It was pretty meh. I'll give it a few episodes but doubt it last long.
Quantum Leap reboot coming to NBC
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Last: 2 yr ago by 13B
It was…..not good. Not terrible but absolutely nothing new about it. Pretty boring and at times cringeworthy.
4.9 on IMDB right now, which is beyond bad. Though I'm sure a lot of that is around the casting, which was a lot even for me, and I usually don't care about such things.
As I thought about it this morning, there is a ton wrong with it. Lack of character exposition to make you care about anyone you are watching, and it didn't seem to have the same level of care for the person leaped into as the old show. And why was PQL resurrected at all? What was the goal, point, who, how long etc. And to my point above, why do we care about his "reasons" when we don't know the first thing about him, other than he's smart engaged and doesn't like to talk in public?
Just a lot of fail, the more I think about it, I might already be done. Just baffling to me that network TV seems to have lost the ability completely to have a show with depth any greater than a puddle. Ep 1 should have been almost all set up with the leap at the end. But we got the opposite.
Guess this is why I've watched 2 network show in a decade or so (the good place).
As I thought about it this morning, there is a ton wrong with it. Lack of character exposition to make you care about anyone you are watching, and it didn't seem to have the same level of care for the person leaped into as the old show. And why was PQL resurrected at all? What was the goal, point, who, how long etc. And to my point above, why do we care about his "reasons" when we don't know the first thing about him, other than he's smart engaged and doesn't like to talk in public?
Just a lot of fail, the more I think about it, I might already be done. Just baffling to me that network TV seems to have lost the ability completely to have a show with depth any greater than a puddle. Ep 1 should have been almost all set up with the leap at the end. But we got the opposite.
Guess this is why I've watched 2 network show in a decade or so (the good place).
I'm trying to articulate what I'm thinking, going off what you and others have said, after just finishing this first episode... I think the main takeaway is that this probably won't last more than a season. In media res worked fine with the OG Leap, but I didn't feel it this time around. Feels like we're going to get 2/3 past and 1/3 present mix in each show, when we were spoiled before with a 95/5 ratio. They're not focusing on what made the original strong.oragator said:
4.9 on IMDB right now, which is beyond bad. Though I'm sure a lot of that is around the casting, which was a lot even for me, and I usually don't care about such things.
As I thought about it this morning, there is a ton wrong with it. Lack of character exposition to make you care about anyone you are watching, and it didn't seem to have the same level of care for the person leaped into as the old show. And why was PQL resurrected at all? What was the goal, point, who, how long etc. And to my point above, why do we care about his "reasons" when we don't know the first thing about him, other than he's smart engaged and doesn't like to talk in public?
Just a lot of fail, the more I think about it, I might already be done. Just baffling to me that network TV seems to have lost the ability completely to have a show with depth any greater than a puddle. Ep 1 should have been almost all set up with the leap at the end. But we got the opposite.
Guess this is why I've watched 2 network show in a decade or so (the good place).
Maybe episode one should have been episode zero, with all the backstory. But I guess they felt they had to lead with the time travel gimmick, or else not get anyone interested. And we're going to get a lot of exposition mixed in throughout the season, about everyone's motivations and goals. But like you said, there's little reason to care about the other characters. To be fair, nobody really cared about Gooshie either, but Bellisario didn't waste our time focusing on him and his thoughts and feelings. I looked it up: Sam and Al were in all 97 episodes of the original, and Gooshie was in third place with 6 appearances. We're going to get the five main characters every time out (plus the Admiral's daughter). Bleh.
Ernie Hudson's character is Magic from the original series "The Leap Home" two-parter. I suppose they'll spring it on us sometime during the show, but hell... I would have led with that. There's no way that you served in the SEALs with a guy named Tom Beckett, who probably talked about his brilliant younger brother Sam, and then come back years later to revive a program started by a brilliant guy named Sam Beckett, without that being part of your motivation to do so. Maybe the MacGuffin is that Tom asked Magic to save Sam the way Sam saved Tom. There's your first episode: "The Leap Home, part 3."
Thank you. That two part episode was always my favorite one of the series. A real gut punch at the reveal. I would love to see some resolution to that one.LeonardSkinner said:I'm trying to articulate what I'm thinking, going off what you and others have said, after just finishing this first episode... I think the main takeaway is that this probably won't last more than a season. In media res worked fine with the OG Leap, but I didn't feel it this time around. Feels like we're going to get 2/3 past and 1/3 present mix in each show, when we were spoiled before with a 95/5 ratio. They're not focusing on what made the original strong.oragator said:
4.9 on IMDB right now, which is beyond bad. Though I'm sure a lot of that is around the casting, which was a lot even for me, and I usually don't care about such things.
