I'm In Love With Scott Bakula

Oh boy! MzTeachuh and Scott Bakula

That's just my inner schoolgirl talking; she was very twitterpated to meet Scott Bakula. Very thrilled about this opportunity. Scott seems to be the sweet, nice guy he portrayed, like Sam Beckett of Quantum Leap, or the handsome, athletic adventure hero like Captain Jonathon Archer of Enterprise.

So, of course, I cosplay like a Maquis from DS9 who buys weapons from Firefly's Mal Evans and gets a pic taken with Sam Beckett.  Man, that's really nerd talk. If you understood any of that, you are a nerd, just admit it. I am now the envy of lots of lady Baby Boomers everywhere. Even in the Delta Quandrant.

The genre of sci fi has lots of great characters, that actually develop, are layered, and interrelate like a long serious list of folks in the world of  Dickens. Sam Becket of Quantam Leap was one such character. He and Al (Dean Stockwell) dealt with various important universal themes through the venue of time travel and the decisions that must be made to solve the human quandries are actually profound. The character must "put right what once went wrong." The scripts and acting combined humor and drama incredibly well. During the premise of Quantum Leap, Scott Bakula portrayed black people in the pre Civil Rights south, women involved in abusive relationships, a pregnant girl, a mafioso mob singer a la Sinatra who can't remember the words to Volare, and, one of my favorites, a chimpanzee in a test lab. That takes a secure man to wear pampers and scurry like a chimp for an hour long show. The character could not 'leap' through time back to his home unless he solved the problem he has leapt to. Its a little like 'Back to the Future.'

Here is the memorable theme from Quantum Leap:
Quantum Leap Opening Theme 1989-1993
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOiX5klTe7Q 

So, I got star struck. Now its back to the real world.

Here are some sci fi series that, in my opinion, have interconnected characters and good theme development. These also have youth novels, comics and games spun off.
  
1. Quantum Leap
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Leap 

2. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Deep_Space_Nine 

J. Michael Straczynski is an impressive writer who created Babylon Five, a  television 'space opera.' He also has written instructional material for budding writers. You can learn more about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Michael_Straczynski

3.Babylon 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon_5