Quantum Leap (2022 TV series)

Quantum Leap
Created by	Donald P. Bellisario
Based on	Quantum Leap by Donald P. Bellisario
Starring	Raymond Lee Caitlin Bassett Mason Alexander Park Nanrisa Lee Ernie Hudson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Executive producers	Martin Gero Steven Lilien Bryan Wynbrandt Donald P. Bellisario Deborah Pratt Helen Shaver Dean Georgaris
Production companies	Dean Georgaris Entertainment Quinn's House Belisarius Productions (uncredited) Universal Content Productions Universal Television
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television and Streaming
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 19, 2022 (2022-09-19) – present (present)
Chronology
Preceded by	Quantum Leap

Quantum Leap is an American science fiction television series aired on NBC. It is a revival of Quantum Leap, taking place thirty years after the events of the original 1989 show. The series was created by Donald P. Bellisario and executive produced by him, Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, with Martin Gero serving as showrunner. The series stars Raymond Lee as new lead character Dr. Ben Song, Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee, and Ernie Hudson. The series premiered on September 19, 2022.

Premise[]

Thirty years have passed since Dr. Sam Beckett vanished into the Quantum Leap accelerator. The Quantum Leap project has been restarted with a new team trying to piece together the mysteries behind Beckett and his machine. For reasons unknown, Dr. Ben Song, the new project's lead physicist, has uploaded new program code to the project systems and used the upgraded accelerator to leap back in time. He becomes lost in the past just as Beckett did, living the lives of other people and changing history in hopes of getting back to the present. Project employee Addison Augustine, who is Ben's fiancée, acts as his liaison with the project, appearing to him as a hologram only he can see and hear, just as the previous project's observer Al Calavicci did for Beckett.

Cast[]

Main[]

• Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song, the respected lead physicist working on Quantum Leap who gets stuck in the past, leaping into the bodies of different people, while also having partial amnesia about his identity as a result of leaping.
• Caitlin Bassett as Addison Augustine, Ben's fianceé and "observer" who helps Ben with finding out what he has to do in order to leap.
• Mason Alexander Park as Ian Wright, the Quantum Leap artificial intelligence chief architect.
• Nanrisa Lee as Jenn Chou, Quantum Leap head of security.
• Ernie Hudson as Herbert "Magic" Williams, head of the Quantum Leap time travel project, and a Vietnam War veteran who Sam Beckett leaped into in the original series' season three episode "The Leap Home (Part 2) – Vietnam". Hudson replaces Christopher Kirby from the original episode.

Recurring[]

• Georgina Reilly as Janis Calavicci, the daughter of Al Calavicci from the original series.

Guest[]

• Deborah Pratt as Ziggy
• Susan Diol as Beth Calavicci, the wife of Al Calavicci from the original series.
• Justin Hartley as Jake
• Sofia Pernas as Tammy Jean Jessup

Episodes[]

