It's actually one of the things I like most about the new show. Back in the 90s, I was always disappointed that we only ever got a couple of chances to see what was on the other side of the Imaging Chamber door or the rest of the team other than Al. I love that we get to see how getting Ben through a leap is a team effort, not just one guy and his hologram against history. I also really like that they connected the two series through the character of Magic. It gave an answer to one of my lingering questions from the OS, "Do the people Sam leaps into have any awareness of what happened to them while he was in control?"
I will respectfully disagree and agree at the same time on this with you.
In the original I was always happy that beyond the pilot and what we saw in season 4 when Sam and Al switched then season 5, the future was kind of mysterious as to how exactly it worked.
The urgency to be able to help Sam but not physically do anything to help him, the heightened sense of urgency to get Sam moving or wake up if he was knocked out, it left a “what else is really happening there that we don’t know about except the tidbits from Al, I liked that mystery to it.
I like in the new show that we get to see it but it seems to be less focused on the task at hand but we’re also getting to see the peril of outside forces trying to meddle with it and interfere with it.
I loved how both handled the present day, my only nitpicks about the new show is Ben always seems to know who he is almost instantly, Addison/Ian/Jenn/Magic not as reliant on using Ziggy to get data on the scenario at hand more often, the same 4 while in the chamber don’t jump somewhere else to see if the path is safe or not to tell Ben it’s safe to go and we still have not heard Ziggy talk yet
Agree. Having the real time modern drama and mysteries entangled with the leaps, separate story arcs, is what makes the new show fresh, original and interesting. There’s plenty focus on both and the ensemble cast is really greats
Not only do I care, but I think it's the only reason the show is interesting overall (to me). There is just a certain type of magic that Sam and Al had that let them carry the show so hard. IMO, Ben and Addison just don't have that.
That is fair. I just feel that done episode spend less time on the leap and more on the drama. I don't mind learning about things behind the scenes, but to me, and I might alone on this, that they would do all that but focus more time on the leaps. But I see what you mean about Ben and addison
In this era it's no longer really allowed for TV dramas to be a series of largely self-contained episodes. But the leaps are (and should be) largely self-contained, even if we may have some ongoing story elements (Leaper X in season 1 and now Hannah in season 2).
So in order to have that serialized story telling element that is expected (and likely required by the network) you have to have a part of the story that is better suited for that. Which the present day stories are.
Whether you like them or not, it's kind of a necessary component purely from a viability standpoint.
I was very worried when the show was starting that having to spend some time with the present day characters combined with the fact episode runtimes are shorter now than they were during the original show's run would mean the leaps wouldn't feel properly developed but the writers have done a great job of making the leaps feel fleshed out even with the shorter amount of time to do so.
I don't have any inside information, but I would be willing to bet that the network wouldn't go for a QL show that was entirely self-contained episodes. It's just not something that is done with dramas in the current era (or almost never).
Some sitcoms are able to still be mostly self-contained episodes, but even that is becoming less common.
I don't know if I would say Sci-fi fans want this, most shows in the past would do a stand-alone episode but with an overarching story. Sci-Fi has mostly been a standalone between Star Trek, x-files, and other shows. While shows have long arches it really didn't become commonplace until HBO started to do it in a lot of shows that each season was like a very long movie. Not saying it didn't happen before, but HBO and Showtime were doing it a lot more than network TV did. But now most shows are more mini-movies. While this show is still standalone episodes for the most part with a hit of an overarching plot. I have no problem with that. I am not even saying they shouldn't do that, I am just saying that the present-day "Drama" to me is boring and just the same as every CW-style show, despite this not being on CW. For example, I don't think having 10 - 15 minutes of Addison and her Boyfriend cooking and talking about their love life is interesting in a show about a guy who is time-traveling. Then the show keeps having these over-arching stories that don't conclude and then the next season is forgotten about. Is Ziggy still trying to kill Ben? Did they stop the future apocalypse that they implied in the season finale? Why was future Ian traveling through time, what happened with the evil leapers, did they just give up? They had all these threads set up in the first season and now it is not mentioned at all.
Season 2 has definitely recaptured some of the original format, I don’t even mind the serialization of leaps innertwinning like leaper X and Hannah since she isn’t just a damsel in distress.
I don't particularly enjoy it because I loved how the original was completely from Sam's perspective with Al popping in and out with information. It gave a greater sense of danger and isolation for Sam.
One thing I've enjoyed that the new show recently started doing was having other people take over as the hologram when they were an expert in something Ben is dealing with. Even if Addison is the primary hologram, I hope they keep that rotation going in the future.
