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There are (potentially) a whole bunch of time warps in Raymond Lee‘s future. The Kevin Can F**k Himself actor has landed the lead role in NBC‘s in-the-works Quantum Leap reboot.
Per Deadline, Lee will play Dr. Ben Seong, a spiritual successor to Scott Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett. Ben is a world-renowned physicist working on a time-travel project known as Quantum Leap.
NBC has thus far only ordered a pilot.
The new iteration of Quantum Leap would pick up 30 years after Bakula’s Sam stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished, at which point “a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.” (To answer the No. 1 question on your mind, a source tells TVLine that Bakula’s involvement in the new project is “to be determined.”)
Original series creator Don Bellisario is among the reboot’s executive producers, as is Deborah Pratt, who co-wrote, co-produced and narrated the introduction of the OG Quantum Leap. Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt (God Friended Me) will write and exec-produce the new take, while Martin Gero (Blindspot) will also serve as an EP.
Airing on NBC from 1989 through 1993, Quantum Leap followed Bakula’s physicist character as he traveled through time and “leapt” into someone else’s body in each episode, often to correct something that had gone wrong in the past. Sam was joined on his time-hopping excursions by hologram companion Admiral Al Calavicci, played for the series’ entire run by Dean Stockwell, who passed away in November.
In September 2021, Bakula told the late Bob Saget (on an episode of Saget’s podcast) that “very significant conversations” about a potential Quantum Leap reboot were happening, though he admitted, “I don’t know what it would be. I don’t know who would have it. The rights were a mess for years. I don’t know if they’re even sorted out now. That’s always been the biggest complication.” Earlier that year, the actor told TVLine that Quantum Leap “is very special to me,” and that he hoped any potential reinvention of the show would maintain the original’s “quaintness.”
And hate tweets and comments in 3..2..1
I hate the fact that it took so long for this show to be rebooted.
I hate that Hollywood has basically ran out of original ideas and has to reboot everything
They haven’t run out of ideas. It’s executives of studios wanting money makers, so they reboot older shows because they believe that they’ll have an audience for it. But they’ll let a few new ideas join now and then, because they know that they have others that have proven to have worked before to cover if those new ideas flop.
They have a lot of sins to correct, the biggest being how the original show ended, leap into that and fix it, then we’ll see… (and Bakula has to appear or no deal)
Nailed it… 30 years later and it still bothers me…
30 years later and it still bothers a lot of us.
To keep Quantum Leap was the duo of Sam & Al. With Dean Stockwell gone it will be hard for me to enjoy this
No Scott Bakula, no me….
Bakula could be the hologram companion. I would watch that.
The best way to do this is to make a “short” first season (10 episodes or so), give hints about where Beckett is and have him show up in the final episode or two. This would allow for the continuation of the story, give a little build-up, open the door for more regular appearances starting in season two – and work in limited actor availability (like with David Duchovny in season eight and nine of The X FIles).
This is the way to go. Planned mid-season replacement and lead into bringing him back. Don’t make the mistake that other shows have made about it being the concept when it was really Sam and Al and the actors. Because without them it was basically Sliders. But you also need to establish the new people, because while Sam needs to be included, it can’t just be the same guys for a variety of reason, obviously.
If the people in charge of this reboot weren’t clearly racist… I might have given it a chance.
Why are they clearly racist?
Diversity in casting seems to have gone from having a range of creeds and colors to “anyone but white people”
Exactly. They’ve pushed it so far that it’s now the white person, especially a male that is getting targeted by racism. If you read the call sheet for the roles on this reboot… there is absolutely no chance for q white male to win a role on the show in a starring role
Well, after decades where it was impossible for anybody but a white male to be the lead of a show, or really even have a decent role at all, cry me a river 🙄. I’m sure there will still be plenty of white cis male faces on TV screens.
So racism is okay so long as it leans in the direction you like? ;-)
Shhh. No tears. Everything is going to be ok dude lol
Exactly, no one should be excluded or hired solely because of their race. Let them allow all and hire based on the actor being right for the part.
But it’s not racism. The only people who think it is are the ones used to seeing someone who looks like them dominating screens on every network. Inclusion shouldn’t be viewed as racist. Diversity is what the world is made up of.
Why can’t I just be the best person for the role? Why does race have to come into play at all?
You’re obviously just as racist as the people you want to vilify.
You do realise the casting folk likely saw something in this actor which they liked(Besides his talents) and thought he would fit with the show and its themes right? There’s plenty of talented actors out there but theres always someone who brings a little extra to that character. Maybe that was him?
Tell us you don’t know what racist is without telling us you don’t know what racist is.
Because that’s not the real world we live in. Racism, both structural and individual, still exist. Making conscious efforts to combat that in order to increase representation to mirror reality is not racism. It just isn’t.