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No.	Title [1]	Directed by	Written by	Leap location & date	Original air date [1]	U.S. viewers (millions)
1	"July 13th, 1985"	Thor Freudenthal	Steven Lilien & Bryan Wynbrandt[a]	Philadelphia Pennsylvania July 13, 1985	September 19, 2022 (2022-09-19)	3.35[3]
At a party celebrating his engagement to Addison, Dr. Ben Song receives a series of texts from a mystery woman telling him that their window is closing. Ben rushes to Project Quantum Leap (PQL) without informing his colleagues and makes an unauthorized leap. He awakens in 1985 as "Nick Rounder", an undercover cop trying to stop a plot to steal the Hope Diamond. Ben learns from Addison, working as his hologram guide, that he is there to save Ryan, a family man trying to raise money for his wife's medical treatment, who was killed following the robbery. Ben is able to save Ryan, who cooperated with the authorities to recover the diamond and his community rallies around him, paying for his wife's treatment. Ben then leaps once again. Meanwhile, in 2022, the new PQL team tries to figure out why Ben leapt and how to bring him home. Complicating matters is a large amount of new code that Ben uploaded into the project's AI, Ziggy, and the discovery that Ben wasn't working alone. Magic, the project head, deduces that Ben's mystery partner is Janis, the daughter of the late Al Calavicci, who was turned down from joining the project. Note: The episode is dedicated to Dean Stockwell, who played Al in the original series and passed away on November 7, 2021. Both Stockwell and Scott Bakula, who played Sam Beckett, appear in the episode via archive photos.
2	"Atlantis"	David McWhirter	Robert Hull	Space Shuttle Atlantis March 7, 1998	September 26, 2022 (2022-09-26)	2.77[4]
Ben leaps into David Tamura, an astronaut aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 1998. Ben remembers that David was one of his childhood heroes, triggering some of Ben's memory. Ziggy predicts that Ben is there to save David from being killed by debris during a spacewalk. Ben is successful, but the debris instead damages the shuttle's heat shield, which changes history to having the entire crew die when Atlantis disintegrates during re-entry. Ben convinces the crew to seek assistance from the nearby Mir space station, but the cosmonauts are asleep. Ben engages in a daring jump from the shuttle to the station to get the cosmonauts' attention and succeeds in saving the crew. In 2022, Addison shows Ian a flash drive Ben left in their apartment, but asks Ian to keep it quiet after Magic reveals Ben's connection to Janis and orders her to withhold Ben's memories from him until they determine why he leapt. Meanwhile, Magic and Jenn contact Al's widow, Beth, to locate Janis. Beth later calls Janis, leading Magic and Jenn to a house. Inside the basement, Magic and Jenn find a massive amount of servers and calculations in Ben's handwriting. Magic receives a call from Janis, revealing that Ben contacted her for help and warning Magic to stay out of their way. Magic and Jenn escape Janis' booby trap, but retrieve an encrypted hard drive. Addison and Ian reveal their flash drive that, when combined with the hard drive, unlocks data that reveals Ben was trying to reach a precise moment in history, but it remains unclear where, when or why Ben was going.
3	"Somebody Up There Likes Ben"	Marcus Stokes	Drew Lindo	Las Vegas, Nevada October 2, 1977	October 3, 2022 (2022-10-03)	2.58[5]
Ben leaps into Danny "Youngblood" Hill, a prizefighter in 1977, the day before his bout for the world middleweight championship. Addison informs him that Danny originally lost the fight because he was distracted and they assume it's due to Danny's girlfriend Angel, who is attached to Danny's opponent. They soon learn, however, that Danny's distraction is his trainer and older brother, Darryl, a Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD who committed suicide following Danny's loss. Ben makes Darryl promise to seek help and then, with coaching from Darryl and Addison, he wins the fight. Addison informs Ben that his leaps are likely to continue for some time as Ian discovered that Ben's code is taking him on a path towards the mystery point in spacetime and could take dozens of leaps to get there. Ben tells Addison that he had a memory when he got knocked down during the fight but leaps before he can say more. In 2022, Addison is suffering from exhaustion due to her singular focus on getting Ben home. After she collapses in the imaging chamber, Magic forces her to slow down and, following Ben's leap, Magic, Ian and Jenn join Addison at her home to help her unwind and relax. While there, Magic receives a call from Beth, who informs him that Janis contacted her and stole artifacts from the original project that Al had in his possession. One such item was Al's old handlink to Ziggy, which Janis is using to help build her own imaging chamber, presumably to contact Ben.
4	"A Decent Proposal"	Rachel Talalay	Moira Kirland	Los Angeles, California July 29, 1981	October 10, 2022 (2022-10-10)	2.46[6]
Ben's first leap into a woman is into Eva Sandoval, a bounty hunter in 1981 Los Angeles. Addison tells Ben he's there to locate Tammy Jean Jessup, a bail skip, but inadvertently ruins a proposal to Eva from her boyfriend and partner, Jake. It is revealed that Tammy Jean is on the run from the cartel and is trying to flee town with her boyfriend, Zack. Ben and Jake track her to Zack's club only to discover that Tammy Jean is Carla, the head of the cartel, and she kills Zack. Ben and Jake are able to stop her and send her to jail, Ben also managing to save Jake and Eva's relationship. Ben then remembers his relationship with Addison before leaping into the Old West. In 2022, Ziggy is still running slow while Ian tries to limit Janis' access into the system. Jenn reveals to Addison that Ben has been keeping secrets from the team for the past six months while Magic reveals to Ian his own past history with Quantum Leap, recounting the time Sam leapt into him in Vietnam and that he restarted the project to honor Sam and, if possible, bring him home. Ian and Jenn resolve to save Ben from the same fate as Sam and bring him home.
5	"Salvation or Bust"	TBA	TBA	TBA	October 17, 2022 (2022-10-17)	TBD
6	"Like an Earthquake"	TBA	TBA	TBA	October 24, 2022 (2022-10-24)	TBD