As I thought about it this morning, there is a ton wrong with it. Lack of character exposition to make you care about anyone you are watching, and it didn't seem to have the same level of care for the person leaped into as the old show. And why was PQL resurrected at all? What was the goal, point, who, how long etc. And to my point above, why do we care about his "reasons" when we don't know the first thing about him, other than he's smart engaged and doesn't like to talk in public?
Just a lot of fail, the more I think about it, I might already be done. Just baffling to me that network TV seems to have lost the ability completely to have a show with depth any greater than a puddle. Ep 1 should have been almost all set up with the leap at the end. But we got the opposite.
Guess this is why I've watched 2 network show in a decade or so (the good place).
Maybe episode one should have been episode zero, with all the backstory. But I guess they felt they had to lead with the time travel gimmick, or else not get anyone interested. And we're going to get a lot of exposition mixed in throughout the season, about everyone's motivations and goals. But like you said, there's little reason to care about the other characters. To be fair, nobody really cared about Gooshie either, but Bellisario didn't waste our time focusing on him and his thoughts and feelings. I looked it up: Sam and Al were in all 97 episodes of the original, and Gooshie was in third place with 6 appearances. We're going to get the five main characters every time out (plus the Admiral's daughter). Bleh.
Ernie Hudson's character is Magic from the original series "The Leap Home" two-parter. I suppose they'll spring it on us sometime during the show, but hell... I would have led with that. There's no way that you served in the SEALs with a guy named Tom Beckett, who probably talked about his brilliant younger brother Sam, and then come back years later to revive a program started by a brilliant guy named Sam Beckett, without that being part of your motivation to do so. Maybe the MacGuffin is that Tom asked Magic to save Sam the way Sam saved Tom. There's your first episode: "The Leap Home, part 3."
Scott Bakula basically told the show to jump in the lake since he was only offered a token roll.
They have begged him over and over so he said maybe if the show has legs he'll do some, but he wants to make sure the show isn't a dud first.
They have begged him over and over so he said maybe if the show has legs he'll do some, but he wants to make sure the show isn't a dud first.
[img]http://readthetruth.com/images/dinosaur.gif[/img]
Just finished watching it. It was okay. I would not have caught the "Magic" hook had I not read Leonard Skinner's post (thanks for that). I am going to try to judge it on its own merits and not try to compare it too much to the original. I know some are unhappy with no character background but we didn't know all about Sam in the first episode. However, I could do without the non-binary person (adds nothing but bizarreness). I don't like the fact that his "Al" is actually his fiance but what I don't like about it may make it interesting (like what happens if he has to do a love interest type leap). From just the first episode, I like it better than the Magnum PI re-boot. Did not dislike as much as I thought I might.
Other random thoughts (and yes I was a huge fan of the original series so it feels strangely personal).
Did they even set up the fact that you can only travel within your own lifetime? Because 1985 was 2 years before the actor playing the part was born. And yes I remember the civil war episode, but that was an anomaly.
They never explained the whole concept of the hologram either, it was just there.
One of the reasons the show is being panned, fair or not, is because the fanboys were mostly white males probably now 40-60. They gave them no one in the cast to relate to. Which is ironic, because that's exactly allegedly what they were trying to solve with their "diverse" casting choices. Five minutes in they might have alienated much of the only core audience they had, and the only people who would have cared that it came back.
The guy whose life they saved, comes out of the gala smiling and happy even though the bad guys hadn't yet been arrested, he now has no money for his wife's treatments and could be headed to jail. Why?
Last point before my geek rants end on this, but someone made the fair point that there wasn't much exposition before Sam leaped either. But TV has changed, much more is expected of big budget shows now than then. The show could have either leaned into its characters or into its leapee, and did neither.
So yeah, 4.9 might be fair.
/ep 1 ranting.
Did they even set up the fact that you can only travel within your own lifetime? Because 1985 was 2 years before the actor playing the part was born. And yes I remember the civil war episode, but that was an anomaly.
They never explained the whole concept of the hologram either, it was just there.
One of the reasons the show is being panned, fair or not, is because the fanboys were mostly white males probably now 40-60. They gave them no one in the cast to relate to. Which is ironic, because that's exactly allegedly what they were trying to solve with their "diverse" casting choices. Five minutes in they might have alienated much of the only core audience they had, and the only people who would have cared that it came back.
