NBC is reviving this canceled TV show after almost 30 years

Raymond Lee in Quantum Leap sequel series
(Image credit: NBC)

If you’ve been following TV news recently, you’ll know that shows are being cancelled all the time. Whether deserved or not is a matter of opinion, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel: NBC is bringing Quantum Leap back to screens (via The Hollywood Reporter), with a full season order.

If that sounds familiar, it’s because NBC-owned Peacock ordered a pilot for the revival back in January. Production on the pilot has wrapped and the series is expected to be in formal consideration for the 2022/23 fall schedule.

Quantum Leap is a sequel to the original show, rather than a full reboot. The show is set 30 years after the original series, following the activation of the Quantum Leap machine and the disappearance of its creator, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula). 

A new team has been assembled to restart the project, in an attempt to understand the mysteries of the Quantum Leap machine, as well as what actually happened to Beckett.

Viewers will know that Sam Beckett spent the five season series jumping through time, inhabiting locals and only able to move on after “putting things right, that once went wrong." The show ended with Sam being told by a mysterious bartender that he always had the ability to return to his own time if he wanted to.

Knowing that leaping through history has made the world a better place, Sam chooses to continue leaping and righting wrongs. The finale ended with a caption card confirming Sam never returned home, though it has been confirmed that several unused endings were shot.

Quantum Leap was supposed to stay open ended for a sixth season, but the cancellation led to the captions being added at the last minute — something fans were never particularly happy about. And after several attempts at reviving the show, it seems that particular wrong will be put right at long last.

The new Quantum Leap features Raymond Lee (Kevin Can F***k Himself) in the lead, alongside Nanrisa Lee (Bosch), Mason Alexander Park (Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop), Caitlin Bassett, and Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson. 

Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (La Brea, God Friended Me) are on writing duties and will serve as executive producers on the show. Other exec producers include Deborah Pratt, Blindspot creator Martin Gero, and Quantum leap creator Don Bellisario. 

Scott Bakula was expected to be attached to the project in some capacity, but is currently not confirmed to be a part of the sequel. So we may not see the return of Sam Beckett for some time — if ever.

It’s not clear whether the series will get a traditional broadcast on the NBC network, or if it will be exclusively streaming on Peacock. We don’t know of a more precise premiere date yet, but the good news is that a TV show that was unceremoniously cancelled will be back on the air pretty soon.

Plus, check out this new quiz show on Netflix that has cracked the top 10 list. Also, are you ready to watch Eurovision 2022 online? We've got all the details if not. It's also almost time to watch Derry Girls season 3 episode 5 online.

Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.

  • RingElf
    This is amazing news!!

    I wrote this a year and a half ago. It'll be interesting to see if it's anything like this....

    “Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Doctor Samuel Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. He emerged to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey was Admiral Al Calavicci - my father. As an observer from his own time, he appeared to Doctor Beckett in the form of a hologram that only he could see and hear. And so Doctor Beckett found himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap would be the leap home….”
    Admiral Alexis Calavicci paused a moment, took a drink of water, turned to the next note card and continued her speech, "As my father had exhaustively documented, this continued for several years with a few VERY close calls at returning Doctor Beckett home until, one day, their connection was unexpectedly severed. The neural tether which linked their minds across time and space degraded and their connection was lost. We had speculated that Doctor Beckett was left adrift, continuing to leap but without guidance and without support. All attempts to restore contact failed, in large part due to bureaucratic efforts to shut down the project." These words were met with hostile murmuring from the older members of the body present, and she subtly restrained a devilish smirk.
    "In the end, those efforts succeeded. Project Quantum Leap was shut down, scrapped, and Doctor Beckett was pronounced missing - assumed to be deceased. It was believed to be the end. However, we are finding mounting evidence today of instabilities in the fabric of time and space. With what was learned during Project Quantum Leap, we've been able to track and document disruptions which go unnoticed to the casual observer. On September 11th, 2001, the death count WAS 3,393 - now history records that number to be 2,977. A large number of terrorist incidents afterwards are no longer public record including a nuclear disaster in Colorado. Now - it never happened. All of this sounds quite positive, naturally, however reality is unraveling around us while we're completely unaware."
    Behind her, a video began to silently loop - an image of fantastic, cataclysmic destruction. An entire city leveled to the earth for miles around. Overhead, an onyx black schism hovered.
    "This is what's left of downtown Mexico City. Last week, a rift opened over the city for approximately four hours and the resultant energy released at its opening decimated the city. The death count is still being measured. This is the third such rift discovered - the two before having occurred over uninhabited regions.
    We believe Doctor Beckett is still out there, and is still altering the past... but without guidance. Before, our supercomputer Ziggy would run countless projections and scenarios, minimizing unintentional impact and preventing disastrous paradoxes.
    We MUST reestablish contact with Doctor Beckett at all costs!"
    Reply