If you’re white then in the eyes of casting directors, you’re always “the best for the role”.
Cheers, mate.
To the privileged, equality often feels like injustice.
.
Why are you assuming he wasn’t the best person for the role? You just knew people were going to go there because of a lead Asian actor. It’s 2022 the world is huge and white people aren’t the best every time any more than any other race.
Maybe for DRAMAS but black-led SITCOMS have been popular for whole DECADES. And white audiences enjoyed them too. And I would think it’d be better if a few minorities gained lead roles on their own merit rather than many minorities gaining lead roles because of their skin color.
Gosh, so any time minorities (other than Black comedians) are cast, clearly it’s because of their skin color! Thank God white people have never in the history of the world been cast because they happened to be white and no one else even had a chance.
Oh no.
Anyway…
Oh, you poor privileged white man/boy. Took what, less than a year of seeing something other than the typical white person for you to complain?
Says the person specifically labeling people white for the sole purpose of discriminating and insulting them.
What we’re seeing is more non white actors given the chance to break through and show their talents on the small screen. That isn’t racist and there isn’t a notable decline of white leads on television.
Actually snow in earlier news on this reboot the casting call was shared. No starring role was ever going to be a white male. They had it all planned out from day 1.
So what? Not every show needs a white straight guy as its lead. There is nothing wrong with actively with consciously trying to have diversity.
White straight men are not hard done by the entertainment industry.
Your comments are beyond pathetic.
The casting call specified a man but I don’t see you complaining that it’s sexist.
Nope you are just all about white straight men holding the monopoly on opportunities.
Grow up.
Signed, a white straight male who does NOT feel threatened when others are given opportunities for success.
More of a chance not through casting open-mindedness or the actors’ merits but through purposely excluding whites and males.
So an announcement that the lead on a new show is going to be played by an actor who is not white -no mention as to who will be in the rest of the cast—gets transformed in your mind to the casting of the show is “anyone but white people”?Are you serious??!
While it’s true that the open-casting call has encouraged people from diverse backgrounds and orientations to audition for roles so it’s likely the main cast will have quite a mix it does not logically flow that there won’t be any whites in the main cast.
How is it racist? It’s not racist.
oh no a white man isn’t the lead of a show! thankfully there’s still *checks notes* almost every show on TV you can fall back on instead to see them on. LOL
This whole comment section is full of racists. Just the simple fact that you all are bringing race into the conversation to begin with. Race has no place in the world and the more you all discuss it, the more you perpetuate it. And from what I can tell, the majority of racist hate here is directed at thise you want to label white.
All these years waiting for a reboot and they decide to create a new show and call it Quantum Leap. Without Scott Bakula what’s the point? I realize that they’re looking to only appeal to young audiences but alienating the actual fans of the show doesn’t seem like a great idea. Do the show but just name it something else because it won’t be Quantum Leap without Sam Beckett.
I am all for diversity. I have no problems with leads who aren’t white. However, I think Quantum Leap worked best with a white lead because it forced him to confront his own privilege. Sam never personally experienced racism or sexism until people saw him in the place of a minority person, a woman, a man with Downs etc.
I’m not anti the casting, but I think that could have been translated to a modern audience.
That did give Sam an interesting perspective, it’s true, but when the people Sam was helping were of different races it could also give the show an uncomfortable “white savior” feeling. We can still get the “ confronting his privilege” storylines if this new character leaps into a woman, or a disabled person, or an LGBTQ person if he is, as I expect, cishet. And there could be an interesting story if he leaps into a white person and someone around him finds out who he is, and how they may feel about someone they know as white being “replaced” with an Asian person.
Oh that’s actually a good point
If someone was attacking you, you wouldn’t want a white person to help you because it would give you an uncomfortable feeling?
I’m white, so I would be fine with a white person helping me in real life, as would most people of other races I imagine. It’s a problem in media when it’s a pattern of stories being told about people of color who can’t solve their own problems but need a white person to come in and “save” them, hence the “white savior trope.”
The problem is that everything nowadays revolves around race. It should be about getting the best person for the job regardless of race or gender.
They should make new shows, instead of rebooting all these old shows, but with poc in the lead roles.
But it’s so amazing how magically the right person for most jobs wears a white heterosexual male maybe a white Heather sexual female. Diverse casting was never the right person for the job in the past. You are also limiting this person’s ability to carry this show based on your own biased. He got the job someone saw something let’s see if he can do the job. You would never question the why or how a white male got the job. If you did not like that particular after you would probably just say I don’t like that actor but you would never question anything about his qualifications. That is a problem until you can look at every actor or actress any just not like they’re acting or their body of work without questioning the hows & whys of their getting a job there is going to be a continued problem not only the television but our entire country. If you don’t want people questioning why you got your job don’t question why others got theirs. Every minority is not feeling a quota Every Woman not sleeping with a higher up everyone that doesn’t look like you is not under qualified. A close inspection will probably find many of them more qualified
Now this is a fair comment.
