Quantum Leap - A Bold Leap Forward (TV movie & spinoff)

Quantum Leap is coming back to telivision in the form of a TV movie on the SciFi Channel. The idea creator Donald Bellasario came up with for a reunion movie is sending Dr. Sam Becketts(Scott Bakula) daughter Sammy Jo into the Quamtum Leap Accelerator to find her father, who has gone missing, presumably after he met God in a bar in the series finale. The story would take place 20 years after the original, which opens up the last couple of decades for leaping. Dean Stockwell will return as Al in A Bold Leap Forward, which starts filming this January for the SciFi Channel. Bakula will appear in the movie, and may be signed on to guest star on a possible show that could spin off of it.

Sounds awesome! Good timing, too, with 2 seasons already on DVD and the rest coming next year. Can't wait as this was always one of my fav TV shows. I wonder if the "evil" leapers will figure into it ...

 

Oh Boy!

Count me in as a Leaper... Can't wait! I only wish I had those DVDs

Viva Sam Beckett!

 

You just made my day!

 

Very interesting. I've seen a couple episodes of the original, so that will be cool to see agian...

 

...haha, nice to know Scott Bakula has a back-up gig when Enterprise winds up cancelled...

 

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!!

*ahem*

You have no idea how happy about this I am! Quantum Leap has always been one of my favourite shows when I got introduced to it at the start of the fifth season. Scary to think that was over 10 years ago now. It's about time things got back to how they're meant to be.

Interesting to see how it'll work. I suppose now we'll get to see leaps into the '90s which could open up some possibilities but they could only go back to the '60s if it's going to be within Sammy Jo's lifetime. Still, it'll be an interesting move to make since they can't go for the hot young lead actress as she'd have to be in her 50s at the time of this TV movie. Not that the fans will care, but you know how shallow general TV audiences are...

By sod 'em. I'm excited!

 

How could Sammy Jo be born in the 60's when Sam was just a kid then?

EDIT:

Nevermind, I forgot how it worked out in Trilogy. Sammy Jo would have been born around 1967.

 

What's this Trilogy? Do tell. The last time I saw QL was the last episode, and it confused me a bit.

 

Trilogy was a 3-part arc in the last season. In the 2nd part Sam had a relationship with a woman in 1966, and in the 3rd part it was revealed that the woman had a daughter, and she was somehow Sam's genetic daughter. So Sammy Jo would have been born in the late 60s. If the new show takes place in 2005, then she would be around 38 yrs old.


EDIT: Episode Guide

 

I love how Quantum Leap is more of a drama and less of a sci-fi thing, since they pretty much do whateever they want with the sci-fi stuff and its continuity.

I do like how Sam met God in a bar and how it was filled with all the people he helped along the way.

But will the new series have Al fixed up wit his first wife since Sam changed history? I don't think Sam should have done that, since it would create a new and different Al from the sly Al we knew.

However, this new daughter better be good. Sam carried the show and his dynamic with Al was perfect.

It would be wierd to see Al cavort with a girl leaper, especially when the nudity and the sexual situations pop up. It was ok to see Al being all Al around Sam, but it would be creepy I think with Sammy-Jo...

 

I agree that it needs to be done right, needs a good writer... I hope that happens

 

A couple of rumours have begun floating around in regards to the storyline of the proposed "Quantum Leap" reinvention currently in development and two sources have propped in with what they've heard:

Starting sometime in January, Don Bellasario is making the new "Quantum Leap" movie currently using the working sub-title "A Bold Leap Forward". It's tipped to start out as a two-hour TV movie with a series to follow pending the movie's results.

The two hour feature is rumoured to have Dean Stockwell (Al) looking for Sam whose leaps they can no longer track. Al finds him but loses him again, so he gets Sam's daughter to go looking for him. Scott Bakula is tipped to randomly appear throughout the series starting with the movie".

Soon after that, another source said it has been confirmed by Trey Callway that Sam's daughter Sammy Jo will be used in the movie. She will be in her late 30's leaping to find Sam with Al as her guide after finding out that Sam is her father. Sam will be 50 and his daughter will be in her late 30's, and yes it will still have time travel in it as before.

-DarkHorizons.com

 

Ohhh I'll be watching for this. Loved that show.

 

Wow! This will be great to see. I remember the last episode of trilogy where Al told Sam that his daughter was working with them to help bring him back, but it was never mentioned after that. Good to see they're taking that small element and putting it to good use.

Now, if only Bellasario can get to work on a Magnum P.I. movie starring Magnum's daughter Lily. I'll be really happy then.

 

Wow. If this actually happens I won't know what to think. I have always believed that Quantum Leap finished up perfectly... and that the last caption of the final episode was enough to tei the story down forever. I've always been totally against any further Leaping... safe in the knowledge there was no chance of it ever coming to pass.

