Tag Archives: quantum leap

“Quantum Leap” Not Renewed For Season 3

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The cast of television’s “Quantum Leap,” (L to R) Mason Alexander Park, Ernie Hudson, Nanrisa Lee, and Caitlin Bassett.

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After watching all of season one and several episodes of season two, last November I parted ways with the modern “continuation” of Quantum Leap. It wasn’t a bad show. In fact, some of the episodes were rather compelling and they had interesting guest stars.

But in the end, like so much of entertainment “updated for modern audiences,” good writing and appealing to a wider audience took a backseat to representation, diversity, equity, inclusion, and so on.

Look, like I’ve said before, it’s not that science fiction can’t have a message. Very often it does. However, when the message and the demographics of the characters, actors, and writers are more important than the actual story, the television show, movie, novel, or whatever, becomes lost.

When I “hung up the phone” on “Quantum Leap” last Fall, I had no idea if it would be renewed for a third season. I was sort of afraid it would. That would mean everything that is wrong with shows emphasizing DEI over substance and depth was winning and the days of really great television were gone forever.

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The “Quantum Leap” Sequel We Might Have Had

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Screenshot from the video “Unsolved Mysteries Of Quantum Leap With Donald P. Bellisario”

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I know I said I was done with the current incarnation of Quantum Leap and for very good reasons. If I want to watch the franchise, I’ll stick to the original, classic Quantum Leap starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell.

However, I was visiting Ars Technica for an entirely different reason and came across a video called Unsolved Mysteries: Unsolved Mysteries of Quantum Leap with Donald P. Bellisario. If you didn’t know, Bellisario has created a number of terrific TV shows including the aforementioned Quantum Leap (and even is involved in it’s current expression).

The current show debuted on NBC on September 19, 2022, but this video was released on May 25, 2021, almost sixteen months before the Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, and Ernie Hudson led program. What Bellisario said in the video makes it seem as if he had no knowledge that another show, a sort of sequel, would be created. Maybe he said all these things before he was approached, or maybe the Ars Technica video was made well before it was released.

The video was edited to make it appear as if the super-computer Ziggy were interviewing Bellisario, and contains some interesting if not astonishing insights. I’ll relate some of the questions and answers but you can watch the entire interview (see below) for complete details.

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Caught in the Time Loop of Science Fiction Fandom

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Scene from the 1951 film “The Thing From Another World.”

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There seems to be an ongoing war debate on social media about whether or not science fiction is inherently liberal/progressive or conservative.

I should say that “woke” is the more common word used for “liberal” or “progressive” although the two terms are not exactly synonyms. Since, in certain circles, “woke” is used as a pejorative, I’ll be using “progressive” in the body of this wee article.

It is (mostly) conceded that across the history of science fiction (and the length of that history is also under dispute) that SciFi has tended to be progressive relative to the era in which it was created.

I bolded that statement because depending on when the piece of science fiction was created, the definition of “progressive” might not fit what it is considered to be in 2023.

Side Note: I took the image above from the movie The Thing from Another World (1951). The military people tend to be conservative and the scientists liberals. The Air Force people end up destroying the monster while one scientist almost gets them killed trying to communicate with the superior, intelligent (and extremely violent) alien.

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Leap into the Panderverse: The End of Quantum Leap

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Promotional graphic for “Quantum Leap” season 2

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I really thought One Night in Koreatown was going to be the Let Them Play episode for season two of the current version of Quantum Leap starring Raymond Lee and Ernie Hudson.

I thought this because of how the showrunner and writers seriously spun the story, emphasizing only some aspects while ignoring the more important facts.

That episode, if you’ve read my blog or have seen the show, depicted the beginning of the 1992 Rodney King riots. I remember them well, because I lived only thirty miles or so from L.A. at the time.

Four white cops had been videoed brutally beating a black suspect named Rodney King. The officers were charged, arrested, and went to trial. All four were found not guilty. Outraged, the black community rioted and looted, but get this. The primary damage almost all in L.A.’s Koreatown.

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Review of Original Quantum Leap S5E5 “Killin’ Time”

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Scene from the original Quantum Leap episode “Killin’ Time” featuring Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett.

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Based on what I said in my review of the original Quantum Leap show Blind Faith, I decided to continue to sample other episodes.

I just finished watching S5E5 Killin’ Time. The title is appropriate because Sam (Scott Bakula) leaps into an escaped murderer named Leon Stiles (Cameron Dye) in 1958 Oklahoma. Stiles has taken Carol Pruitt (Connie Ray) and her young daughter Becky (Beverley Mitchell) hostage in their home. The house is surrounded by law enforcement officers.

They are led by Sheriff John Hoyt (Jim Haynie) who is determined to kill Stiles in revenge for Stiles murdering the Sheriff’s daughter.

This is far from a “normal” leap.

In the project’s waiting room Stiles has leapt into, he has attacked a Marine guard, knocked him unconscious and taken his sidearm (this was in a deleted scene which originally made the audience wonder where the gun came from). He threatens to kill Al (Dean Stockwell) unless Al lets him out. Besides letting an armed killer from forty years in the past out of a confined area, the other problem is if Stiles leaves the waiting room, Sam can’t leap.

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Review of Quantum Leap S2E5: “One Night in Koreatown”

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QUANTUM LEAP — “One Night in Koreatown” Episode 205 — Pictured: (l-r) Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song, Ernie Hudson as Magic — (Photo by: Casey Durkin/NBC)

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My review of the modern incarnation of Quantum Leap S2E5 episode One Night in Koreatown.

