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A Tale of Two Sweeties was the 12th episode of Season 5 of Quantum Leap, also the 87th overall episode in the series. Written by Robin Jill Bernheim, the episode, which was directed y Christopher Hibler, originally aired on NBC-TV on January 5, 1993.
Synopsis[]
Sam finds himself between the proverbial rock and hard place when he leaps into a bigamist named Martin "Marty" Elroy (leapee played by director Christopher Hibler in an uncredited appearance), with a 50% chance of picking the right family to stay with. At the same time, he must settle up with a couple of gamblers who want their money.
Summary[]
Sam finds himself in the life of a Martin "Marty" Elroy, a bigamist married to two women and two sets of kids that are both starved for his attention! Al tells Sam that Ziggy predicts he must choose one family or the other, while making sure that they never find out about each other.
Things get really thick for Marty when the two Mrs. McElroys, first Rachel (Jill Tracy), then Ellen (Mary Lou Childs) appear at the airport to pick him up, as, at first, they fight for his affections, then begin "comparing notes" on how both they and their children are always struggling financially, and always worrying about if they will have enough cash to pay the rent each month!
What seems to be disastrous for ol' Marty, at least, according to Al's observance, really turns out to be a godsend for all, as both wives, in comparing notes with each other about Marty, decide to leave him, as Ellen says she was "going home to change the locks!"
Even that's not the end of the story, as still another woman claiming to be Mrs. Elroy, Mary (Shay Astar) arrives on the scene with their three kids, which muddles the situation even further!
All still ends well, though, according to Ziggy, as Marty cleans up his act, possibly, or not, with his third wife, as Ziggy reports, just befors Sam's leap, that Marty goes on to write a book about his dubious exploits as a bigamist. And as for his wives Rachel and Ellen, they and their children turn out fine without him, as, at least, Rachel's kids graduate from college. There's no word on how Mary and her kids turn out, though; it's possible to presume that they turned out OK, too!
Trivia[]
Scott Bakula and Ashley Peldon (who plays Elroys's daughter Jessica) will encounter each other while voicing Danny and Darla Dimple in 1997 animated film "Cats Don't Dance".