Quantum Leap Release Date, Trailer & Everything You Need to Know If You Have Not Watched The Show

Quantum Leap season returned after 30 years, and here’s everything you need to know about the reboot of the beloved sci-fi classic

The sci-fi revival series has been granted an additional six episodes.

The new series, which was created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, premiered on September 19, scoring 3.35 million viewers. It is also the top-ranking show in the 18-49 age demographic, a feat that no doubt played a part in the decision.

Nearly thirty years after the television series Quantum Leap aired its series finale, NBC’s reboot of the much-beloved show—a combination of adventure, comedy, drama, and science fiction—is finally ready to air. Quantum Leap, starring Scott Bakula, was a cult hit for five seasons before its ambiguous 1993 finale. Now, the Quantum Leap reboot seeks to preserve the mythology and soul of the first show while updating the technology and cultural issues for 21st-century audiences. But will the reboot manage to generate the same audience loyalty as the original? Here’s everything we know so far about the new show.

What Is the Quantum Leap Reboot About?

Every episode in the original Quantum Leap started the same way–with Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) waking up, looking in the mirror, and saying “Oh, boy…” when he realizes that he’s now inhabiting the body and life of someone else in the past. The premise of Quantum Leap was that Sam, frustrated by the failure of his many attempts to prove time travel is possible, impulsively jumped into a time travel “quantum accelerator” to be its first test subject. And it works! Well, kind of.

Sam was able to time travel but now “leaped” into the bodies of people in the past. While he looked normal to himself and to the hologram of his friend and guide, Admiral Al Calavicci (a snarky Dean Stockwell), he had to live in someone else’s body until he corrected some wrong made in the past. Al provided the necessary information about each episode’s quest via his handheld computer Ziggy, and once Sam’s natural integrity and kindness set things right, he leaped into another body. After five seasons, the series ended on an ambiguous note, with the title card telling us that Dr. Sam Beckett never returned to his own time.

In the reboot’s pilot, physicist Dr. Ben Seong (Raymond Lee) is restarting the Quantum Leap project in an effort to understand the experimental machine Dr. Beckett left behind. But when he makes an unauthorized leap into the past, his team is left to figure out why. Highly decorated veteran Addison Augustine (Caitlin Bassett) takes over the technology to communicate with him and her hologram, like the late Dean Stockwell’s in the original, becomes Ben’s only link to the present.

Meanwhile, Ben’s team, made up of Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park), who manages the Artificial Intelligence unit “Ziggy”, and Jenn Chou (Nanrisa Lee), who handles digital security for the project, are left behind to try and figure out where in time Ben might be today. Watching over the project is military man Herbert “Magic” Williams (Ernie Hudson), who isn’t thrilled by Ben’s impulsive use of the time travel machine. Like his predecessor, Ben leaps from life to life trying to right some wrongs, including the attempted theft of the Hope Diamond from the Smithsonian. But if his team can’t solve the mystery behind the quantum leap machine, he too, like Sam Beckett, might never return to his own time.

When Will the Quantum Leap Reboot Premiere?

The new Quantum Leap is scheduled to premiere on Monday, September 19 at 10/9c on NBC. Every episode of Season 1 will also be available to stream the day after on Peacock. Three episodes have been shot so far, with the third being eyed to be aired first, and the original pilot moved to the third episode.

Who’s In the Cast of the Quantum Leap Reboot?

One of the major changes between the reboot and the original Quantum Leap is that the new show will show audiences much more of its present time. The only regular cast members of the first version were Bakula and Stockwell and all the episodes took place entirely in the past. The reboot, however, will show more of the hi-tech world that Dr. Song leaves behind. Raymond Lee plays Dr. Ben Song, an accomplished quantum physicist whose curiosity leads to his unauthorized use of the quantum leap machine. Lee has appeared in guest roles on shows such as Scandal, Modern Family, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and as a regular cast member in the Amazon Prime series Mozart in the Jungle, the HBO series Here and Now, and in the dark comedy AMC series Kevin Can F**k Himself.

As the head of the Quantum Leap project, Herbert “Magic” Williams is constantly torn between supporting Ben and his team and keeping his superiors happy. Ernie Hudson, who plays Williams, is perhaps still best known for his role as Winston Zeddemore in the mega-hit Ghostbusters and its equally famous sequels. The actor, who has been in the business for over forty years, has appeared in nearly 60 movies and in television shows including Hot Streets, APB, L.A.’s Finest, and Oz. Mason Alexander Park plays Ian Wright, the project’s nonbinary computer programmer who manages Ziggy, the Artificial Intelligence supercomputer that provides Ben with information about his leaps and often provided comic relief in the original series. Park previously appeared in Cowboy Bepop and also has a recurring role in the Netflix series The Sandman as Desire.

Nanrisa Lee plays Jenn Chou, the quirky but formidable digital security expert tasked with discovering why Ben took his unauthorized leap. Lee, an actress and producer, has appeared in numerous shows including American Horror Story and Westworld. Caitlin Bassett plays Army veteran and Ben’s only contact, Addison Augustine. Bassett herself has served in the army, working in intelligence services, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant, and doing three combat tours. While attending Brooklyn Law School in 2020, Bassett decided to follow her passion for acting, which led to her being cast as Addison in the series.

Who’s Behind the Quantum Leap Reboot?

Quantum Leap is certainly on of NBC’s most anticipated releases of the year–but it doesn’t mean that production was smooth. Supposedly, NBC was less than thrilled with the pilot and decided that the episode will air third instead. Meanwhile, a shakeup behind the scenes meant that Martin Gero (Stargate: Atlantis, Blindspot) replaced Steven Lilien as showrunner, and writer Dean Georgaris (The Manchurian Candidate, Meg) replaced Bryan Wynbrandt, who wrote the pilot. The pilot episode was directed by Thor Freudenthal (La Brea, Carnival Row). The series is being produced by Universal Television in association with I Have an Idea! Entertainment, Belisarius Productions, and Quinn’s House Productions.

Will Scott Bakula Show Up?

Much of the audience’s devotion to the original show could be traced to Scott Bakula’s charismatic and sensitive portrayal of Dr. Sam Beckett. And many fans were left hanging by the finale, where Sam went back in time to tell his former love that her husband was still alive. Because of this, Beth and Al stayed together to have four children. Meanwhile, a title card tells the audience that Dr. Beckett never returned home to his own time.

Scott Bakula admitted that he was rarely home while filming Quantum Leap, so after the show’s end, he chose to prioritize his family life over his career. Nevertheless, he found time to continue acting on television and in the movies, and Quantum Leap fans never lost hope he might reappear as Dr. Sam Beckett. Bakula often mentioned the series and has teased interviewers about his desire to return to the role–if only for an occasional special appearance in the reboot.

However, when the Quantum Leap reboot began filming, producers made it clear that Bakula was not involved. The actor was set to star as a retired rodeo champion in the series Unbroken, but NBC has since passed on the pilot, and it’s not immediately clear if the series will be shopped around to other networks. So since Bakula has a little more time in his schedule, Quantum Leap fans don’t have to give up all hope of a surprise visit from Dr. Sam Beckett in the new series.

The rebooted Quantum Leap series has been given an extra six episodes, taking its first season tally to 18.