SMRT-TV: TV on DVD

May 8, 2006

TV ON DVD
Look Before You LEAP
Quantum Leap
by Mike Celestino

Hi. This is my review of the Quantum Leap DVDs. It's going to be a lot less thorough and a bit more stream-of-consciousness than my other reviews because I haven't had much sleep and I'm staring down the barrel of the busiest month of my entire life.

When I was a kid I fucking loved Quantum Leap. You want to know why? Two words: time travel. Oh, and one more word: holograms. I didn't really care much about anything else in the show, especially the tepid stand-alone character dramas that constituted about 95% of Quantum Leap's storytelling M.O. But I tuned in every goddamned week to see who Dr. Sam Beckett would leap into next. And I was always fairly entertained. And then there was that two-hour special where he leaps into Lee Harvey Oswald and I thought that was awesome because it came at the exact point in my life when all I could think about was the JFK assassination.

Almost none of the episodes can be called science fiction. Most of the time Sam just has to reunite someone with their estranged father. Oh, once he helped an old Indian man get back to his reservation to die. That was pretty cool.

Anyway, watching Quantum Leap nowadays is a somewhat different experience. First of all, the show is not serialized in any way shape or form. Just about every single episode is its own story, and for a show with a very science fiction-y premise, almost none of the episodes can be called science fiction. Most of the time Sam just has to reunite someone with their estranged father. Oh, once he helped an old Indian man get back to his reservation to die. That was pretty cool.

Don't get me wrong, the show's still good, and the two main characters will probably never lose their appeal: wholesome, all-American super-genius Sam and his wisecracking, perennially horny holographic sidekick Al, who gives Sam advice from a giant female computer in the future. Sounds entertaining enough, right? But I think the whole thing would have more legs if there were some sort of throughline. I guess they started heading in that direction later in the series with the whole Evil Leaper saga, but the last season isn't out on DVD yet so I don't remember it that well.

The show is what it is, and you'll probably get a kick out of it for nostalgic reasons more than anything else, but I guarantee you'll be somewhat disappointed with the way Universal handled the DVD releases. Eight episodes are packed onto each two-sided disc (these scratch easier, and are more prone to pressing defects) with little attention paid to transfer quality. Not to mention the fact that a good deal of the original music from the show has been omitted in favor of reducing licensing costs. Yeah, that one episode about Al's ex-fiancee waiting for him to return home from Viet Nam is pretty much ruined by the removal of Ray Charles's "Georgia on My Mind."

Basically the whole thing kinda feels like a rush job, as though Universal doesn't really think much of this show's admittedly dwindling fanbase. But whatever, at least these sets are available. And now I'll always be able to relive Dr. Beckett's adventures through time. Or at least until I trade them in for store credit at Amoeba. Oh boy!

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