The cane that Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) used throughout the series is the same one used by Stu Redman in The Stand (1994) and Andre Linoge in Storm of the Century (1999), just with a different head. All three stories were adapted from Stephen King novels.
In this series, prior to his accident, Johnny was a science teacher. In the 1983 movie, as well as in the original novel, he was an English teacher, like Stephen King.
At six seasons and 81 episodes, this is the longest running television series based on Stephen King's work.
Started originally as a pilot for a series to be shown on the UPN network in the fall of 2001. When UPN decided not to run it, USA Network picked it up.
Series creator Michael Piller also co-created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), of which Nicole de Boer (Sarah Bracknell Bannerman) was also a cast member.