WATCH: Everything you didn't know about Quantum Leap

“Oh boy!” 2019 is the 30th anniversary of the fan-favorite time-travel series Quantum Leap. The show was created by Donald P. Bellisario, whose previous credits include Magnum, P.I. (the first one!), Airwolf, JAG, and even NCIS. But did you know that Quantum Leap owes its existence to Bellisario’s stint on Galactica 1980?

That’s one of the many facts included in our latest installment of Everything You Didn’t Know. We’re also touching on Bellisario’s talking dog show, and we promise, that’s a very real thing!

Quantum Leap debuted on NBC in 1989 with future Star Trek: Enterprise star Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett. It’s was Sam’s theory that time travel was possible within a subject’s lifeline. Of course, the show eventually broke that rule by sending Sam into the Civil War for an episode. Basically, he “leaps” into the body of other people and has to live out their lives in the past before he can fix their futures. He's there to right the wrongs, so to speak.

Part of what made the show work was Bakula’s chemistry with future Battlestar Galactica Cylon Dean Stockwell, who played Al, the hologram. Technically, Al was a real person in Sam’s time, but he could only interact with Sam in the form of a hologram beamed directly to Sam’s brain. Sometimes animals, children, and the developmentally disabled were also able to see Al.

Throughout the course of the show, Sam became Elvis, a couple of women, a chimpanzee, and even a scary stint as Lee Harvey Oswald. There’s so much to unpack about this show that we couldn’t even get to the Evil Leaper!

For everything else about Quantum Leap, check out the entire video!