This show started out as a mid-season replacement in '96 on NBC. However, The "Pretender" went on to prove its worth in the prime-time ratings-game, season after season.
The "Pretender" could best be summed-up as part of a sub-genre of the Action-adventure category; the Chase-show. The Chase-show always revolves around one basic plot-line; the main character(s) are running from, and/or to someone, or something. These Chase-shows can be some of the worst on TV, or some of the best. The "Pretender" falls into the latter category, in my humble opinion.
The main character in the series, Jared, was kidnapped as a child, and whisked away to a heinous organization called the "Centre". Jared happens to be a genius, and he's used by those at the "Centre", to create ingenious methods to destroy their enemies. As an innocent child, who'd been swiped from his family, Jared has no choice but to go along with those at the "Centre", who exploit his genius IQ.
As an adult, and by then fully aware of the exploitation he'd been forced to endure by the "Centre" during his childhood, Jared escapes. He's pursued by his former mentor (and former father-figure) Sydney. Joining in the quest to capture Jared, are the rabidly-determined femme-fatale, Miss Parker, and her computer-whiz henchman, Broots.
Jared manages to elude his would-be captors, by impersonating a different member of a profession in each episode. Throughout the series, Jared had posed as a doctor, lawyer, policeman, airline pilot, etc., etc., etc. One of the main reasons the show held my interest, was to see who Jared would impersonate in the next episode. Whenever Jared morphed into one professional or another, he got to help out others in trouble, while keeping one-step-ahead of his pursuers from the "Centre".
Jared also kept trying to find out about, and get in contact with, his real family, during the course of the series. As someone who had been cruelly wrenched away from his family in childhood, he was a man determined to solve the puzzle of his past.
Then, there was also the sub-plot running through this series. This involved how Sydney, Miss Parker, and Broots, were all just pawns of the "Centre" themselves. The real evil character in the show, and the one who had orchestrated Jared's childhood kidnapping, was Mr. Raines.
As the series progressed, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots, together tried to figure out just what the sinister "Centre" was up to, and how to stop it. This all made for an Adventure-show with much more depth, and character-development, than most of its ilk.
Overall, I'd say the that, "Pretender" was the best of all the Adventure-series, which were on TV during the 90s.
The "Pretender" could best be summed-up as part of a sub-genre of the Action-adventure category; the Chase-show. The Chase-show always revolves around one basic plot-line; the main character(s) are running from, and/or to someone, or something. These Chase-shows can be some of the worst on TV, or some of the best. The "Pretender" falls into the latter category, in my humble opinion.
The main character in the series, Jared, was kidnapped as a child, and whisked away to a heinous organization called the "Centre". Jared happens to be a genius, and he's used by those at the "Centre", to create ingenious methods to destroy their enemies. As an innocent child, who'd been swiped from his family, Jared has no choice but to go along with those at the "Centre", who exploit his genius IQ.
As an adult, and by then fully aware of the exploitation he'd been forced to endure by the "Centre" during his childhood, Jared escapes. He's pursued by his former mentor (and former father-figure) Sydney. Joining in the quest to capture Jared, are the rabidly-determined femme-fatale, Miss Parker, and her computer-whiz henchman, Broots.
Jared manages to elude his would-be captors, by impersonating a different member of a profession in each episode. Throughout the series, Jared had posed as a doctor, lawyer, policeman, airline pilot, etc., etc., etc. One of the main reasons the show held my interest, was to see who Jared would impersonate in the next episode. Whenever Jared morphed into one professional or another, he got to help out others in trouble, while keeping one-step-ahead of his pursuers from the "Centre".
Jared also kept trying to find out about, and get in contact with, his real family, during the course of the series. As someone who had been cruelly wrenched away from his family in childhood, he was a man determined to solve the puzzle of his past.
Then, there was also the sub-plot running through this series. This involved how Sydney, Miss Parker, and Broots, were all just pawns of the "Centre" themselves. The real evil character in the show, and the one who had orchestrated Jared's childhood kidnapping, was Mr. Raines.
As the series progressed, Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots, together tried to figure out just what the sinister "Centre" was up to, and how to stop it. This all made for an Adventure-show with much more depth, and character-development, than most of its ilk.
Overall, I'd say the that, "Pretender" was the best of all the Adventure-series, which were on TV during the 90s.