Loved the show. I was upset when it got cancelled. The show has the "X-files" dynamic (Supernatural, Smallville, etc) with a main story, main villain and just the episode fillers. His visions go more like the "Remote viewing" theories, when you would place yourself some place else and you are able to see from any point of view. After a few seasons things derail a little going towards Illuminati/Mason stuff (similar to prison's break "The company"), you can see this by looking at the villain's ring with symbols for example... I wish they had finished. I would watch all over again.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! It was certainly ahead of it’s time. A lot of shows seem to have taken their approach and had great success. I’m sorry you never got a finale!
I saw the show when it first aired. I think I watched it for about 3 seasons. I vaguely remember it, but I remember enjoying it. It was weird at first seeing Anthony Michael Hall as an adult because I was used to seeing him as a teenager in movies like The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, Sixteen Candles, and National Vacation.
Funny you should mention those crime solving shows like CSI and Law & Order because Anthony Michael Hall was on shows like NYPD Blue, Murder, She Wrote, Diagnose Murder, CSI: Miami, and Murder in the First. He was also on the Tales from Crypt TV show. He made a great Bill Gates on Pirates of Silicon Valley.
It needed to be different from the movie and yet cover the basics. It was centered on his abilities for long term stories not the same ones from the book and movie. I loved the show so much because of Anthony Michael Hall. It was so good considering what was available at the time. At least you didn't have to watch people become zombies for entertainment.
Hi Glenda. Yes, I realize that the goal of the show was to take the premise of the story and expand on it. Its this style of show that doesn’t appeal to me in general. Same way I felt about Supernatural really. I just prefer a show that follows a main story line without all the “side quest” episodes. I’m glad you enjoy it though! And I’m a sucker for zombies lol so I guess we just have different tastes and that’s all good! Have a good evening!
Stephen King would often play with the idea of enhanced intelligence after Brain Injury. When Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken / Anthony Michael Hall) awakens from a coma caused by a car accident, he finds that years have passed, and he now has psychic abilities. In real life Savant syndrome is characterized by unique skills in art, music, mechanics, calendar calculation or maths. Savant syndrome can be acquired through injuries or frontotemporal dementia or be developed in people with autism spectrum disorder. In acquired savant syndrome and autism spectrum disorder, unique connections in the brain led to the condition. In savant syndrome, we often find that the left hemisphere is damaged and the right brain hemisphere has to compensate for this. Based on this observation, we can partially induce savant syndrome like abilities through transcranial magnetic stimulation. Many questions concerning savant syndrome remain but this condition is truly amazing. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-m_GzwxNaI_Q.html
I know someone who was struck by lighting and as a result became a musical prodigy! This is him! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5R_GuVcYcPs.html
The show is amazing and you should really give the whole series a chance. One of my favourites of all time. It falls a bit after season 2 (which is the pinnacle season, IMO) because Michael Piller had cancer and died shortly after. But there's still a lot of great content throughout. It was also cancelled prematurely and ends on a disappointing cliffhanger more or less. They had more planned but never had the chance to realize it. But man I love this show. I never read the book or watched the Walken movie until after seeing the series. I still prefer the series. I'm not a big Stephen King fan and while the series apparently does capture his essence I suppose, it is different. But that's precisely why I prefer it. Definitely like the more sci-fi and X-Files comparison. Definitely enjoy it more that way.
Hey Brandon! I’m glad you enjoyed the show. I think my biggest issue at this point is finding the time for a show with as many episodes as this one, so I likely won’t be giving it another watch, but that is the main reason I can’t see myself revisiting the show. I definitely thought the production quality and acting were better than most shows of the era.
Great review! I respect your opinion on the show. I absolutely love it! Anthony Michael Hall really nailed it in my opinion. The movie was decent but the television series had a better drive in my opinion. It’s probably due to the fact that it started in the early 2000s whereas the movie was released in the 80s. The first season mainly serves as an introduction but it really takes off during season 2 where Johnny has truly mastered his psychic abilities and uses them to solve very complex cases. The only really disappointing thing about this show was the budget cuts which led to the show being cancelled in 2007 without a proper ending. Gosh, I wish they took the time to at least include a final episode that would put some closure to the main plot which is similar to that of the book in a way. Anyhow, great work, my friend! 🙂👍
Hey! I’m glad this show is enjoyable for you. God knows a lot of time and effort went into it. More than anything the format (in other words, the time commitment) just doesn’t work for me.
