"Wheel of Fortune (Part 1)" is the pilot episode of the USA Network original series The Dead Zone, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. The episode was the highest-rated basic cable series debut ever in the United States, earning a 4.7 household Nielsen rating.
In 1976, six-year-old Johnny Smith hits his head in an accident on a frozen pond in his home town of Cleaves Mills, Maine, and mumbles a vague warning that saves a hockey...
more
"Wheel of Fortune (Part 1)" is the pilot episode of the USA Network original series The Dead Zone, based on the novel of the same name by Stephen King. The episode was the highest-rated basic cable series debut ever in the United States, earning a 4.7 household Nielsen rating.
In 1976, six-year-old Johnny Smith hits his head in an accident on a frozen pond in his home town of Cleaves Mills, Maine, and mumbles a vague warning that saves a hockey player from drowning.
In 1995, Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) teaches at Cleaves Mills High School along with his fiancee Sarah Bracknell (Nicole de Boer). He visits his mother Vera (Anna Hagan) and televangelistic reverend Eugene Purdy (David Ogden Stiers) at her house, and invites them to join he and Sarah at a carnival. Johnny does little to hide his distrustful opinion of Purdy.
On the night of June 6, Johnny and Sarah find the Wheel of Fortune at the carnival; "feeling lucky," Johnny stakes a quarter on a bankrupt teenager and takes...
less