But hey. Now it might be back, I have to face up to it. Good? Bad? I don't know, but my initial rection to the (admittedly) well thought out concept isn't as negative as I'd first thought. Now I don't know if this is because I genuinely think bringing it back is a good idea, or because seeing Sam (albeit briefly) and Al back on screen again is too darn exciting a prospect to ignore.

The only thing I'd say is that the original show worked because there was always the hope of getting home; it was that that drove him on. Twas simple, allowing theat week's story to take priority. A new version, if there's a quest to find Sam, might focus on that too much instead of the leap in question... and I always thought Quantum's Leap's main appeal was it was sci-fi, but each week's different stories took priority. If his daughter steps into the Quantum Leap accelerator, she will be doing it in full knowledge of what the consequences are... therefore the genius of a screwed time travel experiment will be gone. Also, will she have her brain 'swiss-cheesed' by the leap? Or has the accelerator been fine tuned since Sam leaped? How has Sam coped in his leaps without Al's guidance? And as someone else mentioned previously, what about the change to Al's character. I'm just a little bit worried the TV movie (which seems a cool one off idea) will lead to a new series that is essentially carbon copy of the original TV series, but without the necessary dramatic structure or dramatic tension or need to move on. Quantum Leap blossomed because it was one story per week, without the need to create long season arcs. Without the wonderful simplicity (beyond the basic concept of Leaping). How can she go looking for her father if nobody can control the destination of the next leap? They could go on missing each other for ever.

So in conclusion, the TV movie seems a good idea to me, but a subsequent series could very easily stink of the photocopier; quickly abandoning the search for Sam, and boiling down to daughter and Al doing the same things Sam and Al did, but not because they needed to change something to move on (because this was God / Fate / Time's decision, not Sam's or Al's). Whoever it was that pulled Sam in 'Genesis', wasn't known about at the start. What's to prevent it happening again? The accelerator itself would have to be a much more reliable, and God proof, machine.

PS: I would LOVE to see Gushi. And Bruce McGill in a very small cameo (since he was in the pilot and last episode of the original show).

 

I agree, the set-up was perfect with the first series.

However, I think the search for Sam could provide an interesting subplot. In addition, while I don't want them to focus really at all on the 'evil leapers,' it could be employed somehow to drive the plot along. That could be why Sam never returns, he has devoted his life to flying around time to fight the leapers.

However, I alwasy thought teh evil leaper storyline was stupid. I enjoyed teh first one, but I don't think they should have ever brougth it back, it doesn't make any sense. It should have just been like the gaurdian angel episode, a single fun episode. Of course, Quantum Leap was never a show to worry about continuity or sci-fi logic.

The basic show HAS to be the same, each week a new story in time. It will be cool to have the 90's leaps, don't you think! Also, I think more international leaps would be better, get out of just America.

But again, I agree, there has to be a coherent overarching plot-line. Time travel experiment gone wrong with sam finding the wizzard of Oz at the end was perfect, (you've had the ability to go ome anytime you wanted!) IMHO.

Here, Sam couldn't possibly approve of his daughter giving up her life like that. Furthermore, it kinda messes up the structure of the show if the leapers have control of where they go, I mean, wouldn't it be wierd if a significant part of the show was devoted to Sammy figuring how she can control her leaps?

I guess it could be worked out that the idea is that she is trying to learn how to control her leaps after she puts right what once went wrong, hoping each time that the next leap will lead her to her father.

But why would she be trying to find her father if Sam doesn't want to leave?

I guess it could work that Sammy Jo gets stuck in time, and Sam tells her straight up that she can go home when she figures out the truth, but she has to discover it for herself.

Then it could be just like the original series, she is stuck back in time, and in the series finale Sam comes to her when she has finally figured it all out, meaning how to leap at will.

As far as Al goes, who the heck is AL if he isn't the guy who can't remember which of his 5 or 6 ex-wives his anecdote was about? Come on. The only solution to this is that Al's wife leaves him anyway. Just like Sam couldn't change that the first time, he couldn't change it even with his leap in the series finale. I know we saw the photo, but she leaves him after that because some things just weren't meant to be.

Then, bam, we have our old Al back. Of course, Sammy should be a little less moral and "high-minded/holier than thou" than Sam was. This would make the Sammy AL flirtations more fun. (And I mean flirtations in that innocent way that Al can be, not in a gross way.)

 

However, I think the search for Sam could provide an interesting subplot. In addition, while I don't want them to focus really at all on the 'evil leapers,' it could be employed somehow to drive the plot along. That could be why Sam never returns, he has devoted his life to flying around time to fight the leapers.

