History Trivia / TheDeadZone

* ActorInspiredElement: Dr. Sam Weizak was a Polish refugee who fled during the Nazi invasion of Poland and later states, when asked by Johnny, that he would kill Hitler even if it meant his death. Herbert Lom himself had to flee his home country of Czechoslovakia during it's Nazi occupation.

* * ActorInspiredElement: Dr. Sam Weizak was a Polish refugee who fled during the Nazi invasion of Poland and later states, when asked by Johnny, that he would kill Hitler even if it meant his death. Herbert Lom himself had to flee his home country of Czechoslovakia during it's Nazi occupation.

* DawsonCasting: While holding Dr. Weizak's hand, Johnny flashes back to the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939 where he sees Sam as a small boy being urgently given by his mother to a group of people fleeing the occupying forces by horse-drawn wagon. Though Weizak's age is never disclosed in the film, Herbert Lom himself was actually in his early 20s and turned 22 while the i vasion was happening.

* DiedDuringProduction: The original showrunner, Creator/MichaelPiller, had been diagnosed with head and neck cancer before the show had even started. After the first 13 episodes of Season 2, he became too sick to keep running the show and acted only in a consulting role. He died shortly after Season 5 had been filmed (but before it aired).

* AuthorExistenceFailure: The original showrunner, Creator/MichaelPiller, had been diagnosed with head and neck cancer before the show had even started. After the first 13 episodes of Season 2, he became too sick to keep running the show.
** While still credited as Executive Producer, he was no longer leading the writers' room.
** Production blogs indicate that Creator/KarlSchaefer was considered the showrunner for the last six episodes of Season 2 and then Season 3, followed by Tommy Thompson in Seasons 4 - 5.
** It was Piller's approach to rewrite every script and without him, many distinctive aspects of the series and almost all ongoing arcs were lost.
** Piller would occasionally consult on individual episodes as health allowed during Seasons 3 - 5 (most notably "Symmetry" in Season 5). However, as Season 4 - 5 were filming, Piller was so sick that he was instant messaging the writers' room from home.
** The team behind the show did not reveal Piller's illness and lack of involvement in his show until after he passed away.
** He died shortly after Season 5 had been filmed (but before it aired).

** The show had also been budgeted as a major network show and more expensive than the cable TV shows around it, but it was a smash hit and USA Network renewed for Season 2. However, for Seasons 3 - 6, USA Network found the show's original major network budget a strain, especially with annual cast salary increases that had been budgeted at the higher UPN scale. They cut the budget for Season 3, meaning Kristen Dalton was laid off and Dana Bright vanished.

** Season 3 originally had a two part finale: "Tipping Point" (Parts 1 & 2). Part 1 revealed that Johnny's psychic powers were killing him and without brain surgery (that would remove his powers), he would die. Part 2 would have Johnny shot in the head; he'd survive, but brain surgery was now impossible, meaning Season 4 would have Johnny racing the clock to stop Armageddon before he died. Part 2 was filmed and completed.

** One wonders how Creator/MichaelPiller would have handled the ExcutiveMeddling in Seasons 3 - 6. He must have been dealing with it in Season 2, but then he became too sick to keep going.
** The SeriesContinuityError with "Tipping Point" was actually resolved in the original story treatment for the Season 4 premiere, "Broken Circle." The outline reveals: Johnny's neurological condition, headaches, blackouts and impending death are due to his visions with his future self creating a circular psychic feedback loop that is damaging his brain. Johnny ceases all physical contact with his future self, breaking the circle ("Broken Circle"). However, this explanation in the story outline was not conveyed in the shooting script or the finished episode.

** USA Network ordered that the original "Tipping Point: Part 2" be re-edited and partially reshot into a new Season 4 premiere that would ignore Johnny's impending death, creating a SeriesContinuityError. Season 3 ends with Johnny told that if he doesn't get brain surgery, he will die. Season 4 begins with Johnny in the hospital, leaving without getting surgery, and never mentioning his need for life-saving brain surgery again; the next episode has him in perfect health.

** They renewed the show for Season 4, but as part of their 2005 marketing campaign, they wanted all their 2005 shows to be what they called "blue skies programming," lighthearted, no running arcs. They would not allow the Season 4 to go forward as planned as they found the direction too dark.

** For the sixth season, USA Network the budget cut again with three more regular cast members laid off and the filming location moved from Vancouver to Montreal.
** All of these budget cuts meant that Johnny's visions would use fewer and fewer visual effects as the show progressed, with the visions now presented through video editing. Location filming also became less evident with episodes confined to a small number of interior sets, and the sixth season (and series) finale taking place mostly on the set of Johnny's house.

* AuthorExistenceFailure: The original showrunner, Creator/MichaelPiller, became ill from cancer during Season 2. While still credited as Executive Producer, new writers took over his duties (Creator/KarlSchaefer for the last six episodes of Season 2 and then Season 3, Tommy Thompson in Seasons 4 - 5). It was Piller's approach to rewrite every script and without him, many distinctive aspects of the series and almost all ongoing arcs were lost. Piller would occasionally consult on individual episodes as health allowed during Seasons 3 - 5 (most notably "Symmetry" in Season 5), and he died shortly after Season 5 had been filmed (but before it aired).

** The show had also been budgeted as a major network show and more expensive than the cable TV shows around it, but it was a smash hit and USA Network renewed for Season 2. However, for Seasons 3 - 5, USA Network found the show's original major network budget a strain, especially with annual cast salary increases that had been budgeted at the higher UPN scale. They cut the budget for Season 3, meaning Kristen Dalton was laid off and Dana Bright vanished.

** USA Network also ordered 23 episodes for Season 4, but they would air them across two years as two separate seasons of 12 episodes and 11 episodes. They mandated no running arcs so that there would be no set episode order. This allowed them to get two seasons out of the cast while only paying them for one year's worth of increased salaries.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/AnthonyMichaelHall noted that, when it was revealed that the show wouldn't be renewed for a seventh season, the writing team planned on resolving the loose ends with a MadeForTVMovie. Needless to say, that fell through.

** Season 1 was originally ordered and funded as a big budget, major network TV show to air on the UPN broadcast network.
** But a new UPN regime decided not to air it and the show was sold to a cable TV network, USA Network, which usually aired low budget procedurals and comedies the summers, not psychological horror and dramas from the mind of Creator/StephenKing.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/BillMurray was the first in mind for the leading role.