sending dairies for each of my television sets. The way it works, you write what you watch at a certain Fridays at 8 P.M. (the time it’s shown in Orange County) you're right, QUANTUM LEAP!!! I don't know if my rating diaries will make or break QL ratings. I’m still going to put my four cents in (four sets; two in perfect working order and the others OK... not great yet clear enough). Kitty, it reminds me, you said we should write to NBC that we enjoy QL, yet I couldn’t find an address anywhere in TIC. I did find the NBC address at a con, a flyer saying keep QL on the air.

Whew! This is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill fan club! But, then, as all Quantum Leapers know, this is not your average, run-of-the-mill show. Like ALIEN NATION, QUANTUM LEAP has something new every week regarding the guys' friendship. The producers and writers are wisely going beyond the time travel premise and allowing us to know these two men on a personal basis. I feel, at least, that this is what keeps the show going.

It’s a relationship that has even broached the subject of Al’s feelings for Sam and what they might really mean in [the episode] "What Price, Gloria?" Al discovered that it’s okay to have strong feelings for Sam without them being sexual in nature. To me. Al and Sam compliment each other perfectly. Al is the outgoing, friendly ladles' man - okay, lech! - while Sam is more studied, thoughtful and introspective. Yet they are bonded together by their desire to help people and make life better for people. Al does seem to be Sam's mentor in many ways, but I think Al learns just as much from Sam.

Okay, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm a sucker for smarm and for guys who manage to still have that helpless, little boy look.

The episode about "Jimmy" was all right, but as a disabled person, I was unhappy with the ending. I realize they only had 60 minutes with which to tell a story, but I thought the ending was a kind of a cheap trick. Once again, a handicapped person had to be a hero in order to be accepted. Well, most of us don't get that chance. And Sam may think of Sam's love as devotion but as someone who grew up in an overprotective environment can tell you, that kind of "devotion" can be almost more crippling than the actual disability!

I would very much like Sam to leap into a coven, or some other non-judeo/christian religion, or maybe even a group of atheists, and really confront the religious issue. In particular, I would like the show to establish that the Force of Good doesn't just care about those who worship it in a specific way, or indeed care if they worship it at all. I'm also waiting for the gay relationship story. Pagans and homosexuals are still actively discriminated against, and if the majority of shows have been about any one thing, it has been Sam speaking up for the rights of such groups. By the way, they could do the gay story by having Sam leap into a woman involved with another woman, which would make things easier on Sam and would also let them show some physical affection between the two without the audience freaking out. I personally would feel cheated thought. I'd like to see Sam confront some ideas and lifestyles radically different from his own. It would test his non-judgmental attitudes, and might give him a chance to grow as a character. We'll see.

[...]

Why are there so few male Leap fans? Besides myself, I've only seen a few others on the net, and a few here. What is it about this show that turns most men off it? Okay, granted (most) men can't appreciated Sam and Al in the same way many women see to (I for one get tired of wiping the drool off my friends' chins) but there really is more to the show than two good looking guys.

Actually, having been in media fandom for a few years, I find it surprising how many males are active in QL compared to the ratio usually seen in other fandoms. I think the major factor is the the "buddy concept, as strong relationship shows tend to have primarily to exclusively female followers, while the gadget-based programs tend to draw in more men. QL is the first fandom I've been in where a significant number of guys -- meaning more than Scott Clark by himself -- have participated in a l/z zine and sent fiction to fanzine editors. To me, it looks like QL is far more appealing to the world at large than most other shows...

If it's Sam’s body doing the leaping, and they actually do the episode with him leaping into a pregnant woman, where's Sam going to keep the baby - next to his liver? body does the leaping, the baby will have to go back to the waiting room with the mother, and Sam will appear to others as a pregnant woman, but won't be able to experience the pregnancy. And I so wanted a scene where he feels the baby kick! I've never been pregnant myself, but have some vicarious experience through my sister. (On a talk show, Eric Pierpoint of ALIEN NATION described recurring dreams of going into labor, all because he was wearing a big stomach all day at work. He found it a very fulfilling experience until, at the end of each dream, he realized there was no place for the baby to come out. These actors are so suggestible!)

Issue 7

The Imaging Chamber 7 was published in June 1991 and contains 46 pages.

cover of issue #7

• Editorial (1)
• Letters of Comment (22 of them) (3)
• a review of Quantum Jones, see that page (41)
• a review of A Matter of Time #1, see that page (42)
• Episode Guide (43)
• Kitty's Smarm Ratings for QL Zines (45)

Issue 7: Excerpts from Letters

It happened, by the way; someone has done a slash story featuring Sam and Al. I have not read it, but I saw it listed in an ad for a multi-media slash zine. Appears to be set before Sam's first leap. I'm betting it's incredibly out of character, even aside from the obvious reasons, but I'm not going to encourage this kind of thing by spending good money to read it.

Project Quantum Leap has about a hundred members so far, growing by three to thirteen members per week (the high end being since the Starlog listing. In answer to whether we’re running the complete text of the February Hitchcock Theater Q&A, well, yes, we will, and we’re coming out in late April. I considered holding back in favor of TIC, but two of our members have spent considerable time and effort transcribing it, and I’ve spent $10 to get the file changed from IBM to Macintosh. Besides, there are some member/subscribers for each zine who don’t get both TIC and The Observer. Personally, I like to see alternate transcriptions to try to get all the gaps of inaudibility and nuances of interpretation.

I wish I’d had a chance to meet you at the February screening, but there were a lot of people I either didn’t get to talk to at all or barely had a chance to say "hi” to. It was rather an overwhelming experience, meeting so many people whose names I knew from the zines and the membership lists... And, of course, there was also the screening, and the Q&A, and the autograph session, and minor stuff like that. There’s a videotape of the Q&A supposedly in the mail to me, but it hasn't turned up so far.

[...]

One of our members. Kris Arnold, talked to Don Bellisario at the screening about the so-called hiatus. He told her he was responsible for holding back episodes in January and February. He said he knew that they had some especially good episodes coming up (and they did!), and he didn’t want to waste them on the Friday time slot. Kris, irrepressible soul that she is, berated him for worrying the fans with the show’s sudden absence, but Don felt the show’s chances were better with no ratings at all to drag the average down, as opposed to more bad ratings from either new episodes or reruns.

INDUSTRIES WHICH BENEFIT FROM QUANTUM LEAP FANDOM:

QUANTUM LEAP is not the only thing which benefits from its fans' loyalty. Other organizations and industries certainly get their share of benefits (otherwise known as "cleaning up") from those of us who love QUANTUM LEAP. Following are just a few:

USA TODAY: Okay. Admit it. Every Wednesday we rush (sometimes with great fear and trepidation - talk about your high anxiety) to the newsstand or vending machine, pull out the Life section, turn to page 3 and seek out QUANTUM LEAP'S rating, share and ranking (a truly depressing practice when LEAP was on Friday; a truly wonderful experience with LEAP on Wednesdays). But some of us don't stop there, do we? We purchase USA Today everyday in hopes of any mention of QUANTUM LEAP. USA TODAY is cleaning up!

AT&T, MCI, SPRINT, etc: Long distance phone companies love us Leapers. You know what I'm talkin' about! We call each other to discuss the latest QUANTUM LEAP episode. We call each other and hold mutual drooling sessions over Scott Bakula. We talk to each other over the computer net. We discuss via phone the great relationship between Sam and Al, and Scott and Dean, etc., etc., etc. I know from whence I speak. I spent 3 1/2 hours (and enjoyed every minute) with an Illinois Leaper I had never talked to before. The long distance phone companies be cleanin' up!!

NBC TELEVISION: Now fess up! Along 'bout Sunday every week Leapin' VCRs all over the country are pressed into service in order to tape the promotion for an upcoming LEAP episode. But that's just the start. Because we know those promos change from day to day, we're sitting through shows we don't much like in order to catch a glimpse of a QUANTUM LEAP promo. A variation on this scenario - sitting through "Super Bloopers and Practical Jokes" in hopes of catching a QUANTUM LEAP blooper. NBC's Monday and Tuesday night line-ups also get a lot of play. Yep. NBC is cleanin' on up!!!

POSTAL SERVICE: Letters, newsletters, zines, VCR tapes, SASEs, and need I mention checks and money orders are crisscrossing their way across continents via the postal service as we share our QUANTUM LEAP goodies. Is the postal service cleanin' up!?! You bet!

VCR TAPES: Now, Leapers. This is serious. We know there are a variety of VCR tapes out there of varying quality and, consequently, varying price. But do we get the cheap tapes? Nope! We gotta get your basic, top-of-the-line, extra high quality tape (did I mention "expensive"?). But we don't stop there. We then record QUANTUM LEAP in the SP mode for quality's sake so we get only two (2!) episodes instead of a possible six or eight on each tape. AND THEN... there are those tapes (also recorded In SP) of the QUANTUM LEAP promos, as well as any appearances by Scott and Dean on talk shows. TV shows, movies, etc. The VCR industry loves us and they mighty happy cleanin' up!!!!

SIBLING RIVALRY/L.A. STORY: Now this gets touchy. We went to see [the movie] "Sibling Rivalry" 'cause we wanted to see Scott. He, of course was great, but most of us have got to admit that the movie was not one of Carl Reiner's best and yet... and yet... we went to see it a second time! But it gets worse, doesn't it, Leapers? How many of us have circled April 11 on our calendars so we can march down to our video store and buy "Sibling Rivalry" (probably at an outrageous price)? And how many of us plopped down big bucks (the movies are expensive these days) on [the movie] "L.A. Story's" opening night only to discover, horror or horrors, no Scott! But wait a minute. How many of us, when we heard Scott say on Entertainment Tonight that the only thing left to see of him in "LA Story" was his backside, insisted that we know what Scott's backside looks like, and we know it wasn't in that movie? But... and this is the crunch... how many of us contemplated, however briefly, going back to see "LA Story" just to catch a glimpse of Scott's backside? Yes, folks. These two movies cleaned up!!!!!

