History Series / ThePretender

%%* CutShort

''The Pretender'' is a television series, which ran for 86 episodes over four seasons from September 1996 to May 2000. Boy genius Jarod (Creator/MichaelTWeiss) was raised in a secret science-with-a-capital-$ laboratory (known, in a further example of the series' [[NoFullNameGiven remarkable reticence with full names]], only as "The Centre") where his talents were put at the service of the highest bidder. As an adult, he discovers that the information gained from some of his simulations has been used for evil so he escapes The Centre. Once out, he also discovers bit by bit that that pretty much everything he's been told about his (supposedly long-dead) parents is a lie, and makes it his goal to find his real family.

Jarod has a relatively mild case of NoSocialSkills. Although he functions normally in social situations, his secluded upbringing means that popular culture largely passed him by. In early seasons, every episode contains a sequence where Jarod discovers and gleefully explores something -- Slinkies, Twinkies, Mr. Potato Head, Curious George -- that everyone around him takes for granted. This thing is then incorporated into Jarod's plan for teaching the Villain of the Week a lesson, or used to send a taunting message to the Centre agents trying to track him down and take him 'home'.

The remaining regular characters are the team [[SternChase trying to track Jarod down]]. They come across as relatively sympathetic characters, themselves; the recurring villains of the series are their superiors and colleagues, who threaten them as much as they do Jarod.

The canon is being continued by Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle with a series of novels and graphic novels, the first of which came out in October of 2013.

* BilingualBonus: Several episodes have Jarod conducting conversations with people in their own language, with no subtitles. In the pilot he speaks Greek with a woman keen to avoid surgery for something that can, lucky for her, [[ArtisticLicenseMedicine also be fixed by some tea and a foot massage]]. In "Flyer", he converses with a deaf woman in sign language. In "Curious Jarod", he speaks with a Hispanic woman in Spanish.

* CharacterNameAlias: Whenever he does a pretend, Jarod adopts the surname of a relevant real-life person or fictional character: examples include Jarod Wright, test pilot; Jarod [[Literature/AChristmasCarol Marley]], in the Christmas episode; and Jarod Shatner -- in honor of the host of ''Series/Rescue911'' -- when he was working in a search-and-rescue team. And then there's the episode where his boss-to-be is a Dr. Fein, so he adopts the alias of Jarod Howard, leading to a scene with somebody innocently calling out "[[Film/TheThreeStooges Dr. Howard! Dr. Fein! Dr. Howard!]]"

** The "sweepers". In "A Stand-Up Guy", we see them in action cleaning up one of the Centre's branch offices after a rogue Centre executive kills everybody there and steals an important file.

* TapOnTheHead: People get knocked out quite a bit, including more than once to Jarod. Except in the episode straightforwardly titled "Amnesia", he never seems to suffer lasting ill effects.

%%* CloningBlues: "Donoterase"

%%IfIWantedYouDead: Miss Parker to Raines.

* TripleTake: When Jarod confronts the villain of the week, he often tells them what he's deduced about what really went down... "[And then|But instead], you [whatever it was they did] -- ''didn't you?''", with a TripleTake on the "didn't you".

*** He uses "Ness" (as in Elliot) in the episode where he's an FBI Agent.

* StuffBlowingUp: Three out of four season finales, plus various in-season examples.
* SwissCheeseSecurity: Jarod and Angelo can just breeze in and out of the Centre at will.

* TapOnTheHead: Happens quite a bit, including more than once to Jarod. Except in the episode straightforwardly titled "Amnesia", he never seems to suffer lasting ill effects.
* TechnicalPacifist: Jarod
* ThinkNothingOfIt

** Jarod and his Pez.
** Angelo and his Cracker Jacks. A flashback in "Toy Surprise" reveals that he was introduced to them by the young Miss Parker in a TastesLikeFriendship moment.

* UncannyFamilyResemblance: Miss Parker and her mother.
* UnexplainedRecovery: Raines, a ridiculous number of times.

* VillainOfTheWeek
* VillainEpisode: Miss Parker gets "Wake Up" in the third season.
* VillainousBreakdown: A VillainOfTheWeek will inevitably do this, as Jarod enacts some justice.
* WalkingTheEarth
* WeHelpTheHelpless: Jarod considers it his duty to do so, as just about every project he did for The Centre was ultimately used to help some megalomaniac profit at the expense of innocent people.

** Miss Parker and her father, of the will-never-say-it subtype.
** Also Jarod and his father-figure, Sydney. In both present and flashback scenes of "Scott Free", Jarod actually asks for acknowledgement, but Sydney won't give it to him because he feels it would be improper for a host of reasons. Viewers then see that Sydney has kept several mementos of Jarod, including a Father's Day card made by him.

* WouldHurtAChild: Mr. Raines is shown to have done terrible things to the children who were his study subjects.
* WrapItUp

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: There's are several references to unseen Pretends, where Jarod has resolved an unpleasant situation. The most notable may be the one referenced at the start of "Til Death Do Us Part", where Jarod has dealt with [[MonsterClown a clown that molested children]]. According to Broots, the clown was found locked in a tiger cage and with a piece of meat tied to his privates.

* TheOldConvict: Jarod meets one in an episode when he's trying to help a wrongly convicted murderer.

* OncePerEpisode: Jarod discovers a novelty item, food, or television show he's never heard of before.

