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

I saw the leaked pilot on YouTube once -- it was pretty good.

If they had been picked up we would have had a very good show, also if they had kept the production values of that pilot episode too. It was very good. Well take comfort in the fact on another Earth somewhere they had 5 seasons of modern Time Tunnel. :)
 
So, I was standing in line at the grocery store, and I saw that the current issue of TV Guide has Quantum Leap on the cover as part of its Fall TV Preview. I glanced through the article and this paragraph describing the backstory of the current leaper drew my attention. I don't know if this has been discussed or not, if it has, please feel free to disregard.

"The jumping action is now in the hands of dedicated quantum physicist Ben Song, whom we meet when he celebrates his engagement to whip-smart colleague Addison Augustine. Surrounding them are their close-knit Quantum Leap team – cynical security analyst Jenn Chou, brainy artificial intelligence scientist Ian Wright and supportive boss Herbert “Magic” Williams. However, some mysterious text messages lead Ben to quietly depart his work family for an unsanctioned leap in the Quantum Accelerator."

Does this mean that there's going to be an overarching storyline where the Quantum Leap team tries to find out who is sending the text messages and are the producers hinting that it might be Sam Beckett? I don't know how I feel about this, I kind of want the show to stand on its own while still acknowledging the original but having "mysterious text messages" as the guiding part of the mythology I can't wrap my head around.
 
I think there was a interview or something where it was said that new QL would feature an overall arc/mystery too and not just "stand alone" episodes.

But I think the text messages part in itself is new information.


Tron Legacy-vibes if Sam Beckett sends messages to Ben (Fynn to Tron Legacy Kid) :hugegrin:
 
Yeah that feels very familiar now you mention it and like what they did in Tron Legacy. I actually liked the 2nd Tron movie a lot and wish they had done one more.
 
Some of the earlier descriptions had talked about the QL team trying to figure what lead Ben Song to decide to leap, but this is the first reference we've seen to him getting "mysterious text messages".
I think everybody's probably already suspecting that the messages are coming from Sam, since he'd be the most obvious person. Since it's that obvious, I just hope if it is him that they don't drag the reveal out too long.
 
Could be Sam's daughter. She wanted him to leap in order to find her dad. For whatever reason everything connected to first project is top secret because if it wasn't you wouldn't need to investigate to much. You could just talk to people and real old files from what they were doing. But if all those files are missing and everyone who worked on the project has been made to go into hiding or simply had their names erased then it would be harder to find out just what was going on during the first show. Or their is the fact a new timeline was created and history is now different.
 
How's this going to work though? Ben can't take the phone with him when he leaps, so does that mean the team back in the present are the ones going to be deciding whether or not to trust the text messages?

"The text says Ben needs to go to 1 2 3 Fake Street. Should we send him?"
"The texts haven't steered us wrong before."
 
Don't know if you're joking or not, but yes. It's on a biweekly schedule. My local library system carries issues for senior citizens who are used to physical copies.
No, legitimately serious. TV Guide hasn't had a print edition in Canada in over a decade, nor has their been any form of printed tv guides (like the ones we used to get with newspapers) in close to fifteen years. All TV listings in Canada come from either online or a cable service's menu screen.
 
No, legitimately serious. TV Guide hasn't had a print edition in Canada in over a decade, nor has their been any form of printed tv guides (like the ones we used to get with newspapers) in close to fifteen years. All TV listings in Canada come from either online or a cable service's menu screen.

speaking of which, QL is in the CityTV schedule for Monday at 10pm but they don't seem to have provided the details for Cogeco's EPG.

I can't set a recording schedule on my tivo until it shows up in the EPG.
 
Scott Bakula will not be involved with the new Quantum Leap (TV Line) + Bakula's Twitter
"To Quantum Leap fans around the world, in an effort to quiet the rumors and move on…
First of all, thanks for hanging around through the decades!

Here’s the simple version of what’s going on with the Quantum Leap reboot and me:
I have no connection with the new show, either in front of the camera or behind it.

In January, the pilot was sold and a script was sent to me because the character of Sam Beckett was in it, which makes sense, right? As so many of you have been asking me the last several months, “How could you do QL without Sam?“ (or Al, for that matter).
Well, I guess we’re about to find out. That’s the story.

As the show has always been near and dear to my heart, it was a very difficult decision to pass on the project, a decision that has upset and confused so many fans of the original series.

However, the idea of anyone ‘leaping’ around in time and walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, remains a very appealing concept and so worthy of exploration, especially given the current state of mankind.

In that spirit, I am crossing my fingers that this new cast and crew are lucky enough to tap into the magic that propelled the original Quantum Leap into the hearts and minds of generations past and present.

I wish them good luck and happy leaping!
 
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Disappointing, but also acceptable and understandable that Scott Bakula doesn't want to be involved.

Very disappointing that the Producers of the new QL only basically told the nice part of the answer - of him having an open invitation (probably for the duration of the series) when Bakula clearly - now thankfully also directly publicly - declined to have any part in it.

In a way I'm happy as no matter what the classic favorite that was and is OG Quantum Leap will not be altered - no matter the road the new QL reboot/continuation takes.
With the leaked alternate QL ending the original one shown on TV back in the day stings a lot less - it's basically just a worse variant in my book ;)

I will still check out the new QL - certainly including Episode
2 with the Space Shuttle
If the cast chemistry and writing feels ok I'll watch the whole season.
 
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As I've remarked before, it would be easy to include Sam Beckett in the show without including Scott Bakula, since the only people who actually saw Sam as himself were Sam and Al. He could be a recurring character here, but played by a different person each time.
 
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