The Pretender (TV series)

The Pretender is an American action drama television series created by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle, that aired on NBC from September 19, 1996, to May 13, 2000.

The Pretender
The Pretender intertitle
Genre
Created by
  • Steven Long Mitchell
  • Craig W. Van Sickle
Starring
Theme music composerJohn Debney (Season 1)
Rick Patterson (Seasons 2–3)
Velton Ray Bunch (Season 4)
Mark Leggett (Season 4, co-composer)
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes86 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Steven Long Mitchell
  • Craig W. Van Sickle
  • Tommy Thompson
  • Rick Wallace
Producers
  • Marianne Canepa
  • Juan Carlos Coto
  • Jan DeWitt
  • Harvey Frand
  • Andrew Dettmann
  • Daniel Truly
  • Michael Klick
Running time60 minutes
Production companies
Distributor20th Television
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 19, 1996 (1996-09-19) –
May 13, 2000 (2000-05-13)
Chronology
Followed byThe Pretender 2001
External links
Website

The series follows Jarod, a young man on the run who is a "Pretender": a genius impostor able to quickly master the complex skill sets necessary to impersonate a member of any profession. In each episode, Jarod assumes a new professional identity (e.g., doctor, lawyer, soldier) in his quest to uncover his origins, deliver justice to criminal wrongdoers who evade the law, and stay one step ahead of The Centre, the sinister think tank that kidnapped Jarod as a child to exploit his Pretender abilities. According to show creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle, the character of Jarod was inspired by serial impostor Ferdinand Waldo Demara.[1]

Following NBC's Cancellation of the series, two television movies continuing the storyline were aired on TNT: The Pretender 2001 and The Pretender: Island of the Haunted. In 2013, creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle began updating the story with a series of books and graphic novels. The first, The Pretender: Rebirth, was published on October 7, 2013.

Summary
Main article: List of The Pretender episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
122September 17, 1996 (1996-09-17)May 17, 1997 (1997-05-17)NBC
222November 1, 1997 (1997-11-01)May 16, 1998 (1998-05-16)
322October 17, 1998 (1998-10-17)May 22, 1999 (1999-05-22)
420September 25, 1999 (1999-09-25)May 13, 2000 (2000-05-13)
Television filmsJanuary 22, 2001 (2001-01-22)December 10, 2001 (2001-12-10)TNT

Jarod (Michael T. Weiss) is a child prodigy who is abducted at a young age and raised in a think tank called the Centre, based in the fictional town of Blue Cove, Delaware. Told that his parents have died, Jarod is assigned to the care of a man named Sydney (Patrick Bauchau), a psychiatrist working for the Centre. During Jarod's youth, Sydney mentors the boy and regularly coaches him through complex simulations designed to exploit his intellect for real life application. But as an adult, Jarod discovers that the Centre is using data gathered from his responses for nefarious purposes, such as illegal black ops and engineering the deaths of others. Feeling responsible, Jarod escapes the Centre. Soon afterward, he discovers that the people whom he had long believed to be his parents actually were not, as Jarod has an anomaly in his blood that a father or mother would share—which neither of his supposed parents do.

Plot

The Centre is continually tracking down Jarod's location. The team in charge of recapturing him is Sydney, computer expert Broots (Jon Gries), and "Miss Parker" (Andrea Parker), a dogged and formidable operative who was raised in the Centre and knew Jarod as a child. Though she is no longer an active field operative, she is "recalled from Corporate" during the pilot episode [2] and put in charge of Jarod's recapture. While Sydney feels loyalty to Jarod and wishes his safe return, Miss Parker is under orders to "preferably" bring him in alive and will not hesitate to use deadly force. Fearing for Jarod's safety, Sydney at times undermines Miss Parker and will directly prevent her from using lethal methods to prevent Jarod's continued evasion of his pursuers. In the pilot, Parker questions Sydney's commitment to the Centre, telling him he can be a scientist for the Centre or "mommy" to Jarod, but not both.

Despite the Centre's resources, Jarod often stays a step or two ahead of his pursuers. While tracking down clues to his past and his parents, Jarod also targets criminals who have gone unpunished or undetected by the law. Through assumed identities (which involve different last names but always "Jarod" as a first name), he uncovers the truth about these crimes and lures the perpetrators into staged set-ups that emulate the harm they have done to others and forces them to confess their crimes, leading to their downfall. At times, he leaves Miss Parker and Sydney deliberate clues ("breadcrumbs") that point to the criminals he is targeting and why. During his adventures, Jarod also discovers the joys of the childhood he was denied while being raised in isolation, such as bubblegum, ice cream, a Slinky, and Silly Putty.

