The Crazy Bizarre History of Max Headroom: TV Star, Icon, Pitch Man, Pirate

[@tompadfoot3065]

Matt Frewer was and is a genius actor that doesn't get nearly enough credit

[@liljenborg2517]

I really liked the Sherlock Holmes movies he did on the Hallmark Channel. Not quite Jeremy Brett level (the definitive Holmes, in my opinion), but still quite good.

[@Astronopolis]

Hi Matt!

[@LordDragon1965]

And Matt was brilliant in his guest turn on Star Trek TNG

[@thepayne7862]

He was great in Eureka.

[@shenysys]

I liked him in Stephen King's The Stand mini series as Trash Can Man. TCM - my life for you ! :)

[@cheezeofages]

I like how the whole thing was a bunch of people doing way better a job on a task than they needed to and it became a bigger thing than it was originally meant to.

[@eelliott74]

You read about the origins of Tron. It was basically a radio promo that grew into a movie.

[@BonusEggs4Sale]

Right? And I thought I overthought small assignments.

[@Itsgonnabeok1325]

Whenever I mention Max Headroom, I would get a blank stare. Thank you for letting me know he wasn’t just a fever dream.

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

Maybe a Frewer dream...

[@justinweber4977]

He was both.

[@DrWho2008t101]

i don' t understand max headroom.

[@bennylloyd-willner9667]

@@DrWho2008t101 it was a different time at the time when we saw him from time to time, at that time we had time to just let time pass while watching Max... I think that sums it up clearly enough... You had to be there to get it, before Internet was glued to you retinas 24/7.

[@carlh-thehermitwithwi-fi679]

"um" "I know" "like" "literally" Never saw filler for filler...well welcome

[@AllenMarshClips]

I was on a film set yesterday and the director was wearing a Max Headroom T-shirt. It was amusing watching him try to explain the concept of Max Headroom to the film's 21-year-old leading lady.

[@stormcloudsabound]

i bet you’re as insufferable in real life as you are in this comment 😂

[@avengingterrier3244]

I was lucky to be invited to the filming of the original Max Headroom: Twenty minutes into the Future. The scene I stood and watched was when they showed Blank Reg's Big-Time Television vehicle, and it was very cold that day - I can't remember exact where they filmed it, but its all since been demonlished.

[@PongoXBongo]

Max Headroom predicted the glitchy, mid-sentence jump-cut way that many KZbinrs tend to speak. It's even infecting written 👏 speech 👏 now.

[@pete275]

actually that was a thing way before youtube, it's what made MTV "unique" back then

[@PongoXBongo]

@@pete275/videos/videos/videos Indeed. That's why I said MH _predicted,_ or perhaps "foreshadowed" would be a better term, future YTer behavior. ;)

[@xBINARYGODx]

@@PongoXBongo hard to be predictive when MTV already had that same style for almost half a decade before

[@thetreblerebel]

The British pilot episode of this show is a freaking work of art. It was cool, and it created a timeless character

[@OzzieAstaroth]

I'm old enough to remember when this became a thing. It was weird, but it fit with the times. With things like Robocop, Blade Runner, and The Running Man all depicting a corrupt dystopian future, this show fit right in. I remember the idea of a TV broadcast making people explode being really scary, but also really dumb. I liked Max as a character, and I love seeing throwbacks to him in stuff these days. As for the sign name idea, how about Ped Xing?

[@m00k61]

He looks just like a bad guy from Robocop. He could be a nuke dealer lol.

[@jdaniels6830]

@@m00k61 not a nuke dealer but Duke Nukem

[@dubuyajay9964]

*FBI OPEN UP!!!*

[@MonkeyJedi99]

In a LARP I used to play, a group of people made one of the biggest and most story-generating adventures full of movie and game references, and IIRC it was something like "The Adventure of Ped Xing" (a wizard in the adventure). I am sad I never got to go through it myself. - The name was inspired by one of those abbreviated signs for a pedestrian crossing, or PED XING.

[@OzzieAstaroth]

@@MonkeyJedi99 Sounds interesting. I got the idea from an old comic I used to read where someone made up a story about Ped Xing and how all the signs are for him.

[@petervenkman69]

Max Headroom was way ahead of his time, looking back now... it was genius.... it was like they could see the present and then parodied it.

