Quantum Leap: A Bold Leap Forward is an unproduced screenplay written by Trey Callaway in 2003. It was meant to be the pilot for a Sci-Fi Channel revival of the cult sci-fi show Quantum Leap. Callaway met with Quantum Leap creator Donald P. Bellisario several times. Bellisario apparently approved of the script but for reasons unknown changed his mind and the project did not move forward.
On Leap Day 2024, the script was read live by cast members of the new Quantum Leap, the show's executive producer Deborah Pratt, the hosts of the Quantum Leap Podcast and Callaway himself. This was done to raise funds for the family of Matt Dale, a co-host of the QLP who had passed away in December 2023. The script and the read through can be seen here
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Quantum Leap: A Bold Leap Forward provides examples of:
- Actor Allusion: Towards the end, Sam Beckett leaps into a man named Ted Archer. At the time the script was written, Scott Bakula (Sam) was playing Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise.
- The Cameo: Samantha briefly talks to her mom Abigail on the phone. Had the script been produced, Melora Hardin would likely have been brought back to reprise the role.
- Character Catchphrase: Subverted as neither Sam nor his daughter utter the trademark "Oh boy" at any point but Al does.
- Continuity Nod: Al shows Samantha images from some of Sam's leaps, including him as a test pilot, a southern belle and a rock star.
- Series Continuity Error:
- There are some glaring discrepancies regarding Samantha in the script. In the original series, Sam fathers her while in the body of Abigail's fiancee, she is born in 1967 and eventually works at Project Quantum Leap. In this script, Sam fathers her while in the body of Abigail's defense attorney, she is born in 1979 and has never heard of the project. However, in both cases, Samantha is unaware that Sam is her true father.
- The script specifies that Sam and Al have not seen each other in 20 years. At the end of the original series, Al's present was said to be 1999. This would put the present day scenes of this script in 2019. However, Samantha is said to be in her early twenties. If she was born in 1979, that means the present day is roughly the same time the script was written (i.e. the early 2000s).
- After Samantha leaps, she does not have amnesia, unlike Sam who had what Al called a "swiss-cheesed brain".
- Spin-Offspring: The script centers around Samantha Fuller, Sam Beckett's daughter who was introduced in the final season of the original series.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Al's wife Beth has died since the original series ended.note
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Al's assistant Sheldon "Guppy" Gupta is this to Gooshie, the computer programmer from the original series.
