Updated 07/03/22 – news has broken of the first casting for the new Quantum Leap pilot. 

Actor Raymond Lee will play the lead in the upcoming Quantum Leap revival. His character, Dr. Ben Seong, is described as a spiritual successor to the original show’s Sam Beckett – both a scientist and man of faith. It’s a fascinating description as the original hinted at, but never really explored, leaping’s spiritual dimension.

The report, from Deadline, suggests that the pilot will see Ben Seong test the leaping process on himself and subsequently become stuck in the 1980s.

Raymond Lee is currently a series regular on Kevin Can F*** Himself, and will also be in the cast of the upcoming Top Gun: Maverick. He has a host of previous television roles to his name; he was a lead character in HBO’s Here and Now, and has guested on shows such as Modern Family, Scandal and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Original Article follows…

The new show plans to continue the story and find out what happened to Sam Beckett. 

There were rumours as recent as last September, with actor Scott Bakula talking of significant conversations, but now they’ve solidified: Quantum Leap is getting a new pilot at NBC.

The late 80s/early 90’s feelgood time travel show, which ran for five seasons, starred Bakula and the late, great Dean Stockwell. Moving within his own lifetime, Dr Sam Beckett became trapped – leaping from life to life, doing good and changing history for the better.

Set in the present day, here’s the premise for the new version:

“It’s been 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now 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.”

The show is being widely reported as a reboot but we’d take issue with that term. Much like 2005’s Doctor Who, it sounds like this will be a continuation. Of course, it will be a different show too, a jumping on point for a modern audience with new characters. Let’s face it, no one could replace Dean Stockwell’s Al.

The talent

The show is being written and executive produced by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, who have credits on Gotham and Hawaii Five-0. Blindspot creator Martin Gero also executive produces along with some significant original Quantum Leap names: show creator and executive producer Donald P. Bellisario and narrator/actress/writer/producer Deborah Pratt.

One the news broke, Martin Gero took to twitter to express his excitement:

One name apparently not involved (as yet) is Scott Bakula himself. However, given the new show’s premise, it’s difficult to imagine he won’t be at some point.

While we stress this is just a pilot, fingers crossed something comes of it. Of course, CultBox will keep you posted. Are we excited? Oh boy!