Quantum Leap's Showrunner Wants To Keep To The Core 'Tenets' Of The Original Show
Over 3 million people tuned in for the network premiere of NBC's "Quantum Leap" revival, which is a sequel to the original series starring Scott Bakula (though he's not involved in it outside archive photos). People were/are clearly curious to see what this new series is all about, and according to showrunner Martin Gero, it's about "hope, heart, humor, and history," just as its predecessor was.
The new "Quantum Leap" stars Raymond Lee as physicist Ben Song, leader of the revived Quantum Leap project, who steps into the accelerator in 2022 and wakes with amnesia in the body of a bank robber circa 1985. "Getaway driver" is just the first stop on Lee's whirlwind time-traveling tour, as his consciousness continues to jump through time into different bodies so he can help people in their lives and make history better. Along the way, he has the chance to interact with a hologram from the future and just generally do his best to live up to the legacy of "Quantum Leap" on TV.
In an interview with Gizmodo, Gero explained that the new "Quantum Leap," created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt based on Donald P. Bellisario's original series, has another key crew member from that series in its corner. And she had some valuable insight into the show's ethos:
"Deborah Pratt, one of the original creators and executive producers of the show, was with us every day on this version. We're so lucky to have her. She really says that the four tenets of 'Quantum Leap' are hope, heart, humor, and history, and [new lead character] Ben really inhabits the first three of those. He's an incredibly hopeful character. He has a tremendous heart. The show is about empathy at its core, and he has a ton of that to give."
The voice of Quantum Leap
A show with "empathy at its core," where the main character almost literally walks a mile (or a single episodic hour) in other people's shoes, might be just what the doctor ordered at a time when the world seems to lack empathy more than ever. Maybe "Quantum Leap" can tap into some of that kindness-is-making-a-comeback energy à la "Ted Lasso."
Fans of the original "Quantum Leap" might also know producer Deborah Pratt's voice; she narrated the show's intro, laying out the basic premise of how Dr. Sam Beckett was "trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own." If "Quantum Leap" must be revived (and the law of TV and movie revivals says that it must), there's arguably no better person to help Martin Gero guide the new series and find its voice than the original Voice of "Quantum Leap." Gero also outlined how that third crucial tenet, humor, will be important in this series, as he and his cast and crew set out to "make a really entertaining and fun show."
"The humor was a big part of the original 'Quantum Leap'," he said, "[and] it's a really important part of this one. And I think this entire cast, Ray especially, has really taken that on, [in] trying to find a grounded way to bring an incredible amount of hope, heart, and humor to these episodes."
"Quantum Leap" airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC, with episodes also available to stream on Peacock.