(Photo by: Serguei Bachlakov/NBC)
“Oh, boy.” NBC is going back to its old schedule once again for a new show. The network has ordered a sequel to the Quantum Leap TV series for the 2022-23 season. NBC previously gave the go-ahead for a sequel to the Night Court sitcom which ran around the same time, in the 1980s and 1990s, on the peacock network.
A science-fiction drama, the original Quantum Leap TV show ran for five seasons and stars Scott Bakula and the late Dean Stockwell. In the story, physicist Dr. Sam Beckett (Bakula) tests a time travel project, Quantum Leap, and ends up involuntarily leaping through space and time. He finds himself taking the place of people in different eras and is stuck there until he can right historical mistakes. His friend, Admiral Al Calavicci (Stockwell), appears as a hologram that only Sam can see/hear and tries to assist him with additional information. When Sam has completed his mission, he leaps to another person in a different time and place. He keeps hoping that he’ll leap home one day. The series was cancelled after five years and viewers were told via an onscreen message, that Sam never returned home.
Now, nearly 30 years later, it looks like the mystery of what happened to Sam Beckett could be solved. While some outlets are calling this a “reboot”, it’s more of a “sequel” as there are definitely some story connections to the original. According to NBC, “It’s been 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.”
The new series will star Raymond Lee (above), Caitlin Bassett, Ernie Hudson, Mason Alexander Park, and Nanrisa Lee. Raymond Lee will play Dr. Ben Seong, a physicist who ends up leaping into the past. Hudson will play Herbert “Magic” Williams, a Vietnam veteran and head of the time travel project at Quantum Leap. Using his experience to keep the Pentagon at bay, Magic buys the team some time to rescue Ben. In the second episode of the third season of the original series, Sam leaped into Magic in the episode that revolves around Sam trying to save his brother while fighting in Vietnam.
The pilot was written and executive produced by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. Executive producers on the new series also include Martin Gero, Quantum Leap creator Don Bellisario, and Deborah Pratt, a producer/writer and the narrator on the original show.
Bakula is not currently associated with the project and has a rodeo pilot titled Unbroken in contention at NBC. One can hope that he could be persuaded to help give Sam Beckett fans some closure if the possibility arises.
What do you think? Did you watch the original Quantum Leap TV series? Are you looking forward to the new show?