Most of us discovered Dean Stockwell, who died last week at age 85, by way of the television series Quantum Leap (1989-1993), where he memorably portrayed Admiral Al Calavicci, a cigar-chomping horn dog and right-hand to Sam (series star Scott Bakula). Over 97 episodes, Stockwell showed up every week with that unmistakable gleam in his eye to help Sam fix American history and find his way home.
If you haven’t seen Quantum Leap, you should. It’s another one of those series more appreciated today than it was at the time. Bakula and Stockwell have killer chemistry, and the show itself is a fascinating mix of episodic and anthology. The formula is always the same, but like an anthology series, except for the two co-stars, the setting, era, and supporting cast and situation change...