Re: There's a reason --
that's okay Rod...
Personally speaking, The Pretender was yet another attempt (a successful one!) by the powers that be to bring about good family entertainment with action/drama/suspense/humor and the like... without making it stale, or CSI/Dr. Quincyish.
The history of television is filled with these types of shows. By no means, was Quantum Leap alone in this field. Yes, like almost all tv shows, it started out with a premise and ended it (mostly) with the conclusion to that one issue, but also brought about a Soap Operaish quality of a continuing storyline, where you get to know the characters a bit more each story that happens. But Q.L. didn't own the rights to this format!
The Pretender was another story that followed the same BASIC premise...
*Jared was born a gifted child.
*Sam Beckett was too.
*Jared was taken from his family when he was ten years old.
*Not the same with Sam, although he distanced himself from his family in his quest for knowledge and discovery.
*Jared was used and lied to by the organization that he worked for... The Centre.
*Sam took control of his own experiment, fearing the cancellation by the nozzles in command.
*Jarod learned that thousands of people died to to the many scenarios that he personally invented.
*Sam realized that he had the ability to not only interact with the past, but he could make changes in the timeline.
*Jarod is on a journey of self-discovery.
*Sam is as well, thanks to his swiss-cheese memory. But he got better as the series progressed, as did Jarod.
*Jarod helps the weaker, the down-trodden, as he himself once was.
*Sam's a perpetual boy scout.
*Jarod has an older mento figure that he reaches out to for a bit of advice, but mostly he's a base - a living embodiment of an umbelical cord (sp?)
*Sam has not only Al, but a whole section of people that are trying desperately to get him home.
* Jarod has a hell-bent biatch (Miss Parker) that won't rest until he's back and she can get her own revenge.
* Some might equate her with the nozzles at command for Quantum Leap..
* Jarod actually BECOMES the people he's pretending to be, if only for a short while.
* Sam leaps into people that are those certain characters... and if he doesn't know how to do it, he doesn't!! Al might be able to help here and there, but mostly, it's Sam just muddling throu it all.
Yes, there are tons of similarities, but in no way did I ever think of that show as a rip off. Jarod could get quite vengeful, whereas Sam was kind, and tried not to take a life if he didn't have to. Jarod usually chose his next assignments, where Sam didn't. Jarod couldn't 'fix things that had gone wrong in the past' but could instead make it right for the future... by making the guilty ones that were responsible... pay!
Jarod and Sam had one other real similarity... although not distanced by space and time, they both couldn't touch the immediate family that they missed. Like Sydney or Jarod's mother... or Sam and Al.
Matt