Sadly, it has now been confirmed that Quantum Leap star and science fiction staple Scott Bakula will not return for the recent revival. But this will not stop showrunner Martin Gero from asking. While Bakula himself has ruled out a cameo, Gero revealed to Collider that he has a number of ideas for how Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett could make a comeback, adding that he will never stop asking him to reprise the role. Politely, of course.

“I will respectfully always ask him to do the show. I have a very, very good idea that Deborah (Pratt) knows about and that Don (Bellisario) knows about. I think it could be really exciting. But I also completely respect his wishes. He knows our enthusiasm for him. He knows our enthusiasm, our love, and our reverence for the old show. It’s a no right now. It would be pretty amazing to have him back, but I don’t know what that timeline looks like, or even if it’s possible.”

Gero is clearly passionate about bringing Bakula back, revealing that he has even shared his idea with revival producer and writer Deborah Pratt and original Quantum Leap creator Donald P. Bellisario. And while he respects Bakula’s wishes not to return, Gero believes that, perhaps one day, he will be able to convince him. Something that fans would undoubtedly love to see.

Scott Bakula played the role of physicist Dr. Sam Beckett throughout all five seasons of Quantum Leap. While there has been much speculation over whether Bakula would return for the reboot-slash-sequel series, Bakula himself recently revealed that he decided to pass. “In January, the pilot was sold and a script was sent to me because the character of Sam Beckett was in it, which makes sense, right?” Bakula explained. “As so many of you have been asking me the last several months, ‘How could you do QL without Sam?'(or Al, for that matter) Well, I guess we’re about to find out. That’s the story. As the show has always been near and dear to my heart, it was a very difficult decision to pass on the project, a decision that has upset and confused so many fans of the original series.”

The New Quantum Leap Will Be Filled With References & Easter Eggs

Though Bakula will not be involved (not yet, anyway), new Quantum Leap lead Raymond Lee has revealed that the new series will be full of references and Easter eggs. “We are going to find every which way to have character tie-ins and Easter eggs and lots of juicy stuff for all the original fans,” Lee revealed. “But also, we're going to dive deep into some of the mythology later on in the season. The algorithms have come a long way; long enough that [my character] Dr. Ben Song was able to go beyond what Dr. Sam Beckett was able to do. He can go beyond the span of their own lives, and that's something really fun to interact with.”

Picking up three decades after Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) first stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in hope of understanding the mysteries behind the machine and the man who created it. Everything changes, however, when Ben makes an unauthorized leap into the past, leaving the team behind to solve the mystery of why he did it.

The Quantum Leap revival premiered on NBC on September 19, 2022.