NBC recently ordered a pilot to revive the cult hit television series Quantum Leap. The show originally aired from 1989 to 1993 and follows the time travel adventures of Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula). The upcoming pilot will be written and executive produced by La Brea showrunners Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt and will involve original Quantum Leap creators Donald P. Bellisario and Deborah Pratt.
According to reports, the pilot will focus on a new team that “has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.” Little else is known about the sequel series, which has fans on Reddit speculating about what a rebooted Quantum Leap might look like.
Sam Takes Over The Observer Role
In the original Quantum Leap, Dean Stockwell portrayed Al Calavicci, the project observer who “appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear.” Al was a Vietnam War veteran who served as Sam’s comic foil and connection to the future. Unfortunately, Stockwell died in 2021 and will be unable to reprise his award-winning role in the sequel series.
Reddit user Omegaville instead suggests that the best way to fill the role would be for Sam to come home and become the replacement observer to “supervise a new leaper.” This is a very popular suggestion among Quantum Leap fans because it would allow Scott Bakula to return to the series in a supporting role while a younger leaper takes the show in new directions.
The HIV/AIDS Epidemic
A new Quantum Leap series will presumably time travel through more recent decades including the 1980s and one Reddit user would like to see an episode on the “80’s AIDS epidemic.” It was one of the most significant events from the era and would be an important subject for the revived series to address.
Quantum Leap was always a show that explored social issues and their effect on individual lives. Having a protagonist leap into someone with HIV in the 1980s would be a unique approach to exploring the paranoia that surrounded the disease and the ostracization felt by those who were infected with it. Such an episode could potentially follow in a powerful tradition of films about the AIDS epidemic.
The Return of the Evil Leapers
In the show’s fifth season, the writers introduced the Evil Leapers to serve as ongoing antagonists. Although Sam was able to thwart their wicked plans over a three-episode arc, the ultimate fate of the Evil Leaper project was left unresolved when the series completed its original run.
Reddit user pferreira1983 believes the Evil Leaper storyline “should be expanded upon in the new series.” Occasional guest appearances from the Evil Leapers or their successors could serve as an interesting diversion from the standard leap-of-the-week formula and would help tie up the loose ends left open when the series abruptly ended.
International Leaps
Most Quantum Leap episodes were set in the United States, but since the show’s debut, the world has become far more interconnected. Reddit user Ike1 believes the new series has the opportunity to reflect these changes by leaping “beyond 20th-century America to the 20th century worldwide.” An increased focus on international leaps could open the show up to a plethora of new storylines.
The fall of the Berlin Wall and the Tiananmen Square protests would both make for interesting settings in the new series. The show has proven that international leaps can work in the right circumstances, including most notably as a soldier during the Vietnam War, and with a new range of dates available, the opportunity exists for some fascinating leaps across the world.
Sammy Jo Becomes The New Leaper
Fans of the show know that Sam fathered a daughter with Abigail Fuller (Melora Hardin) during the “Trilogy” episodes in the fifth season. Like her time-traveling father, little Sammy Jo has a genius IQ and later worked on the Quantum Leap project. One Redditor wants to see Sammy Jo “attempt to leap back and find her father.”
Deborah Pratt, who created Sammy Jo, has fully endorsed the idea of reviving the character on several occasions. Sammy Jo would be in her fifties in the present day, so it could make sense to recast the similarly-aged Hardin, who is now famous for her playing Jan on The Office, in the role of her own daughter in the reboot.
The Olympics
Sports-centered leaps were a part of the original series since the pilot episode when Sam leaped into a baseball player. Over the course of the show, he also leaped into a football player, a professional wrestler, a pool player, and a track star. These episodes allowed writers to tackle serious subjects while at the same time injecting the humor of failing at a difficult sport.
Reddit user Ihatetheroaring20s would be great “if they leaped into the Olympics.” A storyline set in the Olympic village would be a fascinating exploration of the melding of different cultures during the world’s most exciting sporting event. Such an episode could also have great comedic potential since the protagonist could leap into anyone from a swimmer to a figure skater.
The LA Riots
Reddit user new-school-archivist is interested in an episode about the “L. A. Riots from the early 90s” for the sequel series. The riots began in the spring of 1992 after several of the city’s police officers were acquitted of charges related to the beating of Rodney King. Quantum Leap was often successful at tackling social issues through the lens of historical events, especially those related to racial inequalities.
In one of Quantum Leap‘s best episodes, “The Color of Truth,” Sam leaps into a Black man in the segregated South to save the life of his granddaughter. This episode and several others dealing with race have aged so well largely because they were written by Deborah Pratt, who is herself a woman of color. Pratt’s involvement in the new series could result in a continued focus on racial issues.
More Stories Back At The Project
Viewers saw very little of Project Quantum Leap during the show’s first run because series writers focused largely on Sam and his adventures in the past. Redditor irving47 “always wanted more PQL stuff” including stories from project psychiatrist Dr. Verbena Beeks and of course, Dr. Donna Eleese-Beckett, the wife Sam left behind.
Fans of the show have always been intrigued by the inner workings of the project, including the “waiting room” where leapees were questioned for information. More of these interrogation scenes could provide viewers with insight not only into the project but also into the lives of the people who were temporarily displaced as part of the time travel experiment.
’90s Grunge
In the original Quantum Leap series, Sam Beckett never leaped into the 1990s (unless you count “The Leap Back”), but Reddit user Regal-Beagal-131 proposes the late twentieth century “would be a great time frame for stories.” It isn’t difficult to imagine a new leaper traveling back in time to the decade that popularized grunge music.
A leap into Seattle in the early ’90s during the ascent of the grunge music scene would be an unforgettable episode full of flannel, long hair, and some of the best music of the decade. The story could presumably focus on the drug abuse that was so prevalent in the grunge subculture during that period and the lives that were lost as a result.
Revisiting Sam’s Previous Leaps
Over the span of five seasons, Dr. Sam Beckett leaped into the lives of nearly one hundred different people (and one chimpanzee), but he only leaped into one person’s life twice (Jimmy LaMotta). Reddit user donrell hopes the new series will revisit more of Sam’s previous leaps “to see the effects his time traveling had on the people whose lives he changed.”
Several fan-favorite episodes are prime for a return visit, but perhaps the most interesting leap to revisit would be the mysterious bar from the series finale “Mirror Image.” Quantum Leap’s final episode left so many questions unanswered and a guest appearance from Bruce McGill’s God-like bartender would be a thrill for fans of the original series.
