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'''The Dead Zone''' is an American science fiction/suspense series starring Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny Smith, who discovers he has developed psychic abilities after a coma. The show, credited as "based on characters" from Stephen King's 1979 novel ''The Dead Zone'', first aired in 2002 and is produced by Lions Gate Television and CBS Paramount Television for the USA Network. Season 6 — billed as "the season that changes everything" — premiered on June 17, 2007.
The show was originally commissioned for UPN, but the network later dropped the show and it was picked up instead by USA.^[2] The series was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for its first five seasons. For the sixth season, production jumped across the country to Montréal.^[3]

Contents

Plot

Cast and Characters

Starring

Recurring Guests

Former

Characters

Deviations

Media

Music

DVD Releases

References

External links

Plot

Small-town teacher Johnny Smith is involved in a car accident that leaves him comatose for six years. After regaining consciousness, Johnny begins having visions of the past and future triggered by touching items or people; doctors attribute the visions to activity in a previously unused "dead zone" of his brain that is attempting to compensate for the impaired function of the portions injured in the accident. Johnny also learns that his fiancée, Sarah, gave birth to his son in the interim following the accident, but has since married another man.
With the help of Sarah, her husband Walt, and physical therapist Bruce, Johnny begins using his abilities to help solve crimes. However, his attempts to do good are complicated by intermittent visions of apocalyptic events brought about following the future election of congressional candidate Greg Stillson.

Cast and Characters

Starring

★ Anthony Michael Hall — Johnny Smith (Season 1-)

★ Nicole DeBoer — Sarah Bracknell Bannerman (Season 1-)

★ Connor Price - Johnny 'JJ' Bannerman (Season 6-)

Recurring Guests

★ David Ogden Stiers — Rev. Gene Purdy (Seasons 1-6)

★ Kristen Dalton — Dana Bright (Season 1-2 & 5)

★ Sean Patrick Flanery — Greg Stillson (Seasons 1-6)

★ Bill Mondy — Deputy Roscoe (Season 1-)

★ Spencer Achtymichuk — Johnny 'JJ' Bannerman (Seasons 1-5)

★ Frank Whaley — Christopher Wey (Seasons 2-3)

★ Sarah Wynter — Rebecca Caldwell (Seasons 3-4)

★ Jennifer Finnigan — Alex Sinclair (Season 4 & 6)

Former

★ Laura Harris — Miranda Ellis (Seasons 4-5)

★ Garry Chalk — James Stillson (Seasons 1-4)

★ Chris Bruno — Sheriff Walt Bannerman (Seasons 1-6)

★ Martin Donovan — Malcolm Janus (Seasons 4-6)

★ John L. Adams — Bruce Lewis (Season 1-6)

Characters

★ 'Johnny Smith' is a retired schoolteacher who, as a result of a car accident, has developed psychic abilities. He is played by Anthony Michael Hall. An encounter with a carnival trickster in the first episode (before the car accident) makes it clear Johnny already has some psychic abilities. However, after the coma, their nature changes from ''intuition'' to ''visions'', the latter requiring urgent action, even when personally inconvenient, whereas earlier he only uses his ability on a carnival trickster to amuse his date (Sarah Bracknell).

★ 'Sarah Bracknell Bannerman' (played by Nicole DeBoer), is Johnny's former fiancée and the mother of his biological son, J.J. She married Walt Bannerman during Johnny's coma, and the two are raising the child together. Sarah knew Johnny when they were children, and later taught at the same school as him. Sarah's mother died when she was a teenager, which strained her relationship with her father. As of the end of season 5, Sarah is pregnant with Walt's child. At the beginning of season 6, Sarah gives birth to Walt's daughter and names her Hope.

★ 'Sheriff Walt Bannerman' The relationship between Johnny and Walt is initially very rocky, as Johnny often feels that Walt stole Sarah from him. However, since then as Johnny displays his powers more and more often in law enforcement situations, Johnny becomes an asset to Walt and the two become friends. The name Walt Bannerman is a combination between the name George Bannerman and Walt Hazlett. In the novel, George Bannerman was the sheriff, and Walt Hazlett was the man Sarah married. At the beginning of season 6 episode "Heritage", Walt is killed in a fire at Faith Heritage Chapel. Walt was played by Chris Bruno.

★ 'Bruce Lewis' is a physiotherapist who helps Johnny regain his strength after his coma. Bruce is an open-minded spiritual junkie as a result of a religious upbringing by his pastor father; he is Johnny's best friend and frequently his voice of reason, and may very well be the reason for the divergence in this series when compared to the novel or 1983 movie (Johnny never tried to kill Greg Stillson before the election). Bruce is played by John L. Adams.