The guy whose life they saved, comes out of the gala smiling and happy even though the bad guys hadn't yet been arrested, he now has no money for his wife's treatments and could be headed to jail. Why?
Last point before my geek rants end on this, but someone made the fair point that there wasn't much exposition before Sam leaped either. But TV has changed, much more is expected of big budget shows now than then. The show could have either leaned into its characters or into its leapee, and did neither.
So yeah, 4.9 might be fair.
/ep 1 ranting.
Pretty bad. Watched it fir nostalgia sake.
I give it 6 episodes.
I give it 6 episodes.
That was a really rough start. I didn't think either of the two leads exuded much charisma, either as individuals or as a believable engaged couple. The "bad guys" in the heist storyline were incredibly cheesy. Also, I agree that the best of the old episodes made you care about the person Sam leaped into, but this pilot told you pretty much nothing about his vessel in favor of the quest to save the desperate family man. I probably missed it, but why was the dad/husband even recruited to be part of the criminal gang?
The crew back at the lab didn't help any. I love Ernie Hudson, but his dialog felt very scripted and unnatural.
Even next week's episode has me disappointed. I assumed from the previews that he'd leap into Columbia, giving him a chance to save the crew, but we know he's on Atlantis. Guess I'll give it a chance to see where it goes. I recall an original episode surrounding JFK where they took Sam's mission a different route than you would have expected. Maybe that's where we are going.
The crew back at the lab didn't help any. I love Ernie Hudson, but his dialog felt very scripted and unnatural.
Even next week's episode has me disappointed. I assumed from the previews that he'd leap into Columbia, giving him a chance to save the crew, but we know he's on Atlantis. Guess I'll give it a chance to see where it goes. I recall an original episode surrounding JFK where they took Sam's mission a different route than you would have expected. Maybe that's where we are going.
We watched every episode of the original as a family so I'll give this show a try but it sounds like it won't live up to the original.
Anybody have anything for episode 2?
I'm enjoying the storyline with the Calaviccis. Unfortunately, Ben's missions are a smaller part of the show compared to the original.
I think episode 2 is worth a watch just for the surprise cameo
I think episode 2 is worth a watch just for the surprise cameo
It annoyed me the shuttle mission was a fictional one. I am also finding the mystery back at the lab more interesting than what is going on with the new lead actor while he is on his leap missions.
Hoping it improves.
Hoping it improves.
The show probably can't go too far with reversing real events. Although the character did allude to the 2003 Columbia heat shield disaster.
I think you can play arounf with it a bit. Like I think in the original in the Kennedy Assassination JFK gets killed but in the original timeline Jackie was killed as well.
AgPediRPh said:
The show probably can't go too far with reversing real events. Although the character did allude to the 2003 Columbia heat shield disaster.
The original did not reverse actual events. It presented a different version of the event and Sam's actions changed it to our version.
I doubt new QL will be better than the ASIP episode. So with that, hard pass.
What is ASIP?
Always Sunny
Episode 3 wasn't horrible. The non-binary dude needs to go and they could tighten up some of the scenes but all in all, relatively entertaining.
Has everyone given up already? 4th episode was good. Magic reveals his experience when Sam leapt into him. "This Is Us" actor character guy was good in his role. A little shocked they revealed the female "Al" is Ben's love interest already The more they start to fill in the gaps, the better it is becoming. Still could lose a couple characters that add nothing to the show.
The only real contributors in the present have been Magic and the girlfriend. Everyone else (including the nbp) haven't really done anything. Unless that changes soon, they need to work their way out.
I have enjoyed these episodes and really liked the part that you highlighted. I hope that they can get Sam involved at some point, but so far I will keep tuning in. The last two episodes have been better than the first two.
I have enjoyed these episodes and really liked the part that you highlighted. I hope that they can get Sam involved at some point, but so far I will keep tuning in. The last two episodes have been better than the first two.
I agree. Al's daughter can stay too if we can figure out her angle. But again, the rest can go. I hope they continue to bring in folks with ties to the original.
I really enjoyed the Magic reveal from the last episode.
It did.C@LAg said:
i thought i saw a story about it being picked up for a "full" season.
My concern is they are trying to walk back things that were clearly established as the original series wrapped up, like implying Sam not coming back was a problem with Ziggy and that Ziggy was controlling the leaps, rather than it all being guided by some sort of higher power.
So it took til episode four for them to "reveal" the Magic connection and motivation. That's what I think most of us figured would happen and about when.
