• Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

QuinnSlidr wrote:

Aahhh yes. RIP Dean Stockwell. sad

But with A.I., couldn't they replace Dean Stockwell's face on another actor and re-create his voice to be almost identical? We have the technology. One particular freelance Elvis impersonator on YouTube (look up Luigi Leppo) is already doing that with Elvis by creating brand-new songs that Elvis was never recorded on video performing. Done with his exact face, and his exact voice. As I said, we have the tech. We just need a TV show to implement it successfully.

There is also a mobile app that does this (the consumer-grade non-professional version) called Re-face.

I don't believe that DeepFake/ReFace can be implemented successfully for a prolonged performance, nor can Respeecher be effective for an extended scene. DeepFake tends to produce immobile faces that, even with animation, have the rigidity of photographs instead of the full versatility of human facial movement. Elvis' face in those DeepFake videos doesn't have the full emotive expressiveness of the King. It's his skin but the flesh beneath it seems as dead as the man himself.

BOOK OF BOBA FETT uses a fully DeepFaked Mark Hamill and while it's a perfect likeness of his face, the expressions convey the sense of an immobile photograph being animated; it still comes off as a still image rather than a living visage. Respeecher was also used in BOBA FETT to recreate Mark Hamill's early to mid 1980s voice. But while it sounds exactly like Hamill from that era, the simulated voice has an extremely limited range of tone that makes all of Hamill's dialogue sound neutral; he's neutral when he should be suspicious, neutral when he should be challenging, neutral when he should be heartfelt. The face and voice of Mark Hamill may be in BOBA FETT, but the acting ability is absent; there is no sense of a person giving the actual performance.

When applied to a master of the performance artform like Dean Stockwell, I can't see the technology pulling it off properly; the voice, even if there were sufficient source material for Respeecher, would never have Stockwell's charisma and humour. An impressionist would only ever be a copy. The face would only be Stockwell's reanimated likeness, it would not be his acting and his choices. DeepFake couldn't reproduce Mark Hamill's acting; it certainly can't do Stockwell.

DeepFake is great for a few individual shots. Respeecher is effective for a small number of lines. But an extended performance via DeepFake and Respeecher for a featured guest-star or a regular character? It hasn't worked so far and I think it will be a long time before it will; a CG Dean Stockwell would just be a digital mannequin of his face with a thin imitation of his voice and you'd always be aware of it.

Be careful what you wish for.

  • Registered: 2015-06-22
  • Posts: 898

Re: The Return of Sliders?

ireactions wrote:

QUANTUM LEAP 2022 is a revival. It is not a reboot. The lead character is investigating the disappearance of Sam Beckett from the 1989 show.


thank you again for the correction!

didn't realize it was a revival (although obviously who knows if we will even see sam becket.  good they didnt destroy cannon though and kept his character in the mythology).

what i was reacting to when i said reboot and being upset was mostly in reaction to it seems like the original actors were not engaged in the talks/planning and the original writer isn't  leading the new show. 

i really don't love that approach for a classic series.   i do admire though this information you've given me that sam becket is not being written out of the mythology.

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

I think it's pretty certain that Scott Bakula will be in QUANTUM LEAP 2022. The show would not be focused on a search for Sam if they hadn't secured the actor; whether they announce it and whether Sam is featured early or in a season finale cliffhanger is another question. Bakula may claim he is not contracted, but contracts can be a private matter where people have every right to lie in order to maintain their privacy until they're ready to publicize it.

QL series creator Donald P. Bellisario is consulting on the 2022 revival. He is named as an executive producer alongside the excellent Martin Gero (BLINDSPOT). That said, Bellisario has been retired since 2007. While he has producing credits on various shows, I don't believe he was actively contributing to them, merely available to offer advice if asked. Bellisario's name is on the show and any lack of involvement would be his own choice due to, again, retirement.

As for involving the original actors besides Bakula... the only other regular character was Al, played by Dean Stockwell, who died in 2022. I suppose you might consider the Ziggy computer a regular, and Deborah Pratt, the voice of Ziggy, is producing QL2022. Aside from Bakula (certainly contracted and not announced), Stockwell (dead) and Pratt (contracted), the only other original actor I can think of from QL would be Dennis Wolfberg (Gooshie) who died in 1994. I just checked and Stockwell and Wolfberg are still dead, so I am not sure what QUANTUM LEAP 2022 can do about it unless you have a resurrection spell to offer.

Making Scott Bakula the lead of a 2022 QUANTUM LEAP would be difficult. After the original series ended in 1993, Bakula deliberately avoided TV and film work that would keep him far from his family for too long. He said that during the 1989 - 1993 series, he barely saw his wife and children. The success of QL gave him a solid financial footing and ensured that he didn't have to take long jobs like QL ever again.

