"The Pretender" (1996) TV series 1996-2000

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Creators:

Steven Long Mitchell
Craig W. Van Sickle

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Release Date:

19 September 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Jarod is a pretender, a very intelligent person with the ability to slide into somebody else's personality...

Plot Keywords:

Boy Genius | Video Surveillance | Lost Identity | Impostor | Evil Corporation

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 4 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Michael T. Weiss	...	Jarod (86 episodes, 1996-2000)
Andrea Parker	...	Miss Parker / ... (86 episodes, 1996-2000)
Patrick Bauchau	...	Sydney (86 episodes, 1996-2000)
Jon Gries	...	Broots (68 episodes, 1996-2000)
Ryan Merriman	...	Young Jarod / ... (49 episodes, 1996-2000)
Richard Marcus	...	Mr. Raines (45 episodes, 1996-2000)
Alex Wexo	...	Young Sydney / ... (39 episodes, 1996-2000)
James Denton	...	Mr. Lyle (36 episodes, 1997-2000)

Runtime:

60 min | 60 min (86 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:PG (some episodes) | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Trivia:

Patrick Bauchau, who plays Sydney, made the medical set used in the show available at no charge to the independent film Twin Falls Idaho (1999) in which Bauchau appears.

Goofs:

Continuity: In Season 2, episode 4, Jarod sends miss Parker a cardboard box containing a Viewmaster picture disc, and a live lobster with a note attached to it. Moments later, Mr. Lyle enters the room, and Broots, who is now holding the lobster, tries to hind it behind his back. However, when the camera pans around Broots from the back, the lobster we see is fully cooked, and hence red.

Quotes:

Isaac Dexter: Actually, I offer a very valuable service. You'd be surprised how many cab drivers won't pick up a man in a dress.
Jarod: Really? Why?
Isaac Dexter: The truth is, I'd like to offer my services as your personal chauffeur.
Jarod: No kidding! That's great! Now, you're sure you have a driver's license?
Isaac Dexter: Don't worry, boss. You're in good hands. And I promise to be the perfect lady.
Man, off camera: Hey, baby!
Isaac Dexter: Up yours, pal!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Diabolik (#11.13)" (1999)

In spite of its flaws, I wish I could have seen the rest of the episodes.

"I'm chasing the Pretender," Andrea Parker assured us the viewers in an advertisement for Sky's new shows some years ago. "I'm going to catch him on Sky One."

Unfortunately for fans of "The Pretender," she never did - Sky ended up dropping it before the fourth and final season (and forget the TV movies), and it's unlikely some other station will get it a la "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Late Night With David Letterman" or other shows binned in favour of "Kirsty's Home Videos" or "Fear Factor." Curses.

Anyway, though this series could be formulaic - this show used to be run back-to-back with "Early Edition," and it always amazed me that the latter could get more inventive plotlines out of its own equally constrictive premise - the show avoided being dire because of its characters and performers. As Jarod, Michael T. Weiss projected a smugness that was off-putting but appropriate for someone who could pretend to be anybody (the air of self-satisfation was in tune with someone who knew he was brighter than just about everyone else), and his mentor Sydney and chief pursuer Miss Parker - what WAS her first name? - were refreshingly free of black-and-white characterisations; this made the show more interesting than it otherwise might have been, though the writing was decent all round.

Thanks to other comments for filling in a few of the blanks (they'll do until I manage to see the final season and the movies). And to Andrea Parker for giving us a character simultaneously ice-cold and red-hot; apologies to Catherine Bell fans, but she was Harm's sexiest partner (too bad she was only in the "JAG" pilot and one other episode).