Sam leaps into Dan Morganstern, a contestant on the gameshow The $50,000 Quest, at a time when it is rightly under suspicion for helping contestant’s cheat in order to help rating remain high. At the same time, Sam believes that he must “throw” the game so that someone else can win.

Created by Donald Bellisario. Written by Steven Dorfman. Illustrated by Mark Jones & Andy Price. Lettered by Vickie Williams. Colored by Scott Rockwell. Edited by George Broderick, jr.

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Comments:
Apparently, The $50,000 Quest was originally schedule for Issue #3, and it’s too bad that it was delayed because otherwise we wouldn’t this weird thing where for the second story in a row, things have a lot to do with MIT. And for a second story in a row, there is a secondary threat whereby if Sam messes things up, he will derail Project Quantum Leap itself. And then on top of that, it’s the second story in a row which deviates off the show’s normal’s premise, in that Sam’s “mission” doesn’t have anything to do with setting right what once went wrong–instead, he is just trying to avoid messing things up. I didn’t even notice this when I first read the issue (this was the first issue of this comic that I ever read, quite some time ago) but examine the whole series and blogging about each episode, it sticks out to me. The idea that Sam is helping to improve people’s lives compared to their original histories is such a core part of the series that now that I’m looking for it, it really sticks out when its absent.

But with all that said, where The $50,000 Quest has it over The Infinite Corridor is in its actual length–it’s physically longer, at 24 pages. This is significant as it just gives a lot more space for the situation and characters to develop. This really does matter–Quantum Leap has never really thrived on tight-knit zippy plots. Instead where the concept works best is when we can get a real sense of Sam’s experience living in another time and place, and walking in someone else’s shoes. In The $50,000 Quest doesn’t offer a whole lot in terms of depth of character, but it does do a decent job showing us the world of 1950s game shows, and making us wonder how Sam can possibly resolve his mission without leaving his poor leapee high and dry in terms of money.

Where it doesn’t work is in the way it so wholeheartedly contrives to not allow Sam to pursue the obvious solution to his dilemma. It’s implausible that Sam doesn’t learn until almost the end (page 20 out of 24) that Dan also attended MIT–surely this is the sort of thing that Ziggy wold easily be able to find out. And once that is clear, it’s a small jump to figure out that he is the one who is supposed to win and donate the prize money to his old school. It’s a serious let-down in the construction of the story that cheapens the payoff. Another crack at the script would not have gone amiss, and bringing it closer to the show’s original concept so that Sam’s ultimate victory could come about by some clever thinking would have helped.

Who and Where is Dr. Sam Beckett?
Sam is Dan Morganstern, an out of work game show contestant, on August 15 – 18, 1958.

What does Sam have to do?
Sam has to make sure that history plays out as it was intended to–with the right person winning the game show so that the prize money will get donated to MIT, allowing the person who helped develop the chip that makes Al’s hologram possible to attend the school.

What do we learn about Sam Beckett?
Sam was a five-time winner on the game show Jeopardy!

As a contestant on The $50,000 Quest, he correctly identifies the year that Charles Lindbergh makes his famous trans-Atlantic flight (1927).

Sam seems to like peach pie.

What do we know about Al?
There’s nothing new here.

What about the experiment?
The unnamed guy who invented the chip that allows Al’s hologram to work attended MIT thanks to the scholarship that was set up using the prize money from the last episode of The $50,000 Quest (who turns out to be Dan Morganstern).

Sam says that the reason he got stuck in time was because a chip blew up when he was leaping. I don’t think I’ve ever heard them say that his being trapped was caused by a malfunction of any sort.

“Driven by an unknown force…” (God or Time or Something)
No references here.

“Oh Boy”
There are two instances of “Oh, boy!” in this story, but interestingly, neither take place during either of the leap-ins. One is in the middle of the issue when Sam is accosted by the guys from the District Attorney’s office. The second is in a narration box (which is meant to be delivered by Sam), at the end when he realises he has to win the game.

Sam’s Complicated Love Life
Sam is married this time, to Marie, but he’s so busy there’s no time for any romance other than a celebratory hug.

The Many Loves of Al Calavicci
Al’s first teenage crush was “Lovely Diana”, the co-host of The $50,000 Quest.

Al ogles the cleaning woman at the hotel.

Other Observations
• Ziggy tells Sam not to quit on the game show, but not why. When you look at the story through the lens of it not following the classic format of Quantum Leap (ie that Sam is not here to fix something that went wrong), then there are a bunch of things that don’t quite make sense, including this.

• Sam is supposed to throw the game so that the right person will win, but he doesn’t know who. Ziggy and Al know this been though 1) there are no records of the episode of the show in question and 2) the scholarship was donated anonymously. And yet with all of this, they don’t know that Dan attended MIT, which you’d think would be exactly the sort of thing they would be looking for.

• Everything that is going on reminds one very much of the events of the movie Quiz Show, even down to an appearance by Charles van Doran (the real life contestant who Ralph Ffeines played in the movie). However, it is worth remembering that this issue is dated April 1992, which is over two years before the movie Quiz Show was released.

• On page 8, one of the notes that Sam has, telling him the questions and answers in advance, just says for part of it, “Blah blah blah blah blah?” etc.

• I enjoy a number of the compositional choices that you see throughout this issue. It definitely helps to keep things interesting.

• Ed Koch, future mayor of New York, shows up in a little historical cameo. Research tells me he would have been practicing as a lawyer at the time, and that it was a full four years before he ran for office for the first time (and 19 years before he became the New York City mayor). Sam apparently helps to inspire his “How’m I doin’?” catchphrase.

• There’s a cute bit where Sam answers a question by mistake, because he says Al’s name at the same time that he’s supposed to be saying what was “Scarface” Capone’s real first name.

Sam Leaps To…
Seeing is Believing (Quantum Leap #5)

Favorite Dialogue
I looked through the issue numerous times for something that I feel could fit this, and there just isn’t anything that stands out. The closest, I guess, is a “narration” box from Sam, as the story is wrapping up.

The $25,000 may be gone, but Dan and Marie won more that day. And, they still have all that Bosco.

The Bosco refers to a year’s supply that Sam had won already. I had to look up what Bosco is–apparently it’s a brand of chocolate syrup. I guess Dan’s kids will be happy.

The Best Moment
Probably my favorite moment here is when Sam talks to Dan’s wife prior to his second game, and tells her that he’s sure that everything will be fine even though he plans on deliberately losing the game. There is some genuine tension in that story beat–you feel really bad for Marie and their family.

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