Other industries are cleaning up, too. And they deserve a mention. When the word went out in March, how many of us hit the streets In search of GQ and Entertainment Weekly? I could go on and on but you get the idea.

God, I love this LEAP fandom!!!

Bless NBC’s little ’ole heart for all the promos they’ve done on LEAP, but Sam’s "hottest", "sexiest", "most sensual", etc. leap ever does not impress me and, given what the episodes turn out to be, the spirit of QUANTUM LEAP is lacking in these promos. I want more viewers to come to the party, too, but the price of the deception to get them there and the cost to LEAP’S integrity is too high.

Let me get a little defensive here since I was the editor mentioned in your LOC [about fans being too fannish and drooling over the actors]. Because of space restrictions, maybe I didn't clarify my editorial in Issue #3. Yes, the cast and crew of QL are "nice.” Most people genuinely are. But most people in the entertainment industry are not... at least toward their fans. That is why I emphasized this. I, too, have had the opportunity to meet, interview and work with many actors and production people in television. Let me go out on a limb here and say some of them have been downright nasty. And who could forget Jonathan Frakes (of "ST:TNG") on ARSENIO HALL when he insulted every fan with his snide remarks. The sad part is, his attitude is not an isolated one, but the norm for most actors I've met. The LEAP folk are different. That's what floored me. That's what incited me to report it.

Also, I do NOT "follow Scott and Dean" around. The fact is, I'm so self-conscious that I refrain from going to the set as much as possible, even when I'm invited. Sally Smith has even accused me of being overly paranoid about this. I do NOT bother them, but receive info from their agents and work directly from publications, letters, and press releases.

As for "gushing" - guilty as charged. But so is every letter writer in TIC. Hey, these are talented guys deserving of recognition.

Finally, as for "sense of proportion" - I assume you’re questioning whether I/other fans have "a life." Rest assured, my nights and days are not consumed by LEAP. In addition to editing Q2 and heading up the Committee for a Dean Stockwell Star, I [much personal info redacted about busy community and personal activities].

All said and done, I do understand where you’re coming from and agree. Talk is merely that, but when "fans" (a word that the media has turned derogatory) begin acting on their fantasies, i.e. stalking, excessive letter writing, and 'stunts’ etc., then the sacred line between public and private life is crossed. For the sanity of all LEAP folk at Universal, I hope that no one has ’crossed the line.’ From this end anyway, at all times, I try to maintain a sense of professionalism and proportion.

Well, we already knew God had a sense of humor. A few weeks after I wrote that letter to TIC #6 laying down the law about how fans should act around Scott and Dean, I was the one trying not to drool on their shoes. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Julie Barrett and I flew out to California for the advance screening of "8 1/2 Months," which as we all know by now was great. As out-of-towners we got seats in the second row and, after the Q&A session, good spots in line for the guys’ autographs. I got more of a chance to watch and talk to Scott, of the two. What everyone says is right; he is nice. Which sounds like damning with faint praise, but English doesn’t have any good words for the kind of person who makes you feel comfortable Just by being in the room. I think he’d have a lot of fun at a con, and so would everyone else present. Dean was a little more formal, but he was also very polite and patient with the fans.

Did anyone else out there have problems with this episode, [8 1/2 Months]? I state this mildly, actually by the end of the show I was furious and hurt. I felt as if I had been publicly called an idiot.

I knew we were in for trouble when Al started in with that cockamamie explanation that Sam’s body leaps (I couldn’t believe they really decided to say that!) and that it’s mass hypnosis when everyone sees Sam as this girl who's pregnant. And that Sam couldn’t be in labor because it’s actually Billie who’s in labor and she's back in the waiting room 40 years in the future. Oh, boy....

In the middle of the third year they’re telling us what should have been said in the pilot. Great timing, guys! They’re also taking half the fun away by not having Sam have to adjust to another body.

Okay, who didn’t want Sam to actually be in a woman’s body? By taking his own body along for the trip we know he's always going to be strong and capable. I always thought half the fun was his bewildered vulnerability. Now, of course, he has no handicaps to overcome. He can get out of a wheelchair and tango. If he does that I guarantee they’ll hear my screams all the way out to L.A...

Of course I want to know how the hell all those clothes fit him, especially Samantha's and Darlene’s, and, more specifically, their shoes? How does someone touch Butchie's shoulder, when they would be ramming into Sam’s chest, as there is a considerable difference in height?

We're already believing a lot just with the basic premise. We smile and now to have them have Al popping all over to center on other people when he’s supposed to be a neural hologram and really should be able to see only what Sam sees and no more. I like to believe one impossible thing before breakfast, but don’t force me to eat a platterful and expect me to swallow it without choking.

Having been pregnant and not particularly enjoying the experience, I was looking forward to Sam having swollen ankles, back aches, and the bladder capacity of a thimble. I figured that he wouldn’t go through actual delivery, after all that’s asking a bit much, but I didn’t figure on what we got.

For someone who can write Emmy material, Deborah Pratt pulled out every hackneyed cliché about pregnancy. I believe Sam mentioned that the morning sickness usually stops in the first three months or so, not to mention the cravings, but Deborah wanted Sam to eat jello and onions, so the hell with what's correct. Also the hell with the fact that Sam is a doctor. They forgot it in [the episode] "Strobe" when Al was telling Sam what to do for an overdose, and Ms. Pratt forgot it here where Al is telling Sam how to breathe. Since when doesn't Sam know how to stop labor? Didn’t he do just that in the pilot? Labor isn’t that hard to shut down if the baby isn’t actually in the birth canal. Why did this high tech team of doctors have such a hard time? And how was Sam actually feeling the baby kick??

I was having a hard time with all this nonsense right up until Al told Sam that the baby had Leaped and was gone from Billie’s body. That did it. Where did it go? Into Sam? Where? Last anatomy class I had didn’t show any place to park a baby in the male body. Did the kid bring her placenta along, or did she just wing it for oxygen until she got bounced back into her mom? The kid’s racked up more frequent flyer miles than a salesman and hasn’t even been born yet.

And how could the doctor see the baby's head before Sam leaped?! Sam's in hard labor with no womb and no vagina to deliver and yet he apparently is doing just that. This is a lot more than I can swallow.

I called Belisarius Productions and spoke at length with Harriet, Don P.'s secretary. What she said is deeply disturbing for anyone who cares about the quality of QL. Harriet is very nice and listened patiently to me as I detailed the problems I had (and had confirmed with 5 other people who also weren't happy with the show). She said that the 300 people at the QL party had said nothing and seemed to like the episode. I'm not certain I would stand up and blast anything in the middle of a party, either, it ain’t polite. Apparently, I am the only dissenter who has called them about "8 1/2 Months." Well, I thought maybe she (and they) were privy to some inside info that would make the story scan better, so I asked how Samantha's clothes fit Sam. Harriet laughed and said that it didn't matter, "it’s only fantasy." I asked where the baby went, how could it be in Sam's body? And she said that it "really doesn't matter. It's only fantasy and you don't have to explain fantasy. You're not supposed to think about it."

I explained to her that fantasy is based on the willing suspension of disbelief and that, if anything, it must be more careful than reality, or that suspension is lose and the viewer says, "Aw, come on." The instant that happens you have lost your viewer. A person's belief system is as fragile as a soap bubble. We've all had our bubbles punctured; Darth turns out to be Luke's father and Leia is his sister; Vincent really is a ravening beast who kills any topsider who crosses him; that season of DALLAS really was all a dream... Aw, come on. The fact that the attitude at Belisarius Productions is that "it’s only fantasy" makes me fear for the quality of the series.

[...]

Having vented my spleen on printed page I urge all of you to make yourself know to Don P. and the rest of the crew. If you found "8 1/2 Months” to be a problem, tell them! If you're insulted by the idea that they can tell you anything and it doesn’t have to make sense or jive with what they've already said because "it's only fantasy," tell them! QL has the fans with the highest intellect going. If you don't want to be equated with the general viewer who will sit still for anything and doesn't actually "think" about what they Ve seen, tell them! Address correspondence to: Donald Bellisario, c/o NBC, QUANTUM LEAP, 3000 W. Alameda, Burbank, CA 91523. Be polite, but speak your mind. My sister spoke with Chris the other day (she's trying to sell 2 scripts) and found that response to "8 1/2 Months" was positive and that no one seems to mind when the show "gets a little silly.

We got the timeslot changed and got it renewed. We are the ones responsible for the quality of the programming we watch. They can only drop the quality as low as we will allow. Please use your voice and don't let QL go the way of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST or the 3rd season of STAR TREK.

In a sense you are right - we are responsible for the quality of what we watch through the simple mechanism of turning off what we don't like. They can only drop the quality as low as we will watch. Because then ratings do a dive and the show has to go away. However, the fans do not in any way "own" any part of any show, and do not -- and in my opinion should not - have any creative control over what the production team may deem fit to film. Militant attempts to direct the nature of a program to the taste of some viewers rather than the experienced judgement of the creator, such as you seem to be advocating, make me quite nervous in that it is precisely this sort of fan input and rule by committee that brought about the horrid results we saw with B&B. I do not discourage you from making your views known to anyone who willingly listens to them, but I will not support any campaign to attempt to coerce or intimidate Donald P. or anyone on his staff into catering to the wishes of the fans. Don't forget as active fans we are a very tiny minority of the viewing public, and just liking the show does not give us any vested interest or ownership in it. To paraphrase the immortal words of Ham Salad, "chill out, it's only a TV show."

Yes, the show is inconsistent. It doesn't spoil my enjoyment of it. -- even the most reality based shows have/had that problem on occasion. It seems to be the nature of the beast, the beast being television where more than one person is responsible for creative control (despite the best intentions of the creator/executive producer). Only STAR TREK's Gene Roddenberry seems to be able to wield such tight control as needed and he has a syndication not network deal. And even NEXT GENERATION has evolved. Anyone can spot the inconsistencies with first and fourth seasons.