Production[]

Development[]

In September 2021, Scott Bakula, who played main character Sam Beckett in the original series, hinted that a reboot of the original Quantum Leap was being considered with original creator Donald P. Bellisario returning in some capacity.^[7] A pilot episode was ordered by NBC the following January with plans for writers Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt acting as showrunners with executive producers Martin Gero and with original series producer and writer Deborah Pratt.^[8] Helen Shaver was hired to direct the pilot episode and executive produce as well.^[9] NBC ordered the show to series in May after reviewing the pilot.^[10]

After it received a full series order, Aadrita Mukerji and Dean Georgaris joined as additional executive producers, and Gero took over as showrunner while Lilien and Wynbrandt stayed with the series as executive producers.^[11][12] A new pilot was directed by Thor Freudenthal, with the original pilot being scheduled to air later in the season.^[12] The decision not to launch the revival with the original pilot was made in order to provide a better introduction to the series,^[13] and it was rescheduled as the sixth episode with some reshoots added for context.^[14]

In September 2022, Bakula confirmed that he had been asked by producers to reprise his role as Sam Beckett in the revival, but ultimately decided to not be involved with the new series, saying in a statement on Instagram, "As the show has always been near and dear to my heart, it was a very difficult decision to pass on the project".^[15] After the first three episodes had aired, NBC ordered six additional episodes for the first season, bringing the episode count to 18.^[16]

Casting[]

Raymond Lee was the first actor cast in the show, taking the lead role as Dr. Ben Song in March 2022.^[17] Shortly afterwards, the cast was filled out with Ernie Hudson, Nanrisa Lee, Mason Alexander Park, and Caitlin Bassett, making her television debut.^[18][19] After being ordered to series, Georgina Reilly joined the cast in a recurring role.^[20]

Marketing and release[]

Quantum Leap premiered on September 19, 2022.^[21] The show is available to stream on Peacock.

Reception[]

Critical response[]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 50% approval rating with an average rating of 5.5/10, based on 18 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "This more serialized reboot of Quantum Leap has enough heart to merit a look from viewers with the luxury of time, but it often forgets to have fun with the episodic structure that made the original a classic."^[22] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 56 out of 100 based on eight critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[23]

Ratings[]

Viewership and ratings per episode of Quantum Leap

No.	Title	Air date	Rating (18–49)	Viewers (millions)	DVR (18–49)	DVR viewers (millions)	Total (18–49)	Total viewers (millions)
1	"July 13, 1985"	September 19, 2022	0.5	3.35[3]	0.2	1.77	0.7	5.12[24][b]
2	"Atlantis"	September 26, 2022	0.3	2.77[4]	0.2	1.41	0.5	4.29[25][b]
3	"Somebody Up There Likes Ben"	October 3, 2022	0.4	2.58[5]	0.2	1.51	0.6	4.09[26][b]
4	"A Decent Proposal"	October 10, 2022	0.4	2.46[6]	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Quantum Leap at IMDb