Title: The Dead Zone: USA Network
Original Series Premiere Episode “Wheel Of Fortune”
Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole de
Boer, David Ogden Stiers, John L. Adams, and Chris Bruno
Series Premiere Writers: Michael
Piller and Shawn Piller
Based On Characters Created By: Stephen
King
Director: Robert Lieberman
Executive Producers: Michael Piller,
Lloyd Segan, and Robert Lieberman
Running Time: 42 minutes without
commercials
Media: USA Network Original Television
Series Premiere Episode (NTSC VHS Screener)
Series Premiere Sunday, June 16, 2002,
at 10pm (ET/PT)
Network: USA Network Television (Check
your local cable/satellite listings for channel)
TV Rating: PG
Reviewer: Mark A. Rivera
Synopsis
Johnny
Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) has been leading an idyllic small-town life.
Employed as a science teacher, Johnny takes great pleasure in showing his young
students the wonders of the natural world. He is also newly-engaged to a loving
fiancée named Sarah (Nicole de Boer), a fellow teacher he's known since
childhood, and is a good son to his widowed mother, who lives nearby. Johnny's
life is nearly perfect… until the day his life is interrupted by a near-fatal
car crash that leaves him in a deep coma.
Six
years later, Johnny finally regains consciousness and discovers that life as he
once knew it has completely changed. His mother has passed away, and Sarah has
gone on to marry someone else - and now has a son. But Johnny himself is also
not the same person he once was: he now finds himself in possession of amazing
psychic powers, which allow him to see into the lives of anyone he touches.
Before he even leaves the hospital, he helps save the life of a nurse's daughter
after having a miraculous vision, in which he sees the young girl trapped in the
middle of a raging house fire.
Now,
as Johnny attempts to reacquaint himself with a life he has been away from for
six long years, he must also begin a quest to come to terms with his new
abilities - abilities that may turn out to be both a blessing and a curse.
Helping Johnny make a fresh start are his physical trainer Bruce (John L.
Adams), who also becomes a close friend; his mother's priest, Gene Purdy (David
Ogden Stiers), who sets up a trust fund for Johnny but may not be looking out
for Johnny's best interests; and Sarah, who must find a way to make Johnny a
part of her life again without risking her relationship with her husband (Chris
Bruno) and son.
Review
From
Michael Piller, co-creator and executive producer of more than 500 hours of
programming from the “Star Trek” franchise, “The Dead Zone” is a
twenty-first century update based on characters created by Stephen King from his
novel of the same name. The book was previously adapted in to a feature film by
Canadian Genre Filmmaker and Auteur David Cronenberg and is arguably one of the
best theatrical dramatizations from the 1980s. Anthony Michael Hall delivers a
credible performance as Johnny Smith, who we learn right from the beginning has
had some light ESP like ability since an earlier childhood injury, which sets up
the greatly enhanced abilities Johnny develops after waking up from his six year
coma. While Christopher Walken’s performance in the feature film was somewhat
melancholy if not brooding, Hall brings a lighter sensibility to his portrayal
of Johnny Smith.
The
premiere episode has an overcast look similar to the feature film, but again
there is a more lively sense bought to the series, which is also enhanced by
Nicole de Boer, who wants Johnny to be a part of her life and is more upfront
about it than the previous adaptation and David Ogden Stiers lends his
considerable acting talent and television presence as Reverend Gene Purdy. One
can sense a dichotomy in his character almost immediately with Stiers subtle
acting style that communicates a character that one senses is not a bad guy, but
is he really as sincere as he appears.
Other
elements of interest that update this TV series is the inclusion of a Vietnamese
doctor, who Johnny informs that his mother is still alive instead of the
holocaust survivor scenario from the previous dramatization. The effects are
more refined than the film, but not overtly so. Now we can actually see Johnny
witness events in frozen time and actually pass through the memories of others
like a tourist in a museum. Other upcoming subplots from the book such as the
serial killer and election candidate “Greg Stilson” are mentioned in passing
too. So viewers can expect some familiar elements in future episodes, but at the
same time the pilot opens up Johnny’s world for other interesting
possibilities too. The basic setup is closer to a drama with paranormal
overtones than a paranormal series with dramatic elements, which I think is
refreshing. A human-interest series that just happens to involve the paranormal
but is not a typical paranormal show. Overall “The Dead Zone” shows great
potential.
“The
Dead Zone” premieres on Sunday, June 16, 2002, at 10PM (ET/PT) and will
continue in this regular weekly programming slot on the USA Cable Network. For
additional information visit the official site at www.thedeadzone.net.
“The
Dead Zone” is produced by Lions Gate Television in association with Paramount
International Television, Piller, and The Segan Company.” Anthony Michael Hall
also serves on one of the show’s producers. A trailer for this USA Original
Series can also be found on the “Stephen King’s
Rose Red” DVD from Lions Gate Home Entertainment, which is available now
as well.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.