Television series

Quantum Leap

Physicist Sam Beckett leaps uncontrollably through decades of American life, waking up in a different stranger's body each week with only vague memory of why he's there. Guided by Al, a wisecracking hologram from his own future, he sets right one wrong before leaping again. Warm, episodic, unabashedly sentimental sci-fi — comfort food with a conscience.

TVMaze rating8.0

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The Incredible Hulk1977

David Banner drifts from town to town quietly fixing strangers' lives before vanishing again — the same lonely, decent wanderer engine as Sam Beckett, just wearing green instead of borrowing a body.

But Slower pace, creakier effects, and Bixby's Hulk cries more often than he smashes.

The Incredible Hulk poster

Highway to Heaven1984no page yet

An angel and his gruff human partner drop into strangers' crises every week and nudge them toward grace — pure episodic-redemption comfort, unapologetically sentimental.

But The earnestness can tip into syrup; anyone allergic to sincerity may find it too much.

Early Edition1996no page yet

A man receives tomorrow's newspaper today and spends each episode racing to prevent one small tragedy — the same do-gooder urgency and ticking clock as Sam's leaps.

But Lower budget, gentler stakes, and a cat sidekick instead of a wisecracking hologram.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Here Comes Mr. Jordan1941no page yet

This is where the whole "wrong body, right guide" machine started — the same body-swap-to-fix-fate premise Quantum Leap ran with for five seasons, four decades earlier.

A boxer taken before his time gets stuffed into a stranger's body by a celestial fixer and told to set his own record straight — old Hollywood wit wrapped around a very familiar premise.

But Black-and-white, stagey by modern pace, and its afterlife logic is played for laughs, not tears.

More like this (8)

Sliders1995no page yet

Four people fall through a wormhole into a new parallel Earth every week and must solve that world's problems before jumping again — a kindred structural cousin.

But Uneven writing and shrinking budgets as the show progresses; later seasons lose the original charm.

Journeyman2007no page yet

A journalist starts vanishing into his own past to fix strangers' fates, working from hints instead of a hologram guide — a moodier, more melancholy reworking of the leap.

But Cancelled after one season, so it ends mid-story with threads left dangling.

Timeless2016no page yet

A trio chases a rogue time traveler across history's turning points, landing in a different decade each episode with a mission to set something right.

But Slicker and more conspiracy-driven; loses the intimacy of Sam's one-body-at-a-time approach.

Life on Mars2006

A detective wakes up in 1973 with no clear way home, forced to solve crimes while questioning his own sanity — the same fish-out-of-time disorientation, filtered through a police procedural.

But British, moodier, and far more ambiguous about what's actually happening to him.

Life on Mars poster

The Time Tunnel1966no page yet

Two scientists get stranded in a time machine and tumble into a different historical disaster every week — the boxy, earnest ancestor of Sam's whole premise.

But Sixties production values and stiff dialogue; charming mostly as a curiosity now.

Star Trek: Enterprise2001no page yet

Scott Bakula trades his hologram sidekick for a whole starship crew, playing another decent, steady leader thrown into the unknown week after week.

But Slow-burn prequel plotting and a rocky first two seasons test your patience.

Dark2017

Same engine — one person moving through time to change the past — rewired to argue you can't actually fix anything. The hopeful premise's dark mirror.

A small German town's disappearances unravel into a decades-spanning knot of time travel, fate, and family — everything Quantum Leap is warm about, played as cold, recursive tragedy.

But Dense, bleak, subtitled, and structurally punishing — not comfort viewing, and it demands full attention across four timelines.

Dark poster

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time2006

Strips the sci-fi machinery down to its emotional core — the same "given the chance to leap, what would you actually fix?" question, asked by a teenager instead of a physicist.

A Japanese teenager discovers she can leap backward in time and burns through her chances trying to perfect one ordinary afternoon — small, aching, and gorgeously animated.

But No missions, no history-fixing, no hologram — just a quiet coming-of-age story trading adventure for melancholy.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time poster

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Recommended by

Life on Mars, Mork & Mindy, Ashes to Ashes, The Incredible Hulk, MacGyver