Former Quantum Leap star Scott Bakula is returning to NBC as the lead of ranch drama pilot Unbroken (working title), which he also will executive produce.
Written and executive produced by Shaun Cassidy, in Unbroken, three dynastic ranch families on the central coast of California make love and war in a passionate struggle to survive, ultimately setting the stage for a group of fiercely determined young women to win big for all at the National Championship of Rodeo.
Bakula will play Ash Holleran, a retired saddle bronc rodeo champion who’s desperate to hold on to the California ranch that’s been in his family for generations. With neighbors encroaching, and his winery and trail riding businesses barely turning a profit, Ash and his extended family will be forced to dig deep to find a road back to the life they once knew.
“I’m thrilled to be working with Shaun Cassidy and NBC,” said Bakula. “Shaun has created a rich and complicated world, led by a patriarch struggling to hold on to his family’s 100-year-old ranch while managing a variety of surprises. He wrote a great pilot script that touches on many relevant issues of today, yet has deep roots in Americana. It’s a character I haven’t played before and I can’t wait to get back in the saddle again.”
A character Bakula has played before is time traveler Sam Beckett on Quantum Leap, which aired on NBC from 1989-93 and earned him four Emmy nominations. Intriguingly, the network has a Quantum Leap reboot pilot with new characters that was ordered alongside Unbroken this pilot season. Bakula has no involvement in that project.
On Unbroken, Bakula joins previously announced series regulars Anna Wood, Amanda Payton, Delon de Metz and Oluniké Adeliyi. Bronwen Hughes directs and executive produces the pilot. Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio.
Bakula was tapped for Unbroken in the first pilot season since he’d wrapped his seven-season run as the lead of CBS’ NCIS: New Orleans. He also played one of the leads of TNT comedy-drama Men of a Certain Age, headlined Star Trek: Enterprise and co-starred in the Emmy-winning HBO movie Behind the Candelabra, which landed him another Emmy nomination.
At NBC, Bakula also had a major arc on Chuck. He is repped by ICM Partners, Anonymous Content and Hansen Jacobson.
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