25 Best Fantasy TV Series, Ranked Worst to First

22. Dead Zone

The Dead Zone was an interesting proposition. It was based on the classic Stephen King novel, had already been made into a movie (starring Christopher Walken) and starred a man mostly known as a nerd in John Hughes movies – Anthony Michael Hall. However, it exceeded most expectations and finished as one of the most successful Stephen King television adaptations of all-time.

The plot was the same as the novel and movie, with Hall playing Johnny Smith, a man who almost died, only to wake from his coma and realize he has the supernatural power to touch someone and see visions of the past and future in that person’s life. Amazingly, Hall transformed himself from the geek from Sixteen Candles to a hunky heroic protagonist that carried this fantasy TV series through six seasons.

Much like the novel and movie, the entire overlying storyline involved Johnny Smith seeing an apocalyptic future due to a politician named Greg Stillson (Sean Patrick Flannery). While the novel and movie had Johnny attempt an assassination, the TV series needed to change things up to keep Johnny alive and out of prison so he could have his weekly adventures, which usually involved him helping people in need.

The Dead Zone aired from 2002 through 2007 and honestly lasted a year too long, although Anthony Michael Hall made even the lesser episodes fun to watch and entertaining. As a USA Network series, the seasons were shorter, so there were only 80 episodes, short of the total needed for syndication.