Quantum Leap

If you've never seen Quantum Leap, the whole point is that some guy is stuck tripping through time, transporting from one era to another, and usually solving some important problem with each trip. During one episode, the main character leaps into the middle of an affair involving a doe-eyed girl who wants to go 'on the road' like her favorite writer Jack Kerouac and the girl's nasty biker boyfriend, who prefers the novels of Evelyn Waugh -- no I'm just kidding about that last part. Anyway, Kerouac himself turns up and gives a speech that makes everything all right in time for the Lemon-Freshened Clorox commercial.

This series is actually not too bad. My wife likes it more than I do. The best thing about it is probably Dean Stockwell, who you might remember as Ben the demented weirdo (the other one besides Frank Booth) in 'Blue Velvet'. He's in this show as a guy who helps the time-traveller get through each situation. In this episode, Stockwell makes a speech of his own about what Kerouac means to him, and I like what he says (I also bet, knowing something about Stockwell, that he improvised this bit). As for the actor who plays Kerouac, he looks much too scrawny but has the voice down pretty well. Also, since the show seems to take place during Kerouac's Big Sur period, he's not nearly drunk enough.

Literary Kicks
by Levi Asher