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Max Headroom
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Max Headroom was one of the most innovative science fiction series ever produced for American television, an ambitious attempt to build upon the cyberpunk movement in science fiction literature. The character of Max Headroom, the series's unlikely cybernetic protagonist, was originally introduced in a 1984 British television movie, produced by Peter Wagg, and starring Canadian actor Matt Frewer. ABC brought the series to American television in March 1987, refilming the original movie as a pilot but recasting most of the secondary roles. The ABC series attracted critical acclaim and a cult following, but only lasted for fourteen episodes. The anarchic and irreverent Max went on to become an advertising spokesman for Coca-Cola and to host his own talk show on the Cinemax cable network.
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Max Headroom was the first cyberpunk series to run in the United States on one of the main broadcast networks in prime time. Like other science fiction, the series introduced the general public to new ideas in the form of cyberpunk themes and social issues. The series portrayed the Blanks, a counter-culture group of people who lived without any official numbers or documentation for the sake of privacy. Various episodes delved into issues like literacy and the lack thereof in a TV-dominated culture (Blank Reg: "It's a book. It's a non-volatile storage medium. It's very rare.
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Max Headroom screams 1980s louder than a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers and Soft Cell's "Tainted Love," but the BBC is bringing him back. The intervening years have not been kind to him, to say the least. Max Headroom was originally born as a video-jockey on the BBC's Channel 4, and starting this Saturday he'll be seen there again, warning viewers about the channel's upcoming change from analog to digital. If you're familiar with the character, then that picture above might haunt your dreams tonight. But Max's checkered past goes way beyond BBC talking head. Once upon a time in the U.S., he was a TV star.
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Seemingly inspired by equal parts 1984, Blade Runner, and MTV, Max Headroom showed a bleak, dystopian version of the world, where giant television networks were willing to fight at all costs to retain viewers (and sponsors). In both versions, intrepid reporter Edison Carter uncovers a dangerous side-effect of a new form of advertising (Blipverts) used by his Network’s main sponsor (the Zik-Zak Corporation). After being chased by hired goons, an accident renders Carter unconscious, and a network executive decides to use a new technology, created by his boy-genius employee Bryce, to make a computerized alter ego of Carter (actually a prosthetics-wearing Matt Frewer). Of course things don’t work out as planned, and the newly born Max Headroom (so named because a sign bearing those words is the last thing Carter sees before passing out, and ... the first thing Max says when he is created) takes on a life of his own.
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TRIVIA NOTE: The Max Headroom computer character was created by English whiz, producer Peter Wagg. Max Headroom originally appeared in 1985 as a video promotional figure for an English record company. He later crossed the ocean to America to conduct Rock music interviews on the CINEMAX cable channel, and later became commercial spokes-head for a series of highly successful Coca-Cola TV spots. Actor Matt Frewer actually was the star behind the series. His computer likeness was nothing more than a filmed series of his speaking head wearing angular latex makeup that were later translated into a fast-paced, sputtering animated format. The series was based on a British screenplay by Steve Roberts.
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Though numerous state and federal investigations looked into the incident, the mysterious Max Headroom pirate was never found. Engineers said the equipment needed to transmit the pirated signal could probably be transported in containers no larger than several suitcases. The pirate never came forward, and no one could ever figure out the motivation for his "attack" on the airwaves. No major commercial broadcast has been pirated since.
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Max Headroom