‘Quantum Leap’ Pilot at NBC Casts Ernie Hudson

Joe Otterson
·2 min read
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Ernie Hudson has joined the “Quantum Leap” sequel series pilot at NBC, Variety has confirmed.

Hudson joins previously announced series lead Raymond Lee in the pilot. Serving as a sequel series to the original “Quantum Leap,” the new version takes place 30 years after Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now a new team has been assembled to restart the project in the hopes of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it.

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Lee will star as Dr. Ben Seong, described as both a scientist and man of faith. He’s a world-renowned physicist working on a time travel project known as Quantum Leap. Hudson is attached to play a character named Herbert “Magic” Williams, a Vietnam veteran and the head of the Quantum Leap project. He uses his political and military know-how to keep the Pentagon at Bay while his team works to rescue Ben. The character of Williams previously appeared in the original series, with Beckett leaping into him during his service in Vietnam in the Season 3 episode “The Leap Home Part 2.”

Hudson’s recent TV roles include “LA’s Finest,” “Grace and Frankie,” and the upcoming third season of “City on a Hill.” He is known for his starring role in the HBO series “Oz” as well as films like “Ghostbusters,” “The Crow,” “The Basketball Diaries,” and “Congo.”

He is repped by APA and Zero Gravity Management.

Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt are writing the pilot and will also executive produce under their I Have an Idea! Entertainment banner. Both are currently executive producers on the NBC series “La Brea.

“Quantum Leap” creator Donald P. Bellisario will serve as an executive producer via Belisarius Productions. Deborah Pratt will also executive produce, as will Martin Gero for Quinn’s House Productions. Universal Television will produce. Gero is currently under an overall deal at UTV.

The original “Quantum Leap” aired for five seasons on NBC from 1989-1993. Scott Bakula starred as Dr. Sam Beckett, who found himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong. Dean Stockwell co-starred with Bakula as Al, an observer from Sam’s own time who appeared in the form of a hologram that only Sam could see and hear. Stockwell passed away in November 2021 at the age of 85.

Deadline first reported Hudson’s casting.

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