The Dead Zone

I've recently been watching The Dead Zone television series based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. I think the title is unfortunate. It seems to turn many people off. I imagine that they picture zombies or something. There are no undead in The Dead Zone. A more appealing title might be the tag line on the show's website: The Reluctant Psychic. The show is excellent. Like most Stephen King novels, the story is populated by normal believable characters who are exposed to extra-ordinary circumstances. King's genius, which I think is carried on very well by the show's producers, is simply that. What would happen if this extra-ordinary thing were acutally true. In this case, the main character of the story is demonstrably psychic. If you spend any time with him, you can't help but understand that he really can see the past and the future. What would that be like? What would it be like if such a person served on a jury and could see a vision of what really happened during a shooting? What would it be like if he were on a plane that was going to crash? How would the press react? How would the police react? How would it affect a politcal campaign. Is there, possibly, some greater reason why Johnny Smith has these abilities? Was he put in the right place at the right time by some guiding hand? They are all very interesting questions. The show does not hesistate to find the answers.