[@vidlwebby3304]

that’s the thing, the problems of the 80s are the problems we have today. We just aren’t allowed to talk about them the same way. Nothing ever changed or improved, we were just silenced over decades. And since the 80s, we’ve been taught not to try and make our own solution

[@sstrykert]

@@vidlwebby3304 & military papers on this pre-date Max

[@KK4CNM]

"A world where nothing matters but ratings were the only business is keeping eyes on screens as long as possible by manipulation if necessary." So like any social media network, app, and news site/channel on tv anywhere in the world today?

[@MonkeyJedi99]

One thing I remember most from the show is that it was illegal to have a television with an "off" button.

[@nihlhinz488]

Yeah, years ago it was called addiction.

[@lucasterable]

We are living the dystopian future envisioned by 80s works of fiction.

[@robertholtz]

The Late Gen Xer... Facebook = Network 23

[@urbosasfurry2126]

1984

[@markroderick3300]

i wish they talked about "the art of noise" "paranoimia" with max headroom and how it came to be

[@koDaffi]

I must have a star on my door, or better still a door. Please let me sleep.

[@erikswenson1760]

I have some art of noise LPs of Max Headroom And tapes i miss the 80s

[@calortv9157]

I just bought that 7” single today LOL

[@thattbugg9531]

Just heard paranomia 10 minutes ago

[@othercharr]

@@koDaffi Ok doors... swing.

[@ChapMeifan]

Max Headroom was everywhere when I was a teenager. Soft drink ads. Late night interviews. Lots of videos had at least some comment by him. He was strange and sort of scary yet had a smooth professionalism. I'm surprised there wasn't an evolution of his character when computer animation became more cutting edge. He seemed to disappear within a short frame of time.

[@MLBlue30]

He was too much a product of his time.

[@Captain_MonsterFart]

I love it, there's nothing else like him. When does that ever happen?

[@oscyiyoutube2260]

Its surprising how quickly he died out too. You never hear about him today. There was a time he was everywhere

[@Cid_Hi]

To me, Jim Carey has taken a lot of inspiration from Matt Frewer

[@CharlemagneSupernova]

Max Headroom: the Original VTuber.

[@odizm5196]

A VTuber before You tube was a thing

[@PongoXBongo]

Complete with annoying, mid-sentence jump cuts.

[@Kodeb8]

Only problem is he wasn't actually virtual. It was an actor dressed up to look like he was computer generated.

[@jayeisenhardt1337]

@@Kodeb8 Vtubers aren't actually virtual either, they are real people behind the puppets and mask. Artificial Intelligence like Kizuna AI and Projekt Melody are not real AI it's just a show just like Max wasn't a real AI. Most everyone knows this already but thanks for pointing out the similarities.

[@petercampi2840]

@@odizm5196 Which is funny since KZbin gets the "tube" part from CRT TVs. Just a reminder that this site first came online in 2005, one of the last years that new CRTs were sold in stores and at a time when they were still common. That's all to say that Max was both Virtual (lore-wise) and on the tube.

[@SanFran51]

Fun Fact: The Creators did actually state that he was made to poke fun at "America's obsession with celebrity culture" America wasn't in on the joke.

[@garrettmarshall1288]

What funny is now they share the obsession

[@danimayb]

Tis true! Many Americans watching the show had no clue it was produced by the British and it was taking the micky out of Americans lol But they loved it cause it was a hit there too - Which I didn't actually know until later years, I just thought it was one of those niche British alterative comedy shows channel 4 were famed for.

[@sstrykert]

I got the dark satire& so did other American kids. Just because tv creators thought they were so avant garde' didn't mean they listened in on school yards conversations. Kids are smarter than they get credit for.

[@dcraexon]

7/11BigGulp

[@sstrykert]

@Malus agreed.& always has been, no less.

[@undeadnotunpeople]

I live in Tulsa, and we have a Max Headroom themed barcade called The Max Retropub and Matt Frewer even sent them an autographed photo

[@Tai_Jitu]

Loved this show. It broke my teenaged geeky heart when I found out Max was a prosthetic face and not actually computer generated.

[@redgrain3914]

If Hasbro made a Max Headroom figure holding a New Coke, I would buy it. While shadowed by the sneaking suspicion that I'm entirely missing the point.

[@RonnieBarzel]

Seems like a natural fit for a FUNKO Pop figure.

[@funkworthrollin4959]

They Live....

