‘Quantum Leap’ Episode 1 Recap: Al Calavicci Dean Stockwell Tribute - TVLine

Warning: The following contains spoilers from Monday’s Quantum Leap premiere.

In Quantum Leap‘s premiere episode, Ben Song (played by Raymond Lee) made an unauthorized leap and wound up in the body of a would-be diamond thief in 1985.

At the end of the hour, Herbert “Magic” Williams (Ernie Hudson) revealed that Janice wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and take part in the new Quantum Leap project.

However, the Department of Defense denied her over concerns about her emotional ties to Al (played in the original series by Dean Stockwell), who died last year, and Sam (Scott Bakula), who never made it back home.

NBC’s new take on Quantum Leap was being developed while Stockwell was still alive, and producers always knew the Calavicci family would be a major part of the story.

Gero on Quantum Leap’s ties to the original series: “The show is its own thing, but we have this really beautiful connection to the past that is informing everything that we’re doing, and in a way that I think will reward viewers of the old show but not alienate new viewers who maybe haven’t seen all 90-plus episodes of Quantum Leap?

It’s a really cool story, and it’s going to some really awesome places, and I can’t wait for you all to see some more of Georgina as Janice Calavicci.”!

What did you all think of Quantum Leap’s first episode