Theme

Loyalty is a recurring theme in the series. Sydney's loyalty to the Centre wavers when it concerns Jarod's safety, and this rift increases when he discovers truths about what the organization did to his twin brother, Jacob. During the first season, Jarod sends Miss Parker evidence that she too has been manipulated by the organization, which is led by her father ("Mr. Parker"). Miss Parker learns from Jarod that she was lied to about how her mother Catherine Parker had died. Further revelations are made concerning Miss Parker's origins and her brother. This puts her in a parallel to Jarod's quest of discovery, and at times her loyalty wavers, though it never falters. When she and Jarod do share a romantic moment, Jarod questions if this will change things and Miss Parker replies it will not. "You run, I chase."

Series finale

Though Jarod learns more about his family, there are still unanswered questions when the series ends after four seasons. The series finale closed with both characters being nearby an exploding bomb. The ending did not reveal whether Jarod and/or Miss Parker survived the blast. The next year, the telemovie The Pretender 2001 picked up directly from this cliffhanger, leading into Jarod's next adventure.

Cast
See also: List of The Pretender characters

Production

The building seen in nearly every episode and identified as "The Centre" is actually the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

After the series was cancelled, it was picked up in syndication by TNT. In response to an outpouring of emails from fans, which prompted negotiations involving the show's creators and both NBC and TNT, two telemovies – The Pretender 2001 and Island of the Haunted – were aired on TNT in 2001.[3] Both movies ended with an unresolved cliffhanger.

The creators of the show, Steven Mitchell and Craig van Sickle stated in an interview on the French DVD of the telemovies that an ending was written for the series; they just needed financing to create it. In a September 2007 interview on the miniseries Tin Man, Mitchell and van Sickle noted that fans were still requesting an ending and that it would happen "soon" due to a relationship with "Strange Highway" Entertainment. They also noted that the story line would continue digitally on the web.[4] On May 21, 2008, van Sickle again expressed interest in having a final episode or film to finish the series, and asked fans to continue to be patient until it happens.[5]

Novels and Rebirth of series

On July 8, 2013, it was announced through The Pretender Creators Facebook page that The Pretender will be reborn and that on July 19 at 2 P.M. PDT will be the official announcement to the fans worldwide on details of the first exciting way The Pretender will be reborn.[6]

On July 19, Steve and Craig announced to the world that they will be bringing back the Pretender in several new ways: books first, then graphic novels and then mini-series/movies, as stated in their interview:[7]

The first Pretender novel Rebirth was released on September 22, 2013, in eBook and paperback through Amazon.[8] The second Pretender novel Saving Luke was released on May 12, 2014, in eBook and paperback, also through Amazon.[9]

Profiler crossover

Michael T. Weiss portrayed Jarod on the TV series Profiler during an NBC crossover event. The first half of the plot unfolded on The Pretender (season 3 episode 19 "End Game"), in which two lead characters from Profiler, Dr. Samantha "Sam" Waters (Ally Walker) and Bailey Malone (Robert Davi) guest-starred. The conclusion takes place in an episode of Profiler (season 3 episode 19 "Grand Master") in which Michael T. Weiss guest-starred. Jarod's alias at the time is Jarod Doyle, a police officer. He vanishes at the end of the episode, presumably on to another "pretend."

After Profiler's main character, Sam Waters, was replaced with a new profiler, Rachel Burke (Jamie Luner), there was another Pretender/Profiler crossover in which Jarod had a short lived romance with the new profiler. The first half of the crossover between Jarod and Rachel takes place on The Pretender (season 4 episode 10 "Spin Doctor") and concludes on Profiler (season 4 episode 10 "Clean Sweep"). Jarod also later appeared on the season 4, episode 18 episode of Profiler ("Pianissimo").

