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the Pretender
SEASON 1
20th Century Fox PRESENTS
Release Date: March
22, 2005
MSRP Price: $39.98
Amazon Price: $27.99
Costco Price: $31.99
Sam's Club: $32.52
22 Season 1 Episodes
Format: full-screen
Studio: Fox Home Entertainment
Run Time: 1078 minutes
Number of Discs - 4
Sound - Dolby Digital
2.0
Fox
Home Entertainment
20th Century Fox
the PRETENDER Season 1
Rating: B
Video: A
Audio: B
Content: A
Acting: A
Bonus Material: C
Overall: A
STARS: Michael
T. Weiss, Andrea Parker, Patrick Bauchau, Jon Gries, Ryan Merriman,
Paul Dillion, Harve Pressnell
I never realized until
I began reviewing dvd boxed sets just how many series I really
enjoyed through the years. The Pretender is one of those series. It
was hard to know what to expect when the series premiered in 1996.
While the ratings hovered around the mid-six figures the show had a
huge fan base. Yeah, I was one of the fans and watched the show religiously.
The show was a simple
what will I be this week series, but the side story with the Centre
is what kept me so interested. The episodes were well written and
the background music entertaining. The most visual person on the
series was Andrea Parker who played Ms. Parker. During the early
episodes the leggy brunette dressed heavily in mini-skirt style
suits, puffing on cigarettes and terrorizing everyone she comes in
contact with. She is indeed the gem of the series portraying women
as strong, vibrant and confident.
Micheal T. Weiss, like
David James Elliott of JAG, are under appreciated actors loaded with
talent. It's amazing over the last nine years the material these
guys haven't done. The entire cast of the series work well together.
The trio of Joh Gries (Running Scared, Real Genius, Monster Squad),
Patrick Bauchau (Kindred, the Embraced) and Andreas Parker (Less
Than Perfect) are quite the bomb. They play so well off of each
other you find yourself wishing to see more of them together than
focusing on Jarod.
The Pretender is a
treat to watch and an easy way to pass several hours viewing the
discs. It's great to see the series make its way to dvd.
PACKAGING
Fox Entertainment has done a wonderful
job with the packaging for the first season of the Pretender. The
outer dvd slide box is a montage of mini-pictures with a photo of
Michael T. Weiss as Jarod blended in. Very nice.
VIDEO:
I was impressed with the quality of the 1996 video tape transfer.
The video is in full-screen format unlike most new shows coming to
dvd today. The blemishes in the video are minimal. There are bits of
pieces of dirt or debris here and there but over all it's
outstanding video. The colors are vibrant, smooth and does not
suffer from bleed over. I am not particularly fond of the dual side
burns the studios are using but it keeps the prices down - and
that's good news for fans.
AUDIO:
The audio looks like Dolby digital
2.0. There is nothing in the series that requires a digital 5.1
transfer. The gigital transfer in 2.0 sounds excellent.
BONUS FEATURES:
The boxed set isn't loaded with much in the way of extras. it's not
something I feel is really needed.
SUMMARY:
Season one of Pretender gets flying colors from me. The series is
intriguing as well as entertaining. It's more than you can ask from
many of the series today. TBS purchased the rights to the show and
did two telefilms which continued the mystique of the Pretender. The
ratings were decent but TBS changed the direction they wanted to go
and abandoned the franchise. Even today the ratings for repeats of
the show do well in the syndicated ratings. The show, despite
ratings of 6.5 in the final season, was canceled by NBC since they
wanted to premiere the XFL. What stupid ass decision.
What's on the
Discs?
Disc#
1 - Side A
Pilot
Every Picture Tells A Story
Flyer
Curios Jarod
Disc#
1 - Side B
The
Paper Clock
To Protect & Serve
Making of Featurette - Part One
Disc#
2 - Side A
A
Virus Among Us
Not Even A Mouse
Mirage
Better Part of Valor
Disc#
2 - Side B
Bomb
Squad
Prison Story
Making of Featurette - Part Two
Disc#
3 - Side A
Bazooka
Jarod
Ranger Jarod
Jaroldo
Under the Reds
Disc#
3 - Side B
Keys
Unhappy Landings
Making of Featurette - Part 3
Disc#
4 - Side A
Jarod's
Honor
Baby Love
Pretender Television Spots
Disc#
4 - Side B
Dragon
House Part 1
Dragon House Part 2
the PRETENDER
Overall
Rating: A
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