I don't know that they're walking back the spiritual/supernatural/whatever ending… yet. I think they have so many other little stories they're trying to shoehorn in, that they're missing real opportunities to connect to the original (outside of the Calaviccis and Magic). That said, I think they'll avoid the question of why Sam is leaping/leaped for "reasons."
We still don't know exactly what Ben is building up to. Of course Janice has her goals, but I suspect that they're both using each other. The obvious thing is to rescue Sam, but what if the entire thing is just setting up for a surprise twist where Ben has some completely different goal in mind?
Interesting change in that he can travel beyond his lifetime now, and seems to be going further each successive leap. Are we going to see Medieval times, Renaissance era, Ancient Greece or Rome? Maybe they're ignoring the religious subtext on purpose to set up a surprise leap that brings us to Jesus or God? Is that where Sam is now?
I don't know that they're walking back the spiritual/supernatural/whatever ending… yet. I think they have so many other little stories they're trying to shoehorn in, that they're missing real opportunities to connect to the original (outside of the Calaviccis and Magic). That said, I think they'll avoid the question of why Sam is leaping/leaped for "reasons."
We still don't know exactly what Ben is building up to. Of course Janice has her goals, but I suspect that they're both using each other. The obvious thing is to rescue Sam, but what if the entire thing is just setting up for a surprise twist where Ben has some completely different goal in mind?
Interesting change in that he can travel beyond his lifetime now, and seems to be going further each successive leap. Are we going to see Medieval times, Renaissance era, Ancient Greece or Rome? Maybe they're ignoring the religious subtext on purpose to set up a surprise leap that brings us to Jesus or God? Is that where Sam is now?
So I peaked over at the Quantum Leap subreddit and saw something that maybe just popped a brain cell or ten (not a total mindblower, but…)
The Atlantis shuttle pilot was named Samantha Stratton. As in, could she be Tom Stratton's daughter, born in the second episode of the original series?
The Atlantis shuttle pilot was named Samantha Stratton. As in, could she be Tom Stratton's daughter, born in the second episode of the original series?
I didn't catch that at all. That's really cool. Those kind of moves can make it a cult classic in and of itself.
They did this at least two times in the original series. Once Sam went to the Civil War, but it was a leap into someone within his own bloodline. A second time he lept into Al when they switched places during the lightning storm and it was five years before Sam was born, iirc.Quote:
Interesting change in that he can travel beyond his lifetime now, and seems to be going further each successive leap. Are we going to see Medieval times, Renaissance era, Ancient Greece or Rome? Maybe they're ignoring the religious subtext on purpose to set up a surprise leap that brings us to Jesus or God? Is that where Sam is now?
I think there could be something more to it if we aren't ultimately able to see a similar connection like that in these leaps in the reboot. Or maybe they just improved Ziggy.
Edit - or maybe (thinking of the Samantha Stratton easter egg) Ben will be able to move within the bloodlines of people Sam lept into.
Ryan the Temp said:They did this at least two times in the original series. Once Sam went to the Civil War, but it was a leap into someone within his own bloodline. A second time he lept into Al when they switched places during the lightning storm and it was five years before Sam was born, iirc.Quote:
Interesting change in that he can travel beyond his lifetime now, and seems to be going further each successive leap. Are we going to see Medieval times, Renaissance era, Ancient Greece or Rome? Maybe they're ignoring the religious subtext on purpose to set up a surprise leap that brings us to Jesus or God? Is that where Sam is now?
I think there could be something more to it if we aren't ultimately able to see a similar connection like that in these leaps in the reboot. Or maybe they just improved Ziggy.
Edit - or maybe (thinking of the Samantha Stratton easter egg) Ben will be able to move within the bloodlines of people Sam lept into.
Those were one-off episodes, though. I think they said that the new code Ben and Janice put in removed whatever blocks that kept him from leaping outside his lifetime, and he would be sent farther and farther each leap. And it could take almost twenty leaps to get to the target (conveniently about a season length).
Still watching. I thought the end of the Salvation episode was crazy.
One thing kind of bothering me, Ben seems to talk to the hologram in crowds, in front of people, etc. without trying to hide it. I think episode 4 might have missed an opportunity: there was a black Deputy Sheriff (I think his name was Henry) and another black townsperson named Reeves. Had they simply switched the characters names the Deputy could have been an homage to "Bass" Reeves.
Yeah, still sticking with it. Checking in online and watching it when I'm procrastinating. I guess we're going the "evil leaper" route? You know, the plotline that almost ruined the original series?Dad said:
Still watching. I thought the end of the Salvation episode was crazy.
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