‘Quantum Leap’: Raymond Lee Lands Lead In NBC Pilot
‘Kevin Can F**k Himself’ star Raymond Lee has landed the leading role in NBC upcoming ‘Quantum Leap’ reboot/continuation series pilot it has been announced.
For those of you who haven’t come across the original series, it starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a physicist working on a government experiment into time travel. When the government threaten to cut his funding, Sam takes drastic action, stepping into the Quantum Leap Accelerator, vanishing from the present day, and becoming trapped in the past. However, he isn’t in his own body but has “leapt” into the body of someone else. Aided by a hologram of his friend Admiral Al Calavicci (played by Dean Stockwell) and the project’s supercomputer Ziggy (voiced by Deborah Pratt), he soon discovers the only way to move time periods is to correct something that went wrong in that person’s life, allowing him to “leap” into another random body and time, hoping his next leap will be the leap home.
The new series is a continuation from the original, whilst also something of a reboot too. The series sees Lee take the role of Dr. Ben Seong, a world-renowned physicist who has picked up the baton of the Quantum Leap project started by Bakula’s Dr. Beckett. It’s been 30 years since Sam 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.
Raymond Lee has appeared in a number of tv and film roles recently including playing (ironically) Sam, in the brilliant ‘Kevin Can F**k Himself’, along with Duc in HBO’s ‘Here and Now’, Arlen in Amazon’s ‘Mozart in the Jungle’, and Jin in FOX series ‘Prodigal Son’. He’s also popped up in ‘Scandal’, ‘Modern Family’, and ‘Magnum P.I.’ He next appears on the big screen opposite Tom Cruise in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, and ‘The Lost City’ with Brad Pitt and Sandra Bullock.
This new iteration of ‘Quantum Leap’ comes from Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt, co-showrunners of NBC series ‘La Brea’, who will write the pilot and exec produce, with ‘Blindspot’ creator Martin Gero also exec producing. Original ‘Quantum Leap’ creator/EP Don Bellisario also exec produces alongside original EP Deborah Pratt (who also provided the voice for Ziggy in the original series.)
As for the elephant in the room regarding the possible return of Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, there have been some discussions, but as of right now, his involvement in the project is “to be determined”. Dean Stockwell, who played Al, sadly passed away at the age of 85 in November 2021.
We should stress, ‘Quantum Leap’ has only been ordered for a pilot right now, so may not go anywhere, but we’ll let you know if and when we hear more!
