Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:04 — 29.3MB) | Embed
In this weeks episode of the Quantum Leap Rewatch, Cory and Tom overact their lines when faced with mummies as they discuss season 4 episodes 19 & 20, “Moments to Live” and “The Curse of Ptah-Hotep.”
Moments to Live:
Sam leaps into Kyle Hart, the star of a popular soap opera and the man of every housewife’s dreams. As part of an advertising promotion contest, Kyle was scheduled to meet a fan for lunch which Sam does, but it is quickly clear that the fan, Norma Jean, has difficulty separating the show from real life and she and her husband Hank had a plan to kidnap Kyle so that he can impregnate her since Hank cannot.
While Sam tries to escape by getting the waitresses attention and leaving a note on the bathroom window, it is to no avail and eventually they take him back home. While Sam tries to convince Norma Jean’s “mother” to help him escape, but he is knocked out and chained to the bed so he can’t escape. Norma Jean has plans for the evening which include dinner, and trying to make Sam romance her like Kyle did in the TV show. Eventually Sam is able to jump out the window, managing to find a phone to call for help but Hank shows up and shoots the phone and takes Sam back.
Sam pleads with Hank to help him, trying to show him that if he really cares for her and loves her that he needs to get Norma Jean help. They develop a ruse that Hank has collapsed and Sam tells Norma Jean that he will have to operate just like he did in the show, which causes Norma Jean to break out of her delusion. Unfortunately she is left so despondent that she runs away, planning to commit suicide but Sam manages to save her, ending the ordeal.
The next morning, Al informs Sam that Norma Jean gets the help she needs, and after Hank serves time for kidnapping, the two reunite. Kyle’s manager approaches and says that he plans to ask the studio to incorporate the whole ordeal into the soap opera’s storyline, as Sam leaps.
Ziggy’s Data Retrieval:
The TV Husband was played by Matthew Ashford. He is Days of Our Lives star Jack Deveraux. He was also in The Bay and One Life to Live.
The TV Nurse was played Krista Tesreau from Guiding Light, Santa Barbara and she was also in One Life to Live.
Millie was played by Frances Reynolds from Twin Peaks and Happy Gilmore. She’s in everything as “The Sassy Old Lady”.
Kyle’s Agent was Brian George. We’ve seen him twice in Lois and Clark, he was in Witness as Lois’ landlord and then the final episode, Family Hour, as Big Brain’s assistant Mishka.
The woman in restaurant was Ellen Gerstein. She was in the Lois and Clark episode It’s a Small World After All as a fortune teller and most recently was in Venom as Hospital Lady with Dog/Mrs. Manfredi.
Apparently, there was a character named Roger played by James Gleason. He played Captain Needa in a deleted scene from Empire Strikes Back and voiced Commander Nemet in the Atari 2600 game of the movie.
This episodes unsung hero is Patrick Lowe. He has two other credits; Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987) and Primal Rage (1988).
911 was around at the time this episode is set, being created in 1968. We’re not sure why Al said it didn’t exist.
Al refers to Kyle Hart as Lyle Hart even though in previous scenes his spoken name is Kyle, and a magazine cover is even shown with “Kyle”. Adding to the confusion, the end credits list the character as Lyle Hart.
The Curse of Ptah-Hotep:
Sam leaps into archaeologist Dale Conway who, along with his colleague Ginny Will, is on the cusp of discovering the ancient tomb of Egyptian Vizier Ptah-Hotep. Al lets Sam know that both archeologists disappear in the next two days with the site becoming lost in a huge sandstorm and eventually being destroyed when the area is demolished to build the Aswan Dam. Rather than leave, Sam is intrigued with the historical relevance of the tomb and refuses to go anywhere.
Unfortunately, many legends of curses surround the temple and as Sam and Ginny uncover more of the secrets of the tomb, mysterious accidents occur around the excavation site, all of which are attributed to the curse by Ginny, their local guides, and the person financing the excavation, Mustafa ElRazul. In an attempt to prove them wrong about the curse Sam breaks into a hidden part of the tomb where they find the body of Ptah Hotep and removes a jewel called the Heart of Ptah Hotep. It activated a trap door which seals Sam and Ginny inside, trapped with plenty of air to last two days, but it’s only twelve hours until the sandstorm hits and covers the site forever.
Razul goes to get help but eventually Sam and Ginny find a way out and discover that Razul never went for help, deciding instead to let the two perish and then take the contents of the tomb himself to sell for profit. He makes them re-enter the hidden area of the tomb but when he removes the gem, Sam and Ginny dive out of the entrance before the trap door closes. Al goes into the tomb to see what is happening to the screaming Razul and reports that the body of Ptah Hotep is attacking Razul as Sam leaps.
Ziggy’s Data Retrieval:
Ginny was played by Lisa Darr, who played spunky sidekick (with full on blonde perm) Terri Kronenberg in The Flash ‘90 episode Captain Cold.
Razul was played by John Kapelos. He was in the Lois and Clark episode Lucky Leon as the title character. He was also Carl the awesome janitor in the Breakfast Club.
This episodes unsung hero as Dale was Roger LaRue. He’s had a few small roles up to ‘98 and is currently set to star in “Boogiemen from Studio Z”, where a horrifying plague known as “Saturday Night Fever” that infested this great country in the late seventies has returned – and it’s even scarier and funnier the second time around.
Kiss With History
Ptah-Hotep is an actual Pharaoh from Egyptian history. Contrary to Al’s statements in the episode, though, his tomb had long since been discovered. The tomb is also some 800 km north of the Aswan Dam, the construction of which Al claims destroys the tomb.
He wasn’t a king but a vizier, credited with writing “The Maxims of Ptah-Hotep”, a candidate for oldest book ever written, he wrote it for his son as a guide for morality and the rules of life.
Whats Next?
Next weeks episode discussions are “Stand Up” and “A Leap for Lisa”, the final episodes for season 4!
Thanks:
We give thanks to some dedicated fan sights. For more information on Quantum Leap, please take the time to check out The Quantum Leap Wiki and Al’s Place.
Add It To Your Library:
Do you want to buy this series (from Amazon or iTunes)? Do you want to help support The Rewatch Podcast and the other Golden Spiral Media podcasts? You can do that by clicking this link: https://www.goldenspiralmedia.com/support. We would greatly appreciate it!
Feedback:
Send in your feedback by calling 304-837-2278 or by visiting www.goldenspiralmedia.com/feedback
Follow the show on Facebook or Twitter @RewatchPod
[sc:rw]
Trackbacks/Pingbacks