★ 'Rev. Gene Purdy' is another original character in the series, a religious leader and head of a prestigious university and foundations funded by Vera Smith, Johnny's mother. Johnny always speculated that Purdy's interest in Vera was for financial gain; however, his powers allow him to discover that Purdy had been in love with her for more than 35 years. Upon Vera's suicide over the grief of the loss of her son, Purdy covered up the incident and made everyone believe she died of a heart attack, thus preserving her dignity in the public eye. Purdy has long been involved with somewhat shady dealings, but is always in the constant service of God. His devotion sometimes clouds his judgment and has even gone as far as to cover up a murder to protect better interests. At the end of the Season 6 episode "Heritage" Purdy leaves Cleaves Mills after being involved in a fire that killed Walt Bannerman and Malcolm Janus at the Faith Heritage Chapel. Rev. Purdy is played by David Ogden Stiers.

★ 'Dana Bright' was a journalist for the Bangor Daily Times. She covered much of Johnny's early work and later became romantically linked with him; she was also in a relationship with Gene Purdy. Dana left the show for some time and her absence was not explained until the 4th episode of the 5th season, "Articles of Faith". Because of her coverage of Johnny, she was able to move on up to reporting for a Boston television station, choosing her career ambitions above her increasingly complex relationship with Johnny. At the end of that episode when she leaves, it is shown that both harbor, to some degree, feelings for each other. Whether she will appear again in the future is unknown. She is played by Kristen Dalton.

★ 'Greg Stillson' is a mentally unstable politician who has taken many illegal steps to secure an election. Upon meeting with Johnny Smith, it became clear that he would become responsible for an apocalyptic event that Johnny has seen in his visions and is trying to prevent. After the death of Malcom Janus (see below), Johnny's visions of a Stillson-created apocalypse have ceased. Greg is played by Sean Patrick Flanery.

★ 'Deputy Roscoe' works for Walt. He is usually first on the scene and very dependable. He is played by Bill Mondy.

★ 'Johnny "J.J." Bannerman' is the biological son of Johnny and Sarah. Sarah was pregnant when Johnny had his accident and she ultimately married Walt Bannerman, who raised J.J. as his own son. As of the third season, Walt and Sarah have told J.J. that Johnny is his real father, and Johnny has taken on more fatherly duties. J.J. was played by Spencer Achtymichuk (Season 1-5) and now played by Connor Price(Season 6-). In the season six episode Big Top Johnny starts to believe that J.J. has powers, but J.J. appears to be covering up his innate abilities. To the audience it is clear that J.J. has the same powers of intuition his father had prior to his coma.

★ 'Malcolm Janus' is a power-broker who believes that Greg Stillson is "destined for great things." His ultimate goal is to place Stillson in the White House. He also gave Rev. Purdy a global sphere of influence, in return for financial support of Stillson's campaigns. He is apparently a member of the Illuminati, as he wears a ring with their symbol. At the beginning of season 6 episode "Heritage", Janus is killed in self-defense by Purdy at Faith Heritage Chapel. Janus was played by Martin Donovan.

★ 'Christopher Wey' is a man from the future who has been comatose since 2003. He wakes after the apocalypse to discover that he has a "dead zone" similar to Johnny's, and that he can communicate with the present-day Johnny when both are in contact with the head of his cane. He is revealed to be in league with a future Johnny Smith and J.J. Wey is played by Frank Whaley.

★ 'Rebecca Caldwell' is a child psychiatrist who met Johnny during his investigation of the murder of her sister Rachel. She has since become his girlfriend and at one point in time, found out that Greg Stillson may have been responsible for her sister's murder and will be responsible for the upcoming apocalypse. As of the third-season finale she has purchased a gun in an attempt to assassinate Stillson. She was stopped by Johnny and discovered that Stillson did not kill Rachel. She left Johnny, seeking to sort things out for herself. She is played by Sarah Wynter.

★ 'Alex Sinclair' is a female psychic who discovered her "dead zone" when she was stung by a swarm of bees (presumably "killer bees") as a child and became hyper-allergic to bee stings and products. She first appears in the fourth season episode "Double Vision" where she and Johnny track down a sniper together. At the end of the episode, it's clear that she and Johnny have developed feelings for each other but she decides that she's not ready to pursue the relationship. She does later appear in the fourth season Christmas episode "A Very Dead Zone Christmas" where the idea of her and Johnny getting together is further explored. Alex is played by Jennifer Finnigan.

★ 'Anna Turner' is the new "sheriff ''pro tem''" of Penobscot County. She is currently investigating the final unofficial case of the recently-deceased Sheriff Walt Bannerman. Anna is played by Cara Buono.

Deviations

★ Johnny's coma is moved from the 1970s to the period of June 6, 1995 to September 1, 2001, and is lengthened from four and a half years to six.

★ Walt Bannerman is an amalgamation of two characters: the Castle Rock sheriff, George Bannerman, and Sarah's husband, Walt Hazlett.

★ Sarah's son was fathered by Johnny and raised by Walt as his son; in the book, the child is Walt's.

★ His father died in a mental hospital prior to the accident. In the book, his father actually survives him and is neither crazy nor has visions.

★ The season 4 episode "Babble On" leads viewers to believe that Johnny's father had similar visions, which eventually resulted in his being institutionalized. However, by the end of the episode, it is revealed that a young Johnny was the originator of the visions on which his father was acting. The pilot and the original book suggest Johnny had visions before his accident.