[@Takeshi357]

I can't imagine a Max Headroom figure. At best, I can imagine a toy television set with Max Headroom on it.

[@BigAL68xyz]

@@RonnieBarzel exactly what I was gonna say

[@ronaldfields992]

Not only was your history of Max Headroom spot on, but your commentary was insightful and painfully accurate.

[@AcroRay]

Brilliant work, gentlemen! Our honored S-S-S-Saint Headroom is one of the reasons I went into the creative t-t-television profession. Love seeing the property acknowledged so re-re-re-respectfully! Bravo!

[@JokersVsZombies]

To this day, max headroom is one of the coolest characters ever

[@RandomAmerican3000]

14:15 I was taping Channel 11 that night. I was pissed when it happened. The way they showed Doctor Who back then it would have been over a year before that episode came up again and the tape was ruined. I angrily stopped recording and went to bed. In hindsight, I really should have kept that tape.

[@groupie8985]

did you get scared by it? i would have been terrified Lol

[@wilelowman]

Pissed me almost as Disco Demolition

[@duncanwcraig9668]

I grew up in New Zealand. I was 16/17 when it came out. We were addicted. This show was brilliant.

[@MoteofLobross]

The wgn interruption was hilarious. The rotating sheet metal was genius.

[@peterdarr383]

If the "statutes of limitations" are up by now, the PERP could come forward and boast about it freely.

[@NicholasSouris]

He will never come forward

[@seatspud]

@@NicholasSouris Nor should he. Some things ought to remain a mystery.

[@machupikachu1085]

I'm sure someone already mentioned this, but max headroom is also an audio term for maximum volume without distorting. Which is, of course, a great name for a video show. Cheers!

[@winstonheard9769]

Idea Pitch: "so... it's like, Network meets Bladerunner" *sniffs line of coke* "...i love it, here's a million dollars" also, i was all set to congratulate you on your new job as Cleveland Browns head coach, but you had to go and shave the beard

[@PsychoWerekitsune]

Was that a line of New Coke?

[@Chalor.]

@@PsychoWerekitsune Nah, original formula...coke classic.

[@LnPPersonified]

Won't combining these things be hard? No, it'll be super easy, barely an inconvenience!

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

@Winston Heard: this is the most 80s comment i have ever seen.

[@matthewtanner5127]

@@PsychoWerekitsune new coke is why people are dying from fentanyl :(

[@TheOnlyTominator]

I did not perpetrate the hack, but I did witness it live. I was sitting in my dorm room watching late-night TV when it came on. It was confusing and funny and a little scary. The content itself, wasn't scary, but the thought that someone was hijacking a live feed was disturbing.

[@TWaldon]

Max Headroom: Twenty Minutes into the Future story took 20 mins? Was this done on purpose?

[@SecretGalaxyTV]

Got it as close as I could

[@PixelatedH2O]

@@SecretGalaxyTV Well under 21 minutes is still 20!

[@zacetto]

I always wanted to be a fly on the wall in the movie pitch. “The film’s set in the future.” “How far?” “Twenty minutes.” I was too young to get it, but I do remember hauling the ‘portable’ into the study and watching The Max Headroom show, at the age of 12. The list was: ‘Run to You’ Bryan Adams ‘We Close Our Eyes’ Go West ‘Ha Ha Said the Clown’ Men without Hats.

[@albertagibinik8883]

Wasn't it 23 minutes?

[@cseguin]

Matt Frewer lives on the same island I do . . . just off the coast of Vancouver Island. I've done work for him in the past - building a fair-weather skating rink that you can use ice-skates on . . . he's not only an actor but also a great hockey player . . . and a really nice guy to as well.

[@everything80spodcast68]

Most of the animated "CGI" backgrounds were done by Rod Lord who also created the "computer-generated" imagery in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. I feel you can see a lot of the influence of Matt Frewer in Jim Carrey. Frewer also played Russ Thomspson, the neighbor in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.

[@JW...-oj5iw]

Also a time traveler in TNG.

[@andgate2000]

There was no cgi in hitch hikers either.....check out the making of HH

[@Vamptonius]

I thought that exploding blipvert looked familiar.

[@kirkawhyte5323]

The background on Max Headroom was based on opening and closing Vannison blinds

[@FoolishFlock]

When my uncle showed me Max-Headroom as a little kid it straight scared the shit outta me!... i actually had a strange nightmare that Max-Headroom bit off my finger when i touched the TV Screen & before i knew it he had pulled/sucked me into the TV Set!...

