Dead Zone

In a word of cardboard characters and poor writing, The Dead Zone is a joy to watch. I have enjoyed every episode and some episodes have been excellent.

The only tragedy with this series is not with the series itself but with the way USA handles the scheduling and marketing. Most of the time I don't know when the season is going to begin or when the new episodes will air. Scheduling is erratic and promotion is often non existent. Someone in the USA main office must not want this show to succeed. Frankly, it's an amazing testament to the show's appeal that it still is in production despite this utter mismanagement.

USA, please recognize the gem you have in both Monk and The Dead Zone and, at the very least, air them on a regular schedule on which we can rely.

This is one of those shows where the main characters are driven to put aside the problems they have with each other because they know that there are more important things. Those are the kind of characters I can enjoy watching. In this case they all know that Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) has real visions not crazy visions or psychic hotline visions, but real visions. And that they can help him thwart the events that would otherwise lead to deaths or disaster if they trust each other and work together. This leads to the compelling stories that aren't about his visions. Sarah (Nicole de Boer) and Johnny were engaged before his car accident turned 6 year coma. However, during that coma she married the local sheriff (Chris Bruno). So watching as Johnny and the sheriff become friends is very interesting. Rev. Gene Purdy (David Ogden Stiers) as the man in charge of Johnny's inheritance is also an interesting study in suspense because the viewer can't tell if he is an imperfect man trying to do good, or someone with malicious intent. Johnny's best friend Bruce (John L. Adams) is someone he can share all his secrets with and their conversation is also where some of the quality humor of the show comes through. This show is definitely one to watch.

I am an enormous Stephen King fan, and it is always with great anxiety that i watch a movie/tv series based on his work. The dead Zone was a great book - a great concept, but tough to translate to screen. The movie made in the 80s with christopher walken was half decent but nothing to write home about.

thankfully - the show is wonderful. Four episodes old and i am completely engrossed. This will be the first time I ever watch a show religiously in the summer. It is wonderfully put together, and though there are bad spots in the dialogue, its is translated well, and they have done a great job with showing the viewer the visions johnny smith finds himself having. they are wonderfully done.

I like how they arent sinking into just having johnny smith solve a murder each week, as evidenced by the latest episodes when he uses his powers to re-unite two long lost lovers (not to mention have an out of body sexual experience). the biggest worry i had was that the show would become very formulaic - and it still might, but hopefully they keep things going the way they are.

the real revelation in this series so far has been anthony michael hall. when i was young i loved this guy - and still love him when i watch "the breakfast club" or "weird science" - but since he has tried to revive his career I have had a tough time accepting him as an adult actor. I kept seeing the kid from the 80s movies. until now. I think he is doing a marvelous job with this part, playing it with a great combination of wide eyed wonder and fear of his new abilities. All of a sudden with this role he seems so believably adult, its kind of amazing. every now and the you can see the kid fro the 80s but for the most part its like watching a new actor. he plays the tortured role excellently - i can't say enough about how impressed I am

so far - this is fantastic and i hope they keep it up and release a dvd.

"The Dead Zone" stands out as one of the better shows on Television today. The acting, especially by Anthony Michael Hall is completely belieavable and dramatic, sucking you into his life and his pains as he see disturbing images of the future and past. This show sometimes gets gory with the images of blood, death, etc. However, it isn't too hard to watch and the amount of blood stays reasonable. The script doesn't stand out as much as the other features. It's still relatively solid, but has some flaws concerning the love between Sara and Johnny, making it a bit too cliche and corny. Sometimes, the script also loses sight of the episode and eventually just spins out to human drama. Other flaws include the occassional boring episode or Hall's performance as Johnny sometimes falls flat. The special effects though, are amazing. When Johnny touches someone and sees the past or future, the editing and the effects quickly change to show what happened or what's going to happen. It's amazing to see it work, everything builds together so well and the effects of murder, or the entire area being frozen with Johnny walking through is spectacular. I applaud the USA channell for restoring Television with the two arguablly greatest shows to watch: "The Dead Zone" and "Monk". 9.5/10

Great hidden gem that past me when it come out. Main actor does a good job. Also really liked the film.