Hello, fellowLeapers! Here we go again. A lot has happened since #6. Thankfully the show is back on the air, on Wednesdays, the rating are vastly improved and, best of all, they’ve been picked up for another season. The ads NBC ran after the letter campaign were great fun!

Then, after "we won!”, Belisarius Productions did something completely unprecedented: they threw a party for their fans! Can you believe it? They wanted to thank us for writing the letters. Wow! Isn't it wonderful to have the people in charge of a series acknowledge that fans did play an important role in the life of the show? I've been involved in "save the show" campaigns before and never have I experienced anything like this. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to the screening as my vacation had already been scheduled for two weeks later and I didn't have the money to fly to LA and back twice in one month!

Finally! I've met a Neilsen family! Well, if you can call reading each other's letters in a TIC meeting... And here I thought they were mythological creatures.

I've heard from the production office that QL has been renewed for another season. That’s a load off my mind; when I visited LA., frankly, I thought they didn't have much of a chance. I guess the combination of appealing to fans (since we write so many letters) and appealing to Mundanes (you know, those strange people with Nielsen boxes) was unbeatable. There’s a rumor going around that among the save-Quantum-Leap letters NBC got was one from Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek. Apparently his letter basically said ”Go ahead, do it to yourselves again.” Remember how NBC cancelled STAR TREK back in the 1960’s? Remember how much money STAR TREK has made since? I guess NBC does, too.

NBC: They sure know how to treat a show, don't they? It took them 500,000 letters to move it back to Wednesdays. Half a million letters? With each letter representing thousands more (sorry, I have no sympathy for PEAKS fans, we worked all year for this).

I don't quite believe that number, it sounds too high, and indeed I saw an article in which the number of letters supposedly received was 50,000 instead. Considering how well they seem to keep track of incoming mail, it's a better bet that their estimate of the number of letters they get is more in the range of "lots" or perhaps even "bunches" and the media made up a suitable large set of digits to go with the word.

This is the first LoC zine I’ve gotten involved in, and I’m really enjoying myself. It reminds me of a computer BBS, although the longer gap between issues means that there isn’t as much interplay.

I’m glad nobody has gotten personally rude on the religious issue; that's usually the first thing to happen on a BBS when a religion discussion starts. I gather we have a wide range of personal beliefs here: several Christians, at least one Wiccan, a few people who detest religion and (presumably) some who don’t care one way or another.

Issue 8

The Imaging Chamber 8 was published in December 1991 and contains 50 pages. The cover is credited to Karen Hurst. However, the cover appears not to have included this art. This may be related to the explanation by the editor in issue #10.

cover of issue #8

• Editorial (1)
• Letters of Comment (18 of them) (3)
• review for Green Eggs and Ham #1, see that page (48)
• review for Look Before You Leap #1, see that page (49)

Issue 8: Excerpts from Letters

Third-hand word has reached me of the controversy raging on the Prodigy network regarding my use of the word "smarm." It seems that some find the term inappropriate due to its common dictionary meaning. These same people probably also think they know what the word "consideration" means. I invite them to look "consideration" up in Black's Law Dictionary, and compare their assumptions with the meaning imputed to it there. Similarly, "smarm" is a term of art which may have a meaning to most laymen, but is defined entirely differently for the use of professionals in a specialized field. That this is so is demonstrated clearly by the act that the other zineds and writers I communicate with know what I mean in using the word. Beyond that, what meaning the uninitiated read into our words is of no concern, and is certainly not grounds for vilification.

About the B-word : let's lighten up. We seem to have become so caught up in the mechanics of leaping -myself included -that we're missing one of the major points of the series. Quantum Leaping is just the vehicle they use in order to tell stories. As Sam experiences being black, a woman, or whomever, we the viewers vicariously experience those lives, too. Through these stories. QL is promoting awareness and tolerance of those who are different from the average white male viewpoint we're used to seeing on TV. We know the power of the medium in promoting and starting fashion trends and fads. Isn't it great to see a program that promotes kindness and decency and humanity? The B-word question pales in comparison to these values in my book.

I've also heard that Universal Studios has put down an edict which bans its production companies from accepting unsolicited scripts and story pitches. Then just a couple of weeks ago, I read that QL has been slapped with several lawsuits claiming theft of ideas. One was reportedly asking $100 million in damages! These lawsuits are exactly the reason it's difficult for new writers to break into television. If the producers of a given series can prove that they've created all of the story lines in-house, and/or purchased them through an established process, they're protecting themselves against these suits. The only winners in this one (no offense, Kitty) are the lawyers. The studios lose because they have to fight the suits, and they get paranoid about accepting outside work, so the quality of the shows has abetter chance of suffering. We're ALL losing, folks. I would love to write for television, not just QL.

I would like to comment on the issue of visiting the QUANTUM LEAP set. I know that many fans are disappointed because the QL set is now a closed one. And I know, in the past, visits to the LEAP set have been quite frequent. In fact, I was quite surprised to learn how often there were visitors to the set. Most sets are closed. I would urge QL fans to be understanding. The QUANTUM LEAP folks have a job to do. And frankly, having visitors all the time can be distracting. I think the LEAP actors and producers have done their best to be accessible to their fans. They do appreciate their fans. They just want to meet them in settings outside their place of work.

I'm not sure I'd even make that claim, I think they'd prefer not to be accosted by fans anywhere at all.

Why do the creators of QL insist that the show is NOT science fiction? I suppose one could argue that the SF elements of the series are overshadowed by the dramatic plots of the episodes; however, this excuse does not stand up under scrutiny when one realizes that ST: THE NEXT GENERATION (a SF series in the truest possible tradition) had been praised by critics for displaying dramatic characters and situations. Does Mr. Bellisario believe that SF is only escapist, juvenile entertainment and that QL, being an adult-oriented drama, is not compatible with such a genre classification?... I wonder if Mr. B. fears that QUANTUM LEAP will not be taken seriously with a science-fiction label (perhaps this is a legitimate concern, considering that the entertainment industry only nominates SF for Emmys, as long as they display outstanding technical material-special effects/sound effects). Too often, science fiction's dramatic skills are overlooked because of this sort of bias.

Hello everybody! This is my first LOC so if I make some sort of error in form or anything, please just set me straight in a nice way, OK? I'm writing at the urging of my friend, who felt that TIC needed to hear more from the kinder, gentler species of fan (that’s me). This is my basic attitude: I love the show. I love the actors. I love the producers. I love the writers. I love the directors. And so on. To me, the show is magic. I’m afraid if they ever fiddled around with it, changing this or that, it might get wrecked. So I want it to stay just the way it is: Sam rescuing the damsel-of-

the-week, the writers deciding whether Sam's mind or body leaps that week by flipping a coin, and Sam and Al's mysterious references to somebody in the ceiling leaping Sam around.

The discussion of homosexual/lesbian storyline, with the previous story "Good Night, Dear Heart" by Paul Brown, which won an award from the MWA for best episode for TV. has caused a ruckus within the gay community and a problem for DPB. If he does another story, maybe it should involve gays being kicked out of the military. It would please Scott’s request for a gay character, male or female. It would be interesting to see Al’s reaction to this. Plus for DPB. you have a story that is current and topical, but you won’t have a happy ending. But some episodes are set that way.

I saw [the episode] "Shock Theatre" on the way to MediaWest - we drive and generally break up the trip overnight. We could have pulled into Lansing just about in time for the episode - but who knows how long it would take to check in get situated and this episode did not sound like one to miss. So we stopped at a motel in Benton Harbor, Michigan. I'm surprised they didn’t come and toss us out onto the street the way we carried on. The frustrating thing was no VCR on hand for an instant playback. We had to wait until we returned home to play this episode six more times and pick out all the little details.

I was surprised at the discrepancy of the comments on [the episode] "8-1/2 Months" in #7. Seems it was either loved or hated, depending on how the 'body explanation' went over. Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and submit that IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER. Whether Sam's body or his mind does the actual leaping, the result is the same. The essence of Sam is there -whatever the individual believes that essence to be -and that's what counts. Okay, I'll admit, in some cases it can be a little confusing (re: if Sam feels the baby kick, does that mean he's really carrying it, or is it the psychological link he has with Billie Jean?) But, as someone wisely pointed out, Sam and Al are equally confused. And if they don't understand exactly what's going on, why should we? Project Quantum Leap is an ongoing experiment, with as many variables as time itself. And this very unpredictability is what hooked us in the first place. Would we really be content with pat explanations, when part of the fun is trying to figure out which direction they're going to go next? Far from being insults to our intelligence, these unresolved questions are integral to it. We'd better hope that writers like Deborah Pratt continue to stimulate and challenge our imaginations, because the moment they become wary of pursuing an idea for fear the fans won't approve, the entire point of QUANTUM LEAP is lost. And while I'd be the first to say spirited debate is a healthy thing, let's try to stay away from anger. Like QL and the Gulf War, the two don't mix.

Here we are. Waiting for the new season to begin. A season that may not have happened if it hadn't been for both QL's dedication to Excellence, and our dedication to QL. We've all earned it. but there'll never be enough time for us to take what we've earned for granted. We have something very, very special here. And if the advance word of some upcoming shows is any indication (a research laboratory chimp, a rape victim), we're in for one hell of a ride. Challenging as always, and perhaps full of controversy, but would we have it any other way?