Well, I do appreciate your stance and style of show. This is exactly the type of show. I love. I just re-watched the show this weekend. I do enjoy a episodic shows that are one off and let me get in and out. Enjoy the show without having to fully commit, I love the supernatural genre. That’s not too scary. I miss this era and it was a great throwback of stars and memories. I really thought the acting was top-notch and the special effects actually still hold up.
This is a fun show! I like all the various types of stories they told within the framework of Johnny's abilities, sometimes exploring ideas in a similar way to The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits - ethical dilemmas and trying to thread the needle of various possible outcomes of his visions to help as many people as possible, while still being an imperfect human that doesn't always make the perfect choices.
I like how you added graphics for example for CSI and Law & Order. It would have been nice to have screen-shots from the show for example, seeing Johnny projecting himself into a situation where he's another person. I would have liked to have seen Stillson, the crash, Johnny in a coma, in physical therapy, and other elements from the book.
Ya know, I've been watching vids from other creators and realizing I need to show footage from the movies/shows as I'm discussing them. You're absolutely right.
Finally, a video about the tv show “The Dead Zone”!I love this tv show. It’s my favorite of all time. I haven’t read the book yet but I plan to in the future. After watching your reviews, I thought I might clarify a few things about this tv show. I did watch all six seasons and I do feel like rewatching it soon. Well, I know it is based on characters from the Stephen King novel but it’s kind of its own thing at the same time. Johny does help the police a lot yes but most episodes are very different from one another. Anyhow, I respect your opinion. I know where you’re coming from since it appears to me that you loved the book and hoped the tv show would be really faithful to it. If you’re looking for a show that is very similar to the book, then I do understand that you may not want to keep watching it as it is very different since many changes have been made over the course of the show, character and plot wise. I did watch the movie from 1983 and even though I wasn’t crazy about it and prefer the tv show, I have to say that this first season is the closest it gets to this particular adaptation but the rest of the show is pretty much independent from the influence of the book. I’m sorry you didn’t like it.
Wow! I love this comment. I must admit, over time I have become more understanding and accepting of adaptations that don’t play strictly to the source material. And I also just didn’t have the time, nor the will, to watch all 80 episodes, which is an issue I have with a lot of tv shows. I just have a hard time committing to that much watch time. I super appreciate your perspective and I’m glad you like the show!!! Thanks for your thoughts and your kindness!
@@agreatundertaking You’re welcome. 🙂 Thank you so much for the kind words! I totally understand your viewpoint. Indeed, watching a tv show involves commitment. It’s a good idea to watch the first few episodes to get an idea about what this show is about and then deciding whether to carry on or not. I loved the pilot episode and the whole first season which is why I kept watching up until the very end. Most episodes are really solid in my opinion. The tv show is pretty much similar for its whole run, the main plot being Johny trying to stop Greg Stillson from becoming president like in the book I would assume (I really have to read it) but most of the show is made of stand alone episodes. The only real sad thing about the show is that the main plot was never really solved, as you mentioned there was supposed to be a seventh season but USA Network cancelled it ahead of time. I really wish they would have at least made a movie to close the story arc and give a proper ending to this great show. I always wonder if it would’ve been similar to the movie or not. Maybe one day...
@@agreatundertaking I subscribed to your channel. So much great Stephen King related content. I love him as an author and most movies I love are actually adapted from his novels. So happy to meet another fan! 🙂 I gotta read more books from him! There are so many great ones out there. I only read a few so far and yet I had a great time!
@@agreatundertaking Likewise. I know the tv show inside and out so if you have any questions regarding it, feel free to ask me. 🙂 I’d be more than happy to answer them.
There was a "straight to video" movie in 2002, when the series started, of The Dead Zone starring Anthony Michael Hall. www.imdb.com/title/tt0341334/reference I'm guessing it was simply pieced together from various episodes. I'm tempted to watch it. Since it's a movie, I'm assuming it has a beginning, middle and end. Maybe he defeats Stillson in the movie.
should be labelled ‘not same as book so its sucks’ some of yr points are accurate otherwise. and that 1s 4th episode?! had to stop watching for a few days. who wrote that weak weepy bs?
Lol yeah I for sure had not yet come to terms with the fact that adaptations are rarely faithful to the source material. Maybe I will change the title to what you’re suggesting. It’s entirely accurate. 😂 I honestly have no idea what happened in the fourth episode now. Apparently I suppressed it from memory in an effort to forget the whole thing.
