Movie:
Discs:
Okay,
so Quantum Leap isn’t strictly an all ‘Eighties TV show (it
actually ran briefly from March 1989 to May 1993), but it sure as heck
feels like one!
Maybe it’s the fashions, which still has that whiff of the
1980s about them (dig those shirts Dean Stockwell are made to wear for
instance!). Maybe it’s that damned, silly theme song penned by Mike Post
who made a living composing similar theme songs for major 1980s TV shows
such as Knight Rider and The A-Team.
However, Quantum Leap remains one of the better
shows from that era even though it follows that familiar “do-gooder going
around solving other people’s problems” template we all know from shows
such as Highway to Heaven and Touched by an Angel.
Unlike Touched by an Angel, Quantum Leap
skips the preachier and treaclier bits, maybe because our hero Sam Beckett
(heh, heh. Google “Samuel Beckett” if you’re unfamiliar with 20th
Century French Absurdist Theater) is a time traveler instead of some
celestial being.
Quantum Leap also cleverly subverts more traditional
“time traveller changing the past” sci-fi conventions by making Beckett
(ably played by Scott Bakula who would later appear in the now defunct
Star Trek Enterprise series) “possess” unsuspecting protagonists in
each episode. Along the way he is assisted by a secular version of an
angel: an intelligent hologram invisible to everyone else known as Al
(played by Dean Stockwell).
THE
DISCS: No extras, nothing. Just the following episodes on three
double-sided discs:
Episode 32 (The Leap Home: Part 1 - November 25, 1969)
Episode 33 (The Leap Home: Part 2 - April 7, 1970)
Episode 34 (Leap of Faith - August 19, 1963)
Episode 35 (One Strobe Over the Line - June 15, 1965)
Episode 36 (The Boogieman - October 31, 1964)
Episode 37 (Miss Deep South - June 7, 1958)
Episode 38 (Black on White on Fire - August 11, 1965)
Episode 39 (The Great Spontini - May 9, 1974)
Episode 40 (Rebel Without a Clue - September 1, 1958)
Episode 41 (A Little Miracle - December 24, 1962)
Episode 42 (Runaway - July 4, 1964)
Episode 43 (8 ½ Months - November 15, 1955)
Episode 44 (Future Boy - October 6, 1957)
Episode 45 (Private Dancer - October 6, 1979)
Episode 46 (Piano Man - November 10, 1985)
Episode 47 (Southern Comforts - August 4, 1961)
Episode 48 (Glitter Rock - April 12, 1974)
Episode 49 (A Hunting We Will Go - June 18, 1976)
Episode 50 (Last Dance Before an Execution - May 12, 1971)
Episode 51 (Heart of a Champion - July 23, 1955)
Episode 52 (Nuclear Family - October 26, 1962)
Episode 53 (Shock Theater - October 3, 1954)
WORTH IT? I’ll be honest here: I’ve tried my best to
erase all traces of that dreadful decade known as the ‘Eighties from my
memory, but this is one show from that era I don’t mind at all. Yeah, it’s
created by Donald P. Bellisario who did Magnum P.I. and JAG,
but the writing is always fresh and both leads are quite likeable. Sure,
some episodes are better than others (highlights here include the season
premiere "The Leap Home", "Miss Deep South" and "A Little Miracle") and
that theme song can get wearisome, but Quantum Leap remains above
average television.
RECOMMENDATION: Check it out and ignore those
purists which have complained about well-known songs featured in the TV
show being dropped to save on royalties.
