Official Status of QL?

Debora Pratt has told me that she's written the first six chapters of "Time Child", which will be about Sammy Jo travelling through time as a leaper trying to find her father. Unfortunately she wasn't allowed to release the first six chapters with "The Vision Quest" as we'd originally been promised, she was very apologetic about that.

When asked about the future of Quantum Leap at the Leap Back convention, DBP said it was out of his hands, but said he would refuse to do anything at all unless Scott Bakula was a part of it.

We have a brilliant fanfilm that was created by our member Kirok called "A Leap To Di For", which has Sam leap into Paris to attempt to prevent Princess Diana's death. It shows what is likely has happened to the project in the twenty years since we last saw them (it's not a pretty sight until the President gets involved :p ). Watching it, I would never have known it was a fanfilm, it was done so professionally I would have sworn that it was a professionally-made movie. Unfortunately it is probably the closest we will get to a QL movie in the near future.

For a "Quantum Leap"-like feature film, I suggest you watch "Source Code". They clearly drew inspiration from the show, and even have Scott Bakula voice the main character's father over the phone (and we even get an "Oh Boy"). It's not Quantum Leap, but it's nice to see Quantum Leap elements :)

Also, there have been numerous references to Quantum Leap in Family Guy (including Neil Goldman being visited by a hologram Al; Peter becoming a Jehovah's witness and telling anyone who will listen of the miracle worker Jesus Christ who would put right what once went wrong; and Stewie and Brian getting trapped in the Multiverse and hoping that their next leap would be the leap home) :)


As it is, Quantum Leap is unlikely to be revived, however it's nice to see that some of its elements are being utilised in pop culture for nostalgic and comedic purposes :)
 
I mentioned it briefly, but there are avenues I am pursuing. Back in December, my girlfriend sent an email to the consumer relations department of Universal Studios inquiring about rights requests and a brief explanation of our idea to help renew interest in the Quantum Leap property. She got back what was likely a generic response informing her to send them our proposal. Since then, I have written an 8-page outline with her help, and we are just waiting to arrange a meeting with a couple of people that she knows to see if they want to help us try and make this happen.

What I will say is that it would not be produced for TV or the movies (although perhaps with proper funding, a "promotional" film of sorts could be made as a companion piece for it). The story takes into account the amount of time that has passed (about 20 years) because it would be unrealistic to portray the "present" in the year 2000, especially if we can actually involve Scott and Dean (and Bellisario) like we are hoping. We want to convey that it has indeed been a long time, and that the time has come for people to become aware again. It's a story that would show hope emerging from the depths of despair; how the importance of love and family can conquer feelings of loneliness and isolation and help us find our place in the world. But it would also briefly explore the origins of QL while at the same time making it relevant to the 21st Century. Think of it like a continuation, re-imagining and a reboot all in one. The most important aspect of this project is that it really gets back to what Quantum Leap was truly about: everyday people with real problems and trying to make a difference. The actual "leap" story is one that is very personal for me, and the plan is to have a significant percentage of proceeds go to a charitable foundation or organization.

Obviously, I can't say too much more than that because I can't guarantee anything. Plus my outline is only in its first draft. My ultimate goal is to bring Scott and Dean back for one last hurrah while giving Universal and/or Bellisario a way to officially bring back Quantum Leap in any way they see fit, be it a re-imagining with a new cast, continuation, spin-off, whatever. My ending would make it possible for any of those to occur. I have also met Hinton Battle (Thames from "Revenge of the Evil Leaper") and would love for him to be involved in some way, most likely utilizing his musical talents. He spoke about how much fun it was being a part of QL.

This could still be years away, but hopefully I'll have something more to share with people when the time is right! Keeping my fingers crossed! :)
 
Dman176 said:
I mentioned it briefly, but there are avenues I am pursuing. Back in December, my girlfriend sent an email to the consumer relations department of Universal Studios inquiring about rights requests and a brief explanation of our idea to help renew interest in the Quantum Leap property. She got back what was likely a generic response informing her to send them our proposal. Since then, I have written an 8-page outline with her help, and we are just waiting to arrange a meeting with a couple of people that she knows to see if they want to help us try and make this happen.

What I will say is that it would not be produced for TV or the movies (although perhaps with proper funding, a "promotional" film of sorts could be made as a companion piece for it). The story takes into account the amount of time that has passed (about 20 years) because it would be unrealistic to portray the "present" in the year 2000, especially if we can actually involve Scott and Dean (and Bellisario) like we are hoping. We want to convey that it has indeed been a long time, and that the time has come for people to become aware again. It's a story that would show hope emerging from the depths of despair; how the importance of love and family can conquer feelings of loneliness and isolation and help us find our place in the world. But it would also briefly explore the origins of QL while at the same time making it relevant to the 21st Century. Think of it like a continuation, re-imagining and a reboot all in one. The most important aspect of this project is that it really gets back to what Quantum Leap was truly about: everyday people with real problems and trying to make a difference. The actual "leap" story is one that is very personal for me, and the plan is to have a significant percentage of proceeds go to a charitable foundation or organization.

