NBC’s Quantum Leap sees executive producer Martin Gero also serve as the show’s new showrunner, replacing Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, Deadline reports. Lilien and Wynbrandt, who also wrote the show’s pilot episode, will now serve as executive producers. Dean Georgaris has also joined the series as executive producer. The series is set to premiere on September 19.
Quantum Leap is a reboot of the late 80s and early 90s show of the same name. The original science fiction series followed Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a physicist, who volunteers himself as the guinea pig for a new time travel experiment that, after going horribly wrong, leaves him suspended in time unable to return to his own era. Each episode finds Beckett in a new historical time period disguised as a person of that time. He then spends the episode correcting historical mistakes and gathering research for Admiral Al Calvicci who appears to Beckett as a hologram. The comedy-drama show provided social commentary wrapped in an entertaining storyline and premise. Each episode ended with the physicist’s determination to right historical wrongs and hopefully find his way back home.
Upon its airing, the show did not have the best reception. It took audiences and critics some time before they warmed up to the premise and characters. Despite this fact, it would go on to become a beloved cult hit in the sci-fi community. During its run, it won 17 awards, including a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series in 1992.
Several changes and discussions have been going on behind the scenes of the reboot since early this year, with conflicting creative ideas between the writers and NBC being the first of these changes. According to Deadline, NBC was not pleased with the pilot written, and that it may not even serve as the pilot episode, but as another episode in the series. Either way, the episode is expected to air despite creative differences.
No reason was given for the recent production changes, but tight scheduling and filming might be the root cause of it all. It is known that NBC is pleased with these changes, however, so it looks like the reboot is on its way to a steady overall production.
The new reboot series will take place 30 years after Sam Beckett’s disappearance into the Quantum Leap accelerator. The new protagonist, Dr. Ben Seong (Raymond Lee), has assembled a new crew to continue the research on time travel, the machine, and maybe even solve the mystery of what happened to its creator. Other acting talents expected to appear alongside Lee are Ernie Hudson as Herbert “Magic” Williams and Caitlin Bassett as Addison, an Army veteran.
With a creative team now in place, the show is underway. Fans of the original will want to check out the reboot and see the modern take on the cult classic. Until then, check out what to expect from the series in the video below: