QUANTUM LEAP STAR TO APPEAR IN A NEW US TV PILOT

Former Quantum Leap and Star Trek star Scott Bakula has landed the starring role in a new U.S. TV pilot.

At 53 Bakula will play Terry Elliot - a struggling actor (is there any other kind in sitcoms) dating a younger woman - in the show entitled Men of a Certain Age.

The actor will star alongside comedian Ray Romano and Andre Braugher in the show, as the trio keep their friendship going long after college.

Romano also acts as writer and executive producer on the programme, and this marks his first return to television since completing the final episodes of the massive hit Everybody Loves Raymond in May 2005.

Bakula's most recent TV credits include a recurring role opposite Julia Louis Dreyfus in U.S. series The New Adventures of Old Christine and a brief stint on Boston Legal earlier this year.