GEEKMONTHLY.COM EXCLUSIVE
USA Network’s hit show The Dead Zone, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, returns this summer for its sixth season. When the show returns, there are rumored to be some changes to the basic format. Although he won’t go into great detail at this point, new executive producer Scott Shepherd provides Geekmonthly.com with an exclusive tease.

For newcomers, the show centers on John Smith (Anthony Michael Hall), who emerges from a five-year coma with the ability to see a person’s past or future with a touch of his hand. While the majority of episodes are fairly standalone, there is an overall arc in which John has to stop Senator-Destined-To-Be-President Greg Stillson from literally destroying the world.

GEEKMONTHLY.COM: There are rumors that The Dead Zone is going through some major change. The big question is, why?

SCOTT SHEPHERD: We want to make the show more Johnny-centric. It’s important that Johnny is the hub of the stories. To that end, we want to continue to tell standalone episodes, but also explore deeper the different relationships in Johnny’s life — with Sarah, with Walt, with JJ, with Purdy and, of course, with Greg Stillson.

GEEKMONTHLY.COM: But how much of the show will be fundamentally the same and how much of it is going to be different?

SCOTT SHEPHERD: The main goal this year is to try and bring in new viewers who won’t need to have all of the mythology on auto-memory to comprehend what’s going on. We feel like we’ve figured out a good way to satisfy our loyal viewers and continue the Stillson-Johnny arc in an even more exciting direction, while allowing the new viewers to catch up at the same time. If this sounds a bit mysterious, it’s supposed to be. We have some cool surprises in store for the long time dedicated viewer.

GEEKMONTHLY.COM: Will the style of the show be different in terms of standalone versus arcing mythology?

SCOTT SHEPHERD: Each episode will have a beginning, middle and end standalone story. There will be a couple of episodes that are a bit more mythology-based, but for the most part it will continue to be hinted at and doled out in nice reveals throughout the season.

GEEKMONTHLY.COM: But in terms of Johnny as a character, do the changes in the show feel like a natural evolution for him?

SCOTT SHEPHERD: The easy answer to that is yes, but with some surprising twists early on. We feel the character’s journey is going to change as a result of them. I’d be a little more specific, but it’ll be fun for the fans to discover with Johnny how his world is going to be turned upside down in very unexpected ways.

GEEKMONTHLY.COM: One thing I’m wondering about is how you’re going to be approaching the whole Johnny/Greg Stillson storyline that has been set up from the beginning.

SCOTT SHEPHERD: There’s definitely an end game. If fans hang around, they’ll find it satisfying and hopefully enjoy the ride. Whenever the end come, Armageddon will be dealt with once and for all. Does that mean Johnny wins? Or is there a more devastating conclusion? In the era of shows shaking up where no one is safe. That opens up a whole slew of possibilities, wouldn’t you say?

some really meaty episodes for AMH
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You can call me Bjossi, everyone else does it around here

A 'meaty episode' is a story where AMH can stretch his acting talents. Alot of drama for instance. While I am a big fan of s4, eps like Babble On and Vanguard were some of the best because there was such a deep storyline behind them. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks for finding and posting this, Bjossi! I think they mean that when DZ ends, "the end" will be dealt with once and for all. They didn't say or imply that it will be over in season 6. It is not The Dead Zone without the the Armageddon Arc rounding out the end of the series.

I'm ready for "shake up"! Shake me up, Mr. Writer! I'm ready for a return to good old angst!!

SCOTT SHEPHERD: There’s definitely an end game. If fans hang around, they’ll find it satisfying and hopefully enjoy the ride. Whenever the end come, Armageddon will be dealt with once and for all. Does that mean Johnny wins? Or is there a more devastating conclusion? In the era of shows shaking up where no one is safe. That opens up a whole slew of possibilities, wouldn’t you say?

Oooo, maybe NO ONE wins! Maybe Johnny doesn't succeed, but neither does Stillson. That's an option that never really crossed my mind.