Nielsen ratings
SeasonU.S. ratingsNetworkRank
11996–977.2 millionNBC#89
21997–9811.4 millionNBC#59
31998–9910.0 millionNBC#71
41999–20008.7 millionNBC#75

Awards and nominations
Won

FAITA Award (also known as First Americans in the Arts Awards):

  • Outstanding Guest Performance by an Actor in a TV Drama Series – Tyler Christopher (2001)

Young Artist Awards:

  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series — Guest Starring Young Actor – Seth Adkins (1999)
  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series — Supporting Young Actor – Ryan Merriman (1998–1999)
Nominations

Emmy Awards:

Golden Satellite Award:

  • Best TV Series—Drama (1998–1999)
  • Best Performance by an Actor in a Drama Series – Michael T. Weiss (1998–1999)
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Series – Andrea Parker (1999)

Saturn Award:

  • Best Genre TV Actor – Michael T. Weiss (1998)

Young Artist Award:

  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series for Guest Starring Young Actor – Zachary Browne (1998)
  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series for Guest Starring Young Actress – Caitlin Wachs (2000)
  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series for Guest Starring Young Actress – Ashley Peldon (1999)
  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series for Young Actor – Ryan Merriman (1997)
  • Best Performance in a TV Drama Series for Young Actress – Ashley Peldon (1997)

YoungStar Award:

  • Best Performance by a Young Actor in a Drama TV Series – Ryan Merriman (1997,1999–2000)

Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released all 4 seasons on DVD in Region 1 between 2005–2006.[10][11][12][13] They also released the two Pretender movies together as a set on March 13, 2007.[14] All 4 seasons were re-released on May 26, 2009, with new packaging.

All episodes from the first two seasons are available for purchase online through Amazon.com's video on demand service.[15][16]

Heroes and Icons: The Pretender (TV Network)

Thrillogy

Thrillogy was a short lived sci-fi/action programming block on NBC's Saturday night that debuted in Fall of 1996 with three action or sci-fi series, Dark Skies, The Pretender and Profiler. When Dark Skies was cancelled before the 1996–97 television season was over, NBC attempted to keep the Thrillogy block intact for the 1997–98 season, inserting the new series Sleepwalkers,[17] but only two episodes were broadcast nationally, and Thrillogy was dropped from marketing. While the duo of The Pretender and Profiler continued airing together (with the occasional cross-over, discussed above), the Thrillogy concept did not return in the 1998–99 season, nor the start of the 1999–2000 season. The name returned, for the final few weeks of the 1999–2000 season, with the mid-season addition of The Others paranormal series.[18] The Pretender, Profiler and the short lived The Others were all cancelled before the start of the 2000–01 season, with the Thrillogy concept having aired for less than the equivalent of two full seasons over a four season period.

See also
  • T.H.E. Cat—a forerunner of the "expert(s) help(s) people in trouble" genre

References
  1. STAFF, H&I. "9 THINGS YOU CAN PRETEND YOU ALWAYS KNEW ABOUT 'THE PRETENDER'". Heroes and Icons. Heroes and Icons. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "TNT brings 'Pretender' back to life". www.enquirer.com.
  4. "Slice of SciFi Interview With "Tin Man" Creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle – Slice of SciFi". September 7, 2007.
  5. "An Update for all "The Pretender" Fans from Series Co-creator – Slice of SciFi". March 21, 2008.
  6. "The Pretender Creators". www.facebook.com.
  7. "#SDCC Exclusive: The Pretender Returns! The Comic Con Announcement From Creators Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle – Fan Voice". Archived from the original on September 27, 2013.
  8. Mitchell, Steven Long; Van Sickle, Craig W. (September 22, 2013). Amazon.com: The Pretender – Rebirth. ISBN 978-1939927781.
  9. Amazon.com: The Pretender-Saving Luke. ISBN 1940745926.
  10. "Pretender, The: Season 1 (DVD 1996) – DVD Empire".
  11. "Pretender, The: Season 2 (DVD 1997) – DVD Empire".
  12. "Pretender, The: Season 3 (DVD 1998) – DVD Empire".
  13. "Pretender, The: Season 4 (DVD 2006) – DVD Empire".
  14. "Pretender Movie Edition, The: The Pretender 2001 / Pretender, The: Island Of The Haunted (Double Feature) (DVD 2001) – DVD Empire".
  15. "Watch The Pretender Season 1 – Amazon Video".
  16. "Watch The Pretender Season 2 – Amazon Video".
  17. Levesque, John. "'Pretender' to Lead off Nbc's Lineup". Questia. St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO). Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  18. Bobbin, Jay (March 19, 2000). "With the addition of "The Others" to the NBC..." Chicago Tribune. The Tribune Company. Tribune Media Services. Retrieved January 16, 2016.
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