I suppose this season could be called "Celebrity Quantum Leap" since Sam jumped into well known celebrities in a number of episodes at the behest of NBC for the fifth and final season of the show. Despite this gimmick the series didn't overstay its welcome and jump the shark. "Quantum Leap" didn't and that's a rarity. The good news is that there's also no notification about the music being replaced (as on the third and fourth season the second doesn't count because Universal hoodwinked everyone on that one). As near as I can tell we get ALL the original music in the show for the first time since the first season boxed set. That's the good news for fans who rightly complained about replaced music in the second, third and fourth season of the series. While music replacement has been an issue for many TV shows music played a big part of helping to create the atmosphere (and was used as dramatic counterpoint) in this series music was a vital component of the show (as it was with the other Universal series where this is most offensive--"Northern Exposure"). ***

This episode features a number of classic ones including the one where Sam encounters the "Evil Leaper" in a terrific two part episode. Also, Sam becomes "the King" (Elvis) just before he breaks through to the big time and in the most fascinating of the episodes written by Donald Bellasario Sam encounters Lee Harvey Oswald (played by character actor Willie Garson best known for "Sex and the City"). Here's where a great extra could have been included by Universal as Bellasario actually knew Oswald and served in the military with him. ***

Now for a bit of bad news--we get the series once again on dual sided discs. Unlike some previous sets from Universal I haven't had a problem with these so far so maybe they've finally figured out how to make the darn things properly. Luckily these aren't packaged facing each other (like many of the Fox dual sided discs) but in individual slimline cases. --- Image & Sound:

If it's possible "Quantum Leap" looks even better in its fifth season presentation. Colors are vivid and haven't faded and unless there's stock footage most of the show looks sharp. There are occasional scenes that suffer from a bit of softness but overall the visual presentation is flawless. Likewise the audio sounds extremely good with dialogue coming across crisp and clear. (unlike episodes where music was replaced where the audio would occasionally take a dip in quality). ---

The last season had a generic featurette that Universal plugged into any number of sets as an extra. It wasn't bad although it lacked the depth one would hope for specific shows like this. Nevertheless I had to give them credit for trying. This final season doesn't have any commentary tracks (and the opening two parter was a missed opportunity as explained before since writer/producer/creator Donald Bellasario KNEW Lee Harvey Oswald there was a chance for a great commentary track or featurette). The puzzling final episode which acts as a cliffhanger for a TV movie/season that didn't follow was disappointing. Again a commentary track would have been useful to separate the wheat from the chaff. ***

What we do get are blueprints for some of the standing sets of the show that we glimpsed on occasion (such as the Quantum Leap lab seen briefly in a number of episodes). You can zoom in on specific parts of the blueprints but they are difficult to read even in this translation to DVD. Overall again I'd give Universal a C for effort but a D for execution. ---

Final Words:

Unlike many fans of the series I disliked the resolution in the final episode of the fifth season and had hoped for something less open ended. It would have allowed a terrific TV movie to tie things up but unfortunately it never happened. I'm not going to say anything else for those who haven't seen the final episode. Some great guest stars during the fifth season--Neil Patrick Harris, Brooke Shields (even though I think she's a horrible actress normally she does a solid job here), Dr. Ruth, Terry Farrell, John Hillard, Michael Boatman, Stephen Root and a young Jennifer Aniston in one episode. ***

Overall the quality is quite good of this set and kudos to Universal if they didn't replace any music (I'll post back on this topic later). This is definitely a seson that Leaper fans will want to have in their collection.