Sobel, Mark

Quantum Leap - The Complete First Season

They'll be dancing (well, leaping maybe) in the streets now that the first season of Quantum Leap, voted one of the 25 best cult series ever by TV Guide, has come to home video, a decade after its final year (1994) on the air (the pilot episode was released on DVD in '98). And why shouldn't they? This is a show, called "an imaginative diversion" by one critic, with a good premise that's cleverly and skillfully conceived, written, acted, and produced--ample evidence of which is spread out over three discs, each containing three episodes (plus some fairly meager extras) from the first season.

Scott Bakula, in the role that made him a star, plays Sam Beckett, a scientist who's part of a time-travel experiment that "went a little... ka-ka." Unable to return to his own time, and aided only by Al (Dean Stockwell, whose rapport with Bakula is one of the series' most appealing elements), his cigar-smoking, peculiar-dressing, sex-obsessed, holographic "enabler," Sam "leaps" unpredictably from one time period and person to another, usually completely out of his element (as a pilot, a boxer, a cowboy, an English lit professor, even an elderly black man in segregated '50s Alabama) and always in a situation that needs to be "made right" before he can leap onward. Generous helpings of humor, drama, physical action, and sentimentality (this is TV, after all) keep things moving, as do references to many other classic films and genres (Driving Miss Daisy in "The Color of Truth," Casablanca in "Play it Again, Seymour," boxing in general in "The Right Hand of God") and what creator Donald Bellisario calls the occasional "kiss with history" (Sam crosses paths with the young Buddy Holly and Michael Jackson, among others). It doesn't all work, as Quantum Leap occasionally becomes too cute and facile for its own good. But that and the set's paucity of bonus material (limited to one passable featurette and brief episode intros by Bakula) are the only real shortcomings of a boxed set that will likely earn multiple spins in the DVD player. --Sam Graham

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and Vanished...He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

Quantum Leap - The Complete Fifth Season

He s leaped into lives of the past but nothing can compare time traveler Dr. Sam Beckett (Emmy nominee Scott Bakula) and his wise-cracking holographic guide Al (Emmy nominee Dean Stockwell) for the high-stakes groundbreaking adventures that await them in all 21 episodes of the fifth and final season of Quantum Leap! From a presidential assassin to his own great-grandfather to the King of Rock n Roll it s up to his final mission. Complete your Quantum collection with this extraordinary Emmy-winning season that includes such time-stopping guest stars as Brooke Shields Jennifer Aniston Neil Patrick Harris and many more. Available on DVD for the first time ever it also includes images of the actual blueprints from the original sets! He s been on the adventure of many lifetimes is it Sam's time to finally make it home?System Requirements:Running Time: 372 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025193014627 Manufacturer No: 61030146

Quantum Leap - The Complete Second Season

Quantum Leap - The Complete Third Season

Quantum Leap - The Complete Fourth Season

Scott Bakula (STAR TREK - ENTERPRISE) stars as brilliant scientist Sam Beckett who in experimenting with time travel loses himself in a perpetual warp that catapults him into the bodies and lives of random people throughout time. While he temporarily inhabits a person's body Sam also must solve a problem or mystery in that person's life (the solving of which triggers another jump). Continually trying to find a way to his home time Sam has the help of Rear Admiral Albert "Al" Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) who appears in hologram form and the supercomputer Ziggy (voiced by Deborah Pratt) which provides clues for solving each episode's mystery. This collection contains all of the episodes in the fourth season of the very popular cult series.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025192922923 Manufacturer No: 29229

