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Sam (Scott Bakula) talks with Al (Dean Stockwell) on Quantum Leap.
There are only a few television series that I’ve been dedicated to watching in my time. The Star Trek shows have always been up there for me, but that’s about it. I’ve enjoyed NYPD Blue since it’s premiere, but there was a time during the Jimmy Smits/Rick Schroeder years that I sort of lost interest.
Quantum Leap was one of those programs that I never missed. I would plop myself down and catch every episode. And I still love to watch it when they do the mini-marathons on the Sci-Fi channel. When the opportunity arose for me to check out the DVDs of this series, I leapt at the chance.
Sadly, I can’t say I was that happy with the result.
Although I thought the episodes looked rather pristine, I was confused when I watched them. Each of them had unique openers, except for the last episode, which had the familiar canned opening that I remember (even though the dialogue wasn’t exactly right). Perhaps that’s the way these episodes had always opened, and I’ve seen the re-runs too many times to remember. But, it seemed a little strange.
I also noticed that the set advertises “Bonus Material” that is no where to be found. Generally there’s a recall when an apparent misprint like that happens, and I haven’t heard one in this case.
But, all that pales in comparison to the one terrible issue I have with this set, and that concerns the final episode. Now, I’d read about this elsewhere before I actually got the collection, but just couldn’t believe it. Then, I sat and happily watched the second season’s final episode, “MIA”.
This was by far the show’s finest hour. The writing, the performances, everything jelled to make an outstanding episode. Sam had leapt into an undercover cop. When he reunites with Al, he’s told that he must stop a female Navy officer from falling in love with a lawyer she was going to meet that day. Her husband is MIA in Vietnam, and after she falls in love with the lawyer, she has him declared dead so she can get remarried.
However, the MIA is actually alive, and when he comes home she has already moved on with her life. This mission has a personal connection to Al, as something similar happened to him. Sam struggles to get between the woman and the lawyer, but questions whether or not this really is what he’s here to “put right”.
Sam soon discovers that the woman is Al’s first wife, and he is the MIA soldier. Believing it would violate the rules they’ve operated by, Sam refuses to interfere further. They cannot change their own lives, he insists to Al. He discovers that his real purpose for being there is the save his undercover partner from an ambush.
During the ending scene, Al is given a chance to have one last moment with his one true love. He goes to her and talks to her, and the two dance to Ray Charles’ “Georgia on my Mind”.
Or, at least, that’s what was supposed to be playing on the record player as they danced.
However, my DVD suddenly started playing some really cheesy instrumental music. I checked my surround sound set up, but that wasn’t the problem. Turns out that Universal, for some odd ball reason, decided to completely replace the music.
I was shocked, to say the least.
I understand that one of the issues when bringing a television series to DVD is the music. Licensing rights come into play, as those things weren’t always secured back then. So, perhaps they couldn’t get the rights to “Georgia on my Mind”. It sucks, but okay.
But to replace that classic song with some corny tune that seemed to come out of some generic 70s songbook? Absolutely disgraceful.
“MIA” was arguably Quantum Leap’s best episode, and that ending scene one of its most dramatic moments. And, I’m sorry, but they completely wrecked it. What made that ending work was everything — the performances, the dialogue, and the music. It was one thing to replace the song, it’s another to replace it with something as horrible as the music they chose.
I’m happy this series is on DVD. This is probably the first TV collection that I’m really enjoying. But, that experience was really soured by this discovery. I just don’t understand why Universal did it. All I can do now is hope for the best as they unveil the last two seasons.
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