I want to inform you all of something going on with QL. On a program entitled ENTERTAINMENT DAILY JOURNAL, they reported (via Variety) that NBC wants the producers of QL to come up with $750,000 insurance money before they will air an episode where Sam goes back to help a young gay male from suicide. This money is to cover any ad withdrawal that might occur when this episode airs. In fact, NBC stated (according to EDJ) that they would not air the episode without the money up front. A few days later EDJ reported that the writers of THE TRIALS OF ROSIE O'Neill are raising money to buy an ad to be aired during this episode dealing with economic censorship. Mr. Rosenzweig (ROSIE's producer) said he would match what the writers raise dollar for dollar. I have written to both Mr. Bellisario and Mr. Rosenzweig. I also enclosed a couple of dollars to contribute toward that $750,000 needed. I later found out a name of a man at NBC to write to, and was told by the NBC station here that to write to NBC headquarters at NY would be of big impact as well, so I did.

I am NOT gay, lesbian, a member of GLAD, or some over-active fanatic. I am someone concerned with making sure that the commercial sponsors in this country not be allowed to dictate what can and cannot be seen on TV. It should not matter what sexual preference the young person is, nor should his race, ethnic background, or religious beliefs. His homosexuality may be a big contributing factor in the suicide decision, BUT the main objective here is the suicide.

While I find the censorship issue similarly distasteful and agree with your analysis that the sexual preference of any story's character ought to be as respected as any other genetic trait, I think we ought to realize that the commercial sponsors have always controlled what is broadcast. They make their decisions on where to place ads based on those ratings systems we're or so fond of, and the reason a show gets cancelled when the ratings are low is not just that the People Have Spoken, its that if nobody can be demonstrated to be watching it, no company will pay for air time during it. What is more odious about this current sort of pressure is not that the companies are refusing to pay to advertise -that is and has always been their prerogative - but that they are responding to demands by special interest groups who threaten them if they appear to support whatever the group doesn't like. That's the basis of censorship, not a company making an economic decision, but a bunch of loud, intolerant people forcing their views about what's proper on the rest of us by working the system to their particular advantage. They've always wanted to do that, its just that lately they've gotten cunning enough to know who to threaten in order to get what they want taken off the air. If you really want to make an impact, convince the companies buying the ad time that there are more people who won't boycott them if they sponsor controversial programming than there are crackpots who will exact retribution on them for appearing to be associated with some particular topic or viewpoint.

Issue 9

The Imaging Chamber 9 was published in April 1992 and contains 53 pages.

cover of issue #9: see the editorial for issue #10 as to why there is no art on the front

This issue contains a detailed fan-created timeline of Sam and Al's life.

From the editorial::

What about QUANTUM LEAP? No, I’m not deserting this fandom, but as the continuing dearth of interstitial commentary in this issue may reveal, it has less than my complete attention and interest these days. Regrettably, not much of this last season has impressed me all that favorably, though I will staunchly maintain it's still a better show than 98% of the rest of what's on. Perhaps my dislike of the season opener tainted the rest for me. More likely I simply got out of the habit of watching during the first semester [of law school] and my life has not yet settled back into a pattern that comfortably includes spending a lot of time with QL instead of what has to be done. I haven’t managed to get my correspondence back to speed either and the Tardis hasn't had an oil change in well over 5,000 miles, so plainly I am not fully recovered and back into the mode where free time is used for anything but sleep or laying around in a stupor listening to music. However, with a full 22-ep pick-up for next season already announced, even with the budget cuts there is always the hope that DPB and crew will do something so stunningly awesome that I will be enthused all over again this fall. It could happen....

• Editorial (3)
• Letters of Comment (23 of them) (3)
• a review of Faces of Clay, see that page (50)
• a review of Out of the Blue, see that page (51)
• a review of Play It Again #1, see that page (52)

Issue 9: Excerpts from Letters

The weekend in LA was a success by all accounts and while I missed some of it (including the final panel on Sunday where Scott and Dean were supposed to appear) due to my plane schedule, what I did see was encouraging. The fandom is alive and well, and determined to keep the show the same way. Hopefully there will be some reports and perhaps even a few number of the crew and production staff showed up at the "con” where several quite good presentations on how-dey-do-dat were given. To me it seemed like the audience questions were regrettably single-minded in the "how can I get you to look at my script?" vein, but the opportunity to meet Leapers I'd only previously heard from by mail or phone was nice enough to make the trip well worthwhile. My sincere thanks to those of you who introduced yourselves as subscribers or spent time with me on Sunday. Meeting new friends is a very large part of what fandom is all about and QL has proven to be one of the better ones for bringing together a pool of people well worth knowing. Should it interest any of you, I will not be attending MediaWestCon this year because of previous time commitments and continuing budgetary restraints (no refund for me this year, for no apparent reason I owe the stinking feds a bunch more money than they already extorted from my pay); however, I will be in Orlando for World Con over Labor Day weekend and if you want to talk QL, RGB, some other fandom I've been in, or just get my latest rambling attempt at a definition of what the heck smarm is, leave a note for me on the voodoo message board. I check it regularly and don't have any major plans that would preclude spontaneous get-togethers with fellow fen.

I want to say publicly how wonderful and cooperative everyone has been [regarding Leap Day]. I’ve worked directly with Harriet Maigulies in Don Bellsario’s office, and with Dean's publicist Jason McCloskey, and they’ve both been a joy to deal with. And this committee has worked so well together. I’m pleased that I was able to be apart of such a special event. So is my travel agent And so is my charge card company. And my long-distance carrier.

The big kudos go to [the episode] "Running for Honor," which I thought was sensitively written and portrayed. I was especially fond of the fact that we never knew the sexual orientation of the guy Sam leaped into "and it really didn’t matter. I did have the coach figured out early on, though and of course, the performances were outstanding. Al’s change of mind was well-played. It was easy to understand his homophobia given that he’s a Navy man, yet somewhat surprising given his civil rights background. Yet again, it serves to point up that practically no one is immune from prejudices of some sort, but can learn to overcome them If they face the object of prejudice with an open mind. NBC lost million dollars on that episode due to sponsor pullout at the last minute. It's nice to know that their upper management has a few principles.

Thank you for your commentary on the "I met Scott/Dean" reports. I agree, even to the point of wondering after some of these people. I appreciate the transcripts of things like the panels, but some of these [fan's personal accounts] are getting ridiculous.

It is interesting to note that in the fan fiction on QL that I have read so far, when Tina has appeared in a story, she has never been portrayed as a bimbo, but as an intelligent and significant member of the Project. I definitely like the fans' interpretation much better [than what we see on the show.

I think one of the signs that indicates the addition of Donna [in "Leap Home"] may have been an afterthought or at least an idea that was not well executed is the poor explanation that Don has come up with for Al not telling Sam about her. It really is a lousy story concept. I will concede that based on "Star Crossed,” with its ambiguous ending, it is possible to justify Sam having succeeded in making sure Donna didn't leave him at the altar a second time. However, by the same token and based on episodes that came after as well as the writer's bible in general, it would be safe to assume that the original intention was that Sam would have to be content knowing he had helped Donna with her father, but in the end, the major rule of "quantum leaping" stayed in force.

This seems especially true since "Star Crossed" came so early in the show’s development, i.e., a little too early to start ignoring the "rules" of quantum leaping just yet. Having Donna and Sam married all this time seems to be one more incongruous element in 'The Leap Back," but who notices, right? This script feels like one that was rushed as does the acting in some instances. In fact, the acting seems to have been done at almost a frenetic pace. Frankly, for a script permed by Mr. Bellisario, it sure doesn't seem to be a well thought out story. Of course, even the best writers can, on occasion, fail to produce a good script.

Probably the most telling sign that the character of Donna really did not belong here is that after having this "wonderful" revelation, Don then does a 180 and says that for Sam, shades of "Dallas," this adventure never happened! So why do it in the first place? If Sam were allowed to remember, it could either provide some bittersweet moments for future stories as Sam met people he could love, or as an incentive to keep going on when things are looking grim. Now, with any future love stories, "Hurricane" springing to mind, there could be a note of falseness to it. In fact, having done it this way, Mr. Bellisario may have cheapened Sam's character a bit.

And Al's - whole time Al's been urging him to 'bop the bimbo' knowing Sam had a wife at home? Pretty sleazy, and leaves one quite a bit less inclined to sympathize with his inability to maintain a relationship of his own With Mr. Bellisario throwing out what minimal guidelines he had established for Sam’s quantum leaping, the way things stand now. Sam should have returned home already. Project Quantum Leap should either not exist at all or it should exist in a very altered form. As an example, Donna probably would be the Project Observer in the altered universe since she would now have been with Sam from the Project’s beginnings and according to "Star Crossed," it was "their dream" for Sam to travel in time. At the very least, the friendship of Sam and Al would be altered in some way. Ultimately, I think the latter is the final argument against reintroducing Donna. Of course, all the previous statements presupposes the Science Fiction angle of QUANTUM LEAP was given considerably more thought than just as an initial story telling device and then once into the story, dropping it.

This is unfortunate since working within the framework of established guidelines usually produces better drama. Sometimes, it does seems silly to get so wound up in a particular show and yet when you enjoy something as much as I and others seem to enjoy QUANTUM LEAP, I think it only natural that episodes like "The Leap Back" bring out a frustration of seeing not only a great idea for a story not carried out, but also the show in general not living up to its true potential. I believe Mr. Bellisario missed a golden opportunity of either having fun with a totally lighthearted season opener, counteracting the intensity of "Shock Theater, or one that truly tugged at the heartstrings. No matter what path was chosen though, here was a chance to do something special with the Sam/Al friendship, reveal some new shadings to it, i.e., have some fun with the revelation of Al's birthday instead of it being a throwaway. This is a story that failed miserably with its attempt at blending poignancy with humor, (usually a QL strong point). Things were done in a very jarring manner. Perhaps instead of switching our heroes' places, Sam and Al could have leaped back together to some point in time and have a story where they get to interact with each other. For a one hour time-slot that might have been a better story idea.

[...]

I must say based on what has transpired already, this season does not seem to compare to what has come before. QUANTUM seems to have gone for issue or gimmick stories rather than telling the nice personal stories that made the past seasons special. One can only hope that before the season is over a few realty remarkable stories will come forth. Stories that will really touch the viewer's emotions.

