Leaping of the Shrew - September 27, 1956 - S5-E3
Factual error: On the island, Vanessa sees Venus in the sky and it looks very dark. The other shots show the sun is still up so the Venus sighting wouldn't look like that.
Leaping of the Shrew - September 27, 1956 - S5-E3
Continuity mistake: The wide shot of the raft shows clear skies but the closeups are all cloudy.
Leaping of the Shrew - September 27, 1956 - S5-E3
Revealing mistake: The background while Scott is on the raft with Brooke Shields is blatantly a studio wall. The clouds have streaks on them with dark colors and the seam where the ocean meets the wall can be spotted. The film "The Truman Show" used the same technique.
A Song for the Soul - April 7, 1963 - S4-E15
Revealing mistake: When Al jumps into the shot out of nowhere on the steps after the record producer leaves, Sam and the two girls abruptly move, giving away the technique to achieve Al showing up. The transition is usually smoother, this one happens to be rough and noticeable.
The Right Hand of God - October 24, 1974 - S1-E4
Other mistake: In the locker room, the old man's hair is pulled down over his right eye, away from the mirror as his right side is toward the wall. In the reflection, his hair is facing toward the mirror over his left eye, rather than away over his right.
The Right Hand of God - October 24, 1974 - S1-E4
Revealing mistake: As Sam looks in the mirror, the trainer's reflection puts its right hand on Sam's right shoulder a split second before the camera view hand.
Running For Honor - June 11, 1964 - S4-E12
Character mistake: When Sam first sees his reflection in the locker room mirror, his counterpart comes into the scene just a tad too late, making the reflection not match.
Miss Deep South - June 7, 1958 - S3-E6
Revealing mistake: Connie and Sam are talking in their room, while Sam is looking at his female self in the mirror. As Connie walks back into the shot, her shadow is cast on the wall behind the mirror. This indicates she came from the opposite direction that is possible in the reflection had this not been the mirror trick. In reality, she would have been coming from behind Sam, not from in front and wouldn't have cast a shadow on the wall with the mirror.
Freedom - November 22, 1970 - S2-E16
Continuity mistake: Sam is talking to Al in the desert about what year it is. Al's cigar jumps in his mouth and back to his hand.
A Portrait for Troian - February 7, 1971 - S2-E11
Revealing mistake: When the recovered drowning victims are lying on the ground, Troian's supposedly dead husband moves his feet. (00:39:25)
Another Mother - September 30, 1981 - S2-E13
Visible crew/equipment: After going to get pizza, Sam and the kids return home. As they pull in the driveway a long boom mike is visible in the back car window.
Deliver Us From Evil - March 19, 1966 - S5-E7
Revealing mistake: When Ilia is spurned by Sam, she sits on the bed and rips her clothes. When she goes to scratch her face, you can see the fake blood on her hand when she goes to smear it on her face.
Genesis (1) - September 13, 1956 - S1-E1
Revealing mistake: Tom/Sam's wife and her reflection on the mirror do not match. The reflection moves her head, but the real person does not do that. (00:06:40)
Jimmy - October 14, 1964 - S2-E8
Continuity mistake: Near the end of the episode Michael Madsen's character attempts to run over Sam with a forklift, causing the boy to fall into the water and almost drown. As the boy is falling into the water, there is a wide shot of the action. In the scene, a box is being pushed over the edge into the harbor. In the close shot following, the box is gone, as are other items nearby.
The Americanization of Machiko - August 4, 1953 - S2-E3
Revealing mistake: When Sam is first looking at his reflection of himself in the glass at the beginning of the episode, the items behind his reflection do not match his point of view. A man walks through the shot and never leaves the frame, however is gone when the shot flips back to Sam.
The Color of Truth - August 8, 1955 - S1-E7
Factual error: The episode takes place in Alabama, however when Sam and the old lady are in the cemetery before Al shows up, there are mountains in the background.
Future Boy - October 6, 1957 - S3-E13
Revealing mistake: Just after Mrs. Stiner delivers the line "My car's out front" after her father's hearing, everyone except Al rushes away from the broken window. Sam brushes up against Al's shirt sleeve, causing it to move. Al, being a hologram, shouldn't have been touched. (00:41:50)
Her Charm - September 26, 1973 - S2-E15
Continuity mistake: The rearview mirror on Nick's car disappears and reappears repeatedly, when he pursues the laundry truck and later at the cabin.
Her Charm - September 26, 1973 - S2-E15
Revealing mistake: At Boston's FBI, Al's reflection is visible repeatedly, such as on the fire extinguisher's chrome surface in the hallway and on the elevator while Sam talks about the cabin.
Another Mother - September 30, 1981 - S2-E13
Continuity mistake: When Sam uses martial arts against the men from the van, one of them pulls a knife as he kneels on his right knee in the close-up, but next shot he is kneeling on his left knee.
Chosen answer: Per the Quantum leap page at http://www.scifi.com/quantum/episodes/season5.html. 8 August 1953: An enigmatic leap lands Sam in a Pennsylvania tavern, as his own grown self on the day of his birth. As Al and Gushie work frantically to locate him, Sam befriends a wise bartender (popular character actor McGill, who'd appeared in a different role in the very first "leap") and a group of coal miners. As a host of familiar-looking faces pass through the bar - with different identities than Sam remembers - Sam ponders his life of leaping with Al the bartender, who tells Sam he controls his own destiny. Pressed for more, Al the bartender simply shrugs and says, "Sometimes, 'that's the way it is' is the best explanation." Sam realizes he must right at least one more wrong before he can go home, and leaps back to tell Al Calvavicci's wife Beth (from "M.I.A.") to wait for Al, who will survive Vietnam and come home to her. The closing title cards state that Beth and Al have four daughters and will shortly celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary ... and that Sam Beckett never returned home.
Boobra