Dark Shadows The Revival - The Complete Series

Step inside the romantic but deadly world of "Dark Shadows," where love devours its victims and age-old secrets live to haunt eternity. A complete season of twelve heart-pounding episodes of witchcraft, seduction and revenge will have you thirsting for more…with every bite. DISC ONE - Episode One: Handyman Willie Loomis accidentally releases vampire Barnabas Collins from his tomb. Barnabas introduces himself as a relative from England and begins to romance Victoria Winters, the new governess at Collinwood Manor. Episode Two: After being bitten by Barnabas, Daphne Collins dies and rises a vampire. Dr. Julia Hoffman discovers Barnabas' secret and offers to cure him of his curse. Episode Three: Dr. Hoffman experiments to cure Barnabas of his vampirism. Professor Michael Woodard attempts to uncover the identity of the vampire. Episode Four: The ghost of Sarah Collins leads Victoria to her diary. An evil apparition of Angelique-nemesis from the past-begins to haunt Barnabas. DISC 2 - Episode Five: Learning of Barnabas' affection for Victoria, a jealous Dr. Hoffman decides to sabotage the progress of the cure for Barnabas. Episode Six: When a séance is held to contact the spirit of Sarah, Victoria mysteriously vanishes. In her place appears a stranger from 1790. Episode Seven: Transported to the year 1790, Victoria meets the residents of Collinwood and becomes a tutor for Daniel and Sarah Collins. Abigail Collins suspects Victoria of sorcery. Episode Eight: A jealous Angelique uses witchcraft to prevent the marriage of Barnabas and Josette Du Pres. A deadly duel ensues. DISC 3 - Episode Nine: Josette Du Pres accuses Barnabas Collins of killing her true love. Abigail Collins enlists the aid of Reverend Trask to have Victoria Winters jailed for witchcraft. Episode Ten: The Collins family mourns the apparent death of Barnabas as they move into the new Collinwood mansion. Barnabas rises as a vampire. Episode Eleven: Victoria Winters' witchcraft trial begins. Angelique's spirit seeks to prevent Barnabas from making Josette his vampire bride. Episode Twelve: Barnabas' vampirism is discovered. Peter Bradford attempts to save Victoria from being hung as a witch.

Lonesome Dove - The Series

21 Episodes. Featuring characters from the original miniseries, Lonesome Dove: The Series revolves around the life and times of Newt Call, the young cowhand who started out as a boy in Lonesome Dove, and now goes on to make his way in the world. The post-Civil War years in the American West are among the most exciting this country has ever known. Peopled with now-mythic figures like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson, Billy the Kid and Sitting Bull, these were the golden years of the American West before the twentieth century roared in to tame the frontier once and for all. For Newt Call, the fresh-faced cowboy who was brought up with ironclad discipline by the legendary ex-Texas Ranger Captain Woodrow F. Call, this was a world which held great promise. Tangling with outlaws and bandits, revolutionaries, showmen and spirited Western women, Newt participates in all the major events of the Western era. Encountering its legendary figures and witnessing their passage into mythology, young Newt forges his destiny and begins to create a legend of his own.

War of the Worlds - The Complete First Season

Tom Cruise and Gene Barry aren't the only ones to save Earth from a Martian invasion--from 1988 to 1990, an intrepid band of scientists and soldiers battled the Red Planet menace on the small screen in the action-packed syndicated television series War of the Worlds. The show operated on an intriguing premise that paid homage to George Pal's classic 1953 film version--the Martians, presumed dead at the end of the movie, are actually in a state of hibernation, and 30 years later, they have not only revived, but begun to inhabit human bodies in a second attempt to conquer our planet. Now, a team of scientists (led by dependable character actor Jared Martin) and soldiers (under the command of actor-playwright Richard Chaves) must convince humanity to fight against an alien onslaught. It's unfortunate that War of the Worlds caught on with only a small but loyal audience (the series lasted just two seasons), since its episodes delivered an entertaining mix of science fiction, action, and suspense; highlights from the first season include "Thy Kingdom Come," which introduces a supporting turn by Ann Robinson, who recreates her role from the 1953 film; "Eye for an Eye," which wryly revisits the famous 1938 radio broadcast of War of the Worlds by Orson Welles that spread real panic over much of the Eastern seaboard; and the disturbing "Unto Us a Child Is Born," in which the human team and the aliens search for a half-Earthling, half-Martian baby. All 22 episodes of the debut season are included on this six-disc set; unfortunately for diehard fans, no supplemental features are included. --Paul Gaita

Storm Chasers-Revenge of the Twister

Jamie Marshall (Kelly McGillis) is a "storm chaser" who, having lost her husband in a crash after his plane was struck by lightning, recklessly throws herself into her work. Sent by her boss to Colorado to investigate the cause of a devastating tornado, she meets Will Stanton (Wolf Larson), Field Coordinator for FEMA. One night, while working closely together examining the wreckage of the recent storm, Jamie and Will experience a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon - a ball of lightning falling from the sky connecting with the ground all around them. As Will tries to shield Jamie from the lightning, the two embrace and find themselves in a passionate kiss. The next day Jamie and Will return to the location. What they discover is a facility where waste from scientific experimentation is affecting the atmosphere causing the tornadoes. Armed with the new information and seven new tornadoes on the horizon, Jamie and Will prepare the already tornado ravaged town for another possible disaster! Kelly McGillis, Wolf Larson

Wonders of the Deep: Australia/ Queensland