[@78deathface]

Can we all just take a moment to admire the beauty of Amanda Pays?

[@jopestv1063]

I could take a whole weekend. she was yummy

[@daniiel1495]

I've always had a thing for her. Gorgeous.

[@johnlynch8042]

Lovely looking lady - breathtaking in fact.

[@erikswenson1760]

Amanda Pays is in the movie 1989 underrated sci-fi horror Leviathan its Alien underwater

[@ohgary]

Seems like she was bra less on Max Headroom. Not so much in Leviathan.

[@MCastleberry1980]

This really is the most unnecessarily convoluted backstory for a character introducing music videos

[@bartholomewprice3221]

They were competing against the original MTV veejays and I think they were quite successful! Even today Max Headroom is much more memorable than Martha Quinn, JJ Jackson, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter. "Unneccessarily convoluted" has been a feature (not a bug) of any project which explores media theory at least since Cronenberg released "Videodrome" (1983), which I'll quote from here... "The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena: the Videodrome. The television screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore, whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television." --Brian O'Blivion O'Blivion's statement was difficult to understand in 1983 (or maybe I was too young to understand it), but today it's trivially easy to see. The battle is (largely) between Fox News and MSNBC. And for their dedicated audiences, what Tucker Carlson tells his audience, or what Rachel Maddow tells her auduence, is more "real" than what actually happens in the real physical world. Because of that, I think now is the perfect time for Max Headroom to make a comeback.

[@roy1701d]

I've always loved Max, for a variety of reasons. He was a satirical scion of media self-awareness, a prophetic glimpse of things to come, and actually pretty damn funny. The ABC TV show got many things right about the future: the X-Games, the 24/7 news cycle, private police forces, human organ black markets, television (internet) addiction, and (of course) the omnipresent media who know what to sell you before you know you want to buy it. Better yet...as a person who stutters, Max actually made me popular...for about 20 minutes. 🙂 PS I own a copy of "Max Headroom's Guide to Life." 😆

[@sstrykert]

So he was A-lex J-ones?

[@thebfg836]

It's funny I didnt recognize that voice as Matt Frewer until now. He was on an episode of Star Trek: TNG as a time traveling scientist.

[@JaimeWulf]

Glad you remembered that I knew there was a connection but just couldn't recall what it was, lol...

[@thebfg836]

@@JaimeWulf Thank BBC America and their endless TNG,DS9,Voyager reruns lol

[@suzettehenderson9278]

He was a semi-regular on Eureka as well.

[@DistracticusPrime]

Morgan Shepard appeared on Babylon 5.

[@amishrobots]

you should check out "Orphan Black" another great show that he was in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Black

[@ZBott]

Max Headroom selling New Coke seems like the ultimate in sarcastic marketing. And it was before the whole thing became a technical failure.

[@Shootingstarcomics]

Max was awesome, I wish they’d bring him back as a virtual assistant.

[@rb8058]

The Red Sombrero that’s a fantastic idea!

[@AmbrociousXP]

Look up the 2015 movie called Pixels, he was in that.

[@membrane5565]

He should come back as a Vtuber.

[@PaulV3D]

I'd bug that for a dollar!

[@wallacechrstensen7406]

Yes

[@Statsy10]

I remember watching the show and thinking how far ahead of its time it was. Thanks for covering this. One of your best episodes to date!

[@kenschmidt4542]

Love the channel! Thank you for all the great content!

[@DanielS2001]

I always imagined that Max Headroom took place in The Sprawl novels by William Gibson. Max seems to be a step up from the Dixie Flatline, which is a copy of a personality of a real person. In the show, Carter talks about finding someone to "break some ICE" in one episode, ICE (Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics) was introduced in Neuromancer. Honestly, I'd like to see Max come back, with Matt Frewer providing the voice and using actual CG for him (like how he appeared in Pixels). Maybe even bring back the show, this time set "40 Minutes Into The Future," with Carter now in the role of producer at Network 23 (now a streaming service) and Max helping the next generation of newscasters. I'd like to see how Max and Carter would deal with the changes in their world while still reflecting our own.

