[Harry Smith]

"In 1988, Scott Bakula won a Tony nomination for the musical, "Romance, Romance". In the movies, Dean Stockwell won an Oscar nomination for "Married to the Mob". Now on TV, Bakula and Stockwell have teamed up for the NBC series, "Quantum Leap". And our entertainment reporter Steve Kmetko joins us live from Hollywood with more. Good morning, Steve."

[Steve Kmetko]

"Good morning, Harry, and good morning to you, everyone from Hollywood. In `Quantum Leap', Scott Bakula plays `Sam', a scientist who, because of an experiment that went awry, is travelling back and forth through time, winding up like clockwork in situations over which he has no control. Usually arriving in just the nick of time is `Albert', played by Dean Stockwell."

[clip - scene from "Quantum Leap" - the LEAP into the episode, "Honeymoon Express", then the show's beginning montage]

[Steve – voiceover -starting during the montage part of clip]

"On `Quantum Leap', `Sam' finds himself in a new time, a new place and a new body each week. A reluctant `Walter Middy', he's been a baseball player, a test pilot and, sex being no object, he is sometimes a she."

[clip - scene from "Quantum Leap" episode, "What Price Gloria"]

"About the only thing `Sam' can count on is the
 company of `Albert', the holographic observer only `Sam' can see. `Albert's' suppose to help `Sam', but sometimes he get carried away."

[clip continues]

[Steve - now on the

"Quantum Leap" set

with Scott and Dean]

"For the uninitiated, how would you describe the show's premise?"

[Scott] (laughs)

"We've been trying to do that..."

[Dean]

"The show is an anthology with two running characters. And I think it's the first time that's been successfully achieved on television. Anthology meaning new cast, new story, entirely different trip each week."

[Steve]

"And the time, um, the time period that you're focusing on, or that the show focuses on, is 50's, 60's and 70's?"

[Scott]

"Technically, under the laws of quantum leaping, as written by Don Bellisario, I can only leap from during my lifetime. So, the show spans only from my birth to my death; so, which technically means we could go into the future at some point."

[clip - scene from "Quantum Leap" episode, "The Color of Truth', with Scott now talking as a voiceover]

"Um, I think the hardest thing, certainly in the beginning, was explaining to people what the show was about, without having people turn off immediately as soon as you said `time travel' and `science fiction'. But they're really just devices to get into people's lives, in a very kind of intimate way quickly each week."

[clip - scene finishes - scene now showing Scott swinging on a trapeze overhead]

[Steve]

"And is `Albert' helping him out this time?"

[Dean]

"Oh, hey, he wouldn't get through one episode without me. Of course I'm helping him out."

[Steve]

"What about the physical requirements placed on you for this role, we've seen you do a lot of different things today, you're on that trapeze, and you're in virtually every scene."

[Scott]

"Yeah, it's...it's, er, it's exciting, it's a challenge. Um, it varies from show to show. This week was very tough because I was doing something I had never done before and it was very strenuous to do. It's uncomfortable to sit on a bar for a long time and to swing upside down. I have a little motion sickness problem, so I had to deal with those kind of things."

[Steve]

"And right now you're both, um, awaiting word from NBC to see whether or not the show's going to get picked up?"

[Dean]

"We probably won't hear from the network `till May or something like that after we've finished, we have 3 more episodes, after we've finished and we've gone home or hopefully I'm doing a film or something, so I'm not going to be thinking about it everyday. And, we'll...we'll hear and we're feeling positive. We're definitely feeling positive about that."

[end of interview]

[Steve, back on remote with Harry Smith]

“'Quantum Leap' was embraced by many television critics when it debuted, but according to the ratings, the television audience was less than thrilled. That may be changing. Two weeks ago, for the first time since it went on the air, `Quantum Leap' won its Wednesday night time-slot opposite `Wise-guy' and `China Beach'. And Harry, by the way, Dean Stockwell recently won a Golden Globe award for his portrayal of `Albert'."

[Harry Smith]

"Dean Stockwell, one of my favorites. Thanks so much, Steve."