With looks that could double for Humphrey Bogart, Sam is Nick Allen, a private investigator looking for the murderer of his partner and, if he doesn't find the answer in time, himself. The case is solved with a number of Casablanca references as Sam launches a new pulp novelist along the way.

Leap Details: Nick Allen, April 14, 1953, New York City, New York

As a high school nerd, Sam is required to prevent the marriage of his sister to an abusive drinker, with the wedding only three days away. By drag racing the prospective husband, beating him with a car that couldn't have won without nitrous oxide, Sam shows the groom's true tendencies.

Leap Details: Cameron "Cam" Wilson, June 6, 1961, Los Angeles, California

In the life of Jesse Tyler, an aging black chauffeur, Sam must face discrimination in the South while trying to prevent the death of an elderly white woman. Actions motivated by his own belief in equality cause violent reactions, as Sam tries to convince one of the pillars of the community to change her views on racism and the futility of trying to change a society for the better.

Leap Details: Jessie Tyler, August 8, 1955, Red Dog, Alabama

Sam leaps into a Mafia hit man who may not live long since he is romancing the godfather's girlfriend. Also an attempt to bring Sam home causes the 1965 East Coast blackout.

Leap Details: Frankie LaPalma / Geno Frascotti, November 8, 1965, Brooklyn, New York

As a veterinarian in rural Texas, Sam's mission appears to be winning the love of an heiress to a large ranch. Sabotaged by another suitor, Sam fails and finds that his true goal was to save the life of a sick piglet, and to help an unnamed cohort with a task he's performing.

Leap Details: Daniel "Doc" Young, August 5, 1956, Texas

Having leapt into Kid Cody, a boxer on the take, Sam has to win the championship to fund a new church for his trainers, a group of nuns. 
Sam must face the bookie who counts on him to take a dive in the final bout, and, with the help of several trainers, streaking, and Al's appearance in the ring to guide his punches, Sam wins the bout and finances the chapel.

Leap Details: Clarence "Kid" Cody, October 24, 1974, Sacramento, California

As Dr. Gerald Bryant, a literature professor at the Ohio College attended by his one time fiancée, Sam has to prevent an amorous coed from attaching to him and ruining her life. Despite threats to the job, Al gives Sam the information he needs to reunite his star-crossed lover with her father and maybe, give himself a second shot at marriage.

Leap Details: Gerald R. Bryant, June 15, 1972, Lawrence College, Marion, Ohio

Although the Project Quantum Leap (PQL) isn't ready yet, Sam doesn't listen to supercomputer Ziggy and hops into the Accelerator and leaps. As Tom Stratton, an Air Force test pilot, Sam finds his memory Swiss cheesed, with only enough left to know that he is not where or when he belongs. Al explains that the Project has gone "a little caca" and that the only way Sam can leap out is by flying the X-2 to Mach 3. Instead, Sam leaps after saving his wife and child, only to find that rather than leaping home, he's leapt into Ken Fox, a minor league baseball player in Texas, at the end of the 1968 season, where he must make the winning play in order to leap.

Leap Details: Tom Stratton, September 13, 1956, Edwards Air Force Base, Blockfield, California / Tim Fox, Summer 1968, Waco, Texas

As Tom Stratton, Sam comforts his (Tom's) wife and prevents her from having a premature birth. This is what he was sent to do, allowing him to leap home (he hopes). But instead of leaping home, he leaps into Tim Fox, a minor league baseball player in Texas at the end of the 1968 season, in the middle of a game, where he must make the winning play in order to leap further. Aided by errors, Tim Fox, after a dropped third strike on a wild pitch, rounds the bases for the winning score, and Sam leaps into Dr. Gerald Bryant as a college professor in the middle of a class.