[@grahamking9121]

I loved to watch The Max Headroom Show in my teens, and actually never knew to this day that Max Headroom was NOT genuinely a cutting-edge CGI face - but actor Matt Frewer, with prosthetics, made up! The team did this so well! Thanks for this insightful and affectionate documentary video.

[@j.w.m.415]

Oh thank God, it's not just me.

[@susanscott8653]

Or me.🤯

[@HertzBadguise]

“Dangerous Curves” Also, as I was unfamiliar with this character, the whole time I was thinking “homeboy looks a lot like the Dennis Hopper King Koopa.” I’m guessing it wasn’t a coincidence.

[@Po4to]

I had a similar ideas, except I'd spell it Dan Gerous :D And yeah, this story explains a lot of things about the SMB movie - including why it's a futuristic dystopia - much like Max Headroom. And absolutely nothing like Super Mario. Another thing it *might* explain is why the makers of another cinematic abomination capitalizing off of a somewhat cult IP - Lawnmower Man's sequel - insisted Matt Frewer would be oh so perfect as the virtual Jobe. The guy looked NOTHING like Jeff Fahey.

[@juliusuzutunda]

I am also unfamiliar with, "DANGEROUS CURVES" 😁😁

[@InAmOrAtA1983]

I absolutely love Matt Frewer. I was too young to remember Max Headroom beyond parodies on kids shows, but I'm interested now.

[@edd4740]

This show was too far ahead of its time when it aired but we’re ready for him to come back! (As long as Frewer voices him)

[@henrymatos9551]

Wow! I loved this! I remember Max Headroom battling within its futuristic, anarchistic world of corporate dictatorship. I thought the whole concept was interesting. Thank you for the narrative history and bringing back some good memories!

[@Norrisc761]

Matt Frewer, to me, is the best and funniest comedic actor ever. His talent truly shined on Doctor Doctor, but Max Headroom was a very good example as well.

[@MezTZO]

Doctor Doctor... now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Good times.

[@Norrisc761]

@@MezTZO And don't forget Shaky Ground

[@marasmusine]

I loved him in a TV movie called "Short Time" with Dabney Coleman. Also it's a shame he wasn't in Timeless more.

[@brettcooper3893]

JC Norris he also had 1 line in Life of Brian.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

He really chewed the scenery to great effect in The Stand.

[@Down10]

It was just announced that 'Max Headroom' is getting a revival series on AMC, with Matt Frewer returning as the title character. I'm not sure how AMC plans on reviving Max, but given the advanced state of "VTuber" technology, it wouldn't be difficult to create a virtual truly computer generated Max Headroom that could be performed live by Frewer. In fact, I'd be surprised if Vtubing wasn't a core aspect of the series.

[@BrianPollard]

It would be interesting to see a new Max Headroom series, especially in relation to our current Digital Age.

[@MicBain]

Jim Carrey stole a LARGE part of his wacky comedy personality from Max.

[@michaelmartin9022]

The digital TV switchover ads in the UK actually called that out.

[@MicBain]

@@michaelmartin9022 Haha that's great. Yeah it's pretty obvious to anyone who has seen them both.

[@silversunlicker]

I totally had that thought! I also thought how sad that The Mask has zero social commentary.

[@47Str8]

AlllllllllRighty then!

[@stevezpj]

I cannot stand Jim Carrey at all. I am definitely not going to see the Sonic film because Jim Carrey is in it. I can certainly see how he copied Max, though - it's just that Max did it well.

[@DasNordlicht91]

I’m curious what Max’s original creators ever thought of their character turning into the very thing they were satirizing when he became a Coca-Cola spokesman. Also, that planned movie of Max running for president should be dug up today, as it would be oddly relevant for today’s times.

[@kerbal666]

Black Mirror did something similar

[@djofortunato5799]

The 80s were an interesting time indeed (!) I'm sure Bowie shared some of the same thoughts about his own "Aw what the Hell let's make art go full on mainstream" period

[@LaikaLycanthrope]

Black Mirror: The Waldo Moment

[@tomboyd224]

The Democrat party are allegedly thinking of substituting Max Headroom for Joe Biden. They figure they can pull it off now that the Coronavirus has forced the cancellation of all live appearances. Just put Max up on the big screen and nobody will know the difference.

[@wallacechrstensen7406]

@@dansmith1661 yes

[@stephenwevans]

Watched the US series again a few weeks ago. I remember when it was on TV. It's crazy how relevant so much of that show is today. Thanks for this breakdown!

