https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3I0SpwjVK8
Quantum Leap is back on NBC tonight at 10p with a new person leaping through time to right the wrongs of history.
That person is Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee). He is working with a team who are trying to restart Dr. Samuel Becket’s work. Addison (Caitlin Bassett) is his lover, who also works on the project, and she becomes his Dean. As in, she will travel back in time as a hologram to help Ben.
Herbert “Magic” Williams (Ernie Hudson) runs the program, and he is familiar with it. That is because Sam leaped into him. So in 33 years, when they revive the show again, one of the people that Ben leaps into can run the program.
Before we get there, let’s learn five things about the show that Lee, Bassett, and EP Martin Gero told us at the NBC TCA Summer Press Tour Day.
Is Raymond Lee nervous about filling Scott Bakula’s shoes?
Oh, absolutely, enormous. There will never be another Dr. Sam Beckett. But what we’ve created is a brand new show with brand new characters, and we’re really excited to bring this show to you.
Raymond Lee says this is a dream role.
I’m checking off a bucket list with every episode. It’s an actor’s dream to not only be in different periods with different projects but to do it all in one. It’s the roles of a lifetime. I’m having so much fun. And, yeah, it’s been a blast so far, and I anticipate that it will continue to be a blast.
EP Martin Gero says this version of Quantum Leap is not a reboot.
Yeah. I think from the beginning, like, the show is so iconic and beloved, it felt crazy to just do a version with a new Sam and a new Al. Like, it would be it would set up to fail essentially. And so for all of us that were involved at the beginning, it really made sense for this to be a continuation of the story with a brand new set of characters, one that could honor the old show, pay service to the old show, but, you know, have a really low bar for entry for new viewers. And I think that’s, like, the tightrope we’re walking. Like, we want all of the rabid fans of “Quantum Leap” to watch the show and have it feel like “Quantum Leap.” Like, yes, this is “Quantum Leap.” It’s an evolution of “Quantum Leap,” but it feels that way. But, also, we want you to know, there’s an enormous amount of people that don’t have like, are vaguely familiar with the title and are just going to check the show out clean, and we didn’t want to weigh the show down with a lot of mythology immediately that would make it feel like, oh, I need to watch 90 plus episodes of “Quantum Leap” before I can start this.
So this, you can start fresh. And then slowly, over the course of the season, there’s an enormous amount of backstory and mythology from the original show that we’re really excited to share with fans. But it’s done in a way that will feel like a different view on past events for our old fans, so it’s new information for them. And for our new fans, it just feels like we’re still in the middle of the story, and it’s coming out organically.
Martin Gero explains why the present day will have a bigger part in the series than the original.
You know, the original “Quantum Leap” is basically an anthology series, with, like, a very thin through line. You know, obviously a lot of character development but not a lot of serialized story. And I think everyone kind of felt from the studio side, the network side everyone kind of felt like it needed some sort of serialized aspect and how do we do that. And I think the modern-day part of it allows us to have that flexibility to, you know, why did Ben leave? What’s going on? Like, why didn’t he tell anyone? That mystery pulls you through week to week without kind of alienating casual viewers, you know. So the idea is for it to be pretty balanced. It will mostly be the leaps. Every now and again, if there’s, like, a huge event that needs to be talked about in the present day, you know, it gets closer to, like, 40 percent of the episode. But the show’s called “Quantum Leap,” and we’re going to be focusing predominantly on the leaps.
Caitlin Bassett didn’t watch Quantum Leap when it originally aired.
I will admit to being I missed the first one. I think I was just a little under the age. And so I’ve gone back and watched it now, and I just love it.
But my it was one of my dad’s favorite shows, so I was like, “Dad, did you ever watch ‘Quantum Leap?'” He was like, “What? I watched all of ‘Quantum Leap.'” So it’s been really cool, like rebonding experience, which is fun, because I feel like that’s one of the best things about the show, is, like, it was a family show. It was a family people or it was a show people watched with their family, like Nanrisa and Ernie. So it’s cool we get to do it again.
Now that you know all of that make sure to check out the series. It feels like the original, and we have been that on our televisions since the OG ended.
