One of NBC's Saturday-night superheroes, The Pretender, also lives in an ethical and moral way, but he is the one new TV protagonist who never hesitates.

Held captive by a corporation since he was a child because of his gift for getting inside people's minds, Jarod Russell (Michael T. Weiss) escapes to become a '90s version of The Equalizer. In the pilot, he uses his abilities to "pretend" and infiltrates a hospital to expose a corrupt doctor. Call it Touched by a Smart Guy.

"Nobody takes responsibility in this world, and here's a guy who steps up for people who can't fend for themselves," says Craig W. Van Sickle, executive producer/creator. "From that aspect, it's going to be a very satisfying, visceral experience for the audience. We' re not approaching this from a paranoid, paranoia point of view. It' s more from the hopeful point of view."

"I like to think that intrinsically people's nature is somewhat good," Mr. Weiss adds. "If I saw some kid falling down the stairs, my first reaction would be to catch him. My guess would be 90 percent of humanity has the same impulse."

Adding to the hopefulness is Jarod's naivete. He doesn't know who his parents are, and he searches for his identity even as he fights injustice and outwits his former captors. His innocence extends to the little things we take for granted. For instance, he has never tasted ice cream.

"It's not like he's a tough guy," says Mr. Van Sickle's partner, Steven Long Mitchell. "There's no gunplay. If you tell a kid that people are starving in Ethiopia, he goes, `They can have half my lunch.' It's almost that simple."

Of all the new paranoid fantasy shows, The Pretender may have the most hit potential. Like ER, it's looks both new and familiar. While acknowledging public perceptions about the darkness of our times, it also provides an easy-to-swallow solution: a brilliant, innocent hero.

"The minute we became a global society, especially now that we' re all connected up with the Internet, people wanted to believe in something a little more interesting than their earthbound lives," Mr. Weiss says. "Suddenly we've mastered our world. That's why fantasy is becoming really important. We all want to believe there is something profounder."

© 1996 The Dallas Morning News All Rights Reserved
Manuel Mendoza / Staff Critic of The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News, 08-04-1996, pp 1C.