On ENTERPRISE, Bakula's contract gave him a 6 PM hard out for every shooting day, ensuring that Bakula could always have dinner with his family. ENTEPRISE, being an ensemble, didn't require that Bakula be at the center of every single scene of the episode. I don't think QUANTUM LEAP could work this way; whoever is the leading man will be in nearly every scene and Bakula doesn't want to be that leading man any more. He would not have signed on as the lead. He's happy to be a guest-star. To be in an ensemble. To be a supporting cast member.

You can rest assured that Scott Bakula will return as Dr. Sam Beckett; you can be certain that original series creator Bellasario and his former partner Pratt are as involved as much as they want to be.

The real question is whether or not Sam Beckett's inevitable return can lead to the return of Quinn Mallory, Wade Welles, Rembrandt Brown, Professor Arturo and, of course, Pavel the cab driver.

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 713

Re: The Return of Sliders?

They keep emphasizing in the press that the series seeks to solve the mystery of why Dr. Seong would step into the Quantum Leap accelerator.  Unlike Sam, Dr. Seong would know what would likely happen if he did it.

I’m thinking Sam is going to be the answer.  Dr Seong was looking for Sam, and Sam is going to find Dr Seong.

Time traveling within one’s own lifetime focused on the past during the original series, but it should also include the years you would have had but for leaping.  Scott Bakula is still alive, so odds are Sam would be too if he hadn’t leaped; and that means he could leap into Dr Seong’s time all those decades later.

  • Registered: 2015-06-22
  • Posts: 898

Re: The Return of Sliders?

ireactions wrote:

I think it's pretty certain that Scott Bakula will be in QUANTUM LEAP 2022. The show would not be focused on a search for Sam if they hadn't secured the actor; whether they announce it and whether Sam is featured early or in a season finale cliffhanger is another question. Bakula may claim he is not contracted, but contracts can be a private matter where people have every right to lie in order to maintain their privacy until they're ready to publicize it.


That would be great.  The Hollywood Reporter article did say "original star Bakula, who was previously expected to be involved in some capacity, is not currently attached to the update" and also mentioned he was working on another pilot for that season.

It would make an awful lot of sense for him to appear at some point though, even if it's in a future season.  If they show him to early that might kill the mystery of "where is he" too soon so they may want to keep that going as long as possible.  Assuming he is not dead.

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

That would be great.  The Hollywood Reporter article did say "original star Bakula, who was previously expected to be involved in some capacity, is not currently attached to the update" and also mentioned he was working on another pilot for that season.

It is very common for actors to deny that contractual agreements are in place until disclosure conditions have been met. Andrew Garfield denied that he would appear in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME. James Marsden denied that he would appear in X-MEN: DAYS OF THE FUTURE PAST. And so on.

Bakula's lack of announcement strikes me as (anti-)publicity. You don't center a series around searching for Sam Beckett if Bakula isn't ready to reprise his role; QL seems inclined to withhold Sam so that his appearance will be surprising. In addition, Bakula is never going to be too busy to do guest appearances on QUANTUM LEAP because he will never allow himself to be too busy to be out the studio door and headed home by 6 PM.

  • Registered: 2021-11-11
  • Posts: 65

Re: The Return of Sliders?

ireactions wrote:
RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

That would be great.  The Hollywood Reporter article did say "original star Bakula, who was previously expected to be involved in some capacity, is not currently attached to the update" and also mentioned he was working on another pilot for that season.

It is very common for actors to deny that contractual agreements are in place until disclosure conditions have been met. Andrew Garfield denied that he would appear in SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME. James Marsden denied that he would appear in X-MEN: DAYS OF THE FUTURE PAST. And so on.

Bakula's lack of announcement strikes me as (anti-)publicity. You don't center a series around searching for Sam Beckett if Bakula isn't ready to reprise his role; QL seems inclined to withhold Sam so that his appearance will be surprising. In addition, Bakula is never going to be too busy to do guest appearances on QUANTUM LEAP because he will never allow himself to be too busy to be out the studio door and headed home by 6 PM.

I love your insight. Oh, this is gonna be good.

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

Have no fear. No doubt. No disbelief. Dr. Sam Beckett will leap again.

And once he does, we must ask him to succeed where all others have failed. We must ask him to do what no one else has been able to do. We must ask him to find and rescue Quinn Mallory (Jerry O'Connell), Wade Welles (Sabrina Lloyd), Rembrandt Brown (Cleavant Derricks) and Professor Arturo (John Rhys-Davies).

I guess if Sam has to start with saving his niece, Margaret Allison Beckett (Kari Wuhrer), that's tolerable; she is family after all. But after that, he must retrieve the other sliders. I don't care how many Kromagg battlefields he has to traverse, how many emotion-eating amusement parks he has to endure, how many rock star vampires he has to slay, how many super-intelligent snakes he has to wrangle, how many zombies he has to shoot with melted butter, how many Dream Masters he has to caffeinate, how many Desert Storms he has to weather, how many two dimensional beings he has to flatten, how many intelligent flames he has to ask for help or how many breeder parasites he has to neuter. He has to get the sliders back.

Surely, for a genius-level intellect like Sam, he could get it done before lunch.

