LEAP OF FAITH

THE BELOVED '90S SCI-FI SERIES QUANTUM LEAP GETS A REVIVAL WITH A NEW LEAPER

- TARA BENNETT

UNDOUBTEDLY, THERE WAS a lot of great, original sci-fi television birthed in the '90s, and one of the best series to come from the period was Quantum Leap. The time-travel drama, created by Donald P Bellisario, brilliantly fused a high-concept premise with a "mission of the week" format by having physicist Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) "leap" through time into the lives of others to correct historical mistakes. And with every fix, Sam hoped the next leap would place him back into his own life and time. Poignant, clever, and sometimes silly, Quantum Leap aired for five seasons, ending in 1993 with the bittersweet reveal that Sam never returned home.

Over the decades, there was talk of a Quantum Leap television movie and even a feature film, but nothing concrete happened until January of this year when NBC picked up the series for an official revival which will continue where the mythology left off 29 years ago. Returning are original executive producers Bellisario and Deborah Pratt, who join new executive producers/showrunners, Steven Lilien, Bryan Wynbrandt, and Martin Gero. To quote Sam: "Oh boy!"

LEAP SERVICE

Having grown into a beloved cult series consistently ranked in the top echelons of TV sci-fi, it's not a surprise that figuring out the right way to viably continue Quantum Leap took so long. Achieving that sweet-spot balance of smart sci-fi, historical scope, humour, and wistful storytelling is no small feat.

But EP Martin Gero tells SFX that this revival's team of writers and producers bring with them a lot of love for the original and a zeal to do right by the show that came before. "The show that Don and Deborah made, and conceived of, is so special," he enthuses. "To just throw it out and start it from scratch seemed insane."