[@taylormatthewhyslop]

Thankyou for this super nostalgia hit. In this world of CGI and DeepFakes, it's amazing how ahead of it's time Max Headroom was.

[@mikeblackfunny]

I loved that Max appeared in the book Ready Player One and was disappointed that he didn't make it into the film.

[@yoyodynetoys]

my max inspired street sign name? Ped Xing! thanks for this video - Max Headroom is a media property often overlooked as a mascot, rather than a means of cultural critique. The sci-fi show dealt with some very interesting post-humanist issues on tv before we knew what cyberpunk was.

[@Humongous420]

I have loved this character since my childhood and had NO clue Max wasn't created with CGI! Mind blown 🤯

[@brandonpage7087]

Wow, I already knew of Max Headroom, prior to this video, even though I sadly, missed out on the Max Headroom craze, as I was SO young at the time, but I had no idea that he was meant to mock those in power, or that according to the movie, he was originally a human!! Also had no idea that Matt Frewer performed the character in full on makeup & prosthetics, with a digital background! I always assumed that the entire image was an early version of CGI!!!

[@Heath.houston]

Actually, even the background was physical, as rendering that moving background digitally was too expensive and looked worse.

[@hoosez]

I guess you can say that Max was a "head" of his time. Today he would be a KZbin/Face Book sensation. Max was made for the world we are becoming now. I miss the tv show and all the MTV stuff. The concept was so simplistic but it worked. Maybe one day, with AI we can get a new Max. One that will be there when we least expect it, and jolt us back to reality.

[@areasevenpro]

"Between Dallas and Miami - what a terrible place to be!" - Sledge Hammer

[@HeGeekSheGeek]

Luckily, he knew what he was doing.

[@carlb5558]

I trusted him!

[@pauljoyner4338]

Great tv show. Shame it only lasted 2 seasons. The Marvel comic was short lived too. Only 2 issues I believe.

[@TheEvilpossum]

Guns don't kill people, bullets do.

[@JonathanMCook]

@@TheEvilpossum My favorite was the time he was wanting to watch some movies that he rented (Gun parodies of popular films of the era) and one was a video recording of a paper target like you see at a gun range. He pops it in the VCR, image comes up, followed by a voice over going "Shoot me...Shoot me....Shoot me" whips out his magnum and shoots the TV. In a deadpan tone said "Need to remind myself to never rent that again". 😆

[@robadams5799]

3:30 - Reminds me of the original "Hitchhiker's Guide the the Galaxy." All they needed was a Babel fish.

[@Azaul]

Wow. This one was on another level. Well done.

[@shoesncheese]

I think the fact that Max Headroom became what he was supposed to satirize but it was for New freakin' Coke of all things is entirely appropriate.

[@kafkasvulture]

So, I dig the covering of weirdo 80's TV. May I suggest Automan, Misfits of Science, and The Wizard (not the Fred Savage movie, the TV show with the guy from Time Bandits).

[@StevieDrawStuff]

Love all of those. Also, My Secret Identity

[@ianrobinson2115]

Please YES!!!

[@crankysaint]

Small Wonder and Manimal.

[@deathwrenchcustom]

Stingray, Suberbike, Airwolf, Highwaymen (the futuristic truckers, one of whom was Jokko.

[@mccallosone4903]

yeah the wizard was the shit!

[@smokeydoke100]

That was such a great show. My favorite character, besides Max, was Blank Reg.

[@rustedbeetle]

Amanda Pays got me through a lot of the 80's.

[@brettcooper3893]

rustedbeetle *Paynes. She was also married to Corbin Bernsen.

[@streetmagik3105]

@@brettcooper3893 -No, it's Pays. Look it up.

[@cernstormrunner7263]

Indeed

[@cernstormrunner7263]

@@Me4-gc8qs time wounds all heels

[@Inertia888]

Live fast.... Grow old at a young age and deal with the pain of burning the candle at both ends back when you thought you'd live forever.

[@JennieBonbons]

First, Max Headroom made me laugh in my childhood; while slowly teaching me to LOL about the kooky childhood fears I overcame!🤪😆😑😊🤪

[@BrickMantooth]

That was terrific. I really enjoyed the ABC series at the time as I was in television production classes and my (weird) instructor loved to discuss the episodes at length thus me being able to blow off 70 minutes.

