QL on Hulu

Sam Beckett Fan

Sam Beckett Fan

Re-Writing Life
Jun 3, 2005
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Quantum Leap is on Hulu now.

Unfortunately, NOT with the original music and the episode descriptions on the menu have some careless grammar and even accuracy errors.

Ex.
- The leap date in 'The Leap Back' is displayed as June 15, 1999
- The description for 'Revenge' starts: "After leaping as a twosome Sam and Alia end up in the body of a female prisoner accused of killing an inmate."

There is also at least one episode missing; Disco Inferno.
 
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Ugh. Worth just buying the Blu-Ray set. I know less and less people watch discs these days though. Thanks for the review and details.
 
It's true, discs are becoming obsolete. I myself barely buy anymore what I can watch on Netflix or Hulu.

I own the original DVD releases but I couldn't help idealizing a method that eliminated the need to repeatedly get up to change discs. '^_^

Though, there is also some validity. My collection is now missing some episodes.
'MIA' freezes while Al is instructing Sam on removing the bra and my mom accidentally sent the last disc of season 4 to Netflix instead of 27 Dresses years ago.
Now 'Roberto' freezes constantly throughout on my bootleg.

Other episodes on the disc I lost and the condition of which on the bootleg are unknown are:
'Stand Up'
'It's a Wonderful Leap'
'The Curse of Ptah-Ho Tep'.
I'm leaning towards the assumption that they're botched as well.
I had to download 'Temptation Eyes' recently on itunes because I can't stand the replacement music and the bootleg has started skipping at the Chinatown portion.

If the Blu-Ray sets have the original music, it's worth my consideration.
 
The Blu-ray set has the original music, is all one box at a reasonable price, and has an overall better picture quality in most episodes. Of note, A Portrait for Troian is mis-framed off to the right for most of the episode. Dark sequences in MIA are rather grainy. Still it's overall a decent presentation. I wish they'd asked a Quantum Leap fan to help them supervise it. I would have done it gratis and recut the opening sequences to make them look better.
 
Sam Beckett Fan said:
It's true, discs are becoming obsolete. I myself barely buy anymore what I can watch on Netflix or Hulu.

I'm leaning towards the assumption that they're botched as well.
I had to download 'Temptation Eyes' recently on itunes because I can't stand the replacement music and the bootleg has started skipping at the Chinatown portion.

If the Blu-Ray sets have the original music, it's worth my consideration.
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I bought MIA for the same reason. Because of the music replacements on the DVD releases.
 
feldon30 said:
The Blu-ray set has the original music, is all one box at a reasonable price, and has an overall better picture quality in most episodes. Of note, A Portrait for Troian is mis-framed off to the right for most of the episode. Dark sequences in MIA are rather grainy. Still it's overall a decent presentation. I wish they'd asked a Quantum Leap fan to help them supervise it. I would have done it gratis and recut the opening sequences to make them look better.
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I agree. I don’t understand why there is such indifference when it comes attention to detail given to releases of classic shows. The people buying these are obviously fans and spread the word quickly so others don’t buy them if they are hacked up or poorly produced.

FYI,Don’t buy the Rockford Files BluRay release by Mill Creek. I was excited when this came out and bought it. Not only is the packaging of the discs (stacked one atop the other so they get scratched ) and box shoddy,but worse yet,many of the episodes are edited down versions missing key scenes available in the standard definition Universal release. The show also has many audio defects,in some scenes you can barely hear the actors,but the music is loud,in others the music is so muted it’s barely audible. (“Sleight of hand”comes to mind).

The picture quality is also indifferent,ranging from great,to dark and grainy. Why does this always seem to be the way it goes? You’d think for the $59.99 they charge for these sets they’d be careful to release a top notch product. I’m sick and tired of waiting for a series to be released only to have it finally announced,then I get my hopes up and it’s a huge letdown.

Don’t even get me started on the “Route 66” release from shout factory. Fantastic show,but it’s the WORST release I’ve ever seen. Unwatchable! Terrible,muddy picture quality and sound. I’ve seen remastered prints on Hulu and they were sharp and clean and had amazing definition.
Shout factory,Rather that expend the effort to go back to the film negatives and remaster the show for their release as they originally promised,instead decided to cheap out and used horrible,worse than VHS quality prints from a previous fly by night dvd release for their box set.

Sadly,it will likely never be released again and remastered due to low interest. I can’t believe people still shell out $80 plus on eBay for it,but it’s all there is and if you want to see the show you’re only left with that one option.
 
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Unfortunately Mill Creek is one of the lowest tier DVD studios out there. They just license the rights and crank out cheap discs in a hurry.

I wish that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to QL. They really care about the material and go out of their way to produce good discs. I will say the Quantum Leap Blu-Rays aren't bad, and with some attention they could have fixed the minor problems to make it a spectacular set.
 
feldon30 said:
Unfortunately Mill Creek is one of the lowest tier DVD studios out there. They just license the rights and crank out cheap discs in a hurry.