Obviously, I can't say too much more than that because I can't guarantee anything. Plus my outline is only in its first draft. My ultimate goal is to bring Scott and Dean back for one last hurrah while giving Universal and/or Bellisario a way to officially bring back Quantum Leap in any way they see fit, be it a re-imagining with a new cast, continuation, spin-off, whatever. My ending would make it possible for any of those to occur. I have also met Hinton Battle (Thames from "Revenge of the Evil Leaper") and would love for him to be involved in some way, most likely utilizing his musical talents. He spoke about how much fun it was being a part of QL.

This could still be years away, but hopefully I'll have something more to share with people when the time is right! Keeping my fingers crossed! :)
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:bat

Good Luck Damon, now you HAVE to return here, to the home of The Rod, more frequently to keep His people informed. The Rod will bring people back to Al's Place, one by one if possible!
 
I didn't realize "A Leap to Die For" was still available online. I watched it a little bit ago and liked it a lot, it's very well done. :)

My only issue is that Sam and Al were usually a little more careful not to talk in front of people, but that's just me, I'm picky. There were times in the T.V. show where people thought Sam was crazy, which was part of the reason they were careful.

I also wish Scott and Dean could have been a part of this. Although I do think the actors portraying Sam and Al were good, it's just not the same without Scott and Dean. That's not a reflection on the acting; the original QL is a tough act to follow.
 
Lightning McQueenie said:
When asked about the future of Quantum Leap at the Leap Back convention, DBP said it was out of his hands
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DBP created and produced:
I know he hasn't done anything since 2007, but doesn't he have the cash to buy the rights to Quantum Leap?

Also I don't understand him stopping Deborah from publishing Quantum Leap stories. It's not like her stories would interfere with a revival of the show or have any serious financial impact on the QL Universe.
 
feldon30 said:
DBP created and produced:
I know he hasn't done anything since 2007, but doesn't he have the cash to buy the rights to Quantum Leap?

Also I don't understand him stopping Deborah from publishing Quantum Leap stories. It's not like her stories would interfere with a revival of the show or have any serious financial impact on the QL Universe.
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:bat

Quite the resume of shows hes created, all great.

Its funny why he has stopped Deborah isnt it, you would think he'd be pleased at her efforts to keep it in the public eye, maybe raise awareness and increase any chances of a revival.

Why also has he not rebought the rights? Perhaps he's simply done and doesnt want anyone else tampering with it.

Curious..
 
NBC/Universal (which is the parent company of the SyFy Channel - formerly the Sci-Fi Channel) currently owns the rights to Quantum Leap, not Donald Bellisario. Although he's the creator, it's ultimately up to them to get on board with any idea he may have to revive the series as either a one-shot reunion episode, a continuation of where the original series left off, or a revisioning of it . . . or to even pursue a big screen film version of it.

It's not that Donald Bellisario has stopped his ex-wife, Deborah Pratt, from releasing the first 6 chapters of the Quantum Leap novel she was writing. If anyone stopped her from releasing it, or continuing the work so it could be published, it would have been NBC/Universal. Although Donald and Deborah divorced, I'm sure they both would work together in order to support getting Quantum Leap back on the air again if it was somehow possible.

Buying the rights to a TV series from the company that owns it, especially in the case of a multi-billion dollar media corporation like NBC/Universal, would take a significant amount of legal wrangling in order to make sure that there are no loopholes that would prevent a new Quantum Leap from being made. But even if he did buy the rights to Quantum Leap, he would still need to shop around for a media corporation to pick up the idea and be willing to produce it.

Just look at Star Trek for a perfect example. Yes, Gene Roddenberry was the creator, but CBS/Paramount had (and still has) the rights to produce the series and the movies. Although Gene could give some ideas after developing the concept, the ultimate say resided with CBS/Paramount. They were the ones that decided how long the series would last on the air, or if movies were to be made involving that cast. Even his son, Rod Roddenberry, has no rights to the series even though he's the heir apparent and has recently given interviews stating that Star Trek belongs on television.
 
Studios are notorious for sitting on properties they have no intention to use again and would never consider selling to anyone else. It's very possible Don tried to buy QL from Universal and they rejected him. This is how the studios operate, thinking maybe we will want exploite something in the future....so we can never let it go.
 
I do not want to jump to conclusions and my memory of their exact words is faded - But I remember that Don and Deborah's comments at the convention about the future hopes for QL did not seem to match. I do not mean that they have different ideas but what Deborah said Don wants did not fit what Don himself said.

That was back in 2009. So things may changed. But there MAY be conflicts between the two of them. It's interesting that Deborah was not there when Don was.
 
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