Talk:The Dead Zone (TV series)

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[edit] Money

I've been wondering for a while: where does Johnny's money come from? Was it left to him by his mother?

Yes, it was a trust fund that she established for Johnny before she died. It's being managed by Purdy.--LifeStar 20:50, 5 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Opening Credits

Has anyone noticed that several scenes in the opening credits that never aired on the show? The tear drop at the beginning for example. I don't remember seeing that in any of the episodes from Season 1 thru 3. Can anyone varify this, and the other shots from the credits that aren't in the show. I just bought the seasons and didn't notice them in any episode. Bignole 18:30, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Will Dead Zone make it to another season?

So I've been disappointed that the dead zone has been on weird rotation on the USA network lately, and that the last two seasons had a low # of episodes compared to seasons 1 and 2. I thought the first two seasons were great, why have season 3 and 4 been around 11-13 episodes now? Why is season 5 also at about 11 episodes? Is USA trying to kill this show now since NBC owns USA and has their own "Medium"? --LifeStar 13:59, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Unlikely. Season 1 was also only 13 episodes, Season 2's 19 episodes is more of a fluke. Dead Zone is a summer TV series, so like The 4400, Monk, and Psych, it has a shorter season than is normal for US television. The first half of Season 2 was a winter broadcast at that, like the second of of the last 4 seasons of Monk, or similar to Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. It's their way of increasing viewers, by broadcasting their shows when the fall-spring shows aren't. So have no fear, Dead Zone probably isn't going anywhere. 24.61.233.134 18:37, 30 July 2006 (UTC)
A friend of mine met Anthony Michael Hall at a recent horror/sci-fi convention in New Jersey, and Hall was informing fans that the sixth season is going to be the show's last. :( Michael24 18 December 2006

[edit] Others

I remove "Johnny's mother dies from suicide, not a stroke". In TV Show, she dies from suicide, and Prody(?) try to hide, but in the middle of 1st Season John discovers the truth.

[edit] -> from main

No citations etc, all pretty poor, moved from main article. Matthew 23:07, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Notes and Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.


  • The Sony Playstation 2 game Ratchet: Deadlocked was referenced in Season 4's holiday special.
  • Anthony Michael Hall was cast after executive producer Michael Piller saw his performance in Pirates of Silicon Valley.
  • The cane Johnny uses previously appeared (with a different head) in two other King adaptations; it was carried by Stu Redman in The Stand and by Andre Linoge in Storm of the Century.
  • The show's creator, Michael Piller, also co-created "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993), of which Nicole DeBoer was also a cast member.
  • Michael Moriarty was originally cast in the role of Reverend Eugene 'Gene' Purdy.
  • Jack Nicholson is a fan of the show and was asked to play the character of Joe/Death in the episode "Ascent". Unfortunately, he was committed to promoting About Schmidt (2002) at the time.
  • In a piece of quirky casting, the season two episode "Playing God" featured Ally Sheedy in a supporting role. Series star Anthony Michael Hall starred together in the 1980s John Hughes classic teen flick The Breakfast Club, portraying fellow high school students in detention. "Playing God" reunites these two actors once again as Johnny attends his high school reunion and meets up with Sheedy's character, a potential love interest of his from his high school days. Also featured in this episode is John Kapelos, who played the janitor in The Breakfast Club.
  • Started originally as a pilot for UPN in the Fall of 2001 which never aired. When UPN decided not to pick the series, the cable USA network took it on.
  • The cabin in the episode "The Mountain" was originally built for the film Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
  • In the episode "Dead Men Tell Tales", the casino logo is the same picture as the drum and wall painting in "Shaman".
  • Anthony Michael Hall is the only actor to appear in every episode.
  • There are several scenes, during the opening credits, that never appear in any episode of the show.
  • As of Season 5, the primary Dead Zone web site features blogs by both several of the creators, and even blogs written by Johnny himself. Each entry in Johnny's blog corresponds to the events of the last episode, giving readers insight to Johnny's feelings in the aftermath of the episodes' events.
  • Two new writers hired in January 2007 are Sam and Jim from the Sam and Jim go to Hollywood podcast. Their podcast chronicled the trials of two guys who gave up their successful restaurant businesses in Minnesota to get a screenwriting job in LA. Now that they have the job, they report on what the writers room is like.

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:The Dead Zone TV2.jpg

Image:The Dead Zone TV2.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 06:21, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Rationale added to image article. Johnmc (talk) 12:05, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Olympus Digital Cameras

Is it just me, or do these pop up often in Dead Zone episodes? Luis Dantas (talk) 20:17, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Removed section

I removed the following info as it was uncited It must have them to return to the article; otherwise, its OR: * 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. It is later revealed that his father is alive and suffering from Alzheimer's, his visions are being used by Stillson to gain power. 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. The father turns out to be alive and not only had visions but also the source of information for Stillson machinations.
  • 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, which proves a farce created by Stillson, who all along was the one in control as seen at the end of season 6.
  • 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.

- Arcayne (cast a spell) 05:34, 15 February 2008 (UTC)