NBC has given its reboot of the popular sci-fi drama Quantum Leap a pilot order. The original series starred Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell as Dr. Sam Beckett and Rear Admiral Albert “Al” Calavicci , respectively. Deadline reports the Quantum Leap reboot would be set in the present-day with La Brea co-showrunners Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt listed as writers and executive producers. Other executive producers include Blindspot creator Martin Gero and Quantum Leap creator/executive producer Don Bellisario and executive producer/co-narrator Deborah Pratt. Bakula has said in the past that “significant conversations” were taking place for a reboot.
A description of the new series has a new team stepping into the Quantum Leap accelerator 30 years after Bakula’s Beckett disappeared. They’re tasked with restarting the project while learning more about Beckett and the machine’s mysteries. It’s being reported that Bakula is currently attached to the project, though he has been made aware of its status and talks are underway to see if a return can be reached. Stockwell passed away in November 2021 of natural causes. He retired from acting in 2015 due to a stroke. His character mostly appeared as a hologram and would assist Beckett during his weekly travels through time.
As for the plot of Quantum Leap, Beckett used his accelerator to “leap” into people’s bodies across different eras, usually to help them right a wrong and fix historical inaccuracies.
Scott Bakula commented on a possible return to Quantum Leap in February 2021. “That show is very special to me, obviously, so I would wish whoever did it luck,” Bakua told TVLine. “I mean, the idea of walking in another man or woman’s shoes is so relevant and so important right now. We’ve become so divided in our world that the ability to cross that line of politics and just deal with the humanity and the individual person who’s sharing a moment on the planet with you is really relevant.”
He added: “There was also a quaintness about the show, because it had this period feel because Sam traveled anywhere within his own lifetime. That made it feel a little old fashioned, but I would hope that they get the truth of it and the sentiments of it right, and not try and make it slick. Sam was this naïve kid who just happened to be a brilliant scientist who stumbled on something and all of a sudden was thrown into all of these different lives and worlds and people and situations that he never could’ve imagined growing up in. I would just hope that they would try and keep that, but you know, I don’t know what they’ll do.”
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