Scott Bakula Finally Reveals Position on NBC’s ‘Quantum Leap’ Reboot

Scott Bakula finally commented on NBC’s Quantum Leap reboot, with less than a week to go before the series premiere. The NCIS: New Orleans star confirmed he has no role in the new series and he decided to pass on the opportunity to star. However, Bakula gave the show his full endorsement, noting that the concept of the original series is still “worthy of exploration.”

“Here’s the simple version of what’s going on with the Quantum Leap reboot and me: I have no connection with the new show, either in front of the camera or behind it,” Bakula wrote on Instagram Thursday evening. He said the pilot script was sent to him since it mentioned his character, Sam Beckett. “As so many of you have been asking me the last several months, ‘How could you do QL without Sam?’ (or Al, for that matter) Well, I guess we’re about to find out,” Bakula wrote.

Since Quantum Leap has always been “near and dear to my heart,” Bakula wrote, 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.” Bakula, who knows a thing or two about shouldering the burden of a beloved franchise through his role in Star Trek: Enterprise, hoped to ease fans’ concerns by offering an endorsement of the Quantum Leap reboot.

“The idea of anyone ‘leaping’ around in time and walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, remains a very appealing concept and so worthy of exploration, especially given the current state of mankind,” Bakula wrote. “In that spirit, 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.” In the end, Bakula wished the cast and crew of the new series “good luck and happy leaping!”

The new series picks up 30 years after the end of the original Quantum Leap when Sam stepped into the accelerator and vanished. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) and a new team restarted the project to explore the machine and understand the man who built it. In the opening episode, Ben takes an unauthorized leap, so the rest of the team has to figure out where he went. Addison (Caitlin Bassett) joined Ben on the leap, but she only appears as a hologram Ben can hear.

Although Bakula isn’t involved, the main cast does have a connection to the original series. Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson plays Herbert “Magic” Williams, a character Sam leaped into in a Season 3 episode. Williams is a career military man who hopes to track down Ben with the help of Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park), who runs the AI unit Ziggy, and Jenn Chou (Marsa Lee), who leads digital security. Meanwhile, each episode will see Ben jumping into different lives to fix what went wrong.

One possible reason why Bakula passed on Quantum Leap is that he thought he’d be busy with another show this season. Back in April, he signed on to star in Unbroken, an NBC pilot compared to Yellowstone because it also centered on a family with a large ranch struggling to make it in the 21st Century. Unfortunately, in July, NBC passed on the pilot.

Martin Gero is the executive producer on the series, alongside Dean Georgaris; original series creator Don Bellisario; Deborah Pratt; Chris Grismer; Steven Lilien; and Bryan Wynbrandt. The show is produced by Universal Television with I Have an Idea! Entertainment, Belisarius Productions, and Quinn’s House productions. The new Quantum Leap will debut on Monday, Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on NBC. Meanwhile, the original Quantum Leap is available to stream on Peacock.