The new ‘Quantum Leap’ sequel, reboot, remake, or whatever you want to call it, sounds like it’s going to be another woke takedown of a beloved franchise, if the casting rumors are to be believed. The new casting call, originally reported by That Hashtag Show, confirmed that the reboot/sequel would feature a cast that was ethnically and gender diverse, and free of any white males in the main cast. If this is true, the new ‘Quantum Leap’ sequel is going to be another fan loved series, that disappoints a lot of fans, in favor of checking the appropriate boxes. I have listened to some in alternative media, that think the fans should comply and accept this diversity narrative in these new reboots. All because some of these franchises have been dominated by white males, and it’s time to over compensate, by replacing those white males with race and gender swapped alternatives. My response would be, that it’s one, lazy and convenient, and two, it’s discriminatory on its face. Hollywood is doing the same thing to white males, that was purportedly done to other races and genders in these decades old franchises. The new ‘Quantum Leap’ series will be just another franchise, that we loved growing up, taken over by a woke mandatory narrative.
Leave Well Enough Alone and Stop Intruding on Our Favorite Franchises
The original ‘Quantum Leap’ starred Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, and was must watch TV. It told tales of Sam Beckett’s character leaping through different people and times in our history, trying to fix wrongs and make them right, in hopes to leap back home to his own time. Dr. Sam Beckett(Scott Bakula) invented the Quantum Accelerator, that allowed him to leap through time, but malfunctioned when Sam used it on himself, resulting in Sam having partial amnesia and trying to find a way back home. Al Calavicci(Dean Stockwell)is a hologram sent from Sam Beckett’s future, and is Sam’s only connection to his original time. The show gave you a little bit of everything. It was heartwarming, funny, serious, and told some great stories that made you think. This new sequel, though only confirmed for a pilot, might indeed be just as good, but is now shrouded in controversy over a diversity casting call. Fans have been hammered over the head repeatedly with past franchises being turned into diversity and inclusion woke fests, and they are tired of it. Leave well enough alone and do something different.
The following, from That Hashtag Show, gives us what requirements were called for in the casting call.
Dr. Ben Prassad – (Recently cast by Raymond Lee who will now be Dr. Ben Seong) is a first-generation American, a world-renowned physicist, and a man of faith. He’s also working on Quantum Leap, a time travel project. But when he uses the project on himself, he’s transported back to the late 80s and struck with a bout of amnesia – forgetting what made him time travel in the first place.
The casting for Ben calls for a man in his mid 30s to early 40s, of Middle Eastern and North African or Asian/Pacific American descent..
Addison – Addison is a smart, witty, fearless ex-military operative who now serves as a project lead at Quantum Leap HQ. She’s in charge of the technology they use to communicate with the past, and tries to rescue Ben from his time-flung existence.
The open-ethnicity casting for Addison calls for a woman in her 30s.
Ian Wright – Quantum Leap’s nonbinary chief architect of the AI program, who prefers the company of computers to that of other people.
The open-ethnicity casting calls for a person in their 20s, and encourages non-binary actors to submit.
Herbert “Magic” Williams – A Vietnam vet and current head of the time travel project at Quantum Leap. Herbert “Magic” Williams uses his no-nonsense personality and aura of control to keep the Pentagon at bay while the team tries to rescue Ben.
The casting calls for a black man in his 60s.
Jenn – Head of security at Quantum Leap HQ. Described as quirky but formidable, she makes it her mission to figure out how Ben could have both leapt back in time and erased all evidence of the leap in the future.
Stop Hijacking Past Shows to Represent Your Deluded Diversity Quest
Looks to me like the show runners are making it a prerequisite to be a checkmark before ‘Quantum leap’ even gets off the ground. Why is it so important for the show runners to have such a diverse cast? Why can’t we just give the fans what they want? Create a spin off Quantum Leap show and drown it in all the diversity you want. We’ll see which one is successful and which one fails. I’m sure I’ll get people that read this and say “what…it can only succeed if there’s a white male in the lead role?” Of course not. I can name a dozen TV shows that had black male leads or female leads, that I wouldn’t change either. It’s about respecting the fans and the franchise. The fans are exhausted over the hijacking of our favorite franchises, and Quantum Leap is no different.
The Fans Are Being Called Racist by Proxy
I listened to a YouTube channel recently, that said fans who were against this diversity sequel, were making assumptions about Quantum Leap, based on bias. They also said, that because of those biased assumptions that the fans were intolerant, and probably ignorant. They made the argument that because most of these rebooted TV shows were originally made with white male leads, that the reboots had to overcompensate and course correct for that discrimination. Ummm…what? I’m sorry, but it sounds like they were refuting their own argument with that sentiment. It sounds like they are being intolerant of white males(by the way, throughout this entire video, they apologetically referred to themselves as cis gendered white males). Saying that we need to diminish the presence of white male leads in our entertainment, because there were so many in the past is in itself racist. So, because ‘Quantum Leap’ had two white male leads, the fans should be punished with diversity and inclusion, and by proxy be called racists because they disagree?
“Quantum Leap’ Will be Just as Doomed as the ‘Rings of Power’
I would argue that the fans have a right to voice their displeasure for re-inventing something that already worked. Critics and fans on the left can argue all day that diversity in established franchises is the right thing to do. But that’s not the real reason they are doing it. They are doing it, because white males have been made into social pariahs, and they don’t want to be criticized for not being one with the cause. Hollywood has bent the knee to these lunatics on the left, and we have had nothing but bad reboot and remake after bad reboot and remake, as a result. Dr. Who, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, the Star Wars sequel trilogy, ‘Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’, Ghostbusters 2016, and ‘The matrix Resurrections’, just to name a few, have all failed miserably on TV or at the box office. Is that because the fans are intolerant, or is it more because the storytelling sucked but we got the boxes all checked. I would defer to the latter. So, is it a far stretch to think that this new ‘Quantum Leap’ will fail just as bad? Based on precedence, my guess would be no.
Related: Johnny O’Clock
‘Quantum Leap’s’ Diversity Casting is Not Surprising But is Predictable
It’s not the fans fault that some established TV shows, movies, etc, were cast with white male leads. Why should the fans have to capitulate on something that is going to look and feel completely different from what was established? Because there needs to be some sort of compensation for made up harms to different races and genders? Quantum Leap was already a diverse show with Sam leaping into women, black men, and different species. But now, we are apparently going to get a ‘Quantum leap’ that is diversified because the show runners, including original executive producer Don Bellisario, are too afraid to stand up on the merits of the original. Or maybe, it’s just that they don’t care, which makes it even worse. Regardless, the casting call has already given the fans a predictable course that we see this new ‘Quantum Leap’ headed, and the fans are probably not wrong in their assumptions.
