Will Sam Beckett Return Home? NBC Orders Quantum Leap Reboot Pilot

Ryan Thomas Riddle

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Dr. Beckett might return? Although Scott Bakula's return isn't official yet as NBC orders a pilot for a Quantum Leap reboot.

Quantum Leaps long-rumored return has taken a big leap toward becoming a reality. NBC has given a pilot order to a reboot of the beloved 1990s sci-fi series, which starred Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell.

Written and executive produced by La Brea co-showrunners Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt and executive produced by Blindspot creator Martin Gero as well as Quantum Leap creator/EP Don Bellisario and EP/co-narrator Deborah Pratt, the follow-up series is set in present time. It’s been 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett (Bakula) 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.

Source: Deadline Hollywood
 
Well based on what we saw of the 'future 1999' in Killin' Time it would appear Sam's changing of events in the past so often resulted in a butterfly effect leading to reduced technological achievements by the year 1999 'in our' timeline.
 
Yay and please don't screw this up...

Having Deborah Pratt onboard gives me a little bit of hope though.

Whether it's a cameo, he is a recurring or permanent character (SAM, Hologram, voice over etc.) - Scott Bakula is hopefully a part of this Quantum Leap project.
Very sad Dean Stockwell can't be a part of it anymore. Maybe a nice nod (ala OG ST cast in ST Beyond)
Hope they give OG Quantum Leap fan some closure on Sam Becketts leaps, Al and all.

Very nervous it's gonna be "soapy" Paramount+ Disco / CW Roswell style levels of bad writing and storytelling.
Will definitely check it out
 
I don't see how they could possibly do QL without Scott AND Dean.

I'd have thought that Dean's passing would have put the permanent kibosh on any possibility of a QL continuation.

Even if Bakula is up for it, you can't have QL without Dean Stockwell. It's as simple as that. :shrug:
 
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I don't see how they could possibly do QL without Scott AND Dean.

I'd have thought that Dean's passing would have put the permanent kibosh on any possibility of a QL continuation.

Even if Bakula is up for it, you can't have QL without Dean Stockwell. It's as simple as that. :shrug:


Looks even worse when you think they approved this AFTER he passed.


I have trepidations about a new series. A guy dressing up as a woman or another race in this day and age seems like it would bring down alot of criticism from different groups.
 
I've always assumed the plot of any follow up would be Sam's daughter going after him to try and finally bring him home. If that's the case, you can do it with just the odd cameo appearance from Bakula. Yes the absence of Stockwell would make it feel like there's a vital part missing for the old fans, but speaking from a strictly objective storytelling POV, you don't need Al to pull off this kind of show. Indeed, even if Dean were still here, or they'd done this 5 or even 10 years ago, a cameo role would be all he'd be able to do anyway. Better to find a way to pay tribute to the character and the actor within the show somehow.

I've also often wondered how any show would handle the wildly inaccurate portrayal of 1995. To me the obvious approach is to set it in "our" present day, and float the idea that it's all of Sam's butterfly effect changes that have altered events across the board to the point where that version of 1995 didn't even happen, and the Project Quantum facility stands empty and mothballed as a strange artefact from a version of reality that never happened . . . until of course "the plot" happens and it all gets switched on again. Maybe Ziggy is still running after all this time and has evolved to a point where it's a fully self-aware AI and can run the whole thing single handed.
Indeed, I kinda assume the idea here would be to replace the hologram exposition character with Ziggy, or maybe a hologram Ziggy generates wholecloth.

Of course how good or bad any of this turns out no matter the premise depends on the writing and direction. Could be done well. Could be done awfully. Could just be mediocre. We'll see.
 
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So this is actually a sequel, not a reboot like the press release stated. Funny, because the 1999 of the show was far more advanced than the 2022 of real life.
 
I've always assumed the plot of any follow up would be Sam's daughter going after him to try and finally bring him home. If that's the case, you can do it with just the odd cameo appearance from Bakula.
There's probably more than enough audio of Dean "in the can" from the original shows to be able to put him pretty seamlessly into the odd Bakula cameo.
 
Yeah,not getting too excited by this.Nearly every one of these “reboots” are pale imitations.

Five will get you ten that they cast younger than SB.
 
Annoyingly, the term “reboot” seems to be used both for when it’s a complete reset and no ties to previous continuity, and when it’s a direct (or indirect) sequel.

Seems to have been a lazy media thing that has now crept into studio press releases as well.
I think these days it's just a catch-all term for any kind of franchise revival, be it continuation, remake, or reimagining.
 
I've always assumed the plot of any follow up would be Sam's daughter going after him to try and finally bring him home. If that's the case, you can do it with just the odd cameo appearance from Bakula. Yes the absence of Stockwell would make it feel like there's a vital part missing for the old fans, but speaking from a strictly objective storytelling POV, you don't need Al to pull off this kind of show. Indeed, even if Dean were still here, or they'd done this 5 or even 10 years ago, a cameo role would be all he'd be able to do anyway. Better to find a way to pay tribute to the character and the actor within the show somehow.

I've also often wondered how any show would handle the wildly inaccurate portrayal of 1995. To me the obvious approach is to set it in "our" present day, and float the idea that it's all of Sam's butterfly effect changes that have altered events across the board to the point where that version of 1995 didn't even happen, and the Project Quantum facility stands empty and mothballed as a strange artefact from a version of reality that never happened . . . until of course "the plot" happens and it all gets switched on again. Maybe Ziggy is still running after all this time and has evolved to a point where it's a fully self-aware AI and can run the whole thing single handed.
Indeed, I kinda assume the idea here would be to replace the hologram exposition character with Ziggy, or maybe a hologram Ziggy generates wholecloth.

Of course how good or bad any of this turns out no matter the premise depends on the writing and direction. Could be done well. Could be done awfully. Could just be mediocre. We'll see.



They could get away with not having Bakula and just show the outer appearance/Person that Sam leaped into

Black Man- It's me! I'm Sam Beckett!


and I think we'll get more of a team/ ensemble cast. I don't think series these days can rely on just two people for the cast. Look at how they handled the Macgyver reboot. He had a whole team behind him.
 
I don't think series these days can rely on just two people for the cast. Look at how they handled the Macgyver reboot. He had a whole team behind him.

Bellisario always talked about the main character in a continuation being Sam's daughter.

But yeah, I don't see how you do the series in the world we live in today. If you have the Leaper taking the place of someone of a different race, colour, gender or orientation you'll get complaints. Then again, if they only leap into people the same as them you'll get other people complaining about the lack of representation. It's a no-win situation.
 
They'll somehow have Sam Beckett leap into the new star, this way everything will still be experienced from his point of view. I'm calling it :D
 
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