|
The Pretender (1996–2000) 7.2
A specially gifted man, with the ability to instantly master any skill, escapes from a secret agency and travels the country taking on a different jobs and helping strangers. |
| 0Share... |
Share this Rating
Title: The Pretender (1996–2000)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Surface
(2005–2006)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Lake Bell,
Jay R. Ferguson,
Carter Jenkins
The X-Files
(1993–2002)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Gillian Anderson,
David Duchovny,
Mitch Pileggi
FlashForward
(2009–2010)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Courtney B. Vance,
Joseph Fiennes,
John Cho
The 4400
(2004–2007)
Sci-Fi
|
Drama
|
Mystery
Stars:
Jacqueline McKenzie,
Joel Gretsch,
Patrick John Flueger
Roswell
(1999–2002)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Romance
Stars:
Shiri Appleby,
Jason Behr,
Katherine Heigl
Fringe
(TV Series 2008)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Anna Torv,
Joshua Jackson,
Jasika Nicole
Dollhouse
(2009–2010)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Eliza Dushku,
Harry Lennix,
Fran Kranz
Lost
(2004–2010)
Adventure
|
Drama
|
Fantasy
Stars:
Jorge Garcia,
Naveen Andrews,
Matthew Fox
Warehouse 13
(TV Series 2009)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Eddie McClintock,
Joanne Kelly,
Saul Rubinek
Signs
(2002)
Drama
|
Sci-Fi
|
Thriller
Director:
M. Night Shyamalan
Stars:
Mel Gibson,
Joaquin Phoenix,
Rory Culkin
Contact
(1997)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Stars:
Jodie Foster,
Matthew McConaughey,
Tom Skerritt
John Doe
(2002–2003)
Drama
|
Mystery
|
Sci-Fi
Stars:
Dominic Purcell,
John Marshall Jones,
Jayne Brook
Edit
Cast
| Series cast summary: | |||
| 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
(82 episodes, 1996-2000)
|
|
| Ryan Merriman | ... |
Young Jarod
(50 episodes, 1996-2000)
|
|
 |
Richard Marcus | ... |
Mr. Raines
(44 episodes, 1996-2000)
|
| Alex Wexo | ... |
Young Sydney
(43 episodes, 1996-2000)
|
|
| James Denton | ... |
Mr. Lyle
(36 episodes, 1997-2000)
|
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Jarod is a pretender, a very intelligent person with the ability to slide into somebody else's personality. For that purpose, he has been taken from his family as a child in order to work for a secret agency called The Centre. But recently, he escaped. Jarod's new mission in life is to help people in need with his gift, and to find out what really happened to his allegedly dead parents. Only, Miss Parker and her team are out to get him... Written by Steve Richer <sricher@sympatico.ca>
Taglines:
Hero of a thousand faces. Man of a thousand lives. See more »Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
19 September 1996 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Pretender See more »Filming Locations:
City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA See more »Company Credits
Production Co:
20th Century Fox Television, MTM Entertainment, Mitchell/Van Sickle Productions See more »
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (86 episodes)Sound Mix:
DolbyColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
Edit
Miss Parker: Before or after he wets his pants?
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The Pretender was inspired by the life of Ferdinand Demara Jr., a genius with an eidetic memory, who could master any skill just by reading a book about it. See more »Goofs
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. See more »Quotes
Sydney: How do you think he will hold up?Miss Parker: Before or after he wets his pants?
See more »
"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).