I wish that Shout! Factory had acquired the rights to QL. They really care about the material and go out of their way to produce good discs. I will say the Quantum Leap Blu-Rays aren't bad, and with some attention they could have fixed the minor problems to make it a spectacular set.
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By and large that’s true. I have shout! Factory’s complete “leave it to beaver” set and the packaging and the picture and audio quality and top notch. The first season is grainier for some reason though. They really bungled the “Route 66” release. They promised to go back to the original film elements and remaster the entire series,but decided it was cheaper to use horrible prints from an off brand release and only remaster the last season of the show which was never released previously by the other company.

Mill Creek is bottom of the barrel. Paper sleeves for the discs and most releases are shoddy. I was surprised by the picture quality of the Quantum Leap dvd release. I was watching the first season again today and it’s very crisp. My one complaint would be the music in the background is a little too soft.
 
I was also wondering why the DVDs have newly created intros narrated by Scott Bakula,instead of the original intros with Deborah Pratt’s voice? I miss those. I really wish studios would leave things alone and present shows exactly as they were originally when first broadcast. They had to ruin the original 60’s Star Trek episodes with modern CGI effects. I prefer the original 60’s ones.

I hope one day they will release Quantum Leap exactly as it was originally shown.
 
The "saga sell" intro with the chalkboard and desert scenes did not premiere until "Another Mother", the 13th episode in Season two. It was narrated by Lance LeGault, who played Chance in "How the Tess Was Won". In the subsequent episode "All-Americans", Deborah Pratt re-recorded the narration. And in the following episode "Her Charm", the saga sell music theme was recomposed to the form it would retain through the rest of the run of the show. So actually, the Blu-rays are surprisingly accurate to the original, including the leaps being in the original order, including leaping back to Jesse Tyler in the case of a rerun.

Scott giving an internal monologue is true to the original episodes from Star-Crossed all the way through to Animal Frat.
 
When you buy Star Trek The Original Series on Blu-ray, you can choose to watch it via a branching menu either with the original effects or with updated HD effects. They knew diehards would want the original episodes exactly the way they were, so they provide that option.
 
feldon30 said:
When you buy Star Trek The Original Series on Blu-ray, you can choose to watch it via a branching menu either with the original effects or with updated HD effects. They knew diehards would want the original episodes exactly the way they were, so they provide that option.
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Thanks for the info on the Star Trek Blu-Ray set. I’m glad to know they have the option to view them as they were. I was unaware of that as I had watched the Star Trek hi-def remasters on Hulu or Netflix (can’t remember which) and was surprised and upset when I heard the opening theme playing and could instantly tell it was re-recorded and not the original. then I noticed that the special effects shots had been toyed with. The Gorn never blinked! Those planets don’t look the same! Lol.
I personally don’t know why anyone thought this was a good idea. The show is a product of the aesthetics and technology of its times. To me that ads materially to the charm. At lot of very talented people worked to create those effects shots and props and to alter their work is in my opinion disrespectful. It’s the same as someone painting over a Picasso or Miro because they feel their technique is dated or lacking. You don’t paint over another artists work.

I heard that the reason they re-recorded the theme was because the original wasn’t recorded in stereo. My question is why does it need to be? Some of the greatest music ever produced was recorded prior to stereo and its still just as enjoyable now as when it was new. The original show is fantastic the way it was originally produced and if someone is actually sitting there deeming it unwatchable due to the special effects or music I would say they need their mindset updated.

One of the things I loved about quantum leap was that the way the technology,such as the handlink/ziggy console was portrayed. It was imaginative,colorful and fururistic. They didn’t worry about someone sitting there saying “the handlink is a bunch of colored blocks?! That’s silly,it has no display,how can Al read it? “The buttons are meaningless”. It didn’t have to be explainable or look like something from our time. That’s the problem with science fiction since the 60’s. Nothing looks futuristic anymore. They seem to be obsessed with creating ugly,dull looking spaceships and technology. That all really started with Star Wars. No offense meant to any Star Wars fans out there.
I still think Forbidden Planet is probably the best Science Fiction film and Robby is still the most futuristic robot ever made. I like the original Lost In Space B9 robot too. Both were designed by Robert Kino****a.
 
Remastered or "Improved" versions of classic media offer several benefits when they are provided alongside faithful restorations of the original versions:

  • Bring in new fans who may find the dated effects with obvious artifacts, wires, matte lines, etc. off-putting
  • Address mistakes which were easy to miss on 19" televisions in a wooden cabinet but are blindly obvious on a 70" high definition television.
  • Provide an alternative view on the material for fans who have already watched the original so many times they know it by heart

Remasters are not intended to take away from the original. You mentioned mono music. The Beatles catalogue has been at least partly remixed in Stereo. Tangerine Dream has had albums from the 70's completely remixed to provide something different. For everyone who is annoyed by them doing remasters, there's someone else who finds these alternative takes interesting and a new way to experience the material.

I'm thankful that The Next Generation Blu-Ray discs corrected obvious mistakes from the original episodes like upside-down graphics. There is always the original DVDs if you want them. If you want to see the list of changes, here's a good site:
https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/observations/tng-r-changes.htm

I think the only one out there who has sought to destroy the original versions and force their new remastered version as the "only" version is George Lucas, and he has rightfully been lambasted for it.
 