* PermaStubble: Jarod in some of his roles. Gangster Jarod in "A Stand-Up Guy" is one example.
* PhraseCatcher: Any time Miss Parker meets someone who knew her mother, it's guaranteed that the very first thing they say to her is ''"You look just like her"''.
** And of course, the mother is played ''by'' Miss Parker's own actress.
* ThePlan: Mr. Parker claims credit for these, though it's hard to tell if it's an IndyPloy.

* PreviouslyOn: At the beginning of part two of two-part episodes; also at the beginning of some arc episodes, recapping previous points of the arc.

* PurelyAestheticGlasses: Jarod frequently dons a pair as part of his various guises.
* RaisedInALab: Believing that some children were born genuises at "pretending" to be other people, the mysterious laboratory Centre raises up and educates promising youngsters to be Pretenders, geniuses with the ability to become anyone they want to be. Then one day, their star pupil escaped...

* ShoePhone: Jarod's briefcase, which hides a video monitor and discs.
* ShoutOut: Jarod's Character Name Aliases.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: There's always the infrequent reference to an unseen pretend, where Jarod has resolved an unpleasant situation. The most notable may be the one referenced at the start of "Til Death Do Us Part", where Jarod has dealt with [[MonsterClown a clown that molested children]]. According to Broots, the clown was found locked in a tiger cage and with a piece of meat tied to his privates.

%%* MundaneObjectAmazement: Jarod, frequently, in the first couple of seasons.

* NeverHadToys: Jarod never received toys in the Center, to the point their discovery is part of major CharacterDevelopment due to discovery of the outside world.

** Miss Parker is shown to be [[PsychicPowers psychic]] near series' end.
* NiceGuy: As ruthless as he can be to his prey (who are almost always guilty as sin) Jarod is incredibly sweet and kindhearted. This is because Jarod's primary fascination, first and foremost, is people. Human contact and socialization was utterly denied to him.

* NoSocialSkills: Jarod, Angelo, and most of the Centre kids.
* NoodleIncident / NoodleImplements: Jarod drops these all the time. Usually concerning a Pretend he did off-camera.
* NostalgicMusicbox: Miss Parker has one that used to belong to her mother.

* AdventureTowns

* TheAtoner

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Alex]] in the ''Pretender 2001''.

* TheChosenOne: Jarod. Who is [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory Jesus.]] [[WildMassGuessing Or something.]]

* CloningBlues: "Donoterase"

** What happens to Jarod when Mr. Lyle is left unattended.

* CombatStilettos: Miss Parker is fond of these. They also don't keep her from [[FanService running after Jarod]], though they also don't really contribute to her success.
* ConMan: Jarod, using his powers for good.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: Kyle.
* ContinuityCreep / KudzuPlot: And how.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: The Centre's bosses. Also several villains-of-the-week.

* CriminalMindGames: Especially in the early seasons, Jarod was fond of doing this to Miss Parker, Sydney, and Broots.

* CutShort
* DaddysLittleVillain: Miss Parker.
* DarkActionGirl: Miss Parker
* DatingCatwoman: Jarod and Miss Parker.

* DefrostingIceQueen / EmotionlessGirl: Miss Parker.

* TheDrifter
* DysfunctionJunction: See TangledFamilyTree. This show ''runs'' on this trope.
* EngineeredPublicConfession

* EveryoneIsRelated: Is what happens when the writers begin running out of ideas.
* EverythingIsOnline / OmniscientDatabase: Jarod manages to get a great many files from the internet...even things that most likely weren't available online in 1996.

** Mr. Raines & Sydney
** Mr. Lyle & Miss Parker

* EvilCripple: Mr. Raines
* EvilSoundsRaspy: Mr. Raines
* EvilTwin: Mr. Lyle, to [[spoiler: Miss Parker]].
* ExpansionPackPast: Nearly every character, and ''especially'' Jarod.

* FakeGuestStar: Creator/JonGries as Broots

* FiveFiveFive

* IfIWantedYouDead: Miss Parker to Raines.
* ImportantHaircut: Angelo, halfway through his two-part introduction.

* InstantDramaJustAddTracheotomy: Heck, it's the very first [[TheTeaser teaser]] of the series!
* InstantExpert: Justified in Jarod's case; this is the whole point of his character.

* IronicEcho: Jarod often uses these on the VillainOfTheWeek.

* MadScientist: Several of the Centre's employees, definitely including Mr. Raines and arguably also including Sydney.

* MomentKiller: Jarod and Miss Parker can never hold a private conversation for more than a minute.

* MundaneObjectAmazement: Jarod, frequently, in the first couple of seasons.

Not related to the Argentinian series ''Series/LosSimuladores'' (which [[{{Woolseyism}} kinda translates to]] ''The Pretenders'')[[note]] Coincidentally, the basic premise of the show is almost the same with the exception of the character drama down to a bare minimum and no conspiracy plot whatsoever[[/note]], or the band The Music/{{Pretenders}}, or for that matter to the Filipino novel ''Literature/ThePretenders''.

* TheLabRat: Broots

* LaserHallway: Not a very effective one.

* TheMenInBlack: Loads.

* ShesGotLegs: Miss Parker. And she likes to accentuate them with [[CombatStilettos high heels]] and [[MiniDressOfPower miniskirts]]. It leads to a rather [[http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/6857/legsssw.jpg weird scene]] with Mr. Raines.