While things were looking great for NBC's fall 2024 TV schedule a couple of weeks ago, it got some sad news today. After going on a renewal spree and picking up two of the three Law & Order: shows and all three One Chicago series, the network canceled Quantum Leap after two seasons.
NBC has officially decided to not renew the reboot of Quantum Leap for a third season. According to Deadline, this development was not super surprising. However, considering the network has been picking up shows left and right and this series got an early renewal for Season 2 back in December 2022, I was a tad shocked.
Although, considering the ratings shows like Law & Order and One Chicago get, in comparison to Quantum Leap's you can understand why NBC was swift to pick their tentpole procedurals up quickly while sadly dropping the reboot.
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According to TV Line, in January 2024, in the middle of Season 2, Quantum Leap saw a 35% drop in viewership from its fall finale, bringing in 1.7 million viewers and a 0.2 demo rating.
Meanwhile, a few weeks earlier in January, TV Line reported ratings for One Chicago which noted that Chicago Med brought in 6.8 million viewers and a 0.6 rating, Chicago P.D. was sitting at 5.7 million with a 0.6 rating, and Chicago Fire led the pack of shows sitting at 6.9 million and 0.6 rating.
As you can see, the difference between Quantum Leap and One Chicago is massive. Therefore, it tracks that there were folks who weren't shocked by the reboot's cancellation.
For some background, Quantum Leap was the follow-up series to the 1989-1993 NBC classic. The show saw a new team taking on the time travel program, and it was led by Dr. Ben Song, who was played by Raymond Lee. Along with Lee, the cast also featured Ernie Hudson, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee and Caitlin Bassett.
Luckily, the Deadline report noted that the series co-showrunner Dean Georgaris said Season 2 intentionally ended without a cliffhanger, which should help ease fans. In full, he explained:
When we got the early renewal for Season 2, we knew we were not going to end it on a cliffhanger. We were going to end it on the first scene from Season 3, and we’re going to end it with the two characters together, but in a way that you never expected. And that sort of says to the audience, ‘look at all the great places we can go.’ So if it feels like a completion for audiences, that’s wonderful. It is a completion of part of the journey, but I think for us, it serves as the launch for the rest of the journey.
While the creators noted that Season 2 ended with some closure, our own Mick Joest had questions after Quantum's finale. So, sadly we won't know if Addison is really stuck in the past with Ben or if there's a way to bring someone back from the Leap Program. However, as Georgaris told CinemaBlend, the end of Season 2 was supposed to feel like both "the endpoint of the series" as well as "a fantastic new starting point for the show."
So, while Quantum Leap isn't getting another season like other major NBC primetime shows, it at least got a thoughtful ending that hopefully left fans with some sense of closure.
Even though Quantum Leap won't be returning for a third season, you can still stream Seasons 1 and 2 plus the OG series and all of NBC's other primetime programming with a Peacock subscription.
