"Pool Hall Blues" is a 1990 episode of the American science fiction television series '' Quantum Leap''. Lead character Sam Beckett "leaps" (travels through time) into the body of an African American man in 1954: Charlie "Black Magic" Walters, one of the (fictional) greatest pool players in America, and a childhood mentor of supporting character Al. Beckett as Walters must help Walters's granddaughter keep her Chicago nightclub and rescue it from under the corrupting influence of a criminal loan shark. The episode, the 18th of season 2, was written by Randy Holland and directed by Joe Napolitano. It originally aired on March 14, 1990. The episode won the series its second of three consecutive

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s for Outstanding Cinematography.

Plot

It is September 4, 1954 in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and Sam Beckett has "leaped" into the body of

pool hustler Hustling is the deceptive act of disguising one's skill in a sport or game with the intent of luring someone of probably lesser skill into gambling (or gambling for higher than current stakes) with the hustler, as a form of both a confidence tr ...

Charlie "Black Magic" Walters, a former mentor of Al Calavicci. Magic's granddaughter, Violet, has borrowed money from a

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

to convert an old pool hall into a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

. Unfortunately, disreputable pool hustler Eddie Davies has purchased the note for Violet's loan from the loan shark and is using it to goad Magic into a series of games of pool, threatening to take over the nightclub if Magic refuses. Unable to obtain a bank loan to purchase the note, Sam agrees to the match, with Ziggy providing Sam (who has no clue how to play pool) with guidance to allow him to play at Magic's level. Despite Eddie's interference - including having his henchman destroy Magic's beloved

cue stick A cue stick (or simply cue, more specifically billiards cue, pool cue, or snooker cue) is an item of sporting equipment essential to the games of pool, snooker and carom billiards. It is used to strike a ball, usually the . Cues are tapered stick ...

, Alberta - and the loss of Ziggy's guidance at a critical point in the match, Sam defeats Eddie and wins the note.

Cast

The principal cast of the episode were: * Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett * Dean Stockwell as Admiral Al Calavicci * Alton Blair Carter as Lester Brown *

Ken Foree Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

as The Brush *

Robert Gossett Robert Gossett (born March 3, 1954) is an American actor. Gossett is the first cousin of actor Louis Gossett Jr. and is best known for his role of Commander Russell Taylor on the TNT crime drama, ''The Closer'' and on its successor series '' Maj ...

as Charles Griffin *

Shari Headley Shari Headley (born July 15, 1964) is an American actress and former model. She is best known for her role as Lisa McDowell in the 1988 box-office hit romantic comedy film ''Coming to America'' and its sequel '' Coming 2 America'' (2021). Headley ...

as Violet Walters *

J. W. Smith Jacob William Smith (c. 1816 – 21 December 1891) was a ship's captain who served as Mayor and Member of Parliament for Port Adelaide in the colony of South Australia. Captain Smith was born in England the son of a paymaster in the Royal Navy, ...

as Eddie Davies * Annie Waterman as Miss White * Theodore Wilson as Jimmy Grady * Robert "Rags" Woods as Charlie "Black Magic" Walters

Awards

"Pool Hall Blues" won the 1990

for Outstanding Cinematography, for the camera work of

Michael W. Watkins Michael W. Watkins (often credited as Michael Watkins) is an American cinematographer, television director and television producer. He has worked on ''Smallville'', ''Boomtown'', ''The X-Files'', and '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Super ...

. The series had won the 1989 Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography ( Roy H. Wagner, pilot episode "

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

"), and would

three-peat In North American sports, a three-peat is winning three consecutive championships. The term, a portmanteau of the words ''three'' and ''repeat'', originated with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, during their unsuccess ...

when it also won the 1991 Emmy (Watkins, season 3 episode " The Leap Home (Part 2) – Vietnam").

References

External links

* {{Quantum Leap 1990 American television episodes Emmy Award-winning episodes Quantum Leap (1989 TV series) episodes Cue sports on television Television episodes set in the 1950s Television episodes set in Chicago