Thanks for the shout out! I really enjoy reading your recaps, especially as I am a big OG Quantum Leap fan yet don't have the time to watch the new series right now. From the looks of things, the new QT is going through very standard first year growing pains so hopefully S2 will iron out the kinks and successfully build on what works.
It's interesting that the new series seems interested in 'big' events. The original series was for the most part small scale, though I remember it also started out with some important 'historical' event leaps. Like, Sam had to win a baseball game and fly a jet or something? Anyway, hopefully the new series will have enough time on the air to become its best self.
Thank you for the kind words ^_^ - I didn't realize you liked QL, it's one of my favourite classic sci-fi shows! The new S1 definitely had some normal growing pains (like the balancing of the cast across time periods, since this version of the show involves an entire present day team instead of just the hologram), but there are a few things that make this new series unique. Namely, the way it has tied itself to the original series as a sequel despite no Sam (which was, I believe, the original plan). It invites comparisons in ways reboots might not - like, there's no waiting room, which is weird for a sequel. But it's still a lot of fun, especially when it gets the heartfelt right, and I'm hopeful about S2.
As for the impactfulness and size of stories, while later OG Quantum Leap did start telling stories with potential major impact - Lee Harvey Oswald, Elvis - early on, even the big stories were small or rooted in small things. The fighter jet story was about a test pilot, for example, and really didn't feel bigger than this guy and his wife.
I'd be happy to suggest an episode or two if you do find some time for QL! There's also some interesting textual variations - the originally pitched pilot, the filmed version, and then how that episode was readapated and aired as episode 6 (with a much weaker actually aired pilot).
Welcome! Oh, yeah, I am a QL fan. I mean, remember seeing some episodes back in the early 90s but it wasn't until I saw the show in syndication in the 2000s that I really got into it. The creepy Stephen King-style episode and the one where Sam jumps into Jimmy were among my favorites.
I wonder how much the larger scale was a network demand. It feels like time travel shows sort of have to be 'big' these days, you know? Like, maybe they can't keep it as simple as the classic series. And thanks for the offer, but I think I'm gonna wait until I have time to binge the new QL on streaming. There's just sadly so much to watch and so little time.
Also, I really liked your article on the Original Pilot and the comparison. I was, in fact, hoping to write some articles in that vein for T.V. as I know a LOT of pilots end up getting changed up considerably before a series gets to broadcast. [Maybe that could be what we collaborate on, btw? Like, do some more pilot-to-screen comparison articles?]
Ha, super similar experience - I mostly watched Quantum Leap in reruns in the early 00s on the Canadisn Space channel (and eventually did pick up most of the DVDs). Ahead of the new series (I got to write a dialogue-style pilot review with Myles McNutt for 2022's Pilot Season), I rewatched a lot of highlights, like Jimmy. A lot of it holds up quite well despite the sensitive subject matter (some of it is pretty clunky).
I very much think it was network demand. The old pilot (the one about saving one child in the middle of a gigantic natural disaster) did a good job connecting small and large stories. The actually aired pilot was extremely silly (bank heist, terrorism). Where I'm less sure is the whole numbers game - is that the network, or is that the writers - and why? Why are we implicitly endorsing a utilitarian ethics?
And thanks again for the kind words, I love the idea of collaborating on something like that! Would be a really fun approach to explore pitch to script to screen.
Thanks for the shout out! I really enjoy reading your recaps, especially as I am a big OG Quantum Leap fan yet don't have the time to watch the new series right now. From the looks of things, the new QT is going through very standard first year growing pains so hopefully S2 will iron out the kinks and successfully build on what works.
It's interesting that the new series seems interested in 'big' events. The original series was for the most part small scale, though I remember it also started out with some important 'historical' event leaps. Like, Sam had to win a baseball game and fly a jet or something? Anyway, hopefully the new series will have enough time on the air to become its best self.
Thank you for the kind words ^_^ - I didn't realize you liked QL, it's one of my favourite classic sci-fi shows! The new S1 definitely had some normal growing pains (like the balancing of the cast across time periods, since this version of the show involves an entire present day team instead of just the hologram), but there are a few things that make this new series unique. Namely, the way it has tied itself to the original series as a sequel despite no Sam (which was, I believe, the original plan). It invites comparisons in ways reboots might not - like, there's no waiting room, which is weird for a sequel. But it's still a lot of fun, especially when it gets the heartfelt right, and I'm hopeful about S2.
As for the impactfulness and size of stories, while later OG Quantum Leap did start telling stories with potential major impact - Lee Harvey Oswald, Elvis - early on, even the big stories were small or rooted in small things. The fighter jet story was about a test pilot, for example, and really didn't feel bigger than this guy and his wife.
I'd be happy to suggest an episode or two if you do find some time for QL! There's also some interesting textual variations - the originally pitched pilot, the filmed version, and then how that episode was readapated and aired as episode 6 (with a much weaker actually aired pilot).
Welcome! Oh, yeah, I am a QL fan. I mean, remember seeing some episodes back in the early 90s but it wasn't until I saw the show in syndication in the 2000s that I really got into it. The creepy Stephen King-style episode and the one where Sam jumps into Jimmy were among my favorites.
I wonder how much the larger scale was a network demand. It feels like time travel shows sort of have to be 'big' these days, you know? Like, maybe they can't keep it as simple as the classic series. And thanks for the offer, but I think I'm gonna wait until I have time to binge the new QL on streaming. There's just sadly so much to watch and so little time.
Also, I really liked your article on the Original Pilot and the comparison. I was, in fact, hoping to write some articles in that vein for T.V. as I know a LOT of pilots end up getting changed up considerably before a series gets to broadcast. [Maybe that could be what we collaborate on, btw? Like, do some more pilot-to-screen comparison articles?]
Ha, super similar experience - I mostly watched Quantum Leap in reruns in the early 00s on the Canadisn Space channel (and eventually did pick up most of the DVDs). Ahead of the new series (I got to write a dialogue-style pilot review with Myles McNutt for 2022's Pilot Season), I rewatched a lot of highlights, like Jimmy. A lot of it holds up quite well despite the sensitive subject matter (some of it is pretty clunky).
I very much think it was network demand. The old pilot (the one about saving one child in the middle of a gigantic natural disaster) did a good job connecting small and large stories. The actually aired pilot was extremely silly (bank heist, terrorism). Where I'm less sure is the whole numbers game - is that the network, or is that the writers - and why? Why are we implicitly endorsing a utilitarian ethics?
And thanks again for the kind words, I love the idea of collaborating on something like that! Would be a really fun approach to explore pitch to script to screen.