The Pretender - The Complete First Season

Rating:
Summary: A dream come true!
Review: "The Pretender" comes to my home! The wait is finally over!
The series was one of the very few on TV, which you felt actually good after the credits rolled at the end of each installment. Others like "Touched by an angel" could do that too, but always with some divine help. Not so here! While Jarrod was running from Miss Parker, he had always time to help the one in need. And that just because he could!
I remember this from the pilot: "Are you a doctor?" - "I am today." This showed me, that this series was something for me, and something special. I was never dissapointed!
I hope the fan response to the first season, so that the other seasons see the light of day too. And that includes the TV-Movie. I can wait a little longer...

Rating:
Summary: Michael T. Weiss is The Pretender!! Season 1 is awesome!!
Review: All accounts indicate this release of "The Pretender" on DVD is the best yet. The French fans got Season 1 with no special features...this edition has multiple commentaries and featurettes!! Not that you would need any bonus features to fully appreciate what great value you are getting with this package because all by itself it is good enough!
Actors Michael T. Weiss, Andrea Parker, Jon Gries and Patrick Bachau shine in Season 1 of The Pretender. Michael T. Weiss as Jarod is the perfect genius who is on the run, but still manages to find time to help others. Michael's dramatic range is on full display as he slips into a new role for each episode. He's definitely "The Pretender." Andrea Parker (Less than Perfect/ABC) as Miss Parker is perfect as the head of the team who leads the chase for the genius, Jarod. She is explosive, unapologetic, beautiful and dangerous. And yet, you don't know the half of her! You will fall in love with Andrea's smouldering portrayal of Miss Parker. Patrick Bachau as Sydney and Jon Gries as Broots add the perfect elements to balance the tension and drama that surrounds the chase for Jarod, even as the secrets to the Centre's past unfolds in every episode. The Pretender is one of the best series to ever premiere on NBC. If you have never seen it, now is your chance to own it and you will never regret it as you get drawn into the fascinating plot lines and learn more about the characters as the season unfolds.

Rating:
Summary: Finally Jarod's on DVD
Review: Finally we see The Pretender on DVD. This is the series based on a boy named Jarod who was stolen from his family as a young child by The Centre. After he escapes as an adult he goes from one episode to another helping people and keeping one step ahead of The Centre's Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots.

This DVD is meant to have all the season 1 episodes, 2 featurettes, audio commentary and subtitles in English and Spanish!

Rating:
Summary: F I N A L L Y !!!!
Review: Finally!
I was waiting for the show to come out on DVD! Loved watching every single show every week, can't wait to see them all over again.
Every storyline was intence, sometimes funny and sometimes sad.
Michael T. Weiss makes the perfect actor for the role
If you ever enjoyed "Quantum Leap",
The Pretender is the Show to watch!!

Rating:
Summary: It's about time!
Review: From what I've heard from those who've gotten the DVD's for this series in Europe, It's everything you want from the Pretender series. I wish they would have released it in North America much earlier, instead of making the fans wait for an extra year or more. The series is very well made, with an extremely engaging storyline. Jarod, the main character, is amazingly intelligent, and able to empathize with others to the degree that by way of research and practice, he is able to slide into any role he chooses. Fireman, surgeon, wildlife officer, there's no job he can't do, as he enjoys his freedom at the same time as he searches for the family he was seperated from.

Definitely a must have!!

Rating:
Summary: This is going to be GREAT!
Review: I can not wait for this great series to be released in a English speaking version (formerly only in French).

Rating:
Summary: I still have fond memories of this show....
Review: Imagine my surprise when I saw that this excellent TV show was coming to DVD. I was floored, and I immediately put it on my wishlist. However, I just couldn't wait to own it, so I have pre-order it- at least now, I know it will come and I won't forget to order later on :)

Anyway, I remember this show from a while back. I'm not sure exactly when it first aired, but I do remember many of the episodes with vivid detail. I must have been in high school when I first saw this show on NBC.

It's the story of a "child" prodigy who is able to "pretend" so vividly how another person would act, that he is able to become that person. Fast forward about 15 or so years, and we have a fully grown Jarod who has finally decided to escape from the institution which has been using him for the better part of his young life. Not only that, but it seems that said Institution was responsible to his parents deaths.

The show's charm is the main actor's ability to make his "pretending" to be different people believable. He is the somewhat naive hero who still believes in the goodness of people.

Another great memory of the show is his relationship with Miss Parker, an agent of the Institution(I forget if it had a name) chasing him. It's a "don't know if it will happen" love story- much of their relationship is played out through flashbacks, since Miss Parker is also the daughter of the Institution's Director, and she met Jarod when she was a young girl. Their present day interactions are limited, mostly because Jarod is so adept at evading her, but there are some very good episodes where they do get to interact a lot.

It's sad that I lost track of this show after it got cancelled on NBC (or was it CBS?) but I've heard that it moved to the Turner Network? I'm not sure how many seasons the show ended up having, but if they put all of them out on DVD, you can bet anything that I will be buying it.

Now, what's this I hear about a TV movie of the Pretender?

Rating:
Summary: Okay so I haven't seen it
Review: Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!
I have been waiting for so long for this to be released.
Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!Thank you!

Rating:
Summary: A most underrated but highly thrilling series
Review: This is one of the brilliant gems that came on the heels of the X-Files in the mid-nineties but never seemed to get the respect it deserved. Essentially about a man on the run, the concept of this series is deceptively straightforward. The fun of it all, however, is that you get to see a new situation every week as our hero, Jarod, takes on a new identity every week in his attempts to outwit his pursuers as well as help those he meets. Intensely plot driven, the excitement builds as Jarod is constantly fleeing his hunters but also needs them in order to solve the mystery of his missing family, as well as the purpose of his childhood abduction. Great entertainment all around.

Rating:
Summary: You won't have to pretend to like this show
Review: This series is a new twist on James Bond. Instead of battling the Russians or international terrorists, our secret agent man battles a private corporation who is eager to control others, and wants to begin by regaining control of his mind which they illegally had when he was a youth.

Michael T. Weiss plays Jarod (last name never given), a boy genius who was taken from his parents by the equally mysterious The Centre.

Father-figure Sydney (who had trained Jarod during his time at The Centre) and The Center employee Miss Parker (Catherine Parker) are hot on his trail---or so they think. Somehow, Jarod always manages to escape their clutches, and reminds them of their ultimate inability. Because it is done with playful teasing, he is not trying to be mean.

Weiss is wonderful to look at, and he conveys the right balance of intellect and naiviete which was needed to make this series the smash hit it became. Jarod only discovers wheel of fortune, easy cheese and silly putty as an adult, and has his first sexual encounter in episode 14 "Ranger Jarod" when he poses as a park ranger.

Jarod's childhood exploitation had also robed him of the pop culture experiences which are taken for granted by many `normal' people---including those whom he helps out. In addition to helping people, the series episodes regularly show Jarod's initial interactions with commercial products such as Silly Putty and Cheese Whiz. Weiss convincingly projects this delayed sense of discovery without himself actually appearing ignorant or dense.