[@zeromancer-x]

Funny. I used to be able to get my C++/Java language professor to talk about the TV show "Sliders" and blow about half the classroom time there. Less on topic, but with the same effect.

[@Hopscotchlemonadespritz]

Too young to have seen Max live on TV but various references to him survive. Seemed well ahead of its time and I'm happy to find more out about this curiously ingenious creation.

[@danielherrin]

I remember the TV show, I never had any idea what was going on.

[@bitpusher2600]

One of my favorite pieces of my childhood. As a tech nerd kid, around 6, I loved Max. Even in this day I still occasionally wear my Network 23 and ZikZak t-shirts.

[@bricktrooper540]

And it will all be owned by Disney.

[@rainyday6430]

Everything is owned by Disney!

[@mzaite]

Who's special membership club is......D23.

[@zombieregime]

Its pronounced "ZED-X spectrum". Yes, even in America. The Max Headroom incident is believed to have been a sports caster from a neighboring channel who had beef with someone on the interrupted station. Its thought that the sports anchor and a technician used an on location broadcast van to hijack a local relay by basically parking on a hill near the relay receiver, pointing the trucks dish at the receiver, and cranking up the transmit power. In effect drowning out the relay signal by shouting louder than it so the local relay receiver locked onto their signal instead of the correct one. Exactly like if you tune a Bluetooth FM transmitter to a local radio stations frequency, tens of feet away the radio stations signal is stronger but get closer to your radios antenna and yours becomes loud enough for the radio to lock onto your transmitter. The reason why this version of the story holds so much weight is because hijacking a TV relay is no trivial task. After all they are considered a part of the emergency broadcast system. You have to have a knowledge of not only the hardware involved but also the protocols and a number of very specific settings otherwise it doesn't matter how loud you shout the relay wasn't going to listen to them. So they would have had to have known which encoding to use to get the relay to relay their signal. The icing on the cake being the technician believed to have been involved was recently let go from the station the sportscaster had beef with. So he would have had knowledge of the correct encoding that Network used at that point in time. Also the area affected wasn't very large, it was a local relay only covering a few square miles. They didn't hijack the main feed which would have affected the entire coverage area. The way these systems work is the studio sends the footage to a transmit site which has a number of microwave directional transmitters, those weird angled horn looking things sometimes seen at the top of buildings and hills. These directional antennas are pointed at either the top of mountains to get the signal over them or directly at a relay transmitter which receives the microwave signal converts it to broadcast frequencies and retransmits it for the local area. That's how you would get crystal clear LA news in the Inland Empire 80 miles away and over a mountain range.

[@BigEpinstriping]

I love the series; I have it on DVD. Long time Max Headroom fan! It was a genius work of cyberpunk fiction. Oh, and growing up in the Chicago area, I did see the pirate broadcast on Channel 11 when it interrupted Doctor Who back in the day.

[@ThatRandomFastingGuy]

Just found this channel and am addicted. I'm from New Zealand so many of the things you talk about never came out here. Nevertheless, your presentation style has me coming back for more. Edit: Fixed my bad grammar, I hope. 😅

[@bombyouup62]

I remember being a kid and liking Max Headroom but then I couldn't figure where to see him.

[@michaelmartin9022]

It was like that with The Simpsons for me. I knew Bart Simpson was this cool new thing, and for some reason UK TV showed that music video all the time. I don't think I realised there was an actual show until years later.

[@swampdonkey4919]

Would've been interesting to see as a British show. As I recall, the British pilot had a much darker tone than the American one.

[@deralfenderson]

Thank you for making this. Good way to expand the channel's focus. Dig it.

[@victorfroes6650]

Great vid. Max Headroom is as much a piece of cyberpunk culture as blade runner.

[@alimfuzzy]

Max Headroom and the Story Teller were definitely my favorite shows when I was a kid. Why cant they make shows like these any more?

[@snarkus63]

I remember ABC's *Max Headroom* series...the pilot episode was a retelling of the original British movie,except it didn't end with Network 23 going under. I thought the series was pretty good.

[@the_flyattractor8656]

Ahh one of TV's Lost and Forgotten Best Characters Ever. BLANK REG!