Sam relied upon Al to guide him. Without that help, Sam would be lost. So I'm not sure how he could engage in some sort of quest.

The crucial difference between Sam and all the other leapers (including, potentially, Sammy Jo), is that Sam was pulled deliberately. As far as I know, the others weren't, and in order to not be treading over old ground, Sammy Jo must not be under that bartender's influence as Sam is / was. She must be able to control her leaping to some extent. Control of the predicament is the logical next step from Sam. And then she could decide to carry on leaping because she wants to, to fulfil what Project Quantum Leap was orignally designed to do. Putting right what once went wrong can still apply even if Sammy Jo is in more control of the situation. It's the dramatic thrust after that that's the concern.

I guess it could work that Sammy Jo gets stuck in time, and Sam tells her straight up that she can go home when she figures out the truth, but she has to discover it for herself.

I don't think Sam would be so enigmatic. If Sammy Jo were to find him, he would tell her everything he knows.

... ... ...

Oh man, the thought of seeing Sam, the Sam, on screen again is magical.

 

Magical? Yeah. Sam is way cooler than cool

 

Yeah, even though he's on Enterprise, it just ain't the same.



And from what I remember, they should be able to "aim" her first leap, but none after that. In the episode where Sam & Al switched places, they were able to send Sam back to a specific time & place (and body) but lost control after that. Following that logic, I'm betting that they find Sam and send Sammy Jo back, but she (or he) leaps before he can be rescued, and then she is lost in time as well. As for Al, logic would dictate that he shouldn't be involved in the project anymore. Since he is, however, he should have a different personality (unless, as suggested, he and his wife break up right away and he still becomes a womanizer).

 

That's the trouble. If a rubbush way of returning Al to his former characterisation was done, then a lot of the poignancy of the last episode of the original series would be lost. He could still be the 'imaginative' fellow he always was, but he wouldn't be constantly eyeing up the ladies. The only other way around it (and this sucks too) would be to set it up so Al uses his adventures in time to exercise a 'frustration' shall we say. But that would imply that either all is not well in his marriage to Beth, or he's not monogomous to her and at heart is a betrayer. Both of those explanations, I believe, are contrary to Al's character. In the original series he was always a keep observer of more than just Sam, shall we say, but at heart he was a good person.

As for being able to control Sammy Jo's first leap but none subsequently, I worry. I worry because I don't want the new series to be wriggle it's way towards exactly the same format as the original, with Sammy Jo having no other motivation than putting right what once went wrong in order to possibly leap home (this was good for Sam because it was unknown, but after 'Mirror Image', a lot of that mystery has gone). That would be lazy. Something needs to be different in the long term. The Quantum Leap accelerator was built with every intention of doing good, but just not in the enforced fashion Sam did. If Billy Jo is able to successfully control her first leap, then we must assume whoever pulled Sam is not be interested in her. If Sammy Jo finds Sam, then I have no doubt Sam would tell her everything the bartender told him. Therefore she would have the ability to leap home. Therefore there must be a new motivation for Sammy Jo's leaping... because leaping about in time voluntarily (when you could go home and watch football) provides no dramatic thrust. There needs to be a exterior motivation beyond simply finding Sam (that would be a weak hook for putting right what once went wrong) and beyond a bit of sightseeing.

The evil leapers thing is a bit too corny, so what that new thrust would be, I don't know. But I am sure it has to be there, because engineering it so that Billy Jo finds herslef in exactly the same position Sam found himself in would be very disappointing.

Also, if this TV movie is set 20 years after the original, then what would be the reasoning for the facility in New Mexico still being active?

 

What makes you think it'll be set 20 years after the original? I would have thought it would be set right after Mirror Image or such.

 

Erm... read the first post in the thread?

 

Woohoo! I'm so excited - the Abigail trilogy of episodes were always my favorites of the show. I wonder who they'll cast as Sammy Jo?

 

Oops. You're right of course, Everton. I must have forgotten about that part...

If that's the case, I really hope they do cover what the reaction was when Sam disappears in Mirror Image-- I mean, they have to! You know, what did they do to try to recover Sam, and what happens to restart the Project 20 years in the future? Man, this had better have a good writer or it could easily come out like you-know-what. I'd rather have no movie than that

 

This is one of those rare occasions when a classic show is revived that I actually have confidence in those involved. Whether that confidence will turn out to be misplaced, I don't know... but at the moment I believe the key players will be so aware of the pressure that bringing back Quantum Leap places on them. This isn't just any show. If it doesn't work, and isn't a worthy successor to the original, it will be extremely sad.

They have the weight of a classic show bearing down on them here.

Fingers crossed.