Quantum Leap - The Complete Series

To prove his experiment worked quantum physicist Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) "stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator and vanished." Premiering back in 1989, Quantum Leap ran for five seasons placing Bakula at different time periods as he would "leap" into someone whose timeline needed a quick fix. Although audiences saw only Sam (except in an occasional reflection) those around him continued to see the individual into whose body Sam leapt into that week (who occasionally would turn out to be a woman). Stuck with a swiss-cheesed memory as a side-effect of the experiment, Sam would rely on the help of Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) who, from the future, would lock onto Sam's latest leap and, appearing as a hologram only Sam could see and hear, provide him with the information needed that week.

Collecting all 97 episodes on 27 discs, the Complete Collection offers fans of the show the entire five-year run in a single set. Sadly you won't find any added extra features as the set only includes the previously released season sets packaged together for the first time.

Highlights from the show's five-year run include Sam and Al switching places sending Sam back home in the near-future, Sam leaping back into his younger self on the farm and into his brother's platoon in Vietnam, becoming the co-host of his favorite sci-fi show as a kid (and giving himself the theory behind leaping), Sam leaping into Lee Harvey Oswald during the assassin's time in Dallas, a fun Man of La Mancha-themed episode, Sam stuck in a nut house, the introduction of an evil leaper (Renée Coleman), Sam leaping into a mentally-handicapped young man with Downs syndrome, a chimpanzee, and a rape victim whose own family blames her for the incident. The set also includes a pair of episodes that deal with Al's troubled past and the woman he loved which play a major role in the series finale.

As is becoming an increasingly disappointing trend with series collections which used a wide variety of music during their run, several of the time-specific songs have been replaced with generic music to save a bit of money in royalties.

[Universal Studios, $179.98]