This morning, NBC hosted a press Q&A for their new incarnation of Quantum Leap which premieres this Monday, September 19. Raymond Lee plays Dr. Ben Song, this generation’s equivalent of Sam Beckett, the man who never did make it home or have his name spelled right on a final episode caption.
One interesting thing about the development of the series is that there is a character named Herbert “Magic” Williams as played by Ernie Hudson. Those who remember Quantum Leap’s most famous episodes may remember someone with the same name in “The Leap Home, Part 2 (Vietnam).” So… is it the same person? Yes!
“I don’t want to give too much away, but one of my favorite scenes of the series so far is between between Mason Alexander Park’s character and Ernie where we find out about Magic’s back story,” EP Martin Gero said at today’s event. “Having Ernie on this show is wonderful and he’s phenomenal.”
This is one of several call backs to the original series, which boasts more references than one might expect in its first episode. However, when Gero was asked by a journalist if Ben might leap into a situation that Sam covered, or even into Sam, he didn’t want to answer.
“That’s too deep into the season,” he says.
Hmmm….
Quantum Leap premieres September 19; you can see KSiteTV’s coverage of the new show here.