And that, I think, was the biggest failing of "Leap Back." I know the show has the power to involve my emotions, no matter how many times I watch "M.I.A." I still end up sniffling at the end. But "Leap Back” left me bored, unimpressed, and completely unmoved to anything but a vague disgust. From the ditzy bimbo Tina turned out to be, to the "reverse swiss-cheesing" that makes everything Sam did and learned totally pointless to his own growth as a human being, it didn't arouse any emotion in me except contempt.

Rarely has one episode [The Leap Back] of any television series raised so many questions in my mind, and the maddening thing is that we'll probably never go back to the project again to get the answers to any of them. Dammit, Donald, how could you do this to us?

After reading all that, you probably think I hated the episode. Not so. It was a lot of fun seeing Al struggle with a swiss cheese memory while Sam delivered the ribald commentary The references to Beth were nice (and touching), and Al’s fight with Clifford was amusing. It was great to see Al be the hero for a change, and Sam's comment that leaping "may be more than Al can handle" seemed a bit high-handed. I would say that Al is probably BETTER suited to that lifestyle than Sam is -- certainty Al has bounced back from more situations than Sam (in his own life) and is definitely more of a man of action.

Well, next is the chimp episode. Dollars to donuts that at least once before the hour is over, Al will say, "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle."

The Gay Cadet episode. Hmmmm. Well, I was horrified with Al’s homophobic attitude so I guess the last 2 minutes of the show "saved the day" for me. Maybe that's how we were supposed to be effected, huh? Sam as his usual broadminded "walk a mile in their shoes" self (after all, that what he does for a living!!) got enough ridicule to last 100 lifetimes from Al. I DID like the way they left it "open" as far as Tom's sexual preferences. Sam was right. It DIDN'T matter.

Hooray!! He finally got that Golden Globe and I coulda swore I felt the earthquake here in Iowa from all those LEAPers jumpin’ up and down across the nation and goin' crazy when Scott won. Oh, boy, the award was much deserved. And doesn’t he make a great Black woman? I was the happiest Black woman on the planet to see Wm look right at home singing and Interacting in the African American world. Way to go. Scott! Though I may have to give him some pointers on the gospel sway.

I've been real reflective of late about race, ethnicity and all that. I’m proud to be an African American woman and would never change that, though I can still remember vividly, as a little girl, praying to be White. I bring it up now because of the episode, "Justice". I thought a lot about this episode after it first came on and I still think about it even now because it touched me so strongly.

Some LEAPers I talked to had a problem with the ending of this show -not with Gene’s seemingly very sudden conversion, but with what Sam had to say. They thought he was being too preachy. All I can say is. "Let him preach! Let him preach!" I think it teaches a valuable lesson about racism (which I define as prejudice plus power) and that is -if it is to end only Whites can stop it. Whites are responsible for speaking out against racism when they see it. Only then is conversion possible. Gene loved Clyde/Sam. He was part of the family. The family Gene wanted to protect. Faced with hanging Clyde (which Sam knew he already wouldn’t or couldn't do), the futility of the situation, and Sam's own questioning of hiding behind a mask to do "noble" work Gene couldn’t go trough with a lynching that night. Someone he loved showed him what he really looked like and what racism looks like, and he responded. I could've said the same words and Gene would've s^ hung me anyway because I'm no one he loves. I’m no one he needs to protect. I'm someone he fears. Radical idea here but I have very little power to end racism.

I went to a racism workshop about four years back and found out that I was an angry young Black woman. The workshop brought out feelings I didn’t know I had. As it turned out a lot of us women of color in the room were angry - angry that we still had to put up with stuff in this day and age, angry that we were still being made to feel like second class citizens and inferior people, angry that we were still afraid in certain situations. And a lot of us were very weary. Weary because we carried this burden of always putting ourselves or being put into situations where w e once again were made to bare our souls for the education of Whites concerning racism. A lot of us, in a more sophisticated and updated way, of course, are a lot like Aida - we take the racist attitude and we more often than not are still the ones soothing the conscience of the racist and trying to make it all better. So we listen one more time when someone tells us they heard a racist Joke but were afraid to (or didn’t know how to) respond. We answer politely when someone asks us to relate the Black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. experience to them -as if we all have the same experiences! We put up with it when someone wants to touch our hair ’cause they’ve never felt an Afro or they wonder how we got it so straight. We respond, one more time, when someone says share your pain so that we can understand what racism is.

The workshop facilitator said something which has freed me as a Black woman and was a human being. She said I, Darlene Lewis, have the power to decide who I will teach, who I will save, who I want to share my pain with. ’Selfish,' you say? No. from my point of view, soul savin'. She said, "There are White folks who will walk outside with you. There are White folks who will walk to the corner with you. There are White folks who will even cross the street with you - even when you both know the Mack Truck is comin’ fast. And there are White folks who, if they make it safely across the street with you, will stay there at the risk of alienation from other whites and sometimes even ask other Whites to come on over. The point is when you know in your heart how far anyone can go with you, you decide how much time and energy you want to invest in walking them down the street, to the corner, and across the street. You decide . You must know that you are not here to alleviate anyone's guilt. You must know that if racism is to end, it will not end because you put up with White guilt or ignorance one more time or even because you spoke out against it. Whites have been shown thousands of years of racism. If they don't get it by now they may never feel it. Let those with power over Whites tell them that they are racists and to stop it now."

So when Sam stood up there and told it like it was, I was glad! I say, "Let him preach!" Sam walked across the street knowing the Mack Truck was comin’ fast. He earned the right to tell folks how it is. Most important, at least one person listened. And that’s how racism ends.

[...]

"Justice" was a great episode for reminding us that where racism is concerned, the 90s are not all that far removed from the 60s. So let Sam preach and pray more voices join his.

Yes. I know. One minute I’m writing about what a wonderful life it is and the next minute I'm ruminating over racism. But as ugly and as foul and as withered as life can seem to be, as long as there's one butterfly, one sweet smelling rose, one single life-giving, soul refreshing drop of rain left on this earth, there is hope. And hope makes all of life worth living.

May all your LEAPS be filled with hope! See ya next time!

The QUANTUM LEAP comic books are good but not great. The reproductions of Scott and Dean are ok, the color is different looking than most comic books. The most annoying thing was the editor in charge of the comic book, George Broderick, Jr. gave a really annoying interview for Starlog magazine, about QUANTUM LEAP. And I was hoping that the book would fail because this guy's comments about QUANTUM LEAP were insulting to the fans and people who work on the show. But the sales of the book are good.

I've recently joined Viewers for Quality Television. I advise everyone to join, because the networks, especially NBC, are requesting their viewer surveys and pay very close attention to the "Quality Ratings" given to individual episodes of series. Members’ comments are solicited on a regular basis. It’s an excellent way to make our views heard by the powers-that-be in Networkland. And I think they do need to hear from us LEAPers. Despite the fact that QL is on their fully endorsed list, and held in very high esteem, the comments I’ve been reading lately are beginning to bother me. In a nutshell, some members think that Sam’s character has become "too good" and not well-rounded enough for an adult drama. Others feel that the show has become "too predictable," and "not focused enough on the characters." One even went so far as to say, "The scripts lack sparkle and spontaneity," and that, "the endings are too pat." I begged to differ there, and I will again here, in more detail.

What I think is happening here, is what’s probably happened to all of us to varying degrees. Last season, "Shock Theater" literally blew our collective minds. It was so intense, so complex, so - if you'll pardon the expression - electrifying, that our expectations for this season were too high for any show to satisfy. I know a lot of fans were a bit disappointed with "Leap Back", most likely for this very reason. If it had been viewed as just another episode, the surprises and the delights of Sam returning to his present would have been breathtaking. But we’d had so much time to speculate and build those expectations, we automatically set ourselves up for a fall.

"Running for Honor" -- Given the amount of interference by network and special interest groups, it's a tribute to LEAP that this episode turned out as good as it did. As a writer, I have strong feelings concerning artistic censorship in any form, but if I went on about that, it'd take a whole other letter. Network TV is one of the last bastions of the hopelessly outdated. Sometimes it takes a show like QL to buck the system and raise public awareness, and even if the episode never aired as intended, at least they tried. What I found the most interesting about the story was Al's reaction to Sam as a possible gay. It brought out a part of their relationship only touched on in "What Price, Gloria." We've rarely seen Sam really angry with Al. Sam's run the gamut of emotions this season, and a lot of them come from very deep inside. A shallow character, and a lessor actor, couldn't possibly carry it off.

I know, it seems I've gone on and on about Sam’s lapses of goodness and niceness. Which is not by any means to say that his still-innate virtuosity isn’t appreciated. It’s by far the most important part of Sam’s character. It makes him what he is. Without it, he’d be just another selfish, egotistical, carbon-copy television anti-hero. This is QUANTUM LEAP we’re talking about, not THIRTYSOMETHING. Who’s to say that someone good can’t be just as well-rounded and have just as much, if not more, depth? Given the situations Sam finds himself within, it’s imperative that he be the way he is. Why would Fate have chosen him, otherwise? Would any other character in any other prime-time drama be able to handle half these situations the way Sam can? So he's a hero. TV sorely needs heroes. Yet he is a hero with cracks

Season Four has a double misfortune: there have been severe budget cuts at the same time downhill. (Either the writers have run out of steam, or the good ones are too busy being producers or have been hijacked to work on TEQUILA AND BONETTI) The show is amusing. I'm still interested fannishiy, but I would no longer call it a Quality show one of the reasons I dropped out of VQT. I would not be able to rate QL with a 9 or 10.

[...]

