I am a sheep!

[eve11]

So... astrogirl2 has reminded me that I did like watching The Pretender back when it was airing: actually I'm quite sure I saw it in syndication around '99 or 2000: I'd seen some early episodes now that I'm rewatching them, but also some later ones with a bunch of characters I didn't know. In that way I guess I watched it the same way I first watched Farscape; in 4-episode chunks that were internally consistent but grossly out of order from day to day. Still, I got season 1 on DVD and watched the Pilot and the second episode; I'd seen the second episode but not the pilot. (ETA: oh I forgot to mention the giant cordless phones! So strange that 1996/1997 is looking so dated)

Now I'm watching the third episode, only a little ways in. Jarod is pretending to be a fighter pilot, and for some reason (which I'm sure in a Chekov-ian way will be of some kind of import to the plot or to the metaphors of the plot), the airplane hangar mechanic has a bunch of those sterograph pictures clipped to a board in his workspace. Ha! The Pretty Lady Guest Character of this episode mentions she can't ever see them, and Jarod looks at three of them (a pink one, a blue one and an orange one) in quick succession and says: "Hm, Penguin at the Sphinx, Penguin riding a camel... Penguin on a Nile Barge, now there's something you don't see every day!"

Heh. Out of curiosity I paused the DVD as best I could on them and what do you know they still work even through the film! Except the pink one was some kind of car (I think), the orange one was definitely dinosaurs (a T-Rex, a velociraptor and some Pterodactyls flying in the sky), and the blue one was a wolf howling at a 3-D moon on a cliff ledge, and I'm pretty sure there was a sheep standing next to it for some reason. Go figure.

We'll see if they actually cop to this as the episode unfolds ;)

Comments

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I still haven't seen past the second episode in season 3, so for all I know, you've already met characters that I haven't yet. :) But based on this much viewing, and on comments from other people who initially caught bits of it out of order, I think I can confidently say that it's a show that just has to read very, very differently if it's watched sequentially. Because the self-contained bits of plot really aren't the interesting stuff.

We'll see if they actually cop to this as the episode unfolds ;)

They don't. Hope that's not too much of a spoiler. ;) Not that I would have known the difference, myself. I can never see those damned things, either.

I have definitely noticed, by the way, that this show was not produced with DVD freeze-framing in mind. Every time there's a news article displayed on the screen -- which is pretty much every episode -- the text is the same, and has nothing to do with the supposed subject matter. :)

[eve11]

I was still interested in the Centre plots and mythology way more than the "A" plots; I just had to take some things at face value-- eg, random crazy empathic guy? Check. Actually, I guess Angelo's kind of your fandom type, right? Very Stark-esque :)

I can't wait until they ditch the "There are Pretenders Among Us" speech in the opening credits.

I have definitely noticed, by the way, that this show was not produced with DVD freeze-framing in mind. Every time there's a news article displayed on the screen -- which is pretty much every episode -- the text is the same, and has nothing to do with the supposed subject matter. :)

Ha! I'll keep an eye out for that. It certainly was made before the notion of Hi-Def; the DVD hi-quality technique the Hi-def TVs use for regular DVDs makes it look still grainy, but weird too, sometimes fuzzy-edged -- basically the digital equivalent of sewing lace on a burlap sack and calling it a fancy pillowcase.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I was still interested in the Centre plots and mythology way more than the "A" plots; I just had to take some things at face value-

Taking things at face value in the Centre plots doesn't work so well. Learning to just roll with the obviously insane or science fictional stuff, on the other hand, is pretty much essential. :)

Actually, I guess Angelo's kind of your fandom type, right? Very Stark-esque :)

Oh, so very, very, very. Um... very. :)

I can't wait until they ditch the "There are Pretenders Among Us" speech in the opening credits.

Yeah, that was lame. The second season credits are much better.

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Bwah ha ha. She's sucked another of us in.

[(Anonymous)]

I spent a portion of this summer watching The Pretender on Hulu.com. It kind of got to the point where I just wanted Jarod to give Sidney a hug and then get it on with Miss Parker.

[rabswom.livejournal.com]

Oops. That was me.

[lyore.livejournal.com]

Oh, Pretender. So much crazy, and so much awesome.

I can never see those 3D things.

[eve11]

It kind of got to the point where I just wanted Jarod to give Sidney a hug and then get it on with Miss Parker.

ha! I'm sure you can find that plot somewhere on FanFiction.net... ;)

I was watching it on Hulu but I don't want to kill our bandwidth, and I was impatient, and the DVD was only $21 or so, so now I own season 1. Aaaaand will probably own more, eventually.

[eve11]

Yeah, she did. Twist my arm... ;)

[eve11]

I'm enjoying it :) It's cheesey but fun.

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to think there should be a cult headquarters for my second-generation pimpees support group community. That's the ticket. Support group.