Credit: Quantum Leap/NBC
Quantum Leap was undoubtedly an interesting, original, and fan-favorite series with several parodies and overall love for the original series that featured Scott Bakula as its lead actor. From the series’ original run to parodies from popular series like Family Guy and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to the newest reboot of the series, it’s as if Quantum Leap never left our television screens.
As the series was a mix of drama, comedy, and science fiction elements, as well as other genres, it likely helped inspire more series and films than anyone could even count. The reboot series appeared to have been following in those exact footsteps. Below, we’ve detailed Quantum Leap from its original series to the Quantum Leap reboot and more about the cult classic series.
Credit: Quantum Leap/NBC
The Original Series
The original Quantum Leap premiered on NBC in 1983 and ran until its final season in 1993 for a total of five seasons for the run of the series. The entirety of the series followed Scott Bakula’s character as he leaped through time and space per episode into a new person’s body to fix a time displacement type of event that would alter the timeline unless fixed. On top of the main character, played by Scott Bakula, another character helped guide Bakula’s character through his various jumps in time throughout the show.
The actor Dean Stockwell that portrayed Al Calavicci in the original reboot series had unfortunately passed away before the Quantum Leap reboot and couldn’t have been included in the reboot series. Still, Scott Bakula himself remained to be seen so far. Overall, the series followed the main character as he was thrown into a new body in a different piece of time. However, as others see him strictly as the person whose body he had occupied, he also has some self-identity remembrance issues, which simultaneously add to the drama and comedic aspects of the series.
Credit: Quantum Leap/NBC
The Quantum Leap Reboot
Although Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell didn’t reprise their roles in the Quantum Leap reboot, in the first episode, the characters they portrayed are seen through archive photos, and the wife and daughter of Dean Stockwell’s character have made an appearance. The reboot of Quantum Leap also acknowledges the events from the original series, as it has taken place 30 years after the original series, and references the events, people, and more of the previous iteration of the series.
Outside of the plot being nearly identical in the lead character’s experimentation leading to their entrapment in the past and, of course, a more modern take, the original Quantum Leap creator created the series, which certainly will help the show survive in the long run. As of this writing, the Quantum Leap reboot series has yet to finish the premiere of its first season, but eighteen total episodes are expected this season.
Overall, the Quantum Leap reboot series had the show return to NBC with its original creator, Donald P. Bellisario. Still, Raymond Lee replaced Scott Bakula this time, while the supporting cast was created of entirely new characters as well.
Credit: Quantum Leap/NBC
The Almost Future of Quantum Leap
While there have been vast differences in separating the two iterations of Quantum Leap, the reboot and the original, the series has been a continuation of the original series, which has added a bit of mystery to the reboot series already. While it took 30 years to create a continued reboot of the original story from Quantum Leap, a continuation of the series has always been something that has not only been possible for fans but is also warranted by the creator.
The ending of the original Quantum Leap was met with mixed reviews for good reasons but was left the way it was for understandable reasons as well. NBC advised the creator of the series to create a season five finale or a series finale due to the unknown answer of possible renewal. While the series ended with season five, and it took 30 years for anything else to carry the Quantum Leap name, it wasn’t the first attempt at a reboot of the cult series.
Although still quite some time after the original series had ended, Quantum Leap had a few attempts into a reboot, but they all seem to have led to the reboot series from a propositioned movie. Originally, Syfy, Sci-Fi Channel at the time, in 2002, had announced working alongside the creator of Quantum Leap for a two-hour television movie that would lead to a new series, but eventually fell through.
From the almost television movie, nothing happened until 2010 when Scott Bakula announced Bellisario had a script in the works, while in 2017, Bellisario confirmed that the script had been done. However, all signs point that the script was instead created into a new television series with Raymond Lee in the lead, under a new advanced story, after Bakula stated he refused to appear.he leaped through time and space
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