The makers of QL are going to offer the excuse that the budget cuts are hurting them. I can appreciate the need to decrease location shooting, numbers of sets, leaps with exotic settings. But do most leaps have to steal plots from bad TV shows and hackneyed movies? Does it cost more to write decent Sam-and-Al Interaction? (For most of this season Dean could have mailed his part in. Al has often been a device rather than a character. Why aren’t the new writers getting any help with this?) Budget cuts can explain, to some extent, the look of the show, but not the kind of writing we've been seeing. All the energy that will probably go into thinking up excuses should go into meeting the challenge of writing the highest quality scripts possible under the current conditions. The sad thing is Mr. Bellisario and company have little outside motivation to make a high quality show. With the preferences of the average American viewer, QL will probably do just as well in the ratings with the mediocre stuff we’ve been getting this season as it would with scripts that would actually cover new ground. The bottom line is what it’s all about, after all. Hope springs eternal. I still want a fifth season. And maybe they've been saving the real QL episodes for the end of Season Four.

Do you want to know what I hate? I really hate becoming obsessed by a show that simply keeps on getting better and better! I can almost wish that it would start going downhill, like most other shows. What is wrong with these people? Can't they come up with bad ideas? Other shows don’t seem to have a problem with it! And it is most annoying for me, a simple vidiot, who generally enjoys watching tv, having to turn It off because I can’t find anything worth watching that is comparable to QL! Oh dear, what am I going to do?

They "have always controlled what is broadcast." When that woman (whose name I cannot remember just now) wrote to Coca-Cola with her opinions of their commercials during MARRIED WITH CHILDREN, it angered me how over time it became such a big issue. I felt that I would be more apt to boycott a company that bowed to this pressure rather than going ahead and running its ads in the controversial program. I then decided that did not make me any better than those on the other side. Quite some time ago (at least 6 months ago, I wrote to sponsors regarding how much I enjoy QL (I also did the same thing for THE TRIALS OF ROSIE O'NEILL) and that I really appreciated their sponsorship of good quality programming.... I really like your idea of "trying to convince the companies buying the ad time that there are more people who won't boycott them if they sponsor controversial programming than there are crackpots who will exact retribution on them for appearing to be associated with some particular topic or viewpoint."

I must confess to being one of those fans who sits back, watches an episode and just enjoys the whole thing. I never look for holes and discrepancies and have to wait for someone to point out where and what before I can spot them.

After going without new QL all summer, I was "a little" excited about "The Leap Back," which I showed by doing the following: washing my QUANTUM LEAP shirt and wearing it all day, polishing the VCR (inside and out), cleaning the remote and changing the batteries, polishing the VCR cabinet, the TV, and any area of the floor within sight of the TV. I did not want a speck of dust to distract me from my darlings. It was a classic case of expectations raised too high by the excellence of all the season openers and closers up until now.

Although I liked parts of "The Leap Back," I had objections, the the main one being the revelation of Sam and Donna's marriage.

[...]

Even if we can excuse away Sam's monumental memory lapse in this case, how can we excuse Al's behavior? In every case when Sam has found himself in a situation with a woman with even remote potential for intimacy, there is Al yelling, "Go for it, Sam!" even if Sam doesn't want to. Now I ask you, is Al being a friend, encouraging something Sam, if he had his full memory, wouldn't dream of doing and would resent Al for suggesting . For instance, say Dean Stockwell suffered a memory lapse, and one of us loyal fans approached him in this state and said, "Hey, let's go smash some air conditioners, it's great fun and you can even get high." And Dean, to whom normally smashing air conditioners, releasing chlorofluorocarbons into the ozone, or even getting high, would be abhorrent, says, "Sure!" Is the fan that encourages this being a friend to Dean, and how will Dean feel when he comes to his senses and realizes what he's done? Is he going to love this "friend"?

The writers may not have decided yet that Sam was married, or maybe they had and decided they were going to reveal it later and more dramatically. This was the only reply Al could have made without betraying Donna or directly lying to Sam. The writers certainly left themselves the best out they could.

Bad enough that Sam forgot his wife to the extent that he could fall for other women (doesn't say much for the relationship, does it), but worse to think that Al flat out lied to him from the very beginning. This scenario puts a not-so-pleasant face on the characters of both our guys. Then, we have to find out he's married, then move on after he's conveniently swiss-cheesed again (only on this particular subject as far as I have been able to tell from later episodes) and have Sam return to his previous behavior. We (and more importantly, Al) know that every time Sam gets Involved with a woman on one of his leaps, he is being unfaithful to Donna. Of course, he doesn’t know it, so it's okay? Considering the kind of a guy Sam is, I don't think it would be okay for him. In fact, I would have thought he would have suffered much more guilt during his brief return to the project when he realized what he had done. The only explanation for his not feeling like scum is mat he was too busy worrying about Al to have time to really think about it. Of course, then we have to deal with the fact that he did have time to take Donna home for a little romance under the stars. This doesn’t sound like Sam to me either. To sum it all up, this episode makes me very uncomfortable and I’d rather think of it as a bad dream!

Something else that bothers me a lot: Sam not remembering the past four years. I always felt that whoever or whatever was leaping Sam about, what happened was as much for Sam's benefit as for that of the leapee, that these experiences were lessons in life for the genius farmboy, and as such, enriched his life. But I guess if we are to believe he totally forgets his wife of however many years, he has to forget in reverse when he comes back. And, of course, he HAS to forget Donna when he goes back out, or he can't do his thing without reservations. As Donna says, "It just isn't fair." To be perfectly honest, what attracted me to QUANTUM LEAP in the first place was the friendship between the lead characters, the way that friendship grew and was strengthened over the past four seasons. Nor do I have a problem if one or both of the buddies is married. On my very favorite relationship shows was ALIEN NATION, and George and Matt had a great friendship, and George was married when they met; they even made Matt apart of the family, and it worked beautifully. But to throw a wife into Sam's life the way they did, with Al withholding that information, absolutely no hint that such a relationship existed, and then to know that Sam's out there leaping with a wife cooling her heels at home he knows nothing about, sort of rips my QL universe to tatters. I find it immensely difficult to believe that anyone with Donna's background could be so all forgiving and noble. And the first time Al mentions Donna, he calls her a betraying nozzle, now she's the patron saint of the project? Why do I get the feeling this isn't really QUANTUM LEAP? How can Al keep withholding this kind of information? It would tear him apart, and this poor man has been through hell for Sam Beckett, now he has to go through more hell because Donna says, "Don't tell him"? To me, this is putting an enormous strain on Al's loyalty, a loyalty he's proven over and over again; must he endure more? Every time he sees Sam, he knows what he can't tell him; how does this man function? Talk about living a lie!

And are we to go back to business as usual next week, with Sam leaping and doing what he does, and Al the same wisecracking, lecherous hologram, while all the viewers try to reconcile this episode with the last three seasons? Big job, folks. Big one.

[...]

Am I giving up on QL? No, but I do hope they come up with a better one next week. The only halfway logical explanation I can find for this is that this may be their last season, and if it is, they want to give Sam a whiz bang royal treat when he comes home: I can see it now; Donna comes flying out to welcome him home, with ta-da! a baby, conceived on that one leap home and they live happily ever after, while Al quietly has a nervous breakdown from all the stress of the last season and the fact that Tina runs off with Gushie...

Sure, I'm grateful our home (and my sister's!) was not among the over 100 destroyed [in wildfires near our homes]. I could even be glad I wasn’t one of the poor newsmen who had to go "on scene" or sit at their desks for ten hours or so. Still, a whiny little voice persists in the heart of the true QL fan: if there had to be a firestorm, why couldn't it have been on Tuesday or Thursday, or better yet, the following Wednesday so it could have interrupted that stupid Danielle Steele thing I had no intention of watching anyway? Why can emergencies never occur during commercials? Do the cops have a deal with the advertisers or does the station? The thing the sheriffs cut in with lasted only long enough to ruin Sam’s leap out and was over before the commercials and titles ran. Couldn't it have waited three minutes? Still, it could have been worse in many ways. My tape is kind of unique, what with "Firestorm ’91" on it. In church during "things to be thankful for" I said I was thankful to see QL at all, but no one took it too seriously. Of course, the Californians had to outdo us. A few days later in Oakland, they burned over 2,000 homes, which made our dinky little firestorm look like nothing. My QL pen pal, Nanci Casad, who has ridden to the rescue many a time, is at it again and has promised to send me a complete copy of the episode.

I thought "Running for Honor" was pure propaganda. Apparently GLAAD disagrees-they demanded changes, NBC says they got them, Donald P. says he didn't change anything major. I guess my money’s on Donald P’s version, since it was gays who wrote in complaining about ’’Good Night, Dear Heart," which could indicate he doesn’t always buckle in to GLAAD’s "suggestions.” On the other hand, I never heard of GLAAD complaining about that one, so maybe this bit of info is immaterial.

Issue 10

The Imaging Chamber 10 was published in October 1992 and contains 50 pages.

cover of issue #10, the author explains in the issue why it has no photocopied photo on the front

The editor wrote:

I've been told I'm getting predictable, in that all my editorials start out with a stock apology for the lateness of the zine. Since I hate to be redundant and dull, I'll do things differently this time and say instead. Bite me! It's a hobby, not my living! There. I suppose I'll have to come up with yet another way to approach this problem next issue, as I sincerely doubt the root problem is going to go away,

*sigh* Nita may try to take the blame for this one, but it doesn't seem reasonable to me that she can claim it's her fault this issue sat on my hard drive for a month and a half after she got it to me. The main cause of this record delay in publication goes to my job, that necessary evil which gobbles up so much time and energy. Most days I end up repeating the mantra, "I'm happy to have a job in the recession." Look at it this way, things could be worse, instead of being a subscriber who only hears from me once every four to six months, you could be one of my close personal friends who only hears from me once a year (or worse yet, a foreign correspondent, who've been averaging one letter per two years). This issue came out a little thin due to fewer letters than usual and I took the opportunity to use the space for a couple things that may prove to be of general interest. The guidelines for computer submission are being reprinted, since there have been some changes since the last time I ran the page, and I have decided to try offering an electronic media version for those of you who don't want to use shelf space archiving paper copies. If problems with rampant pirating occur, that particular version will not remain on the market. Those of you who do not have computers don't need to fear your submissions aren't welcome, thanks to Nita "Fingers" the Tireless Typist, all legible letters are welcome.