I don’t think I can keep this one short because there’s too much packed in the episode, plus it connects to me personally. I didn’t think it would except for the fact that I lived in Orange County, CA (right next door to L.A.) in 1992 during the Rodney King riots, and I was working for Child Protective Services. But that’s not the part of my history that came up watching the show.

Ben (Raymond Lee) leaps into 18 year old Daniel Park, one of two sons of Jin Park (C.S. Lee) who are running a “Mom and Pop” shoe store in L.A.’s Koreatown. It’s April 29, 1992 and Ben is helping customer Luisa Rojas (Analisa Velez) try on some shoes.

A black kid named Dwain (Benjamin Flores Jr.) comes in saying Ben’s older brother Sonny (Danny Kang) was going to hook him up with some shoes. Rojas has to get to work at the hospital (she’s a nurse) but will be back before closing to pick up her shoes.

Ben follows Sonny in the back to get Dwain’s shoes except the shoe box is filled with cash. Yeah, it’s a WTF moment. Going out front, Sonny hands Dwain the “shoes” while Jin is ranting on about Dwain being a thief and he’s going to call the cops the next time the kid shows up.

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Review of Original Quantum Leap S2E5: “Blind Faith”

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Scene from original Quantum Leap episode “Blind Faith” featuring Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett.

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I was inspired by part one of this Youtube review of original Quantum Leap’s pilot Genesis hosted by Price of Reason  to revisit the show.

As some of you know, I have been working my way through the “update” or “remake” or “continuation” or whatever you want to call it of Quantum Leap starring Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, and Ernie (Ghostbusters) Hudson. However, I have only rarely reviewed anything from the Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell original from the 1990s.

I’m here to change that.

For your consideration, my review of the original QL S2E5 episode Blind Faith.

Sam Beckett (Bakula) leaps into a blind concert pianist Andrew Ross. It’s February 6, 1964 and Ross has just finished a performance at Carnegie Hall. His “unpaid assistant” and love interest Michelle Stevens (Cynthia Bain) is just off stage watching him with adoration.

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Review of Quantum Leap S2E4 “The Lonely Hearts Club”

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Raymond Lee (L) and Tim Matheson (R) in the Quantum Leap episode “The Lonely Hearts Club”

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Every day when you wake up, there is an adventure to be had. Some are fun, some are scary, some are flat-out stupid. No matter how you slice it, life is meant to be lived. -Neal Russell (Tim Matheson)

That was one of the better things that came out of Quantum Leap Season 2, episode 4 The Lonely Hearts Club.

Yes, it’s as schmaltzy as it sounds and I almost didn’t watch it. In fact, I really had a tough time working up the motivation to watch the episode. What finally pulled me though was the main guest star being Tim Matheson.

I was ten years old during the original run of Jonny Quest. Tim voiced the title character (I own the series on DVD). Also, who isn’t thrilled watching the 1978 film National Lampoon’s Animal House, in which Tim plays “Otter?”

So yes, just to see Tim, I watched it.

Usually, I go into way too much detail so I’ll try to curb that.

Oh, in case you haven’t watched it yet…spoilers.

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Review of Quantum Leap S2E3 “Closure Encounters”

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QUANTUM LEAP — “Closure Encounters” Episode 203 — Pictured: Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song — (Photo by: NBC)

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So finally, after the airing of Quantum Leap season 2, episode four (which is currently locked), NBC unlocks last week’s episode 3 Closure Encounters. I’m sure this is meant to summon visions of both UFOs and Ben (Raymond Lee) and Addison (Caitlin Bassett) trying to bring closure to their relationship. After all, she now has a new boyfriend (Tom Westfall played by Peter Gadiot), so Ben is out.

Ben leaps into a government agent named Cook who works for Project Sign (also called “Project Saucer”). After looking at his host’s ID, he knows this means he’s an UFO investigator.

How did he know that? I’ll buy Ian (Mason Alexander Park) knowing that piece of obscure trivia since they are a super nerd, but just because Ben’s a physicist, doesn’t mean he’s knows about it, even if all his memory has returned. Heck, I didn’t even know about it until I looked it up.

He’s with a farmer at night on his land. Supposedly three of the farmer’s cows went missing and he tells Ben “they (the aliens) hide in the trees.” Turns out they’re a bunch of kids playing games with lawn gnomes.

Yes, it’s this year’s “Halloween episode.” My guess is that Ben will have less trouble producing proof of little green men than he did the existence of God.

Addison shows up and Ben is less than pleased. He also finds written orders in his car saying he needs to proceed to New Mexico. A supposed UFO forced a car with two teenage girls off the road. Both are in the hospital and one is in a coma.

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Review of Quantum Leap S2E2 “Ben & Teller”

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From the Quantum Leap episode “Ben & Teller” Ben (Raymond Lee) and Rebecca (Janet Montgomery).

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I just finished watching the Quantum Leap season 2 second episode Ben & Teller, apparently a pun on the magicians Penn and Teller. This also references that in this leap, Ben’s (Raymond Lee) “host” is a seventy-year-old bank teller named Lorena Chavez.

First of all, commercials are back, which is fine.

After the intro, the show opens with Jenn (Nanrisa Lee) at a high stakes poker game, apparently cleaning up. Somehow Ian (Mason Alexander Park) knows where she is, peeks their head in the door, and whispers “Turtle Time.” This is a code phrase Jenn made up in case she became a leaper and needed to identify herself to Quantum Leap project personnel.

It’s sort of like in the 1971 film The Andromeda Strain when project personnel were called to duty with the phrase, “There’s a fire.”

Jenn responds to Ian with, “Tell me you’re not about to say what you’re about to say.”

They find Magic (Ernie Hudson) at a jewelry store asking the person at the counter if the earrings he’s looking at would be an appropriate first anniversary gift. So Magic is married or re-married?

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