★ New characters include physical therapist Bruce Lewis, Johnny's sidekick; and the Rev. Gene Purdy, Johnny's legal guardian. Sarah and Walt also take more prominent roles, instead of leaving Johnny alone for months or years at a time.

★ Though Greg Stillson is mentioned in the pilot episode (in a conversation Reverend Purdy has on the phone), he does not appear onscreen until the final episode of the first season; as of the end of Season 5, Johnny has neither shot him nor planned to do so (outside of visions).
★ With the introduction of Malcolm Janus, it becomes evident that Stillson is a pawn of more sinister forces. In the novel and film, Stillson brought about the apocalypse himself in an act of self aggrandization.

★ Through visions, Johnny receives help from a man (Wey) in the post-apocalyptic future. In this future, it is learned that J.J. and Johnny survive Armageddon, but Johnny has become more cold-hearted and vicious. There is nothing that parallels this in the novel.

★ In the show, Johnny and Sarah's relationship is much more serious prior to the accident; they were engaged, and had been friends since early childhood. In the novel, they went to the same college, but did not actually meet until they began to teach at the same school. Johnny's accident occurred on their third date, just after Sarah had decided to make the relationship more serious.

★ Johnny's abilities are somewhat different in the novel; with two notable exceptions, in the novel he does not have visions. Instead, he gets "flashes"; he just knows something, with a cold hard certainty. They are also more eerie, as when the flashes come he goes into an odd sort of trance that tends to frighten those around him and his touch when getting these flashes discomforts and alarm those he is touching. It makes him more of an outcast and more eager to deny the ability than is the case in the TV show.

★ Johnny has no middle name in the novel, and is specifically referred to at least once as "Johnny-no-middle-initial-Smith"; in the episode "Vortex," Johnny gives his middle name as "Robert."

★ In the novel the "dead zone" refers to Johnny's inability to visualize certain details or objects (in either a vision or a memory), due to brain damage caused by the accident. In the show the "dead zone" is a section of brain that redirected blood flow from the accident.

★ It is suggested that Bruce's friendship with Johnny in the series is a key factor to many of the changes from the original book and movie. In the second-season episode "Zion", Bruce has a vision of an alternate reality where he chose another career path and did not help Johnny recover after he woke from his coma. In this reality Johnny tries to kill Greg Stillson just as he does in the original book and movie.

Media

Music

★ In the pilot episode, "Wheel of Fortune," the music class practices the song "Mr. Sandman." In the same episode, Johnny and Sarah make out in his car to "Sleep Walk" a song by Santo & Johnny , which also featured in the Stephen King movie "Sleepwalkers."

★ The theme song from Seasons 1-3 is "New Year's Prayer" by Jeff Buckley.

★ The new theme song since Season 4 is "Dead Zone Epic" by Blues Saraceno.

★ The Promos for Season 4 featured the song "Brace Yourself" by Howie Day.

★ The Promos for Season 5 featured the song "By My Side" by INXS.

★ The Promos for Season 6 feature the song "Touch Me" by The Doors.

DVD Releases

Lions Gate Home Entertainment has released the first 5 seasons of ''The Dead Zone'' on DVD in Region 1. In Region 2, Paramount Home Entertainment has released the first two seasons on DVD thus far.

DVD Name	Ep #	Region 1	Region 2	Additional Information
Season 1	13	June 17 2003	January 30 2006	★ 'Genesis'- The creators of the series explain how The Dead Zone came to be. ★ 'Writing'-A featurette that takes you inside meetings with the writing staff as they outline each episode. ★ 'Music And Special Effects'- An in-depth tour of The Dead Zone's amazing visual effects. ★ Never before seen interviews with various guest stars ★ Commentary on all 13 episodes.
Season 2	19	June 8 2004	May 1 2006	★ Production Commentary for all 19 episodes ★ The Making of an Episode ★ Cast & Crew Interviews ★ Never-before-seen interviews with directors and guest stars ★ Deleted Scenes ★ Storyboards
Season 3	12	June 7 2005	Feb 12 2007	★ Commentaries for all 12 episodes ★ Featurettes: HD Conversion and Wacky Caterers ★ Deleted Scenes ★ Short Film ("Five Minutes 'Til Mitch") Directed by John L. Adams with Intro.
Season 4	12	June 13 2006	July 23 2007	★ 'The production design of The Dead Zone' featurette ★ Audio commentaries ★ Deleted scenes
Season 5	11	June 5 2007		★ 'The Other side of the Camera' explores the directorial debut of series stars Chris Bruno and John L. Adams. ★ 'A Day With JLA' is a guided tour of a typical day on set with series star John L. Adams. ★ Audio Commentaries

References

1. 2004 3rd Directors Guild of Canada Awards
2. Forecast 2002
3. ''Dead Zone'' Changes Scenery

External links

★ Official USA Network site

★

★ ''The Dead Zone'' on TV Squad