Two weeks ago, Scott Bakula crushed the hearts of Quantum Leap fans by releasing a statement that seemed to put a nail in the coffin in terms of his involvement with the reboot. But showrunner Martin Gero still isn’t ruling out Bakula turning up, at least for a cameo in the time-travelling sci-fi series.
On September 15, Bakula posted a Twitter thread ahead of the reboot’s first episode airing on September 19. “I have no connection with the new show, either in front of the camera or behind it. 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 Quantum Leap 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…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!”
Speaking to Collider, Gero says that he has an idea that could entice Bakula into the reboot; “I will respectfully always ask him [Bakula] to do the show. I have a very, very good idea that Deborah (Pratt) knows about and that Don (Bellisario) knows about. I think it could be really exciting. But I also completely respect his wishes. He knows our enthusiasm for him. He knows our enthusiasm, our love, and our reverence for the old show. It’s a no right now. It would be pretty amazing to have him back, but I don’t know what that timeline looks like, or even if it’s possible.”
“I wanna be able to call his [Bakula’s] managers just enough where they feel like I want him on the show, but not enough where they’re like, ‘This is a possible stalker situation. We need to alert the authorities.’ We would all love for that to happen, but we completely honour and respect his wishes.”
For now, it is Raymond Lee’s Ben Song who is doing the leaping – but a Bakula cameo feels inevitable. Unfortunately, Dean Stockwell who played Sam Beckett’s companion Al died in 2021. The science fiction series originally aired between 1989-1993 and was a beloved favourite of many. Clearly, Gero is hoping that Bakula’s next leap will be the leap home.
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