Some of my favorite stories, television shows, and movies
over the years have involved the idea of time travel. While so many of the
elements of time travel are perplexing and could even cause paradoxes that
might destroy the planet, it doesn’t make the idea any less appealing.
I fondly remember sitting down each week with my mom to
watch Quantum Leap with Scott Bakula.
It brought together two great elements for me – history and time travel. Some
of my favorite episodes included those where Sam (Bakula) leaped into
individuals where he could display his singing talents like “Memphis Melody”
where Sam leaped into Elvis, “Glitter Rock” where he was a member of a rock
band that wore makeup similar to KISS, and “Catch a Falling Star” in which he
portrayed an actor performing in “Man of La Mancha.” I enjoyed this part of the
show so much I even bought the CD.
Some of the time traveling movies I like include the Back to the Future series and The Time Machine with Rod Taylor based
on the H.G. Wells’ book of the same title. Both offer different ideas in
relation to time travel while Doc Brown’s DeLorean primarily travels to the
past with a short trip to the future, the narrator of The Time Machine goes millions of years into the future to see what
has become of the earth. (Oddly enough the trip Doc Brown took to the future in
the second movie would have already taken place in our real time line. Sadly, we
have no flying cars but we do have approximations of hover boards and
self-lacing sneakers.)
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah…Are you telling me
that you built a time machine…out of a DeLorean?” – Marty McFly
And with the revival of Doctor
Who with the Christopher Eccleston in 2005, I found another time traveling
series to enjoy. (Although I have to admit, I stopped watching with the
introduction of Matt Smith as the Doctor.) I collected the books, DVDs, and
some of the figures for several years. I also read several of the comics from
the series. I really liked the idea of a hero, even if he was not human, who
helped protect others.
What about you? Do you enjoy time traveling series? Do you
think you might want to travel through time? Wouldn’t it be great to travel
back in time to right a wrong like Sam in Quantum
Leap? Maybe we could prevent a war or an assassination. Or even just
provide encouragement at the right time to a loved one to help them make a
better decision.
Or…
Just maybe everything has worked out according to a plan.
Maybe traveling through time should be left to the world of fiction. After all,
how many times in time traveling movies and television series do we see
characters making as many mistakes as those they are attempting to correct?
Would you travel with Doc Brown or the Doctor? Sometimes the
answer seems really clear for me but then there are days when, even with things
going wrong, life is perfect.
Note: As part of my reading challenge for 2018, I read Doctor Who: Twelve Doctors of Christmas.
I enjoyed the majority of the tales in the book but I think I would have been
able to appreciate all 12 stories if I was more familiar with all the Doctors
from the series. I think my favorites were “Sontar’s Little Helpers,” “The Red
Bicycle,” and “Loose Wire.”
I used to love watching Quantum Leap and have watched the Back to Future trilogy many a time.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
DeleteI've introduced my kids to Back to the Future and we have watched all 3 several times and sometimes wishing we could go back in time.
ReplyDeleteI love Back to the Future. My younger kids have seen parts of them.
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