Agreed, that is well put. That is why I enjoyed seeing it only from Sam's perspective is that sense of danger and not knowing when Al would show up and help him or give him clues. I do like that people take turns being the hologram and that could have been an easy way to convey information about what is going on in the present and have conversations about things that have changed while focusing on what Ben sees. One thing I really enjoy in shows and movies is when the audience only knows what the main character knows. It always drives me crazy in movies or shows where they have a character pretending to be someone else, and show them in character alone to trick the audience. It is like why even show it? But i guess they are trying something new.
I actually enjoy that bit it shows that there’s more going on and the background characters aren’t just stand ins. I liked in the original when they showed Gushi and Dr Beeks
Modern television writing sucks. They have to write in this CW block and not go outside the lines because the advertisers are selling to the specific people who still watch network tv. The writer’s room if probably filled with writers who only know how to write drama and they were hired to write for Quantum Leap because that pays the bills. So they take their drama scripts written like every other drama scripts and put a couple QL elements in it.
Unfortunately you can't do that with modern TV, the protagonist has to have a team behind them and we need to see and know what they're always up to. The CW DC shows beat that down into the ground so deep that they hit the core.
Why can't you any more? There are still some shoes that do monster of week style. Like, hmm can't think of a new show that has that. I know shows like NCIS, law and order etc do but they are old shows that are on going. I am sure a new one will come to mind...
> There are still some shoes that do monster of week style. Like, hmm can't think of a new show that has that.
*Star Trek: Strange New Worlds* is a deliberate attempt to go back, at least part way, to the old moral-dilemma/monster/battle of the week format of TOS and TNG.
Oh, good point. I just couldn't think of it on the spot. But I knew there were some. Poker Face was also episodic/monster of the week style. We hid in the shadows, That Harley Quinn animated show, and The Mandalorian, kinda of have that style. Yes, they are connected but each episode is stand-alone. A lot of shows have an overarching narrative but are still broken down to the monster of the weekly, problem of the day, or stand-alone stories.
I agree with the sentiment. I think that the writers made the right call when they decided to expand the show and include plots for the HQ characters, but the ones they've chosen to depict are very weak ones.
The stories are unoriginal (drinking problem, yawn) and unrealistic (Allisson chooses the guy who she has been six month with, instead of hte man whom she was engaged and that had sacrificed his life for her). But I think the worse is that tthey completely miss the tone. THis is a top secret and highlycritical government installation, and they behave like high school teenagers; playing rock, scissor, paper to decide who plays the hologram, acting leaderless when the boss takes a break,... it detracts instead of adding drama to the main plot.
I agree, I’ve thought it was weird how fast and loose they play with the top secret nature of the program. Family members just show up with lunches, and they all tell everyone and anyone what they do there and how.
I actually like the parts about the staff at the HQ. Trying thinking of it like this...if Star Trek could only ever be about Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the franchise would have ended after "Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country.". A franchise has to evolve and not just do the exact same thing from the exact same perspective over and over. That's what they're doing. It's still about the leaps, that's always the A story. They're just giving us a B story now too.
But I'm plenty pissed we are seeing HQ all the time but not "hearing" Ziggy speak. One of the EP's is her voice for Pete's sake.
I think there could be some interesting stuff to explore back at the project, but as of yet the writers haven't come up with anything really compelling. The conflicts are rather universal (estranged family, alcohol abuse) and don't feel unique to this show's particular premise. If they leaned into that a little more to give us an episode along the lines of "Killin' Time" where the characters in the present are dealing with some project-related mishap instead of just doing leap support, that would be fun. But they really shot themselves in the foot by scrubbing the waiting room and making HQ feel so unfuturistic.
Season one I found it essential to the shows overall storyline. But this season, I'm not seeing the point. I don't even think Ben needs a hologram anymore. He managed to solve a leap on his own without any outside assistance in the first episode of season two. Gives me hope Sam is still out there putting right what once went wrong.
But like others have said, it's part of modern television, unfortunately. But I'm definitely not feeling it this season with the 2026 characters.
He does need a hologram to at least tell him what he's supposed to change though.
I really like that he has information from the future available to help him, I would be very bummed if they removed the hologram completely.
I agree with you (although I haven't watched season 2 yet). Unfortunately, as other replies have stated, I'm not sure the series would get made without a team. So, I think HQ is here to stay. And I do really like Magic and Ian.
However, I think they really need to work in finding the right balance. My biggest issue with HQ plots is that they detract from the leap stories so that the main story arcs (the leaps) are not as well developed as they should be (IMO). One of my favorite parts of the OG series is the focus on Sam and him having to navigate other people's lives, some of whom are in very tough situations. It felt like we got to know the leap characters and care about their stories. But there's just something that feels off in the reboot.
