When we last saw “Quantum Leap” in the official TV canon, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) was still lost in an endless string of leaps into past people’s bodies. As a further indignity, his name is misspelled in the closing title card.
Spinning off from a classic
“Quantum Leap” (1989-93, NBC) was beloved because there was always a chance for a great episode: The only limits were the writers’ imaginations and the producers’ budgets. It was fun for Bakula play Sam yet also “play” a new “character”; it’s still his most iconic role.
The interplay between scientist Sam and womanizer hologram Al (Dean Stockwell) is delightful. And their adventures are immediately nostalgic (because the jumps are to the past) and hopeful (because Sam rights a wrong). The show’s bittersweet aspect (because Sam is trapped, and because his bestie is in hologram form) is strong.
“Quantum Leap” (2022)
Mondays, NBC
Showrunners: Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt
Stars: Raymond Lee, Ernie Hudson, Caitlin Bassett
The sequel, also titled “Quantum Leap” (Mondays on NBC, the next day on Peacock), struggles with a conundrum in its first episode, “July 13th, 1985.” Fan discussion is 95 percent about the fates of Sam and Al, but the show itself was 95 percent about the leaps-of-the-week.
Writers Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt and Martin Gero – under the umbrella of OG executive producer Donald P. Bellisario – understandably focus on what fans talk about: the mythology. The QL program had been shut down since 1995 (the original’s “home” date, even though the OG pilot tries to look more futuristic than that).
Now Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) and his wife/co-worker, Addison (Caitlin Bassett), work to resurrect this shuttered military program. Ben leaps – and loses his memory, as Sam did – and Addison helps him in hologram form.
Much bigger main cast
But it’s not just Ben and Addison, the way it was just Sam and Al. (Well, technically, the A.I. palm pilot Ziggy – still voiced by Deborah Pratt – helps both duos.) We meet a whole crew of huffing and puffing workers at the QL complex. The breathless acting, tight framing and general overproduction try (but fail) to convince us that this all means something.
One character worth noting is the boss, Herbert “Magic” Williams (“Ghostbusters’ ” Ernie Hudson). Although it’s not explicitly stated in the teleplay (surprisingly, since the tech is overexplained), NBC has announced that Hudson is the Vietnam War veteran played by Christopher Kirby in Season 3’s “The Leap Home (Part 2) – Vietnam.” Down the road, we could get Magic’s rare perspective of someone who gets leapt into.
This focus on the leaper and helper(s) fits with what fans want, but it undercuts the core premise of “QL” as a procedural, where we’re excited about each week’s possibilities. The standalone portion of “July 13th, 1985” is bland, almost like it’s on purpose so we’re not distracted from the character introductions.
Ben leaps into an undercover cop and thwarts a jewel heist and bombing. We’re supposed to feel sorry for his colleague-of-the-week, who needs to fund his wife’s medical bills. But it’s rote, and the ending is trite: Addison, via Ziggy, tells Ben everything worked out well because the community ended up helping with the family’s bills.
It has Magic, but not yet the magic
The OG show is appealingly Pollyannish because it’s consistently earnest, in part because of Bakula’s nature. The spinoff can’t capture that, and it’s not because Lee is bad (he’s no Bakula, but he’s likable). It’s because the new version is made by people who exist in 2022 rather than 1989.
On the other hand, the new “Quantum Leap’s” potential is mouth-watering. Addison mentions that she was the scheduled leaper (before Ben beats her to it, for reasons he doesn’t know due to his amnesia). There’s no technical reason that only Ben can leap; maybe that’s the reason for the huge cast: more leapers, and more points of view.
Tie-in possibilities to the original show are multifold. Now that we have a second time-leaper, perhaps Ben could jump into Sam’s old adventures. An episode about Magic’s experiences seems likely, and we’ll also have Georgina Reilly coming in as Al’s daughter. Stockwell died last year, but Bakula could return if the writers want to try for a better ending to Sam’s saga.
Tantalizingly, there exists footage of an alternate ending to the original show where Sam and Al jump to the future. If quality scenes of 1993 Bakula and Stockwell playing their characters in the future (today) could be put together, it could make for monumentally great TV.
Admittedly, that’s a pie-in-the-sky idea. And after one episode, the resurrected “Quantum Leap” is far from greatness. But hey, this saga has always been about hope.