User reviews

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.

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.

"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

Another great tv show cancelled by idiots..

This one ends on a cliffhanger as can be expected...

Definitely a missed opportunity.

I was very skeptical when I sat down to watch this. I loved the book when I read it a long time ago, but had a hard time imagining how the concept could possibly be stretched over a series. Nor had I heard anything about the show, and its currently in its fifth season.

The pilot is taken from the book, an excellent dramatization of Stephen Kings thriller, and a perfect appetizer for those of us who has read it. Then the series continues on its own, and although it occasionally suffers from the absence of the original author, most episodes are excellent -- Sporting engaging plots and good acting.

I consider 'Dead zone' among the best cinematic productions based upon the works of Stephen King, right up there with 'Storm of the century'

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

The Dead Zone is an excellent show. Cutting-edge graphics and subject matter, interesting twists on each show, plus compelling continuing story lines threaded throughout the individual episodes, make this a great watch. Kudos to the creators (Michael Piller and his son Shawn, who is carrying on his legacy) and actor/producer Anthony Michael Hall (he's come a long way since "Sixteen Candles") plus the rest of the excellent cast. The show has improved with every season, as the cast chemistry increases, rather than fades, and the story lines become even more creative instead of growing stale. Great TV in an era of yawn-same-old-same-old detective/mystery/police shows. Set it on your DVR like me and NEVER MISS ONE EPISODE!!!

Besides Medium, i like this one too. The creation of psychic powers is much much different from any other psychic drama, thats is the main factor i like from this drama. Moreover, with anthony performance, making it more interesting. Every episodes is very dramatic, fast pacing, and theres a little boring scene, im sure. Wish it for more longer but well it is USA network drama, maybe they have a little budget except the psychic effect, i love it.

The Dead Zone has managed to keep its episodes fresh over the years and that has made it interesting to watch. The way the lead character's "psychic" ability is limited allows stories to unfold in unpredictable ways.

The series is basically about a man who wakes up from a long coma with a new ability. He can touch people and things and get flashes of their background - often things that deal with something important that has or will happen to them.

This gives him a reason to pursue finding out more so he can make a positive difference. What keeps the stories interesting is that his flashes are limited and uncontrolled - he can't just "get the answer" to something. He gets bits and pieces which are also sometimes not in sequential order. It's a little bit like the "CSI" shows, but with a little more novelty.

The F/X used are really interesting too. During his flashes, he's sometimes able to get them to 'freeze'. Then he can actually walk around the whole scene while all motion is stopped (including things in midair). Nicely done.

The only part that is a little bit of a negative is his bizarre extended relationship with his former girlfriend, her (and his) son and her husband; it's a little too weird and adds nothing to the show.

If you like good stories dealing with "psi" (short for psychic) or "CSI"-type shows where bits of evidence take the stories in unpredictable directions, you should check out this series.

I wanted to second the opinion expressed by Dr_Hieronymus from Orlando, FL, but my buttons weren't working. So, I guess I'll just do it here:

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"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."

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As I said, I agree. USA, please get reliable with your good shows.

THE DEAD ZONE is a fairly good television series. Anthony M. Hall does a fine job and the charisma and personality of his charactor easily carries the occasional slow plot.

It is a good guess that this series is filmed somewhere far from the state of Maine. Most characters with speaking parts have Long Island or New York accents. Unlike real life northern Maine, the Bangor, Maine seen in THE DEAD ZONE is very multi-cultural place. In reality, the small cities of Maine have two main ethnic groups, the French (French Canadians) and regular people.

I think most fans of Fantasy drama will enjoy this series.

I somewhat liked the series, but it is inconsistent in it's quality. The actors are good for the most part, but many of the episodes can be just convoluted messes. Did Frederico Fellini have a hand in some of them? There were times where Johnny played multiple roles that jumped around and it felt like the director was purposely trying to see how annoying and confusing he could be to the audience. Sometimes the star was the perp, sometimes himself, somethimes everybody in the scenes. It would be nice to have some consistency in how he sees his predictions. We had to fast forward a number of episodes that were just plain stupid in their visions.

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 above said it all. But my review is apparently too short so I'm going to add: These characters feel real, I can relate to their thoughts and actions unlike many other shows.

The intro annoys me: "I had the perfect life until I was in a coma for 6 years. And then I woke up and found my fiance married to another man. My son doesn't know who I am". Which son? According to the book they did not have sex until after the coma which he was "only in for 4,5 years.

As I'm writting this I'm watching the last episode of the first season (Aw man, I will soon have to get up to switch dvd ...). The pilot was surprisingly true to the book and the last episode was inspired by it, but the only thing the episodes in between had in common with King's novel was Johnny

In these Corona times, I read the book last week (and got disappointed with the movie). I started on the series yesterday and will probably watch it all before I'm allowed to go back to work.

It's kind of funny to see Rusty Griswold / Brian Johnson as an adult. I don't remember seeing him since Edward Scissorhands (1990) :-)

I love the concept and really enjoyed watching it. It's a shame it was cancelled!

Awesome start after some episodes are so confused but had done a good job