Thanks for the link! I'm excited to see the new season and the changes!

And I suppose the fact that he mentions exploring the relationships between all the usual characters as well means that they aren't completely gone (and hopefully means they are in it as much as in the past) like people had seemed to think. We'll see!

In the era of shows shaking up where no one is safe. That opens up a whole slew of possibilities, wouldn’t you say?

They may be back, but if they go "24" style...for how long?

You can call me Bjossi, everyone else does it around here

Zone's Bruno Wants It Hotter

Chris Bruno, who plays Sheriff Walt Bannerman on USA Network's supernatural series The Dead Zone, told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming sixth season will see the impending arrival of Walt's child with his wife, Sarah (Nicole de Boer), which he hopes will complicate things. The love triangle among Walt, Sarah and psychic Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall) could use some heating up, Bruno added.

"The fact is they've kind of made him almost a perfect guy with no flaws, and it makes her dilemma that much more difficult, that there's just no way she'd ever leave this guy because he's such a good guy," Bruno said in an interview.

Fans of The Dead Zone know that Sarah married Walt after the accident that left Johnny in a coma, and Walt raised J.J. (Spencer Achtymichuk), Johnny's son with Sarah, as his own.

"Whatever love she still has for Johnny, she's had to put that out of her mind and out of her existence, because of the fact that this guy is so good to her, provides such a great life and a certain level of stability, too, and is a really good father and all that," Bruno said of Walt.

Bruno added: "Sarah is supposed to be having a baby this year. The fact that they're having their own child could get really interesting, too, because of what that brings about for her and the family and her relationship with Johnny. I think there's a lot that they can do with this season. I hope that Walt stays a part of it, and I hope that they find a way to include him in an interesting fashion." The Dead Zone returns this summer with all-new episodes. (USA Network is owned by NBC Universal, which also owns SCIFI.COM.) —Ian Spelling

From Sci-Fi Wire

I'm sure seeing Sarah pregnant is going to bring home some misery. It will remind him all he's lost yet again and it only is worse because he knows that she still cares and he needs to stay away for more reasons than one. I just hope they use it sparingly. I got tired of it rather quickly after 2 seasons.

*groan*

From Scott Shepherd's interview, it sounds like they'll be doing exactly what they did for the fourth/fifth season. Standalone stories that don't advance the conspiracy arc, Johnny's character and relationships, and basically keeping the show oriented to crimes of the week without allowing anything to progress. All that stuff about "doing it like it was season one of a new show" and "a brand new take" from Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller sounded like empty advertising copy before and sounds like it now.

I want "The Dead Zone" to be how Johnny Smith's psychic powers affect his relationships, his professional life, his efforts at living through the day. I want to see what the life of Johnny Smith is like as it's oriented towards helping people, seeking out strife and suffering and trying to set it right, and preventing the destruction and devastation of human civilization as it looms closer and closer. But for two seasons, "The Dead Zone" has mostly been about forgettable dramas that have no impact on Johnny's character, explore no facets or ideas relating to the unique angle from which he experiences life, have said nothing about his relationships with Bruce and Walt and Sarah, and Johnny and Greg Stillson have snarled at each other for five years now with no climax or any real development that the show hasn't dismissed or ignored. The refusal to do ongoing plotlines reached the point where they gave Johnny a brain condition in a season ender and then failed to acknowledge or resolve the issue in the next season's premiere episode.

And it sounds like they'll be doing the exact same thing for the new season.

... Still. Shepherd is telling us so little. Maybe what he isn't telling us is where all the improvements to the show may lie. I guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and tune in hopefully.

- Ibrahim Ng

I'm sure seeing Sarah pregnant is going to bring home some misery. It will remind him all he's lost yet again and it only is worse because he knows that she still cares and he needs to stay away for more reasons than one. I just hope they use it sparingly. I got tired of it rather quickly after 2 seasons.

Cara Buono — aka Michael Imperioli's knocked-up wife on The Sopranos — is joining the cast as the new sheriff of Cleaves Mills and a potential love interest for Anthony Michael Hall.