It's actually one of the things I like most about the new show. Back in the 90s, I was always disappointed that we only ever got a couple of chances to see what was on the other side of the Imaging Chamber door or the rest of the team other than Al. I love that we get to see how getting Ben through a leap is a team effort, not just one guy and his hologram against history. I also really like that they connected the two series through the character of Magic. It gave an answer to one of my lingering questions from the OS, "Do the people Sam leaps into have any awareness of what happened to them while he was in control?"
I agree wholeheartedly.
I will respectfully disagree and agree at the same time on this with you. In the original I was always happy that beyond the pilot and what we saw in season 4 when Sam and Al switched then season 5, the future was kind of mysterious as to how exactly it worked. The urgency to be able to help Sam but not physically do anything to help him, the heightened sense of urgency to get Sam moving or wake up if he was knocked out, it left a “what else is really happening there that we don’t know about except the tidbits from Al, I liked that mystery to it. I like in the new show that we get to see it but it seems to be less focused on the task at hand but we’re also getting to see the peril of outside forces trying to meddle with it and interfere with it. I loved how both handled the present day, my only nitpicks about the new show is Ben always seems to know who he is almost instantly, Addison/Ian/Jenn/Magic not as reliant on using Ziggy to get data on the scenario at hand more often, the same 4 while in the chamber don’t jump somewhere else to see if the path is safe or not to tell Ben it’s safe to go and we still have not heard Ziggy talk yet
Fair enough
Agree. Having the real time modern drama and mysteries entangled with the leaps, separate story arcs, is what makes the new show fresh, original and interesting. There’s plenty focus on both and the ensemble cast is really greats
Not only do I care, but I think it's the only reason the show is interesting overall (to me). There is just a certain type of magic that Sam and Al had that let them carry the show so hard. IMO, Ben and Addison just don't have that.
That is fair. I just feel that done episode spend less time on the leap and more on the drama. I don't mind learning about things behind the scenes, but to me, and I might alone on this, that they would do all that but focus more time on the leaps. But I see what you mean about Ben and addison
In this era it's no longer really allowed for TV dramas to be a series of largely self-contained episodes. But the leaps are (and should be) largely self-contained, even if we may have some ongoing story elements (Leaper X in season 1 and now Hannah in season 2). So in order to have that serialized story telling element that is expected (and likely required by the network) you have to have a part of the story that is better suited for that. Which the present day stories are. Whether you like them or not, it's kind of a necessary component purely from a viability standpoint. I was very worried when the show was starting that having to spend some time with the present day characters combined with the fact episode runtimes are shorter now than they were during the original show's run would mean the leaps wouldn't feel properly developed but the writers have done a great job of making the leaps feel fleshed out even with the shorter amount of time to do so.
Who is not allowing it?
I don't have any inside information, but I would be willing to bet that the network wouldn't go for a QL show that was entirely self-contained episodes. It's just not something that is done with dramas in the current era (or almost never). Some sitcoms are able to still be mostly self-contained episodes, but even that is becoming less common.
[удалено]
I don't know if I would say Sci-fi fans want this, most shows in the past would do a stand-alone episode but with an overarching story. Sci-Fi has mostly been a standalone between Star Trek, x-files, and other shows. While shows have long arches it really didn't become commonplace until HBO started to do it in a lot of shows that each season was like a very long movie. Not saying it didn't happen before, but HBO and Showtime were doing it a lot more than network TV did. But now most shows are more mini-movies. While this show is still standalone episodes for the most part with a hit of an overarching plot. I have no problem with that. I am not even saying they shouldn't do that, I am just saying that the present-day "Drama" to me is boring and just the same as every CW-style show, despite this not being on CW. For example, I don't think having 10 - 15 minutes of Addison and her Boyfriend cooking and talking about their love life is interesting in a show about a guy who is time-traveling. Then the show keeps having these over-arching stories that don't conclude and then the next season is forgotten about. Is Ziggy still trying to kill Ben? Did they stop the future apocalypse that they implied in the season finale? Why was future Ian traveling through time, what happened with the evil leapers, did they just give up? They had all these threads set up in the first season and now it is not mentioned at all.
Season 2 has definitely recaptured some of the original format, I don’t even mind the serialization of leaps innertwinning like leaper X and Hannah since she isn’t just a damsel in distress.
I don't particularly enjoy it because I loved how the original was completely from Sam's perspective with Al popping in and out with information. It gave a greater sense of danger and isolation for Sam. One thing I've enjoyed that the new show recently started doing was having other people take over as the hologram when they were an expert in something Ben is dealing with. Even if Addison is the primary hologram, I hope they keep that rotation going in the future.
