Posted by DRD #37 at 68.223.65.160 on January 23, 2004 at 02:16:57:
In Reply to: No, no, no, no, NO. posted by jkm822 on January 23, 2004 at 00:53:04:
......has just as much a chance as "Farscape" of returning in some form. All it takes is to buy the rights (they're sitting right there, and Universal ain't doin' shit with 'em) and do something with it. Really, despite budgeting and casting and all that, it's really just that simple. Making it a GOOD return is the catch, however - if it can't be done right, then it shouldn't be done at all. THAT is why I believe "Quantum Leap" has never returned in any form - they're too afraid of screwing it up, and there are so many ways that could happen. They'd have to do it just right, have the acting go perfectly (which, if they recast Bakula and Stockwell, it would be perfect acting, at least to the extent of the characters), and don't screw up the continuity or sell out. That takes a great deal of effort and care, which is effort and care that no one really has, considering the show's finale (though not universally - or even generally - accepted) struck a note with the fans, a note that still rings in confusion because people don't really know what to feel. "Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home." What are people supposed to do with that? His existance continued on with him Leaping until his body - ironically trapped in the very place he has spent years and years trying to get to - grows too old to go on? What do the fans say to that, really? They (I should say "we") learned of Samuel Beckett's fate in a text blurb at the bottom of a screen. It seems cheap from a distant perspective years later, but at the time the simple fact that Sam never returned home hit fans hard deep in the heart, because we had all seen Sam and Al grow together and strive, not just for their own sakes, but for the sakes of others all over time. Those moments of desperation, where everything is on the line and Sam and Al are someone's only hope, were filled with an intensity because - in Sam and Al's eyes - you could see their desperation, and it most definitely wasn't for themselves. But then we're reminded through the memories of Sam's Leaping that he has done a great deal of good, more than he ever realized. He's saved lives. And then we remember even further that Sam, despite never returning home, did get something for his perseverance - one life that it took two Leaps to save: the life of his brother, Tom. The ending of "Quantum Leap" struck us fans in a way that we'll never really comprehend. We all reacted to it differently - some didn't accept it, others simply moved on, and many merely felt cheated. But, whatever the reaction, a singular truth rings out: "Quantum Leap" will forever be a milestone of television, not because it was Emmy Award-winning or had good ratings, but because its ending left viewers with such a great gap inside that only the emotions each and every episode elicited could ever fill. Returning "Quantum Leap" in any way, shape, or form, would never make fans feel closure, because the devastating truth caused the greatest swell of emotion the entire series would ever make, and to try to duplicate or resolve that would be the real cheat.
And as for "Farscape", the finale was not the end because of those three simple words: "To Be Continued". A decision was left to be made on where to take the show, and while it could have been left at that and be seen by literary and media analysists like myself as a sorrowful, but somehow metaphorical ending ("To Be Continued", naturally, being an indication that - as always - Moya's crew would continue on their journey, because that's what they do best), "Farscape" demands a resolution, as it has continuosly given new beginnings. "Farscape" HAS to return, if only for one last frell and goodbye.
On an ending note, my screen name (DRD #37) is derived from "Farscape" for the Diagonostic Repair Drones on board Moya and Talyn. Plus, I can't wait to get the rest of the "Farscape" DVD's and the "Quantum Leap" DVD's (there better frelling be some or I'm going to be so damn jinked - sorry, "Farscape" slang; I have a bad habit of doing that).