Quantum Leap: 10 Hilarious Memes Only True Fans Will Understand

The series Quantum Leap was a cultural phenomenon long before memes or even the internet existed. Each week, families gathered around the television to watch time traveler Dr. Sam Beckett leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong. Facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better, Dr. Beckett took on many guises during his five seasons on NBC – some more politically correct than others. And while he may not have ultimately made it back home after heroically/foolishly jumping in the Quantum Leap accelerator, his legacy lives on.

It’s a legacy enriched/desecrated for comedic effect via a raft of amusing online memes poking fun at the show, the concept of a man leaping into other people’s bodies, and the various tropes on the show that will be familiar to fans of the series. Despite being off the air for more than 25 years, Quantum Leap remains a firm pop culture cornerstone to countless sci-fi fans the world over with references popping up on everything from Family Guy to Saturday Night Live. It also remains a safe source of comedy as the following 10 memes demonstrate only too well.

10 Going back in memes

While the internet is awash with some inspired combinations of words and pictures, there’s also a fair bit of garbage too. The good news is that Quantum Leap has the perfect meme for anyone seeking a way to express their desire to turn back the clock and avoid the internet altogether.

To be clear: the insinuation here is that the reader would rather step inside the Quantum Leap accelerator, condemning themselves to an eternity of time-hopping than live with the memory of a meme. The internet is a crazy place.

9 Dr. Sam Baloo

It’s a debate that has raged for decades: How can the same friendly cartoon bear exist in England during the Middle Ages, in the jungles of India in 1892 and in 1930s America? How can the same friendly cartoon bear be both the second-in-command to Robin Hood’s Merry Men, the friendly protector of a feral child, and a freighter pilot?

And it is the same bear, whether he’s called Baloo, Little John or Talespin. He has the same physique, same voice, same personality, same everything. The answer is simple: at some point, Dr. Baloo jumped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and has been leaping from life to life. Only logical explanation, right?

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

8 A failed Enterprise

Let’s be honest: Enterprise was a decent enough series, but it was still the worst of all the Star Trek shows. And that’s not just us saying it – the fans evidently agreed with the show getting canned after four seasons. That’s fewer seasons than even Quantum Leap.

But maybe that wasn’t what Enterprise was about, though. Maybe it was just the latest in Dr. Sam Beckett’s never-ending series of leaps. His task this time was simple: unite all the other Enterprise captains together. He achieved it with ease, getting the others to rally around him and his mediocre prequel series at various conventions. Hey, don’t blame us. Blame Ziggy.

7 The leap of love

Dr. Sam Beckett was living proof of mind over matter – it didn’t matter whose body he leaped into each week; he still found a way to woo the ladies. Sam would always plead his innocence, of course, but his invisible hologram companion, Al, knew better. Besides, as the saying goes, “lightning doesn’t strike twice” or in the case of Sam Beckett, literally hundreds of times.

Whatever jam he found himself in, by about the 35-minute mark, he would get “the look” and, before you knew it, Sammy Boy would be reluctantly locking lips with his latest love interest. The perils of time travel, eh?

6 Getting Ziggy with it

Ziggy was the name of the computer Sam’s invisible hologram companion and guide, Al, used to give him information about his latest leap. Ziggy offered probabilities on the likely course of action Sam would need to take in order to leap again. Ziggy often got things wrong, leading to some memorable mid-episode twists. Ziggy occasionally broke down, leading to further drama for Sam Beckett.

Oh, and Al and Sam said Ziggy about 20 times on average each episode. It was Ziggy this, Ziggy that. Lots of Ziggy. So, this meme centered around a fake YouTube video that speeds up every time someone says Ziggy sounds intense and hilarious, to say the least.

5 Oh boy…

One for fans of Quantum Leap and Game of Thrones, this meme is a sage reminder of how different the latter’s infamous Red Wedding might have been had Robb Stark married Walder Frey’s daughter.

It’s not a mistake Sam Beckett would have made. Okay, sure, Sam being the old romantic that he is might well have fallen for Talisa too, but at least Ziggy and Al would have been on hand to set him straight with a few probabilities. Like the probability of your would-be ally taking it as a major snub and plotting against you, for instance. Oh boy, indeed.

4 Talking politics? Beam me up Ziggy

Sam’s eternal guide through his various Quantum Leaps was Al and his helpful computer friend Ziggy, who regularly offered up predictions based on a percentage of how likely a certain set of events were.

Imagine how useful Ziggy would have been in day-to-day life. Or, as this meme posits, when heading home to see family during a major holiday like Thanksgiving. Ziggy would be able to predict the precise moment when the conversation turned to a sensitive subject like, say, politics. Unfortunately, Ziggy wouldn’t be able to “Leap” you out of such a situation when it did happen though.

3 Feeling cute…

If there was one thing that kept Quantum Leap fans coming back, week after week, it was that face. Scott Bakula is undoubtedly a fine actor and a thoroughly likable guy to boot by all accounts but, many fans would agree, he’s quite attractive.

And Quantum Leap was the perfect show for the full Bakula experience, with Sam Beckett’s time-travel exploits giving him ample opportunity to dress up in any number of wild and inventive outfits. One week he’d be a pilot, next a gumshoe private eye and then after that, a woman. It didn’t matter the garb – he looked good every time.

2 Changing history for the better

It’s a thought that will have crossed the mind of any good Quantum Leap fan, and if it hasn’t, then you may want to reassess your Sam Beckett priorities. Picture the scene: you have a friend who is acting strangely. Something is not right. They are not themselves today. Should you ask them what’s up? Of course.

But should you also begin to suspect they are, in fact, Sam Beckett, who has leapt into their body to put right what once went wrong? We’re not trying to put ideas in anyone’s head here, but it might be worth a try.

1 Everything is a crossover

Looking for a new way to enjoy the post-Quantum Leap work of Sam Beckett himself, Scott Bakula? Simple: just imagine everything he has done since then has been a spin-off. That way, Sam is alive and well, living on through Enterprise and NCIS New Orleans.

Here, he is forced to adopt the lives of a Star Fleet captain and a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent, righting what once went wrong and hoping, each episode, to disappear in a cloud of light and wake up in the body of someone infinitely more interesting. We’re praying he leaps soon. There’s only so much NCIS one man can take.

NextSupernatural: 10 Best Characters Ranked, According To Ranker

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *