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Quantum Leap Creators Tease Season 2 Surprises, How Series Has Changed
Quantum Leap is almost back, and we have the scoop on Season 2 from PaleyFest.
The creators behind NBC’s Quantum Leap recently took part in the 17th Annual PaleyFest, and took the time to dive deep into the creation of the hit sci-fi revival series and how things will change in Season 2.
Season 2 of Quantum Leap premieres October 4 on NBC, with episodes streaming next-day on Peacock. But while we wait for the splashy Season 2 debut, we can catch up with executive producers Deborah Pratt and Chris Grismer, production designer Mayling Cheng, and costume designer Genevieve Tyrrell as part of a PaleyFest panel teeing up the new episodes.
Grismer teased that the creative team did a lot of work getting things “ironed out” in the show’s first season, figuring out how the show works best and wrapping up the first season’s mystery arc — and now they can have fun playing in the world they built and digging into the leaps in Year 2.
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“We figured out all the little bugs though a series of experiments and budgetary constraints and everything else,” he said in the panel below. “I feel like we’ve tied up the loose ends from the big mystery of Season 1 and now we can spend more time in the emotion and explore the leaps a little bit more.”
Watch the Quantum Leap PaleyFest Panel Below:
Pratt credited the writers of the series with finding a way to pay homage to the original 1990s series, while still creating something new and accessible for fans who might not be familiar with Sam Beckett’s original mission introduced in the series' first iteration.
“I think [the writers] have done a really good job to weave in the lore and the history set-up in the original so people feel the connection between that initial creation and the new evolution of where the show is, and where it’s going,” Pratt said. “So they feel at home in it… So I think being respectful to the intelligence of the fans, but commenting on the world we live in, grounds the show in a way that truly honors the story we’re telling.”
Season 2 of Quantum Leap looks to expand the adventures even further, tackling everything from an off-the-rails military mission, to a leap all the way back to the era of the Witch Trials of the 1600s.
Grounding the Science Fiction in Quantum Leap
Though Quantum Leap is obviously built around the science fiction premise of time travel, Pratt said they’ve always tried to stay true to the humanity and drama that the concept opens up. That said, they still make sure to respect the fans who have stayed with the series from the beginning.
“I think it’s important to base [technology] in reality. From the beginning it was really important to have a foundation to what was coming,” Pratt noted. “To keep that momentum going, and the sci-fi fans, they’re hardcore. They expect it and they love it, and they want to be part of it.”
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As for the canon of the show and how it has evolved, Pratt says they’ve always played around with the rules, even dating back to the original 1990s series. One in particular: in the original series, the leaper could only jump to time periods within their own lifetime. The new series expanded that to essentially any time period, though Pratt explains that was a “rule” they already skirted during the original show’s run.
“I set up some things we got to expand on that, like [when Sam Beckett] leaped into his great grandfather in the Civil War, and we had a flip episode where he changed places with [his hologram support] Al in the 1940s,” she said. “We bent the lore, which we did in the new show as well.”
Season 2 of Quantum Leap premieres October 4 on NBC, with the episode streaming the following day on Peacock.