I was reading the Ausiello report and he had this item:



Is Chris Bruno leaving the show or fired from being Sheriff?

Hi, I really can't wait for season 6. I've been a fan since the beginning. The real cool thing is that they are filming the series in Montreal this season instead of Vancouver. On monday my wife showed me the our town newspaper and to my surprise they were filming here in Chambly last week ( on the south shore of Montreal ). I went down to where they were filming and wow, they're still there. I hung out all week off and on and finally today I got to see Anthony Michael Hall. Saw him arriving to shoot a scene in a house. It's amazing the work that goes into filming a series. Also one of the guys there was telling me that they'll be filming mostly on the south shore and will be back to Chambly off and on untill july. Next week they'll be shooting all week outdoor scenes. I'll be having a good summer. I just think it's so cool, what are the chances????

Welcome to the boards! If you see anything spoilerish, we won't mind you posting any. If you have time that is. You are very lucky, indeed! Did you happen to see any of the other cast members? We're all on pins and needles about who is returning from the original cast, particularly Bruce.

No didn't get to see anybody but anthony , but we know he's returning. Most of the filming was inside and the outside scenes were very few and I missed them. You would have to be hanging around for 12 to 16 hours to see everything. They must have had some scenes with walt or some police officer because the cop car was at their base camp. You can bet on me being there next week for 3 days of outside shooting. It's not in chambly but in the old downtown part of Longueuil (city on the south side of the river from Montreal ). I'll keep my eyes open and let you know if I see anything.

No didn't get to see anybody but anthony , but we know he's returning. Most of the filming was inside and the outside scenes were very few and I missed them. You would have to be hanging around for 12 to 16 hours to see everything. They must have had some scenes with walt or some police officer because the cop car was at their base camp. You can bet on me being there next week for 3 days of outside shooting. It's not in chambly but in the old downtown part of Longueuil (city on the south side of the river from Montreal ). I'll keep my eyes open and let you know if I see anything.

They did say they were going to make things center more on John, so that is returning to what they started with in earlier years. But we have to remember that alot of times people with John's gift do get involved with crimes. John doesn't seem to want to get involved with people unless he's just comes across someone or they demand his attention like what happened in "Lotto Fever". Also, not every plotline or subtheme is going to be taken care of so neatly, particularly things like brain tumors. One can have tumor and it do nothing for long periods of time and then suddenly symptoms appear. A tumor can also become inoperable and the condition terminal. It is a slow deterioration or a fast one, depending on the type of tumor.

As for Armageddon, I got the impression that when the series ends, it will be with the ending of the Armageddon threat. Armageddon does seem to be popular recently. A few shows like "Heroes", "Jericho", and possibly "The 4400" are using it. I have seen it hinted at in a movie called "Next" which is definitely a DZ type movie with an Armageddon threat. I'm not going to miss that one! So, with all of this, DZ does need to keep the Armageddon arc out in the forefront for the most part because it's been around for a long time but needs significant development in order to compete. To me, this is where that DZ once again was the first to use these type of story lines on TV. The rest are just finally getting around to it.

Hi again,


Here are 3 pictures that I took. The first one was taken on saturday before they arrived but look at the name above the fire station doors. I only took two pics today because I didn't want to get my camera wet with the rain and also I was so close I didn't want to piss anybody off by taking pictures. I'll try to take a few tomorrow. Enjoy

Hi,

If you loved yesterday's pics you'll be blown away by the shots I got today. Johnny, Walt and Bruce were all on set today. I'll put them up later on tonight, I just got back. To answer the questions, the limo had the vice presidential seal on it and it was used in a scene where stillson is talking to Janus through the window and yes that's Stillson in the picture and Janus is inside but obviously you can't see him. I have about 35 pics from todayso I'll have to go through them and post the best ones.

Great pics! I'm so glad to see Walt and Bruce! It means Sarah and Purdy must be back as well! Thanks again Mick3! Our DZ guys look wonderful!