369 Reply by QuinnSlidr (edited by QuinnSlidr 2022-07-12 17:56:42)

  • Registered: 2021-11-11
  • Posts: 65

Re: The Return of Sliders?

Personally, I'd rather Maggie Beckett die a gruesome death before the first episode of season 6 to start, never to be seen again.

I'd much rather Sam Beckett find a way to get Colin unstuck and bring him back.

Maggie always rubbed me the wrong way and I hated the character.

Obviously, since Sabrina isn't acting anymore, that leaves us with having to find a new lead woman actress. I'd rather she be at least somewhat tolerable moreso than Kari.

I think Xochitl Gomez would make an excellent alternative (America Chavez in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness). Picture this: She accidentally gets stuck between universes, in a slide, and joins the Sliders. Something prevents her from using her powers (perhaps her and the timer are on the same frequency, so she can't use her powers while in the same universe as the timer, so she can't user her powers and must join the sliders until they return her home).

  • Registered: 2015-06-22
  • Posts: 898

Re: The Return of Sliders?

I definitely agree Maggie Beckett is Related to Sam.

There's also the Sabrina the Teenage Witch connection (I think from Into the Mystic). 

Without a doubt these worlds are connected. 

Unfortunately, I feel like those who fancy quantum leap in some ways can turn up their nose at SLIDERS, looking at it as a B version.  Even though we know, while spiritually connected, it is its own thing and not to be confused.

My guess is the showrunners on this new Quantum Leap (revivial) will want nothing to do with SLIDERS even though Universal would be smart to think about an integration.

I do think X-Files/Sliders is probably the most fitting crossover (even though rights holders are different).  I mean, Jerry was playing basketball with Gillian and David.   Tracy gave advice to Chris.

  • Registered: 2015-06-30
  • Posts: 778

Re: The Return of Sliders?

RussianCabbie_Lotteryfan wrote:

That would be great.  The Hollywood Reporter article did say "original star Bakula, who was previously expected to be involved in some capacity, is not currently attached to the update" and also mentioned he was working on another pilot for that season.

It would make an awful lot of sense for him to appear at some point though, even if it's in a future season.  If they show him to early that might kill the mystery of "where is he" too soon so they may want to keep that going as long as possible.  Assuming he is not dead.

Perfect take on that, definitely can't "solve" his mystery right away.  However, the series may not last very long if Peacock's nascent track record is any indication, and they could "run out of time."

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

Grizzlor wrote:

However, the series may not last very long if Peacock's nascent track record is any indication, and they could "run out of time."

Peacock's track record is... not exactly relevant to the QUANTUM LEAP 2022 revival.

QUANTUM LEAP is airing on NBC broadcast television with a premiere date of September 19.

https://www.nbc.com/nbc-insider/quantum … -this-fall

  • Registered: 2015-06-22
  • Posts: 898

Re: The Return of Sliders?

Something really interesting I consumed today was a short story called "Pilot" that was part of The Truth Is out There: The X-Files Series, Book 2, edited by Jonathon Mayberry.

Apparently a SLIDERS and X-Files crossover are entirely plausible as doubles and the multiverse are part of the X-Files mythology.

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

The plot of "Pilot", by David Liss, has Mulder and Scully encountering a visitor from a parallel universe in which THE X-FILES is a TV show. This visitor offers Mulder and Scully VHS cassettes of the "12" seasons of the show so that they can watch them and learn "the truth". Scully protests that a fictionalized version of their lives from a parallel reality may not offer any answers; Mulder counters that surely a TV version of their lives would have "narrative coherence" and a conclusion (hahahahaahahahahahahhahaah). The argument is rendered moot when the visitor and the tapes are blown up.

I guess it was okay.

**

If I had my way, there would be numerous anthologies of SLIDERS stories. However, the stories would all be written by Nigel Mitchell and edited by Temporal Flux. I guess then it wouldn't be an anthology if only one writer writes all the stories. But... I'd still rather all the stories be written by Nigel Mitchell and edited by Temporal Flux.

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 713

Re: The Return of Sliders?

Quantum Leap pilot episode replaced.  The original pilot will now be dropped later in the season as a regular episode

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/qua … 22040.html

Not entirely unusual (even Star Trek had a second pilot), but it does show there were problems

  • Registered: 2015-06-21
  • Posts: 3,503

Re: The Return of Sliders?

It's interesting that the first episode they made and originally planned to start with was not an origin story that introduced the series and characters but was, instead, a story that could come later in the run.

  • Registered: 2015-06-22
  • Posts: 898

Re: The Return of Sliders?

So very interesting the showrunners were replaced.  Martin Gero is one of the top network tv showrunners and so I think the show will be at least a solid effort

378 Reply by JWSlider3

  • Registered: 2018-01-17
  • Posts: 68

Re: The Return of Sliders?

Martin Gero's work on the Stargate franchise alone makes me hopeful for Quantum Leap!

JWSlider3