Hall Sums Up The Dead Zone

Anthony Michael Hall, who played psychic Johnny Smith in six seasons of USA Network's The Dead Zone, told SCI FI Wire that he looks back fondly on the show and feels that the last season did a good job of closing it out. The series ended a bit abruptly because production wrapped on the final season before producers knew that the show wouldn't return for a seventh season.

"The last couple of seasons, we just had to address the finales as if they might be the last, but in my gut I felt the [sixth-season] finale would be the last," Hall said during an interview to promote the just-released DVD set The Dead Zone: The Final Season.

"In terms of how the season went, I had a great time," Hall added. "We'd moved to Montreal, so suddenly it was an all-French-speaking crew, but I have to say they worked just as hard as the crew in Vancouver did for [the first] five years, and I thought they brought this sort of European sensibility. I thought the production values were solid."

Full interview here:
http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?id=56290

Yeah It would have been great to have had at least one more season. Heck it would have been great to get at least 3 more seasons.

Hey all

I have not yet seen season 6 (hopely in the next few days my box set should come) but by the sound of Hall's interview the team that makes the dead zone wrapped up all the lose ends with Sarah/Stillson/Armaggeddon etc at the end of the season.

I hav no doubt that the ending might hav been a bit sloppy considering that they wanted to continue the show but is it fair to say that everything was tired up at the end? Or is Hall just saying that to make himself feel better about ending the show with no closure?

Cheers

Mike did not say that to make himself feel better, I think he believes they did the best they could under the circumstances, with not knowing if there would be a next season or not. As you can read USA didn't give them anything about season 6 being the last until after they wrapped the show.

It all depends on what your main interest in the series was, if it was the armageddon storyline, well then I can tell you there was no closure to that.

If you weren't too much interested in that, I can tell you the ending was as good as it could get.

Like, I wasn't interested in the armageddon storyline at all, for me they could have left that out all together and it would still have made a fantastic series. Those eps are among my least fave. So for me the ending was very satisfying in knowing that at least Sarah and Johnny are together and JJ gives Johnny the most beautiful present he can get in the end.

But for those that were totally into the armageddon thing, I guess they got dissapointed because there is no real closure to that.

But all involved did the best they could do with the info they had on hand at that time. I still blame USA completely for not getting a decent closure for everyone to the series.
If they had been honest from the get go to everyone involved that season 6 would be the last season, they could have written a fantastic last season. Not that season 6 isn't fantastic, it's one of my faves, but it could have been even better.

But the Armageddon storyline was what the whole point of the story is supposed to be. Since you didn't like that part of the story, did you enjoy the last 3 seasons of the show as much as the first 3?

In my opinion, the first two seasons were amazing, the third was great, and the 4,5, and 6th just were...not that great as a whole. They had their moments and some pretty good episodes, but I could watch the first 3 seasons over and over while the last 3 I could care less if I ever saw them again. (Actually I can't say that because I don't remember much of season 6, hopefully my DVDs come tomorrow).

I have to say, from a fan's perspective and someone who watched the show from the night it premiered, I understand what he meant when he says ""The last couple of seasons, we just had to address the finales as if they might be the last, but in my gut I felt the [sixth-season] finale would be the last," Hall said during an interview to promote the just-released DVD set The Dead Zone: The Final Season. . I feel like after the end of every season everyone was sitting around with their fingers crossed waiting to hear if we would get to see another season of this show. I know I always just assumed it was over so when I read they would have another season I was always very excited. I just never heard of anyone watching this show outside of people who post here. It seemed like there were maybe 10 of us watching it, yet it was obviously more popular than I ever though. Six seasons is really a decent run.

As much as I say I was disappointed in the quality of the last 3 seasons (and it was mostly just the writing. It seemed like people who wrote it didn't care about the show as much as the people did in the first 3 seasons. There were a lot of continuity errors and for me, with my seemingly endless willing suspension of disbelief, to notice them says a lot, each episode seemed to occur in a vacuum independent from each other, etc.) I REALLY miss this show. I don't know why I fell in love with it because it is not the sort of show I usually enjoy, but I did fall in love with it. If any of the people who had any part in making this show (no matter how tiny that role was) ever read this, know that your work was greatly appreciated and loved.

Well you probably watched the series as a spin-off from the original Stephen King book and movie...Me I came into the series without knowing much about both and therefor I see the series as an entity on its own, not as a spin-off on the book or movie. Season 1-3 are the best seasons I agree, but still I find jewels in the other 3 seasons too. And I loved season 6.

I was never a fan of story arcs anyway, I used to be a huge X-Files fan, but hated the alien invasion story arc, now that I watched the series on DVD, I liked it a bit more, but I've always been a stand-alone story girl in any series I've became a fan of. Don't know what it is. It was the same for The Dead Zone. I'm pretty much like Michael himself, I liked the psyhic detective stuff more then the entire armageddon story arc.


Although I must say the last season sparked a tiny bit of interest in me to see how things would continue now that JJ was seeing visions too.

Actually, I had never heard of the book or movie, let alone seen them. Yes, there are some very good episodes in the 4,5, and 6th seasons. Actually, now that I'm watching the 6th season for the first time since it aired last summer, I'm finding it isn't quite as bad as I thought it was (although I hate the fact that JJ has visions now. I don't agree with that at all.)

I loved JJ having visions and would have loved seeing how it would have been used in a follow up season. Too bad we won't get to see that. I loved the twist and turns we got in season 6.

It could definitely have led to a few interesting eps with an older JJ. Can you imagine if Sarah and JJ had at least gone to Washington with Sarah only working for Stillson? JJ could get his own visions and relayed to John. Too bad they ruined that with having a relationship with Stillson. They might have slowed down Sarah and John's relationship and approached Sarah getting back into Stillson's camp because she knew about Armageddon and demanded to help knowing the peril her children as well as the rest of the world were in. John could have been at odds with that because of the danger. Sarah could have said she would only be working for a charitable organization, i.e. the company Purdy and Walt knew about.

I don't have much interest in anyone, AMH included, summing it up...I want them to FINISH it up!

They probilbly canceled the show because it became more armageddon and less detective, it is also the reason for the end of the 4400.