Quantum Leap Canceled At NBC And It’s The Best Call For The Franchise

The Quantum Leap reboot was met with relatively mixed reviews from the start, and the reason that it didn’t resonate is that the show didn’t take enough of a risk, or leap as it were, to really justify its existence. While this version of the show took on the more serialized structure of modern TV, it just didn’t end up being as much fun as the original show. In other words, the show was just “meh,” and it needed to be great if people were going to stick around for more seasons.

Of course, NBC likely doesn’t care about all of that, with the network’s reasoning for the cancellation being the low ratings. In fact, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the second season was the lowest-rated scripted network broadcast original of the year. The second season was quickly renewed in the first place as NBC wanted to have scripted originals in production during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that took place over the summer.

The original Quantum Leap first aired in 1989 and ran for five seasons and 97 episodes. The series starred Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, who involuntarily takes the place of people in the past to correct different historical mistakes. Donald P. Bellisario created the original series and also co-starred Dean Stockwell as Admiral Al Calavicci, the only other character to appear in every episode along with Sam.

Quantum Leap is NBC’s first cancellation of the season, as numerous other shows were announced for renewal. While it’s not necessarily surprising that the reboot didn’t get a lot of attention, it’s definitely a shame that the franchise wasn’t able to quite get off the ground. The original is one of the most beloved sci-fi procedurals out there, and it was exciting to learn there would be a reboot when it was first announced.

Now the question remains if the Quantum Leap franchise will get another chance in the future. If it does, whoever puts the show together will need to bring something much fresher to the table to draw in new fans. While the concept is still as interesting as ever, the fact that the reboot was just sort of more of the same shows that fans want a little more out of a modern Quantum Leap series.

Perhaps the best thing would be to just let the series rest as is. Unless someone has a really good idea for a new Quantum Leap series that makes another reboot worth the effort, then leaving well enough alone might be the best move for the franchise. Of course, there always seems to be some sort of reboot in the works, so there’s a chance we could see this franchise pop up again in the future.