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Quantum Leap poster

Shows that feel likeQuantum Leap (1989–1993)

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

If you loved Quantum Leap, the closest series we have are Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2008), Timeless (2016) and Continuum (2012). All three share Quantum Leap's cerebral and dreamlike feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Odyssey (1997).

★ 8.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗5 seasons · NBCcreated by Donald P. Bellisariocerebraldreamlikekineticepiccontemplative
9 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Amazon Prime Video · Paramount Plus Premium

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

If Quantum Leap hit the spot, these will too

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles poster
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
2008–2009 · 2 seasons · FOX
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · drama · action & adventure

Both keep coming back to the same thing: time travel

The series picks up four years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day with John and Sarah Connor trying to stay under-the-radar from the government, as they plot to destroy the computer network, Skynet, in hopes of preventing Armageddon.

Timeless poster
Timeless
2016–2018 · 2 seasons · NBC
★ 7.6drama · action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

The same preoccupation in both: changing history

The difference: Made in the 2010s, in a different era of the craft

A mysterious criminal steals a secret state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying America as we know it by changing the past. Our only hope is an unexpected team: a scientist, a soldier and a history professor, who must use the machine's prototype to travel back in time to critical events. While they must make every effort not to affect the past themselves, they must also stay one step ahead of this dangerous fugitive. But can this handpicked team uncover the mystery behind it all and end his destruction before it's too late?

Continuum poster
Continuum
2012–2015 · 4 seasons · Showcase
★ 7.6sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure · dramaPrime VideoPeacock

One thread runs through both: time travel

The series centers on the conflict between a group of rebels from the year 2077 who time-travel to Vancouver, BC, in 2012, and a police officer who accidentally accompanies them. In spite of being many years early, the rebel group decides to continue its violent campaign to stop corporations of the future from replacing governments, while the police officer endeavours to stop them without revealing to anyone that she and the rebels are from the future.

Star Trek: Voyager poster
Star Trek: Voyager
1995–2001 · 7 seasons · UPN
★ 7.9sci-fi & fantasy · drama · action & adventureParamount+

Both are built on the same subject: hologram

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is 75 years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

Doctor Who poster
Doctor Who
2005–2021 · 13 seasons · BBC One
★ 8.5action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Cerebral and dreamlike in the same breath

The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

The Odyssey poster
The Odyssey
1997 · 1 season · NBC
🍅 79%★ 7.1action & adventure · sci-fi & fantasy · dramaPrime Video

Both land momentum and scale at once

Warrior Odysseus leaves his idyllic life in the kingdom of Ithaca to fight in the Trojan War. Following victory, he now must endure a lengthy, decade-long return journey, and with all his wits, overcome deadly monsters, powerful forces of nature, seductive enchantresses, and even journey into the bowels of the Underworld.

Battlestar Galactica poster
Battlestar Galactica
2003 · 1 season · Syfy
🍅 83%★ 8.5action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyParamount+

Contemplative sci-fi & fantasy in both cases

A re-imagining of the original series in which a "rag-tag fugitive fleet" of the last remnants of mankind flees pursuing robots while simultaneously searching for their true home, Earth.

La Brea poster
La Brea
2021–2024 · 3 seasons · NBC
★ 5.8sci-fi & fantasy · drama · action & adventureNetflixPeacock

Action & adventure built on ideas, twice over

An epic adventure begins when a massive sinkhole opens in the middle of Los Angeles, pulling hundreds of people and buildings into its depths. Those who fell in find themselves in a mysterious and dangerous primeval land, where they have no choice but to band together to survive. Meanwhile, the rest of the world desperately seeks to understand what happened. In the search for answers, one family torn apart by this disaster will have to unlock the secrets of this inexplicable event to find a way back to each other.

Terra Nova poster
Terra Nova
2011 · 1 season · FOX
★ 6.7sci-fi & fantasy · mystery · action & adventure

Dreamlike drama, and it commits to that

The difference: Trades the stillness of Quantum Leap for an angle of its own

In the year 2149, the world is dying. The planet is overdeveloped and overcrowded, with the majority of plant and animal life extinct. The future of mankind is in jeopardy, and its only hope for survival is in the distant past. An ordinary family goes on an extraordinary journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as a part of a massive expedition to save the human race.

Merlin poster
Merlin
2008–2012 · 5 seasons · BBC One
★ 7.9action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Sci-fi & fantasy with a pulse of momentum, in both cases

The unlikely friendship between Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, and Prince Arthur, heir to the crown of Camelot.

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn poster
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
2012 · 1 season · YouTube
★ 6.7sci-fi & fantasy · action & adventure

Both lean on scale more than on action & adventure

The difference: Easier on the stillness than Quantum Leap

UNSC Cadet Thomas Lasky must conquer his inner fears and join forces with super-soldier John-117 to take down a massive faction of the Covenant.

V poster
V
1983 · 1 season · NBC
🍅 70%★ 7.8action & adventure · drama · sci-fi & fantasy

Contemplative drama in both cases

Planet Earth is visited by an alien race. Initially, they seem friendly and kind, but over time, their intentions become quite clear. Their peaceful façade quickly turns, also showing their true colors and their real intentions...

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The best-reviewed series that share Quantum Leap’s defining feeling.