Quantum Leap: NBC Orders Additional Episodes for Season 1

NBC has ordered more episodes of its new Quantum Leap. According to Deadline, the network has ordered an additional six episodes, bringing the freshman series’ episode count to a total of 18. The series, which debuted on September 19, has been a hit for NBC averaging close to 3 million same-day viewers, currently sitting as the television season’s top new series in the 18-49 demographic. The series is also one of the top series on Peacock as well.

Quantum Leap is a follow up to the NBC series of the same name which aired between 1989 and 1993. The new Quantum Leap takes place 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it. The series stars Lee, Ernie Hudson, Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park, and Nanrisa Lee.

Did Sam Beckett ever make the leap home?

In the original Quantum Leap, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) initially tested the Project Accelerator when the government threatened to shut his project down, thus leaping back in time into the lives of others. While his friend Al (Dean Stockwell) said that once Beckett corrected the mistakes or presented horrible events from happening in the lives of the people he “leaped” into, he should be able to leap home. Unfortunately, Beckett kept leaping. A final caption of the original series informed the audience that Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home”.

Does Scott Bakula appear in the new Quantum Leap?

While the new Quantum Leap is a follow-up to the original series, Bakula does not appear in the new series and recently explained that he has no connection with the new show — but he does wish them “good luck and happy leaping!”

“I have no connection with the new show, either in front of the camera or behind it,” Bakula wrote in a thread on Twitter. “In January, the pilot was sold and a script was sent to me because the character of Sam Beckett was in it, which makes sense, right? As so many of you have been asking me the last several months, “How could you do QL without Sam?”(or Al, for that matter) Well, I guess we’re about to find out. That’s the story. As the show has always been near and dear to my heart, it was a very difficult decision to pass on the project, a decision that has upset and confused so many fans of the original series. However, the idea of anyone ‘leaping’ around in time and walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, remains a very appealing concept and so worthy of exploration, especially given the current state of mankind. In that spirit, I am crossing my fingers that this new cast and crew are lucky enough to tap into the magic that propelled the original Quantum Leap into the hearts and minds of generations past and present. I wish them good luck and happy leaping!”

Quantum Leap airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.