The Good

The Bad

Of all the shows that I have been introduced to since I started reviewing DVDs for ole’ MW, Quantum Leap is the best of the shows that I had never watched before. I don’t know quite how to explain it, but I think that this show is great. A superbly well done piece of TV that just gets it right on every level. Owning Quantum Leap - The Complete Third Season is like have 22 one hour movies of Back to the Future. As opposed to watching Back to the Future 22 times, which I don’t think I would mind doing!

This show follows Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) as he travels through time trying to get back to his present time. On his journeys, is the ever spunky Al (Dean Stockwell), who does his best to provide insight and information to help Sam reach his goal. As I am new to this show, I am not 100% sure how Sam actually came to be in this conundrum, but I have to be honest, I don’t really care. These shows are so well written, so well done that I am wondering how this show was never turned into a movie. I remember when it was still on TV, I thought that the show sounded very interesting. It seemed like something that I would enjoy. Sadly, I think I was just too busy doing other things to really be able to try and keep up with what was happening on this show. As a fan of both Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, this show seems like it was made for me. It has such a rich blend of humor, heart and brains that I would really like to own the first 2 seasons of this show. I’d like to own every episode of this show if you want to know the truth.

How brilliant is this story idea? You have a character whose world is always changing. Who is trying to right wrongs throughout history, and sometimes things work for him and sometimes they don’t. It is great to have a character who isn’t this all knowing, all seeing, beacon of hope. Dr. Sam Beckett seems almost as clueless as we are to the events that are happening to him. Sure, he is brilliant, but he doesn’t seem to have all the answers. Even Al, in his sidekick role, is capable of making mistakes. I like how it dealt with social issues in the “Black On White On Fire” episode, or the “8 1/2 Months” episode where Sam has to play a pregnant teenager. My favorite episode, truthfully, was the 2 parter “The Leap Home” which begins this box set. In these episodes, Sam somehow leaps into his own body at the age of 16. It is here, with the knowledge of what happens to his family, that we really get to see this character struggle with the moral and ethical dilemma of his situation. It is brilliantly done and acted by every member of the cast, and I am proud to add Quantum Leap - The Complete Third Season to my burgeoning collection of TV on DVD.

Features

No extras came with this box set. I like this show so much that I am willing to forgive this, I mean, after all we are getting almost 17 hours of TV here folks. I just find it interesting that other, lesser shows, seem to get so much more of a “Special Edition treatment” then a show like Quantum Leap, which is head and shoulders above so many of the shows from the past and present.

Video

1.33:1 Full Frame. I love the richness of this show. It is obvious as this is a television show, that they probably don’t have the big budgets that studio movies do. Well, I would just like to say that this doesn’t mean anything. This show looks just as big as a lot of the movies that I have seen, and I think it is more ambitious then most of the movies that actually get made. I never noticed any pan and scan movements, and furthermore, I don’t know that this show needs to be in widescreen. I was very impressed with how lush, and authentic it seemed that each episode was. All of the shows had a real sense of place; a look about them that I believed. When you consider that every episode was taking place in a completely new place and time, it wasn’t on the same set day after day, then I think the gravity of what Quantum Leap - The Complete Third Season has achieved can really be put in it’s proper perspective. I just love a TV show that is really smart. That is earnest and it isn’t just trying to goose us with zingers and tales of irony. A show like Quantum Leap pushes the envelope by simply being the very show that it says it is.

Audio

English Dolby Digital 2.0. The sound was right where you might expect it to be. I didn’t notice anything too special about, but I was able to hear everything perfectly. The only confusion I have is about how the “quantum machine” has put Dr. Sam in his current predicament. I think though, if I go back and watch some of the other earlier episodes then everything will soon fall into place. The sound design was pretty simple it seemed. There were the moments when they used music to underscore certain emotions or to get across specific feelings, but other then these moments, it seemed that the shows creators just let dialogue carry the day. Again, it is so nice to watch a show that doesn’t bombard you with music video imagery and overly loud sound. I have come to believe that shows that rely too much on these devices, are covering up for poor storytelling. Where a show like

Quantum Leap seems to be 100% storytelling. It doesn’t need slick FX that end up just getting in the way and oftentimes confuse the story.

Package

Vinyl cardboard cover, with slim cases is what houses this three disk set. The cover shows Dr. Sam and Al with knowing looks and a desire for adventure in their eyes. I don’t know what type of material was used to create this cover, but it has rings that sort of move across it depending on how you hold the cover. The back features various pictures from the show, a description of what Quantum Leap is about and some information about the DVDs themselves. The slim cases that house the three disks list the episodes, and give succinct descriptions to what those episodes are about. I like the economy of space that this DVD box set will afford in my collection. It isn’t too big and clunky that you might not watch the disk set for fear of negotiating through all of it’s content. You can just slide out one of the slim cases, take out a DVD and pop it in the player. As opposed to those sets where you have to pull out a huge DVD holder, then unfold it and there are so many disks you don’t know where to begin. Quantum Leap keeps things simple.

Final Word

Quantum Leap - The Complete Third Season was a great beginning to start my watching of this show. I don’t think I could have asked for a better introductory set to begin my own journey as I leaped around, putting together what was going on in my own mind. I liked that I sort of had to assume for myself why this or that was happening to Dr. Sam Beckett. I loved the interaction between him and Al. This is very good TV and I hope to be able to review many more box sets of Quantum Leap. I feel that this is an adventure that is really worth taking!

Quantum Leap was released .