The word ‘privilege’ is never used, but his journey’s are edifying for Beckett, and the audience, without the contemporary dose of smugness and sanctimony that’s too often used today.
That’s called good writing when you see a story which is told in a natural way and has meaning/impact.
Privilege shaming is wrong too. Majorities aren’t unaware of ignorant people that hurt minorities and majorities also do not have to self-flagellate themselves to care about minorities.
The question is: Can Raymond Lee sing and/or dance?
I’d kind of hoped we’d get a female time traveler this time or maybe a couple of travlers, but Iiked this actor in Kevin Can F Himself, so I’ll probably give it a try….
I guess females can only be an evil leaper…
Agreed.
This is one reboot that I wouldn’t be terribly upset about because its not really a reboot as much as a continuation, or at least it sounds like. Because I imagine it might take a journey of a bunch of young scientists picking up this research that had been abandoned which leads them to the fact that Sam might still be out there and sets off a longer story to find him and bring him home and they might find footage of Al’s side of the conversations he had with Sam since he had to actually be somewhere and he was likely being watched and recorded.
It won’t be the same without Scott! I hopehe has a part in it.
Looking forward to seeing this guy in a bunch of wild costumes. I’m guessing that like Sam, the character will be a few years older than the actor, so that could give us everything from about 1984 onwards. There’s just as much history there as from 1953-1989 so it should be great. Expecting 9/11, Challenger Disaster, Iraq Wars 1 and 2 and so much more. Maybe he’ll leap into Monica Lewinsky.
Shame it took so long to reboot the show and with Dean gone and now Scott being replaced…Not interested
I think Lee made the most valid comment – how versatile is this guy?
Part of the charm was seeing Bakula sing, dance, do martial arts etc. He was game for anything.
Not sure at all on a continuation, especially now Dean has passed, and the only wrong needing righted is the original finale…
The obvious response to the question of “how versatile is this guy” is that viewers will only get the answer to see him in the role not by jumping to conclusions without evidence.
IF there should be a all new quantum leap series i hope Raymond will pick off were Scott Bakula if off at and i hope he will run into another leaper. Like i would like for Alia to return and who’s taking over as Al character.
Bakula should replace Dean Stockwells part, become the new Al, he has experience and it makes perfect sense
Looking forward to it. The possibilities are endless for what they could do. Huge fan of the original “Quantum Leap”.
Disappointed – had hoped they would have had Sam’s now grown daughter as the leaper – she revives the program to find her “lost” father
One and done.
I would have liked to have been able to “keep it in the family” with the Leaper being Beckett’s kid. Sammie Jo would probably be deemed “too old” being only a few years younger than Sam himself and now like 20-30 years *older* than he was for the original (depending on whether the ‘present’ is set ‘now’ or 10 years in the future like the original), but he could’ve easily had a kid with Donna, either before he Leapt which he just Swiss-cheesed, or when he and Al switched places.
.
Ideally, Sam’s the new Observer; I would also accept Sammie Jo as the new Observer with the first season being largely about her trying to get Sam back, and then he could be like a consultant or something and Bakula can remain frequent guest star.
nooooooo! I didn’t wanna watch the reboot but I loved Raymond Lee on Here and Now & Kevin Can F-Himself. So now I have to watch this :(
Al will be cast as an African American female with a name like Alana.
Count on it. Put money on it, guys.
Oh the horror!
If she’s got the acting chops for the role, bring it on. If that means one fewer racist viewer like yourself, so much the better.
they rebooted ‘v’ years ago without legacy characters but some of them did turn up by series end….
remember all those lies about the last spiderman film?
What are you doing and why are you insulting Scott bakula by replacing him with that. Scott bakula is a legend as was the late great and sadly missed Dean Stockwell I have been a fan of Scott bakula ever since the fist series of quantum leap this is tipical of remakes they always ruin the series.
“Insulting” Scott Bakula by “replacing him with that”? Like Raymond Lee is a thing and not a human being, not an actor playing an entirely new character? I’m as big a fan of Scott and the original show as anybody, but do you have any awareness of how you sound?
“That”? Oh, sweetie, I’ll bet you don’t even think you’re racist.
This new actor is not playing Sam Beckett, as the article clearly states. Mr. Bakula is not being replaced. So, the point is moot.
You can not recapture lightning in a bottle twice. Just leave it alone.
Alrighty then.