From the editor, regarding the cover:

One reader took me to task for having omitted the cover illo last issue, and on the off chance that a few others of you are wondering why IC now carries no cover photo, the following explanation is offered. I did have a picture chosen, however without access to a xerox until delivering the zine to the printer it was only then I discovered the photo copied way too dark and incomprehensible to be anything but a waste of toner to reproduce. It's a fine photo, it just wouldn't copy cleanly enough to do justice to itself or the zine. Faced with the choice of putting the zine out without a photo or waiting another week unth I could determine which picture would work, I chose to put the zine out on time. This issue goes out in similar condition because I'm not in any better shape for available photos than I was then. Besides, QQ and Quantum What? have both been doing such a great job printing well-screened pictures that I am also able to avoid feeling guilty for this lapse. What are sister publications for if not to cover the gaps in one's own work?

• letters by nine fans (6)
• zine views by Sheryl Tribble (29)
  • a review of Out of the Frying Pan, see that page
  • a review of The Temporal Times, see that page
  • a review of Temporary Difficulties Beyond Our Control... Please Stand By, see that page
  • a review of Accelerator Accidents, see that page
  • a review of Tunnels: Different Realities, see that page
• Quantum Leap convention -- March 1, 1992, transcript of a panel that featured Don Bellasario, Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell (38)
• Quantum Leap for-profit/pro calendar retailers (six pages of tiny type, listing bookstores in many US states) (48)

Issue 10: Excerpts from Letters

A fan wrote about her travails in traveling to Leap Weekend, her views on some episodes, and finishes up with information about the third issue of her zine:

Before I close, a note to those of you looking for AMOT #3. Due to extreme flakiness of my computer, the project had to be put off for a bit. I had just typed in some stories and the flakiness hit my hard drive in the middle of a backup and I lost everything. Fortunately I had hard copies. After spending literally months tracking down the problem, I think it finally is now fixed. I won't bore you with the geeky details, except to say I'm pleased the technician was as stumped as I was and finally had to give me a new motherboard. So now I'm busy retyping everything, and hopefully the system will stay up through the long, hot summer. Hopefully I'll have the zine out in August or September. And if the project doesn't get bogged down in the mails again, there will be a new installment of the chain novel out this fall or winter.

A fan is sort of happy with a schedule change:

CONGRATULATIONS to all of us on having QL rescheduled! I know, I know... the day switch is the pits but maybe if we continue to write and let our appreciation first, concern second, show.

A male fan comments on some characterization and censorship:

For Al to instantly accept homosexuals as equals is a real letdown, for censorship at the network level, where this script was micro managed to death, to prevent advertisers leaving in droves and not to lose any more money. They may have made Al look like a PC hero for the sake of good, uplifting TV. If this series were syndicated or on FOX, Al would have not changed his position, which is common among the OLD SCHOOL officers. To accept this change, it would have to be made gradually over the years, like his acceptance about his marriages that never worked. Al is a creation of the military establishment. He joined the Navy for a career. In exchange for that commitment, they stripped him of his soul, emotions and hair.

The hair I'll grant you easily, but the Al I see still has a soul and a hell of a lot of emotion left in him.

For that career, he has accepted that organization's rules and beliefs, for life. To change that notion, Al must believe that it has failed for him and the country. To allow change like gays and women in the military would be a defeat to his military pride. After all, the Navy is his home for more than 40 years. I think with the Cold War over, the reason for the ban on gays in the military, that they may be compromised for their private lives with relation to military secrets, is now moot. We should lift this ban on gays in the military and the ban over women in combat.

A fan has a request:

I'm afraid I'm on the scrounge but if there is anyone out there who'll take pity on a poor QL-deprived Brit and who is willing and able to copy any of the QL tidbits I mentioned earlier? i.e., bloopers, promos, TV interviews, awards ceremonies, I-MAN, any of Scott's other appearances and all the episodes from Season 1 through to "Honeymoon Express" which I am unfortunately missing. Anything will be appreciated, in particular the episode "Black On White On Fire" which the BBC has chosen to omit from season three due to the sensitive nature of the subject matter in the current climate of unrest both here and in the States. I'd quite like to make up my own mind about the episode if possible but sometimes it seems that the BEEB is determined to take all such decision-making out of the hands of the viewing public. Right, I'll get off the soapbox now. Of course, if anyone can help me I'll cover the costs of tapes, postage, packing etc. and I'll happily copy my Radio Times article and/or the musicals I mentioned if anyone wants them.

A fan wrote:

Season Four ended with a number of solid QL episodes, but for me a continued sense of disappointment. QL in previous years had four or five episodes a season that would knock my socks off. Except for "Dreams," my socks are still firmly in place. I miss the super episodes, especially the emotions of the season finales "M.I.A" and "Shock Theater."

One of the many comments regarding timelines:

That's what makes so disturbing the hints given a few of the times Sam has run across results of the changes he has made in his personal timeline. There's "The Leap Back" where he seems to remember being married to Donna (although he may remember this because he has some parts of Al's memory from the simo leap), and "Leap for Lisa" where, once Al is replaced by St. John, Sam forgets Al's last name and is terrified he'll forget more. Does this imply that once Sam is home, he'll enter completely into the new timeline? This means that Sam will have no memory of everything he did, that things have "always" been this way. (Having all the timelines in his head—and there are more than two!—would be imbearably confusing.) WHAT GOOD IS THAT? What good is it to go through all the life-changing experiences he's known, to have lived hundreds of lifetimes, if he forgets it all? Through his travels, the sheltered, provincial scientist has become a more complete person than he ever could at home. How can he be that person if he forgets his leaps? If, however, Sam remembers the first timeline and experiences the new one as he first encounters it, life will be difficult. He won't be able to remember the relationship he had with Tom between 1970 and the day Sam leaped. Even more uncomfortable, he won't remember his married life with Donna. When you mess around with time, especially your own timeline—remember Sam's own Prime Directive—there should be a price to pay. In Sam's case, he'd probably be willing to pay it—would he rather have Tom dead? And Donna, of all people, should be able to learn to live with it, to help Sam with it, since she seems to have been on the project all along. (Although it would be strange for her if she knew about "Star-Crossed"—that if her English professor hadn't been another person for a few days, she would have dumped Sam at the altar. Or maybe it doesn't show up in the record anymore. Therefore "Star-Crossed" couldn't have happened, but had to have happened.) I wish Mr. Bellisario would think about what he's doing here.

A fan comments on some fan meta:

"Moments to Live" was a solid script that accomplished exactly what it set out to do. Interesting how relations with fans have been addressed twice so far on QL. Last season's "Glitter Rock" took the psychological phenomenon of erotomania (the delusion that one is romantically involved with a famous person, even that one has had that person's baby) and stood the whole concept on its ear. Phillip's mom really had given birth to Tonic's son. "Moments to Live" demonstrated that someone who would kidnap and hurt anther person has serious emotional problems. Unlike most other "obsessed fan" narratives with stereotypical psychopaths, the script focuses on the woman's reasons for doing what she does. This is a good idea for more than sympathetic reasons; it's a much richer script because there are few relationships more intimate and intense than that between

captor and captive.

A fan wrote:

Then there's Chip. The script keeps saying what a great guy he is, but look at what he does. Killing Marcy may have been an accident, but ALL ALONG HE MEANT TO RAPE HER. The only description we have of her behavior is what Chip tells Sam and what Riker (who describes himself as perverted) says on the witness stand. And, even if she is a "slut," she clearly did not want to have sex with Chip that night, as she tried to fight him off, and that is rape. Or is Mr. Bellisario saying that she deserved what she got? This is repugnant in the extreme. On top of this, in the first altered history, good old Chip kept quiet while Bingo went to the gas chamber. But he's a great guy. I also had a lot of trouble with the "solution" of sending Bingo back into his earlier self—seems pretty risky with a supposedly malfunctioning time machine, but by this point I didn't care. One more thing: Sam says we KNOW that his leaping doesn't depend on his success. HOW do we KNOW this? While we don't have proof of this. In that Sam has never been seen to "fail" on the show, he does always seem to leap after he helps someone significantly. So now, if leaping doesn't depend on success, what the heck have we been doing the past three and a half years?

A fan is worried:

What's this about the animated episode next season? Weird as it is, I don't mind having Sam leap into a toon. The canon is already screwed, especially considering "It's a Wonderful Leap." What concerns me is that the show's budget has already been cut from what it was this season, and lots of this season's episodes looked muddy. What worries me is that most of the season's budget will be blown on this one episode, which will probably be a gimmick instead of a real story anyway, and all the rest of the season will look cheap and terrible. If QL keeps moving in this direction, I don't hold out much hope that it can be a top-quality show again. Prove me wrong, please.

A fan has apparently too much fan goodies:

I seem to be falling short on my goal of discussing every episode, but so it goes. I have tried to comment on points of certain episodes that especially stood out for me or I thought others might not notice. I apologize to those of you who have commented on my letters and I haven't responded to your comments. I met some of you at the convention. Right now I have an Imaging Chamber, three Quantum Quarterlys, a Project Quantum Leap Observer, four Quantum League Newsleaguers, 3 Leapin' Ins, two BS Clubs, and three Quantum What?s and a partridge in a pear tree in partly read or unread condition—not to mention the only fiction QL zine I invested in: Accelerator Accidents #1. just arrived, so I have quite a bit of reading ahead of me.