Hi Feldon,I understand some of the things you mention,and agree with you completely about George Lucas attitudes and decisions. I’m personally not a Star Wars fan,but I can certainly understand how fans of Star Wars would feel.

I do however think it’s ridiculous that any new fans would be put off by the aesthetics or effects of the original Star Trek or any other vintage series and they need to be modernized/altered to meet today’s tastes. That would be like saying I won’t watch Laurel and Hardy,The Stooges ,Hitchcock Presents,outer limits or Twilight Zone because they are in black and white. There’s a great Kirk Douglas movie called “Detective Story”,it’s not in color,doesn’t have fancy sets and there’s no gory special effects or over the top violence. It just has a great story and powerful acting that pulls you in.

As far as “remastering” you misunderstood me. I have no issues with *remasters*,but I do with *re-recording*,i.e. replacing original material nearly 60 years later with fake/completely different material from modern musicians just because the original theme wasn’t stereo. They didn’t remix the original Star Trek theme from the 60’s,they brought in new musicians and Re-orchestrated it. Again,why? To me it’s disrespectful to all those original musicians who played a part on the creation of that show.

Remastering is fine, if it’s done with care and an eye towards preservation of original content. Since you mentioned music, I have remastered CDs though that sound muddy and were mixed incorrectly but sound dazzling on the original LP. It has to be done with respect to the original material.
I like original stereo mixes of classic albums,I have both versions of the Beatles output. The stereo mixes you speak of are original and were created in the 60’s. Capitol sold stereo and mono versions of their albums. They weren’t recorded in stereo decades later by artists replacing the Beatles. Incidentally the Beatles preferred the mono mixes of some of their early output and put more work into those. Car radios were mono back then. The mono mixes sound better on mono radios.
Most of the record labels starting in 1958 (some earlier) recorded in stereo and had mono mixes of the same master recordings as well. Stereo equipment was expensive back then and most people still had mono turntables. You want to avoid any “fake” stereo albums from the era. The ones that say “electronically reprocessed for stereo”. If you’ve ever heard one you know why.

I also don’t mind “let it be,Naked”. Paul McCartney supposedly was upset with the strings and choir being added to “the long and winding road” by Phil Spector and it’s nice to hear Paul’s vision of the album. I like both versions but I prefer the original version and think Spector did a good job adding polish to it.

Again,I was talking about “re-recording” (replacing/reimagining) original material over 5 decades later with a modern recreation by modern artists needlessly. Who out there is NOT going to watch a show from the 60’s because the theme is not in stereo? If they consider the technical limitations of the original special effects of the 60’s offputting I’m surprised they didn’t find the Gorn or Horta creature too hokey looking and want to replace them too with CGI creatures. What’s next maybe the short skirts of the female enterprise crew will be deemed “sexist” and outdated. The show is an artifact of its time. Personally I love the show as it was.

I do love the “remastered” high definition versions of old films. I just watched the blu ray version of “walking tall” with Joe Don baker and “in the heat if the night” and the detail is incredible. I’ve seen remastered versions of laurel and hardy films from the 30’s that are so clear you can see the texture of the materials in their suits! And of course I like seeing the deleted scenes/alternate endings of films. “Vanishing point” has the UK version with a scene where kowalski picks up Charlotte Rampling. “Duel” ( Spielberg‘s directorial debut) also has added footage and crystal clear picture. Mill creek really botched the Rockford Files blu-Ray though. It’s missing original footage and the picture quality fluctuates wildly. I wish more care were put into that release. The Rockford Files is one of the best tv shows ever made.

So remastering is good. My issue is with replacing original footage by the original artists decades later just for the sake of making them look contemporary. That would be like cutting the fins off a 1959 Buick to make it fit in with today’s finless cars because fins went out of style and look dated.

I watched Next Generation when it came out. It was good show,but I love the 60’s version best. I haven’t seen it (next generation) since then. I didn’t realize some of the graphics were upside down.




feldon30 said:
Remastered or "Improved" versions of classic media offer several benefits when they are provided alongside faithful restorations of the original versions:

  • Bring in new fans who may find the dated effects with obvious artifacts, wires, matte lines, etc. off-putting
  • Address mistakes which were easy to miss on 19" televisions in a wooden cabinet but are blindly obvious on a 70" high definition television.
  • Provide an alternative view on the material for fans who have already watched the original so many times they know it by heart

Remasters are not intended to take away from the original. You mentioned mono music. The Beatles catalogue has been at least partly remixed in Stereo. Tangerine Dream has had albums from the 70's completely remixed to provide something different. For everyone who is annoyed by them doing remasters, there's someone else who finds these alternative takes interesting and a new way to experience the material.

I'm thankful that The Next Generation Blu-Ray discs corrected obvious mistakes from the original episodes like upside-down graphics. There is always the original DVDs if you want them. If you want to see the list of changes, here's a good site:
https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/observations/tng-r-changes.htm

I think the only one out there who has sought to destroy the original versions and force their new remastered version as the "only" version is George Lucas, and he has rightfully been lambasted for it.
Click to expand...
 
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