Scripted series · NBC
The Pretender
Hero of a thousand faces. Man of a thousand lives.
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
Michael T. Weiss
Jarod
86 eps
Andrea Parker
Miss Parker
86 eps
Patrick Bauchau
Sydney
86 eps
Jon Gries
Broots
86 eps
Ryan Merriman
Young Jarod
20 eps
Harve Presnell
Mr. Parker
5 eps
James Denton
Mr. Lyle
36 eps
Pamela Gidley
Brigitte
17 eps
Sam Ayers
Sam the Sweeper
32 eps
Paul Dillon
Angelo
23 eps
Richard Marcus
Mr. Raines
45 eps
Ashley Peldon
Young Miss Parker
12 eps
John Beasley
Janitor at NuGenesis
2 eps
Tyler Christopher
Ethan Clausen / Mirage
2 eps
Linda Carlson
Harriet Tashman
2 eps
James Tolkan
FBI Special Agent Korkos
2 eps
Lisa Cerasoli
Zoe
3 eps
Jesse Head
J.R. Miller
2 eps
Jason Brooks
Thomas Gates
7 eps
Haley Joel Osment
Davey Simpkins
2 eps
Paul Eiding
Bernie Baxley
2 eps
Judith Hoag
Captain Angela Wiley
2 eps
Kara Zediker
Ivy (archive footage)
2 eps
George Lazenby
Major Charles
4 eps
Jeremy Roberts
Efram Bartlett
2 eps
Leigh Taylor-Young
Michelle Lucca Stamatis
3 eps
Kenneth Mars
Benny
2 eps
Dean Norris
Sheriff Whalen
2 eps
Keene Curtis
Mr. Fenigor
4 eps
Zachary Browne
Young Kyle
3 eps
Jake Lloyd
Young Angelo / Timmy
5 eps
Cali Timmins
Rebecca Simons (uncredited)
2 eps
John Billingsley
Kenny (archive footage)
2 eps
Jon Polito
Ben Hansel
2 eps
Jim Haynie
Ben Miller
2 eps
Jonathan Hernandez
Billy Lomax (archive footage)
2 eps
Kim Myers
Jarod's Mother
10 eps
Jay Acovone
Det. Stan Wilkins
2 eps
Lenny Von Dohlen
Mr. Cox
5 eps
Robert Curtis Brown
Mr. Brewster
2 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How The Pretender actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
The Pretender reads strongest on Character Depth, World Building and Bingeability.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
Raised in a secret facility built for experimenting on children, Jarod is a genius who can master any profession and become anyone he has to be. When he realizes as an adult that he's actually a prisoner and his captors are not as benevolent as he's been told, he breaks out. While trying to find his real identity, Jarod helps those he encounters and tries to avoid the woman sent to retrieve him.
The run
Seasons
4 seasons · 86 episodes.
Season 0 · Complete
Specials
20012 episodes
Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
199622 episodes
7.5IMDbBest episode · S01E01 Pilot
Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
199722 episodes
7.8IMDb
Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
199822 episodes
7.6IMDb
Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
199920 episodes
8.2IMDbBest episode · S04E09 'Til Death Do Us Part
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
S00E02
The Pretender: The Island of the Haunted
S00E01
The Pretender 2001
S04E20
The Inner Sense (2)
S04E19
The Inner Sense (1)
S04E18
Corn Man A Comin'
S04E17
Meltdown
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
Craig W. Van Sickle
Showrunner
- Photo unavailable
Steven Long Mitchell
Creator
- Photo unavailable
Eric Morris
Writer
Juan Carlos Coto
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Joel Metzger
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Paul Jackson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Lawrence Meyers
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Tommy Thompson
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Chris Ruppenthal
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Javier Grillo-Marxuach
Writer
Daniel Truly
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Ivan Tell
Writer
- Photo unavailable
Tony Blake
Writer
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Juan Carlos CotoProducer
- Craig W. Van SickleProducer
- Jan DeWittProducer
- Steven Long MitchellProducer
Writing
- Eric MorrisWriter
- Juan Carlos CotoWriter
- Joel MetzgerWriter
- Paul JacksonWriter
- Lawrence MeyersWriter
- Craig W. Van SickleWriter
Direction
- Michael T. WeissDirector
- Jesús Salvador TreviñoDirector
- Michael ZinbergDirector
- Chuck BowmanDirector
- Gabrielle BeaumontDirector
- Jim CharlestonDirector
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- Fandango At HomeBuy
If you liked this
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Where to go from here
Watch Next
Our editors' suggestion for the show you should start tonight — and why.
FROM
2022
Continue the epic fantasy journey with another world worth getting lost in.
Grimm
2011
Another invented world built with the same seriousness — start at episode one.
Suits
2011
Where our editors would send you after the credits roll.
Reacher
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Another morally complex epic for anyone who wanted more grey.
Stranger Things
2016
Another invented world built with the same seriousness — start at episode one.
Game of Thrones
2011
If the world-building is what held you, this is the next map to walk.
Never stop watching
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