Posted in: NBC, Peacock, Preview, TV | Tagged: nbc, peacock, quantum leap

Quantum Leap: NBCU Explains Why Series Wasn't Moved to Peacock

An executive from NBCUniversal explains why NBC's Quantum Leap didn't make the move to Peacock like Law & Order: Organized Crime did.

April proved to be a brutal month for NBC's Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, Ernie Hudson, Mason Alexander Park & Nanrisa Lee-starring Quantum Leap, with the network confirming that the series wouldn't be returning for a third season. Since that time, fans have been wondering why the series wasn't given a chance at a third run over on Peacock – as was the case this past week, with NBC confirming that Christopher Meloni-starring Law & Order: Organized Crime would be making the move to the streamer beginning with its fifth season. Speaking with TVLine, Jeff Bader, President of Program Planning Strategy at NBCUniversal Entertainment, explained why the two shows aren't comparable.

"Organized Crime is a very successful show; this isn't a show that was on the bubble," Bader explained. "It's a show that works across the board, and it's very, very strong on streaming. [Moving to Peacock] is a win-win for us – 80% of its viewing isn't in the time period where we schedule it; it's delayed on Peacock, so it just made sense to move that to free up the time period." With that in mind, Bader noted that it was a "different discussion with 'Quantum,' which was just a much softer show, performance-wise."

Looking at the numbers, the second season of Quantum Leap averaged a little more than 3 million total viewers – with a 0.4 demo rating (with Live+7 playback) – the final number that trailed significantly from the first season. For some perspective, those numbers would rank the show second-to-last of the 12 original and/or acquired dramas (with Transplant taking the bottom spot). Meanwhile, "Organized Crime" is averaging 5.3 million viewers and a 0.6 rating – on pace with the previous season's numbers and sitting nicely among the network's other dramas.

It's been nearly 30 years since Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. Now, a new team, led by physicist Ben Song (Raymond Lee), has been assembled to restart the project in the 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. At Ben's side throughout his leaps is Addison (Caitlin Bassett), who appears in the form of a hologram only Ben can see and hear. She's a decorated Army veteran who brings level-headed precision to her job.

At the helm of the highly confidential operation is Herbert "Magic" Williams (Ernie Hudson), a no-nonsense career military man who has to answer to his bosses, who won't be happy once they learn about the breach of protocol. The rest of the team at headquarters includes Ian Wright (Mason Alexander Park), who runs the Artificial Intelligence unit "Ziggy," and Jenn Chu (Nanrisa Lee), who heads up digital security for the project.

As Ben leaps from life to life, putting right what once went wrong, it becomes clear that he and the team are on a thrilling journey. However, Addison, Magic, Ian, and Jenn know that if they are going to solve the mystery of Ben's leaps and bring him home, they must act fast or lose him forever.

Martin Gero and Dean Georgaris served as executive producers along with Deborah Pratt, Chris Grismer, Alex Berger, Steven Lilien, and Bryan Wynbrandt. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, produces in association with Quinn's House Productions. Now, here's a look at Lee's Instagram post that went live shortly after the news was released:

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