Stephen King's novel The Dead Zone became both a movie and a TV show, with the latter making some major changes to the story and characters. If there's one thing King loves to use in his stories, it's psychic powers, as many of his most memorable characters have both possessed and utilized them. Sometimes these characters use their gifts for good, other times for evil, and even other times a combination of the two. Just as in real life, King characters are often morally complex.
While The Dead Zone's Johnny Smith isn't King's most famous psychically-endowed character - that title probably goes to Danny Torrance of The Shining and Doctor Sleep - he's in the upper echelon. In all versions of his story, Johnny is in a horrific car crash, leaving him in a coma for around five years. After Johnny awakens, he discovers that touching people or objects can cause vivid visions of both past and future events. There is also an evil politician named Greg Stillson in all versions, who Johnny foresees causing a catastrophic tragedy.
In 1983, Johnny led a Dead Zone film, directed by David Cronenberg and starring Christopher Walken. It stayed mostly faithful to the book, although not entirely. In 2002, USA debuted a Dead Zone show, starring Anthony Michael Hall as Johnny, that lasted six seasons. Here are the major differences between those two adaptations.
Johnny Smith: From Tragic Hero to Super Hero
One of the major plot threads running through The Dead Zone movie is the fact that using his powers causes physical damage to Johnny's body, and is basically slowly killing him. Unfortunately, Johnny is still inclined to save others when given the chance, even if it means reducing the amount of time he has remaining. Once he has a vision of Greg Stillson causing a nuclear holocaust, he makes it his mission to take Stillson out while he still can. On The Dead Zone TV show, Johnny's life isn't on a ticking clock, and he's free to use his powers without a physical cost. This allows Johnny to actively try and help people in both ways large and small, even if doing so usually complicates his life in unpleasant and inconvenient ways.
Sheriff Bannerman Is Two Characters Combined
In all versions of The Dead Zone, when he goes into a coma, Johnny leaves behind his true love Sarah Bracknell (Nicole de Boer). In the book and movie, Sarah falls in love with and marries a man named Walt Hazlett while Johnny's "away." Meanwhile, Johnny assists Castle Rock sheriff George Bannerman with a murder investigation. On the TV show, the characters of Sarah's husband Walt and the local sheriff were combined into one, that being Sheriff Walt Bannerman, played by Chris Bruno. This actually turned out to be a pretty crafty creative move, as it added tension to the working relationship between Johnny and Walt, as well as created a central love triangle.
Bruce Lewis: Johnny's New Best Friend
Perhaps the biggest change to The Dead Zone's setup from movie to TV show is the invention of new character Bruce Lewis, played by John L. Adams. A psychical therapist by trade, Bruce helped Johnny recover after waking up from his coma, and the two became best friends. Bruce is Johnny's closest confidante, and also often the voice of reason in their conversations, as Johnny finds himself considering doing something dangerous and Bruce will offer his guidance. Bruce also generally keeps Johnny grounded and focused on doing the right thing. He also ends up serving an even larger role in Johnny's life trajectory, which will be expanded on a bit further down.
Greg Stillson Is Now A Complex Villain
While Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone movie is a bit of a cartoon villain, the length of a TV series enabled The Dead Zone on USA to make him a much more complex character. Played by Sean Patrick Flanery, Stillson is still very much a bad guy overall, but he has moments of arguable decency, and it's also shown why he ended up the man he is. Sarah even dates him briefly after Walt is killed in season 6. He's still destined to cause an apocalyptic event, but there are times it seems he could be reached without needing to end his life.
JJ: Johnny & Sarah's New Son
Another added wrinkle in The Dead Zone TV show is that Johnny is now a father. In Stephen King's book and the 1983 movie, Johnny and Sarah had yet to consummate their relationship before Johnny was hospitalized. By the time he wakes up, Sarah is married, and has had a son with Walt. This is flipped on its head for another intriguing dramatic addition to the show. On TV, Johnny and Sarah had slept together prior to his coma, and after he wakes up, is surprised to learn that the son Sarah and Walt are raising is actually biologically Johnny's. The boy is named Johnny, but goes by JJ, and has the Bannerman last name. During the series run, JJ is told about his parentage, and begins to form a relationship with his biological father.
Johnny Doesn't Die
As mentioned above, from the moment he begins using his powers, Johnny Smith is on a collision course with death in both The Dead Zone book and movie. On the TV show, Johnny doesn't attempt to kill Greg Stillson prior to his election, and thus doesn't get killed in the process. Cleverly, this change is actually directly worked into the plot, with the deciding factor behind the change being Bruce Lewis' presence. In one episode, the audience is shown a possible future in which Bruce didn't exist in Johnny's life. In that future, Bruce became a reverend, and never met Johnny, with Johnny going on to suffer the fate he did in the book and movie. It just goes to show that one person can make a drastic difference in the journey of another, whether they be friend, family, or significant other.