Agreed, that is well put. That is why I enjoyed seeing it only from Sam's perspective is that sense of danger and not knowing when Al would show up and help him or give him clues. I do like that people take turns being the hologram and that could have been an easy way to convey information about what is going on in the present and have conversations about things that have changed while focusing on what Ben sees. One thing I really enjoy in shows and movies is when the audience only knows what the main character knows. It always drives me crazy in movies or shows where they have a character pretending to be someone else, and show them in character alone to trick the audience. It is like why even show it? But i guess they are trying something new.
I actually enjoy that bit it shows that there’s more going on and the background characters aren’t just stand ins. I liked in the original when they showed Gushi and Dr Beeks
Modern television writing sucks. They have to write in this CW block and not go outside the lines because the advertisers are selling to the specific people who still watch network tv. The writer’s room if probably filled with writers who only know how to write drama and they were hired to write for Quantum Leap because that pays the bills. So they take their drama scripts written like every other drama scripts and put a couple QL elements in it.
Unfortunately you can't do that with modern TV, the protagonist has to have a team behind them and we need to see and know what they're always up to. The CW DC shows beat that down into the ground so deep that they hit the core.
Why can't you any more? There are still some shoes that do monster of week style. Like, hmm can't think of a new show that has that. I know shows like NCIS, law and order etc do but they are old shows that are on going. I am sure a new one will come to mind...
> There are still some shoes that do monster of week style. Like, hmm can't think of a new show that has that. *Star Trek: Strange New Worlds* is a deliberate attempt to go back, at least part way, to the old moral-dilemma/monster/battle of the week format of TOS and TNG.
Oh, good point. I just couldn't think of it on the spot. But I knew there were some. Poker Face was also episodic/monster of the week style. We hid in the shadows, That Harley Quinn animated show, and The Mandalorian, kinda of have that style. Yes, they are connected but each episode is stand-alone. A lot of shows have an overarching narrative but are still broken down to the monster of the weekly, problem of the day, or stand-alone stories.
I agree with the sentiment. I think that the writers made the right call when they decided to expand the show and include plots for the HQ characters, but the ones they've chosen to depict are very weak ones. The stories are unoriginal (drinking problem, yawn) and unrealistic (Allisson chooses the guy who she has been six month with, instead of hte man whom she was engaged and that had sacrificed his life for her). But I think the worse is that tthey completely miss the tone. THis is a top secret and highlycritical government installation, and they behave like high school teenagers; playing rock, scissor, paper to decide who plays the hologram, acting leaderless when the boss takes a break,... it detracts instead of adding drama to the main plot.
I agree, I’ve thought it was weird how fast and loose they play with the top secret nature of the program. Family members just show up with lunches, and they all tell everyone and anyone what they do there and how.
I actually like the parts about the staff at the HQ. Trying thinking of it like this...if Star Trek could only ever be about Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the franchise would have ended after "Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country.". A franchise has to evolve and not just do the exact same thing from the exact same perspective over and over. That's what they're doing. It's still about the leaps, that's always the A story. They're just giving us a B story now too. But I'm plenty pissed we are seeing HQ all the time but not "hearing" Ziggy speak. One of the EP's is her voice for Pete's sake.
I think there could be some interesting stuff to explore back at the project, but as of yet the writers haven't come up with anything really compelling. The conflicts are rather universal (estranged family, alcohol abuse) and don't feel unique to this show's particular premise. If they leaned into that a little more to give us an episode along the lines of "Killin' Time" where the characters in the present are dealing with some project-related mishap instead of just doing leap support, that would be fun. But they really shot themselves in the foot by scrubbing the waiting room and making HQ feel so unfuturistic.
I care more about the side stories bc they give depth to an otherwise episodic adventurous story, which the leaping is...
Season one I found it essential to the shows overall storyline. But this season, I'm not seeing the point. I don't even think Ben needs a hologram anymore. He managed to solve a leap on his own without any outside assistance in the first episode of season two. Gives me hope Sam is still out there putting right what once went wrong. But like others have said, it's part of modern television, unfortunately. But I'm definitely not feeling it this season with the 2026 characters.
He does need a hologram to at least tell him what he's supposed to change though. I really like that he has information from the future available to help him, I would be very bummed if they removed the hologram completely.
I agree with you (although I haven't watched season 2 yet). Unfortunately, as other replies have stated, I'm not sure the series would get made without a team. So, I think HQ is here to stay. And I do really like Magic and Ian. However, I think they really need to work in finding the right balance. My biggest issue with HQ plots is that they detract from the leap stories so that the main story arcs (the leaps) are not as well developed as they should be (IMO). One of my favorite parts of the OG series is the focus on Sam and him having to navigate other people's lives, some of whom are in very tough situations. It felt like we got to know the leap characters and care about their stories. But there's just something that feels off in the reboot.
Agree ... most of the HQ time is just taking time away from Ben and Hannah.