The Original ‘Quantum Leap’ Ended 30 Years Ago: 15 Familiar Faces Who Guest-Starred
Ready to take a Quantum Leap into the late ’80s and early ‘90s? The original sci-fi series of that name abruptly 30 years ago, on May 5, 1993, with Scott Bakula’s Dr. Sam Beckett never making it home after NBC canceled the sci-fi series.
Of course, a new time traveler is skipping around the decades now, with Raymond Lee leading NBC’s Quantum Leap reboot. But while we’re waxing nostalgic about the first show, flip through the photo gallery below to see 15 famous folks who joined Bakula in the original.
Debbie Allen
This Fame star — now working in front of and behind the camera on Grey’s Anatomy — played choreographer Joanna Chapman in 1991’s “Private Dancer,” an episode she directed.
Jennifer Aniston
Two years before Friends’ debuted, a little-known Aniston played hospital volunteer Kiki Wilson in 1992’s “Nowhere to Run.”
Jason Beghe
The Chicago P.D. lead had a guest-starring role as Det. Sgt. Roger Skaggs, an undercover cop, in 1990’s “M.I.A.”
Chubby Checker
The rock-and-roll singer behind “The Twist” and “Let’s Twist Again” played himself — as an up-and-coming artist — in 1989’s “Good Morning, Peoria.” (And in the episode’s plotline, it’s Sam who teaches him the Twist!)
Marcia Cross
She wasn’t the first of the Desperate Housewives to appear on Quantum Leap, as you’ll see below, but Cross played Stephanie Heywood, a woman who murders her secret lover in 1990’s “Good Night, Dear Heart.”
Willie Garson
The late Sex and the City scene-stealer played two characters on Quantum Leap, including the titular assassin of John F. Kennedy in 1992’s two-parter “Lee Harvey Oswald.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Gordon-Levitt, now famous for films like Inception and The Dark Knight Rises, was just 10 when he played Kyle, a murder witness, in the 1991 episode “Permanent Wave.”
Anna Gunn
This two-time Emmy-winning star of Breaking Bad made her screen debut in Quantum Leap, guest-starring as Liz in the 1992 episode “The Play’s the Thing.”
Teri Hatcher
Before Desperate Housewives and even before Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Hatcher played Donna Eleese, Sam’s wife, in 1989’s “Star-Crossed.”
Eriq La Salle
A couple of years before his Emmy-nominated run on ER — and when he was still going by the name Eric — La Salle played nightclub owner Bobby Lee in the 1992 episode “A Song for the Soul.”
Neil Patrick Harris
As his role on Doogie Howser, M.D. was wrapping up — and long before How I Met Your Mother — Harris played fraternity member Mike Hammond in 1993’s “Return of the Evil Leaper.”
CCH Pounder
This star of The Shield and the Avatar film series guest starred as Mama Harper in 1990’s “Black on White on Fire.” Decades later, she’d join Bakula in the cast of NCIS: New Orleans.
Jason Priestley
Priestley was on the eve of his teen-heartthrob Beverly Hills, 90210 gigs when he played a bully named Pencil in the 1989 episode “Camikazi Kid.”
Bob Saget
This late star of Full House played nightclub comedian Mack MacKay in the 1992 episode “Stand Up” — and later reminisced about Quantum Leap with Bakula on his podcast Bob Saget’s Here for You.
Brooke Shields
After her child star years — chronicled in the new documentary Pretty Baby — this Blue Lagoon star guest-starred as Vanessa Foster, an heiress with whom Sam gets stranded, in 1992’s “Leaping of the Shrew.”
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I loved the original Quantum Leap when it was on and still do. I have been watching it for at least five years on a continuous loop on Comet until they took it off in January. Hope it comes back soon.
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