I never read the "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King. I only caught glimpses of the movie by the same name. I'm glad I hadn't read the book or seen the complete movie because it made the series something new for me. I didn't watch it while it was being shown on the USA channel because I had only watched broadcast television from 1998 onwards. That's a long story in itself.

I hadn't seen anything with Anthony Michael Hall in it since the movie "Weird Science" was aired and he was 17 at the time. Imagine my surprise seeing him at the age of 34. He didn't appear to be the same person. It took three episodes before my wife realized who he was. I shouldn't have been surprised — I'm much older also.

It's an interesting story that would probably have better ratings on some other network. The USA channel was never one to keep a tight schedule — it was one of the networks I rarely watched even when I had cable television.

Anyway, the story is about a young man who gets injured in the brain not once, but twice, with the first time as a child. He gets engaged to his childhood sweetheart and then has a car accident which leaves him in a coma for six years. When he wakes up, he finds out his girlfriend has married the local sheriff. He also finds out that his girlfriend was pregnant before his accident and had the baby while he was in the coma. The "dead zone" refers to a part of the brain that people don't normally use, but Johnny Smith does because his comatose brain worked its way around brain damage. Both injuries gave him psychic powers.

The Dead Zone stars Anthony Michael Hall, Chris Bruno, John L. Adams, Nicole de Boer, David Ogden Stiers and others. Here's the pre-pilot trailer: