The Pretender

The Pretender
Premiere	September 19, 1996
Finale	May 13, 2000
Creator	Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W Van Sickle
Network/Provider	NBC TNT (TV movies)
Style	60-minute drama
Company	Mitchell/Van Sickle Productions, NBC Studios, MTM Enterprises (seasons 1-2), 20th Century Fox Television (seasons 3-4)
Seasons	4
Episodes	86
Origin	USA

The Pretender is a series that aired for four years on NBC before moving over to TNT for reruns and two follow-up television movies.

The show focuses on a man named Jarod. In the 1960s, when he was a child, he was abducted by a Delaware-based think tank known as The Center. Jarod is a genius and The Center used this to help them reason out and develop solutions to problems, although many of these were used to hurt people. In the late 1990s, Jarod finally breaks out of The Center and goes on the run, trying to find his family of which he only has a few memories. The Center wants him back under their control without coming to the general public's attention. As Jarod goes on his quest, with agents of The Centre in pursuit, Jarod uses his genius abilities and skills to "pretend", to become, any occupation he needs on any given day. One day he can be a doctor, the next a male prostitute, the next a forest ranger, and then on to television stunt man.

The show heavily focuses on Jarod's childlike innocence as he learns about life outside the Center, often in humorous situations, although with its fair share of drama.

Mitchell/Van Sickle Productions and NBC Studios produced the series in association with MTM Enterprises in the first two seasons, then with 20th Century Fox Television (now the current 20th Television, after that company absorbed MTM) in the final two seasons. Disney-ABC Domestic Television is the show's distributor (taking over from former distributor 20th Television after the latter company's distribution duties were absorbed in 2020).

Cast

Actor	Character	Duration
Billed Cast		1	2	3	4
Michael T. Weiss	Jarod	*	*	*	*
Andrea Parker	Miss Parker	*	*	*	*
Patrick Bauchau	Sydney Green	*	*	*	*
Jon Gries	Broots	o	o	o	*
Orange/Red/o indicates a recurring or guest role during that season. Dark Green indicates top billing during that season.
Supporting/Recurring Cast		1	2	3	4
Sam Ayers	Sam the Sweeper	*	*	*	*
James Denton	Mister Lyle	*	*	*	*
Pamela Gidley	Brigitte Parker	*	*	*	*
Richard Marcus	William Raines	*	*	*	*
Ryan Merriman	Young Jarod / Gemini	*	*	*	*
Harve Presnell	Mister Parker		*	*	*
Ashley Peldon	Young Miss Parker	*	*	*

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale				#
NBC
Season One	September 19, 1996	May 17, 1997				22
Season Two	November 1, 1997	May 16, 1998				22
Season Three	October 17, 1998	May 22, 1999				22
Season Four	September 25, 1999	May 13, 2000				20

TV Movies

Title	Network		Airdate
The Pretender 2001	TNT		January 22, 2001
The Island of the Haunted	TNT		December 10, 2001

In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

DVD Releases

Title			Release			Discs
Season Sets  (Region 1)
The Complete First Season			March 22, 2005	purchase		4
The Complete Second Season			September 20, 2005	purchase		4
The Complete Third Season			February 14, 2006	purchase		4
The Complete Fourth Season			July 18, 2006	purchase		4
Movie Edition			March 13, 2007	purchase		1
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
Season One: Episodes 1-2			March 22, 2005			1