Moments to Live – Episode 72

Moments to Live was the nineteenth episode of Quantum Leap’s fourth season to air, with Sam captured by a soap fan and threatened with being forced to father a child. In this episode Gerry and Iain discuss the nature of reality.



Sam leaps into Kyle Hart, star of the daytime drama Moments to Live. After a chat with his agent (Brian George), one of his first tasks is to share lunch with a competition winner, Norma Jean Bates/Pilcher (Kathleen Wilhoite), who turns out to have an obsessive interest in Kyle’s character on the show.


Assisted by her husband, Hank (Pruitt Taylor Vince), Norma takes Sam to the home of her former asylum roommate, Millie (Frances Bay) and tries to get him to father a child with her. Sam’s efforts to escape come up short, so his last hope is to help Norma snap back to reality.


Moments to Live was directed by Joe Napolitano, his penultimate episode of the show. The writer was Tommy Thompson, the eighth of his thirteen scripts for the show.


In this episode Gerry and Iain considered the extent of Norma’s crimes.


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You can listen to the show here on the website, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Pocket Casts, TuneIn, Stitcher, Google or wherever you find your podcasts.


Moments to Live was released in 1992. It is 48 minutes long and originally aired on the NBC network. It can be viewed on NBC’s Peacock streaming service in the UK and in the United States. The show is available on DVD and Blu Ray in other countries.