Look: There are a lot of things, probably, that Peacock’s upcoming reboot of classic time travel TV series Quantum Leap has to offer. The basic premise, lifted from the original series—scientist jumps into the bodies of people throughout time with hologram pal, setting right what once went wrong—remains basically unimpeachable as a way to get a whole new “kind” of show pretty much every week. And new series star Raymond Lee has that “baffled but charming everyman” quality that such a series demands. But, hey, Peacock: Are you really going to bust out a trailer for a Quantum Leap revival project and not give us a hit of that classic theme song? What the fuck?
Penned by Mike Post—whose ubiquitous TV composing work encompasses some of the best television soundtracking of a generation, including Magnum, P.I., The Rockford Files, and the “dun-dun” sound from Law & Order—the Quantum Leap theme was the perfect introduction for a show that blended high-concept sci-fi with the classic beats of an old-school adventure series. We’re not saying the new show has to use the song in its entirety. We’re not totally beholden to our nostalgia for a TV show, even one that sort-of, kind-of defined our childhoods completely. But a few licks couldn’t have killed them, right?
Anyway.
If we’re being honest, the reboot looks a little on the streaming-TV-budget side; some of those effects shots in the trailer are definitely a bit dubious, which we might just have to accept as the price of doing business. The basic idea is solid, though, including the reveal that Dr. Benjamin Seong’s holographic helper Addison (Caitlin Bassett) is also a former romantic partner he no longer remembers because of the whole “Swiss-cheesed memory” thing. And the setups for various leaps seem solid enough: Getaway driver, rock star, boxer, astronaut, all good “How’s he gonna get out of this one?” opportunities. (We’re just going to accept that Dr. Seong apparently says “Oh shit” instead of the series’ classic “Oh boy”; like we said, we’re not the ones trapped in the past!) Ultimately, the show is going to live or die on Lee; fingers crossed that he can find his proper place in time.
