Stars: Anthony Michael Hall, Nicole De Boer, Chris Bruno, David Ogden Stiers, John L. Adams

Director: Robert Lieberman

Summary: Based on characters from Stephen King's novel, THE DEAD ZONE, this sci-fi series explores what happens when a model citizen nearly loses his life and then wakes up six years later with psychic powers allowing him to see into the life of anyone he happens to touch. When viewers first met Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall, in a role played by Christopher Walken in David Cronenberg's 1983 adaptation), he was leading a wholesome life in a picture-perfect small town. A science teacher, Johnny was a devoted son to his widowed mother, a role model to his pupils, and a devoted fiance to his soon-to-be wife and fellow teacher Sarah until a near-fatal accident landed him in a coma for six years. Upon waking, Johnny had to deal with the fact that the life he remembered had ceased to exist, and that his new powers were just as burdensome as they were valuable. In the third series--included here in its entirety--Johnny continues to make up for lost time while attempting to use his powers for the good.

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Three seasons into it, The Dead Zone has cemented its stature as one of television's most ambitious and compelling series, combining action, psychological drama, and elements of sci-fi and the supernatural. Based on Stephen King's 1979 novel (later a feature film starring Christopher Walken), The Dead Zone was adapted for TV by Michael and Shawn Piller, with actor Anthony Michael Hall (previously best known for his roles in the mid-'80s hits The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles) as star, co-producer, and occasional director. Hall ably plays Johnny Smith, who has recovered from a six-year coma to discover that he now has some rather remarkable powers; merely by touching other people, or objects touched by others, Smith has visions that illuminate events that have happened, will happen, or that are taking place elsewhere. He has put this ability to use as a psychic, working with the police in the Maine town in which the stories take place.

Understanding all of this may take a while for the uninitiated; not only does Smith jump both forward and back in time, but he often sees himself in his visions, and sometimes we're watching the Johnny of the present with the one from the past onscreen at the same time. The Dead Zone has a lot on its hands in each episode, with a stand-alone storyline (a Rep. Gary Condit-Chandra Levy takeoff in "Finding Rachel," a Columbine-esque school shooting in "Cycle of Violence") balancing the ongoing matter of Smith's visions--how they came to be ("Collision" details the car accident that led to his coma and, eventually, his powers), how to interpret them, and whether they're a blessing or a curse. All of that is mixed together with his strange new personal life (his pregnant fiancé, played by Nicole De Boer, married the local sheriff while Johnny was out of commission). And then there's the overriding series theme, which is heavily featured in the first two episodes of this season but mentioned only occasionally thereafter: Armageddon is coming, Johnny alone lives through it, he might even cause it… and maybe he's the only one who can prevent it. It's a tough act to pull off week after week, but while the show occasionally seems about to collapse under its own weight, it mostly succeeds, albeit without a shred of humour and an ultra-serious, portentous vibe that gets a little tedious. At the very least, The Dead Zone makes for consistently intriguing viewing. --Sam Graham

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Interactive menu
Year:	2004
Release Date:	February 12, 2007
Runtime:	488 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	P H E 8973
Keywords:	Psychic, English, Dead, Series, Zone, Tv, Drama, Supernatural, Paranormal
Genre:	Science Fiction