THE CASSANDRA SYNDROM
The Dead Zone, ABC's Miracles and The X Files get mention in this fascinating article from the Los Angeles Times.

Cassandra, according to Greek myth, was the most beautiful daughter of King Priam, so beautiful that the god Apollo granted her the gift of prophesy in return for sexual favors. Cassandra accepted the gift but reneged on the bargain, so Apollo took away her power of persuasion: She could speak only the truth but no one would ever believe her. When she tried to warn her fellow Trojans of impending disaster -- that the wooden horse they had just wheeled into the city was full of enemy soldiers -- everyone thought she was crazy. And so fell Troy.

Morgan sees society's need for a Cassandra figure reflected in such TV shows as "Miracles," "The Dead Zone" or "The X-Files." "TV and movies are the modern myth makers," she said, "and we are still obsessed with people we perceive to have a special access to the truth."