The Pretender

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 series follows Jarod, a young man who is a "Pretender", a genius impostor able to quickly master the complex skill sets necessary to impersonate a member of any profession. After being kidnapped as a child by The Centre, a sinister think tank located in the fictional Blue Cove, Delaware, who exploited his Pretender abilities, Jarod escapes as an adult and goes on the run. He is chased by a trio of Centre agents—Miss Parker (the daughter of a pivotal figure within The Centre), Sydney (a Centre psychologist who raised Jarod) and Broots (a Centre computer expert). In each episode, Jarod assumes a new professional identity (e.g., doctor, lawyer, soldier, pilot) to investigate a crime framed on someone else, and deliver justice to the actual culprits. In the meantime, Jarod searches for his origins, and leads Miss Parker, Sydney and Broots on a chase to discover the dark secrets of The Centre, including how they are involved in the death of Miss Parker's mother. The series was inspired by serial impostor Ferdinand Waldo Demara. It was a part of the network's Saturday night lineup until its cancellation after four seasons. TNT ordered two sequel television films that aired in 2001—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 book series and graphic novels; the first, The Pretender: Rebirth, was published on October 7. Plot Jarod (Michael T. Weiss) is a prodigy who is abducted very early 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 some years later, 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.