Regarding show quality and some worries:

I've been trying to get back to normal, whatever that is, since after the QL convention in March. The convention seems to have been the high point just before the low point for us Leapers. With the quality of the show already slipping, now we are hit with the news that Tommy Thompson, Chris Ruppenthal, and Paul Brown are leaving due to budget cuts! Not to mention a tightened budget and shorter shooting schedule for the show! What does it all mean? Cut-rate writers? Or ones who will inject new blood into Leap? A dull show without those neat special effects? Or more heart to make up for it? Remember, one of the best episodes, "Catch a Falling Star," was done with few or no special effects and absolutely no exterior shots! It was the only one which didn't use at least stock footage of exteriors! (Correct me if I'm wrong, folks, and I'm sure you will, but even in "The Curse of Ptah-Hotep" they went outside once in a while.) Watching "Catch a Falling Star," I thought, boy, they must have really saved money on this one, then I found out all the money in that case went to pay for the rights to the music— hence the other cuts. But the story was so great you noticed that, not the cuts! Now if only they are forced to be creative and turn out a few more like this....

[snipped]

"M.I.A." raised a lot of expectations as to qualify which never have been met again. I think those of us who have lost some of our enthusiasm for the show have sensed a change In Sam and AL and how they relate. An ongoing change has been taking place In Sam for some time now. Our lost, innocent little leaper Is being replaced by a time traveler of a different stripe. Sam was completely Swiss-cheesed on those early leaps and we loved his bewildered vulnerability, longing to take him under our wing. Yet to some extent we might have lost patience had he remained like that. With each leap he has gained confidence and we are seeing a more aggressive, take-charge Sam. This is all well in its place but it's harder to love him, the way it was so easy in those first few leaps. (Plus it's harder to respect Sam knowing the dog is cheating on his wife, even If he doesn't know it ~ and it's hard to respect Al knowing he's letting this happen.) Also, I don't know if those first leaps were better written, acted, or what, or whether it was all new back then and there's just too much now and it's gotten old-hat, but I find myself straining to think what episodes I saw and what they were about. I have seen all of them now, thanks to kind fellow Leapers who supplied tapes, but it seems those early ones stood out so distinctly and a lot of the later ones just blend into a sort of mush. Of course, there were bad early ones and good later ones, the season enders in particular being higher quality, but as a rule the earlier episodes had more heart.

[snipped]

Sam displayed the same sloppy attitude in "The Curse of Ptah-Hotep" with "Let's open it up, let's take it apart." Real archaeologists would be turning over in their graves at making such a hash of a perfectly preserved gravesite which had remained undisturbed for thousands of years! This is not to mention our compassionate Sam has gotten a bit too casual about killing. In some situations, "Dreams," for one example, he has killed people he could have got away with only wounding. The writers are just trying to wrap things up neatly by having him kill these people, and that's too bad. Things like this make us lose respect for Sam's judgement and wonder if he's picked up a few rocks to fill the Swiss cheese holes in his head. More than that, though, I miss our sweet, bewildered guy. The closest we got to having him back was when his head was shot full of electricity in "Shock Theater," one of the best of the more recent episodes. He displayed some real vulnerability there. A lot of vulnerability also surfaced In 'Temptation Eyes" because he let himself lose perspective by becoming completely emotionally Involved Instead of just taking the attitude, "What do I have to do to leap?" He showed the most confidence in "The Leap Back," maybe because he was on his own turf. Here we got to see some of the take-charge attitude of a man who could conceive, build, and head a project like QUANTUM LEAP, which was appropriate — though he was so intertwined with Al at that point who knows how much of that was Al?

Issue 11

The Imaging Chamber 11 was published in May 1993 and contains 33 pages.

cover of issue #11, Star Urioste: "Winter Phoenix"

From the editor:

This is the last issue because, despite my plea for participation last issue, the number of letters continues to drop precipitously and this issue wouldn't even be as large as it is if I hadn't lost two letters submitted for the last one and rediscovered them for inclusion here. I prefer to shut down while the zine still has a little dignity left rather than hanging on for another couple pathetically undersized issues rehashing complaints about the show being cancelled. I've seen a couple letterzines go that way and trust me, it’s not a pretty sight. All the regular writers of old have disappeared, whether they had said all they had to say in writing, lost interest in the show for whatever reason, or got tired of seeing their work come out so late, I do not know. The effect is the same: no letters, no l/z. All renaming subscription money is being refunded with this issue and, because this one is smaller than usual, it is being charged against existing accounts at $3.00 instead of the previous rate of $4.50 (domestic).

As for the finale episode, well, it was definitely different Personally, I'd been hoping for a bit more closure (and smarm) from the ending to the whole series, and the TV Guide ad claiming that all questions would be answered and mysteries solved was just plain lying to us. Scott did a great job, of course, and although I thought Dean's scene lacked luster that could well have been because he had so little to work with. What distressed me was their relationship being left hanging unresolved like that.

I suppose, what with the rumors of two-hour movies to come later, that the ending never exactly said they didn't meet again somehow, but I still didn't like it. A local zined friend of mine calls it the "pink ribbon" complex, where one wants all the loose ends tied up neatly in little bows. I admit to having a bad case of it over this series, and the finale did not satisfy me as an ending.

But for now that's the way it is, and this, however unsatisfying a conclusion it may be to you, is the end of our journey together in print. We will very likely meet again in another fandom not too many years down the road, I can no more stop editing zines than you can stop looking for stuff about your favorite shows.

Keep the smarm going, and I wish you all happiness and comfort in your own personal Leap.

• Editorial (3)
• Letters of Comment (8 of them)

Issue 11: Excerpts from Letters

I did mean the mainstream of history, not the little eddies that Sam changes. For me, that charm was completely lost on the LHO episode. The ending left me absolutely cold. Of course, part of the problem Don Bellisario faced was how to foreshadow that without making it all too obvious. He did focus a lot on the “Jackie” aspect of the news reports prior to the assassination, and I think he was trying to point up how the nation would have dealt with the grief if Jackie had also been dead. It still came completely out of left field for me, and unpleasantly so.

On the other hand, Scott’s performance was amazing. I hope that being a two-hour episode it qualifies as a TV movie and perhaps can get him a separate Emmy nomination. His transformations between Sam and Oswald were eerie. Can we please get this man the recognition he so richly deserves?

I'm sure by the time this sees print the next Leap Convention will have passed. (I know it takes along time to type and format this zine, Kitty, and besides, if it were finished, I can't blame you for holding it to include “goodies” from the weekend!) I've got my tickets, so even though I'm writing this prematurely, I mean it: It was a pleasure to meet everyone and put names with faces. Or should that be, it will have been a pleasure to meet everyone and put names with faces. Time and space can be a bitch.

Well, another season of QUANTUM LEAP has gone by with its assorted peaks and valleys. I'm sorry to say there have been more valleys than peaks this year, but we appeared to have survived it with hopes still high for the fifth season.

Sorry you weren't at MediaWest because there was a heavy leap contingent present this year. I had a ball meeting some of my fellow QL fans and writers (Hi Terry! Hi Mary! Hi Sheila! Hi Sharon! Hi Sandy! Hi Kate! Hi Jackie! etc.). I must've spent a month's salary on LEAP zines alone; guess I've got to start producing more fan stories so I can get those free contributors copies. Otherwise, it was a great time, and if the person who decorated their door as "The Waiting Room" (changing the name of the leapee within every 15 minutes) is reading this, kudos to you! A great con made great by the wonderful people attending!

It's an innate characteristic of any fan of a television series to want to explain all the inconsistencies of their favorite show away in some logical way. This can be a very frustrating thing to do, especially with a series that is still in production! You think you have just come up with the perfect theory and the next week, the writers do something that throws your ideas in the waste basket. Now, I agree that it can be fun and intellectually stimulating to debate some of these ideas. That's part of what a letterzine is all about. And a lot of the discussion can become very technically complex, especially with a series like QL in which the main premises is based in quantum physics and theories of time travel. The problem is, if you get too caught up in it, you'll miss what to me is the most important aspect of the series, the human aspect. The really compelling thing about this series is the mission of this one man named Sam Beckett in changing the lives of ordinary people for the better, and in the process, finding out more about himself. It's the humanity of the characters of those whose lives are changed, and perhaps more importantly for us, the humanity of Sam and Al that makes this series so good.

Now, here's my theory: God does exist in the QL universe and his name is Don Bellisario. Think about it. Define God. Creator. Omnipotent. All powerful. Well, in this universe, that's Don. Therefore, whatever is possible in Don's mind is possible in Don's universe! Maybe there are or are not ghosts or angels or vampires in the real world. But according to the series, they all exist in the QL universe. And, according to Don, so do God and the Devil. Now, I know there are people out there who do not share these beliefs. And I'm not going to try to convert you. I'm a firm believer that everyone has the right to believe what they feel in their hearts, as long as what they believe does not infringe on the rights of others. But as I said above in discussing the Oswald episode, I can enjoy the series even if there are aspects I don't believe in. And although I personally do not believe in the existence of ghosts or vampires, I can accept that in the context of this series, they do exist. Likewise, I am among those people who believed for a long time that it was Sam's soul, spirit, essence (whatever word you want to use) that leaped and not his body. But, Don stuck with the body and the aura theory and this season we've had what would seem to be indisputable evidence that this is so. So, I'll accept that it's Sam's body that leaps and that this theory of physical aura is workable in the context of the QL universe. In the final analysis, whatever Don believes is possible can be done in the QL universe.

Okay, enough with the great cosmic theory of television. But I'll end this discussion with a thought. With his track record, as far as television gods go, I'll go with Don.

All in all, we've got a lot more look at the project this season than ever before. Which brings up another interesting point. Are we ever going to hear my thing about Donna again? Personally, I hope not. I can't stand her! Maybe I'm jealous, I don't know, but her existence complicates things for Sam (who doesn't remember her) and I just think she was too good to be true, except for that one selfish moment when she seemed to be willing to let Al die to keep Sam. I'm just not comfortable with her.