Favorite TV shows

Does anyone watch The Pretender?

My roommate is a big fan of this show--watches it every day. So I watch it too sometimes. It's pretty interesting and unique, as far as I can tell, though half the time I don't know what's going on...

The Simpsons
Futurama
Titus
That 70s Show
Haunted History
History's Mysteries
'Allo, 'Allo
MASH
The various Star Trek series
Win Ben Stein's Money
Hogan's Heroes
Junkyard Wars

I also like a lot of the misc programming on TLC, Discovery and History Channels

i used to watch Pretender but had to get out of it because of a very rough (mentally, not academically) senior year. they cancelled it on NBC down here - are you watching it on cable or an indie station? i liked that show & want to get back in, even if it's just in reruns.

aryne *

I think it's on cable...TNT? and I'm not sure if it's reruns or new episodes (are there new episodes?)...they seem to show it at different points in the story at different times of day--that helps confuse me a lot.

i recently found Pretender on an independant regular-TV station down here, but of course it's on at a horribly inconvenient time...

aryne *

Yes, we watch it on TNT at 5 pm mdt. I like it pretty well, but what exactly IS the Centre? What's the point? I have not yet been able to figure this out, and my roommate doesn't know either, for all she's watched it for I don't know how long. And what's the role of Miss Parker's dad? Maybe the point is to just be mysterious and not know.

YES!! Somebody besides me watches Pretender!! Elanor, The Center, so far as I can tell, is a group of people (think Shadow Government types, but better organized and we assume, privately owned) which develops technologies, weapons, and people for its' own ends and profits along the way to those ends. About Mr. Parker, his purpose is unclear, but I get an impression that he is higher ranking than we are ever allowed to know. Sure is useful for a writer when dramatic tension is needed. I swear, every time they have had a bad ratings dip, the writers have found someone else for that creep to sell out and there go the ratings. Luckily, they do have good writers on the series. It's stopped first run production, but TNT will be making a couple of two hour Pretender movies, same cast, etc. So maybe some questions will get answered in those. If the movies do well, TNT has an option to make more new epis and up to 4 movies total. So tell your roomie to watch for them . My favorite TV shows are: anything Star Trek( no particular order) Pretender, Highlander, and biography and Sherlock Holmes.

Pretender movies? on TNT? grr, now i need to get some cable-blessed friend to tape them...

Elanor & X Rogue, my theory is that Mr. Parker, and Raines too, are just below the Triumvirate in power - or maybe members in disguise (the Triumvirate = The People In Charge). i think Mrs. Parker knew a hell of a lot too (maybe another high-up person?), that's why she knew enough to get some of the kids out of the Centre & why she was killed. i have theories on why she died too, but they're a little far-fetched.

as for Mr. Parker selling people out, sometimes it's very useful for writers to have a "do-something-evil" character that they can do ANYTHING nasty with. in a show like Pretender where most of the Bad Guys are invisible, someone tangible who does evil things can be seen as even more evil. not only do we see Mr. Parker's bad behavior but that of The System, & THEIR actions get projected onto Mr. Parker, because he's the one we SEE Being Bad. he's a figurehead of menace & sneaky Centre acts; of course he has his own share of evil deeds done.

aryne *

Oh, yeah, I like the way they have written Mr. Parker in, and I like Harve Presnell's acting in the part too. It has been very consistent on both counts, and I keep watching and wondering, "What is that creep going to pull next?" I used to think Mr. Lyle was the worse of the two, but no more. I probably shouldn't say that I like the show as much as I do though. I am a TV jinx. Every time I say I like a show, it gets cancelled. I told my mom she should watch Pretender, and it wasn't two weeks later I heard that that season would be the last and NBC was pulling the plug.Good thing TNT picked it up. And another good thing I wasn't around during ST:TOS's first run. I woulda killed it for certain. I believe that the first Pretender movie is coming January 2001, aryne. So you have a bit of time to get someone to tape it. The scuttlebutt is that they will go back to the beginning, Jarod's kidnapping and Jarod and Miss Parker's childhoods in the Centre. Do you know that the ability to be a Pretender results from a particular gene complex and that according to a third season episode, Miss Parker has the complex and was slated to receive treatments as a child to make her into one? The kid ahead of her in line (Angelo) reacted adversely and became an empath instead of a Pretender, so that line of research was shut down and Miss Parker was kept around to work for the Centre instead. (And presumably to pass on her gene complex if necessary.) Evidently, the complex is passed heavily in the maternal line, because Mrs. Parker had it too. Or major components thereof. Evidently there is something about the paternal line that activates it, but there is no definitive rule as yet. Oh well,as you can see, I rahter like mysteries and knowing the whys and wherefores.

i didn't know that - must have missed that episode. i knew about the Timmy/Angelo thing though & how he reacted to the treatment.

by Jan 2001 i might have cable - that's good -

aryne *

Well, that clears a few things up, but I'm still confused! Oh well, I probably just haven't seen enough of it. I've only watched it about 10-15 times. How long is the series and where are they in it now, relatively? In the last few episodes I've seen, Miss Parker found out Mr. Lyle was her brother, and Jarod helped the kids with the nasty missile-making father.

We are in the middle of the third season and there are four seasons,
with 86 total episodes. The end of third season epis were pretty
good and had some interesting twists in them, so watch for them,
or you may get more confused than ever. The next episode or two
on TNT are going to begin some good plot/characterization lines
also. Try looking for pretender pages/directories on the web,
it may help that I'm- lost feeling.

... three reasons why Canada produces the world's best TV political
comedy...

1) Royal Canadian Air Farce
2) This Hour
Has 22 Minutes
3) Double Exposure

The above shows
are primarily run on Canadian government-owned television, and
make their living ridiculing the Canadian government and the
politicians thereof.

Isn't socialism great?

The West Wing
Seinfeld (reruns)
ER
Third Watch
Who's Line Is It Anyway
The Practice
Made In Canada
DaVinci's Inquest

juntel, a man with taste (even though he used the gollum smilly)

hey, juntel's back!

aryne *

maybe we should have a Pretender thread...I just wanted to mention how much I enjoyed the season ending (at least I think it was a season ending) that I just watched! Jarod has a clone! It was extremely wacky. Now things are basically back to normal, except Mr Lyle seems to be one of the leaders, Major Charles is out somewhere with the clone (what are you supposed to call the clone?), Broots has a crush on Miss Parker (maybe he did before but I never knew about it) and there's this Mr White person...and Mr Parker seems to be hiding out somewhere...anyway, it's very cool.

When my one roommate watched this every day at the start of the semester, we were slightly curious; now all six girls in the apartment are just as addicted! :lol:

Yeah it was a season ending. Now we are in the first epis of season four, which was quite good despite being a short season. And a pretender thread would be nice. Oh and if you don't mind a graphics intensive page, try www.mydaily planet.com/frntpg.htm for pretender info(sorry, but I've no idea how to make that a link). That's a good page to use for Pretender info. The clone never really gets a name that I know of (I call him Jarod mark Two), and Broots has always had it bad for Miss Parker, he just never dared let is show till now. He's still scared of her though.

I always miss all the good shows by doing stuff on my computer all day long.

That's why I only watch late series like Millenium and the X-files... Late Night with Conan O'Brien... South Park...

[Meriadoc Brandybuck]

*pokes thread*
Hogan's Heroes
Monk
Psych
Mythbusters
Burn Notice
Hell's Kitchen
Supernanny
Deadliest Catch
What Not to Wear