- May 17, 1997
(Part 1 & 2)
The Pretender's Pilot episode premiered on September 19, 1996 in the United States on NBC . Twenty-one episodes were aired for Season One, with the season finale being a two-part episode. The Pretender: The Complete First Season DVD set was released on March 22nd, 2005 for Region 1. No other DVDs have been released for other DVD regions except Region 4.
Overview
Season one introduces Jarod (Michael T. Weiss), the boy-wonder, genius, now a mature adult with a moral compass that wins over any innate loyalty he has for his mentor, Sydney (Patrick Bauchau), who has trained him and honed his natural Pretender skills so he can literally become anyone he wants to be. We are also introduced to Miss Parker (played by Andrea Parker), leading the hunt and chase to retrieve The Centre's prized possession, aka Jarod. Miss Parker has a history with Jarod, the emotional ties of which she squelches at every turn in order to do her job. She is amazingly competent as the huntress on the trail of Jarod who does his fair share of running once Miss Parker catches up with him. Broots is the computer genius who is both impressed by Jarod's technical skills and scared of Miss Parker.
Jarod is on the hunt for his parents/family while helping others as a way to make compensation for The Centre's actions in abusing the results of his simulations while he was under their control. He gets very close to finding recent information on his family but Miss Parker literally shoots it from his hands. Along the way, Jarod experiences many things for the first time that he was deprived of while a prisoner of The Centre. He also has his first love affair.
We are introduced to Angelo the empath who is also used as a tool by the team to help track Jarod, and who we later find out, also has a history with both Jarod and Miss Parker. Other characters introduced in Season One are Mr. Raines (Richard Marcus), Catherine Parker (also played by Andrea Parker) as Miss Parker's mom, whose murder is an unsolved crime at The Centre that Miss Parker is determined to solve, and Mr. Parker (Harve Presnell) as Miss Parker's father and the one who helms The Centre. At the end of the season, we meet Jarod's brother Kyle (played byJeffrey Donovan) who was also at The Centre as a boy. Jarod and Kyle are briefly reunited however disaster strikes and it appears that Jarod has lost his brother for good.
Cast
Main characters
Recurring characters
- Jon Gries as Broots
- Ryan Merriman as Young Jarod
- Alex Wexo as Young Sydney
- Ashley Peldon as Young Miss Parker
- Richard Marcus as Mr. Raines
- Harve Presnell as Mr. Parker
- Paul Dillon as Angelo
- Kim Myers as Jarod's mother
- Sam Ayers as Sam the Sweeper
Season 1: 1996-97
| Ep.# | Title | Writer(s) (Story/Teleplay) | Director(s) | Original Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilot | Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle | Rick Wallace | September 19, 1996 |
| 2 | Every Picture Tells A Story | Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle | Michael Zinberg | September 28, 1996 |
| 3 | Flyer | Juan Carlos Coto | James Whitmore, Jr. | October 19, 1996 |
| 4 | Curious Jarod | Kimberly Costello | Jesús Salvador Treviño | October 26, 1996 |
| 5 | The Paper Clock | Javier Grillo-Marxauch | Gabrielle Beaumont | November 2, 1996 |
| 6 | To Serve and Protect | Tommy Thompson | James Whitmore, Jr. | November 9, 1996 |
| 7 | A Virus Among Us | Lawrence Meyers | Fred Keller | November 16, 1996 |
| 8 | Not Even A Mouse | Juan Carlos Coto | Thomas J. Wright | December 14, 1996 |
| 9 | Mirage | Tommy Thompson | Ian Toynton | January 4, 1997 |
| 10 | The Better Part of Valor | Javier Grillo-Marxuach | Anson Williams | January 11, 1997 |
| 11 | Bomb Squad | Javier Grillo-Marxuach | Terrence O'Hara | January 18, 1997 |
| 12 | Prison Story | Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle & Tommy Thompson | Oscar Costo | February 1, 1997 |
| 13 | Bazooka Jarod | Juan Carlos Coto & Kimberly Costello | James Whitmore, Jr. | February 8, 1997 |
| 14 | Ranger Jarod | Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle | Ian Toynton | February 15, 1997 |
| 15 | Jaroldo! | Lawrence Meyers | Terrence O'Hara | March 8, 1997 |
| 16 | Under The Reds | Lawrence Meyers, Javier Grillo-Marxuach & David Kemper | Charles Siebert | March 22, 1997 |
| 17 | Keys | Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle | Terrence O'Hara | April 5, 1997 |
| 18 | Unhappy Landings | Terri Treas & Michael Zand Juan Carlos Coto, Javier Grillo-Marxuach & Lawrence Meyers |
James Whitmore, Jr. | April 26, 1997 |
| 19 | Jarod's Honor | Tommy Thompson & Chris Ruppenthal | Terrence O'Hara | May 3, 1997 |
| 20 | Baby Love | Debra Pratt | Joe Napolitano | May 10. 1997 |
| 21 22 |
The Dragon House (Part 1) The Dragon House (Part 2) |
Steven Long Mitchell & Craig W. Van Sickle | Fred K. Keller | May 17, 1997 |
| Previous season: Pilot |
Season 1 |
Next season: Season 2 |