"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:

Actor Shares Last Name With Character | Cult TV | Impostor | Lost Identity | Boy Genius

Awards:

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

Cast

Michael T. Weiss	...	Jarod (86 episodes, 1996-2000)
Andrea Parker	...	Catherine Elaine Parker / ... (86 episodes, 1996-2000)
Patrick Bauchau	...	Sydney (86 episodes, 1996-2000)
Jon Gries	...	Broots (67 episodes, 1996-2000)
Ryan Merriman	...	Young Jarod / ... (48 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:

The home base for "The Center" is the same building complex just outside of Toronto (the R. C. Harris Filtration Plant), that is regularly used as Genomex headquarter in "Mutant X" (2001). It is also used in at least two episodes of "PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal" (1996).

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:

Miss Parker: [to Jarod, after he meets her face-to-face] You've got quite a set, showing up here.

Movie Connections:

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

excellent!!

A great series that was axed too soon (though the fourth season was rather weak). Jarod was the type of character we all wish we could be: super-intelligent and the kind who gets the bad guys all the time and does hilarious things to them in order to them to confess to just how bad they are. Man - I wish I could do stuff like that. Too bad Pretender's aren't real (or are they?). We could sure use some of them in the real world (doing good, of course). Let's hope TNT decides to pick up the series and continue it. One of the best shows of the 90s.