[@acoulthardclark]

Loved that Blank Reg got his name, according to the novel, by not appearing on any data base, system or record. Part of the 'blank' underground society

[@brianartillery]

On one episode, Blank Reg gives a girl a book. Never having seen one before, she asks him what it is, to which he replies: "It's a non-reactive information storage and retrieval device."

[@melissawickersham9912]

@@brianartillery Reg actually called a book a “non-volatile storage medium”, to be precise.

[@brianartillery]

@@melissawickersham9912 - Thank you. Being over 35 years since I saw it, I couldn't actually remember the exact term - I wasn't far out - 'reactive' instead of 'volatile'. It is a great scene, though, and sadly, damn near true for today.

[@williamhughes9559]

Had forgotten about this. Thanks for bringing the 80s back up

[@Larry]

Channel 4 isn't a news station dude, it's general entertainment all around. like the BBC and ITV, They also brought back Headroom in the '00s as a senile old man to promote them switching over to digital TV. AAnnndddd of course he had his own video game in the UK :P

[@SecretGalaxyTV]

Might be a slight misunderstanding in the way I pronounced "new station."

[@Larry]

@@SecretGalaxyTV Aah, new station news tation, yeah I can see that being a bit of a tongue twister there!

[@aztro.99]

lol nerd

[@LlamaGlamaDrama]

I've never heard of a Zee X Spectrum...

[@dogwalker666]

I loved the film, but Never saw the TV series, next time I saw him was the art of noise Paranoia video.

[@docgonzales]

Matt Frewer was a next level ad lib master. Amazing mind on the guy

[@erikhouse7907]

I'd love to see Toy Galaxy cover the Super Bros. Movie, if they haven't yet.

[@SecretGalaxyTV]

It's on the list

[@DasNordlicht91]

There’s even some action figures they released for the Mario movie for you to cover. :)

[@RobertoTheOriginalManFromTheA]

You don't know the 80s unless you seen Max Headroom!

[@TonySpike]

I am British and I was today years old when I found out this was a British creation, and my mind is blown by this fact

[@brendancull8316]

It would be great to have him back on Telly again, and he would fit in perfectly the way the world is today, he would have plenty of material to poke fun at.

[@hondorockz]

Just got slapped in the face with some crazy nostalgia, very cool DDDDDan!

[@jeremymtc]

I was so pissed when my sister taped 90210 over my VHS recordings of the ABC series.

[@freakshowfilmfestival3591]

Matt F. should have played the Riddler in some form.

[@MicBain]

Instead Jim Carey basically ripped off Max Headroom, then played the Riddler haha

[@BrokenNeuron]

Damn, now I want Jim Carrey to be the next max headroom.

[@OldGrumpyDude]

*See his character in Altered Carbon.

[@solidus3168]

Wouldnt be able to do Max Headroom today. Left thought the media would be ran by the Right. WHAT A TWIST!!!

[@solidus3168]

@@gamephreak5 bro the IM A CAR video you posted KILLED ME!!!! GOOD TIMES!!!!

[@JeffCommented]

When I was a kid, Max Headroom, Michael Jackson, and Spids Mackenzie was my world

[@seszw6159]

Spuds too

[@Chalor.]

@@seszw6159 And don't forget about Spanks.

[@funkworthrollin4959]

Must be under 40...

[@omacktube]

Dont forget the California raisins

[@daviddegraff5137]

"Thank you for your fine support. "

[@CoinOpTV]

epic recap!

[@DrWho2008t101]

Interesting

[@simonkennedy6116]

I remember hearing that Max Headroom had a 100% score on IMDB

[@nonya13]

I remember as a kid, Max Headroom always confused me. Was it a show, was it a movie, was it a commercial? This video has brought everything together with a great timeline. thank you. And Matt Frewer is awesome. Really liked him in the TV show Eureka.

[@lanceturley7745]

Is this video Dan's way of letting us know that he's actually just an AI program designed to talk about toys and 80's nostalgia?

[@WOWMonsterShow]

This was great. Been a huge fan of Max Headroom since watching the ABC show in high school. I never felt the show got its due.

[@wotaj]

My Street sign: Slow Children, At Play.

[@Dream0Asylum]

I see what you did there.

[@AxlePineapple]

no max headroom video would be complete without at least acknowledging the signal hijacking thing. kudos!

[@ChristopherDrum]

Since we're doing "signage inspired names..." Shock Hazard

[@kdrapertrucker]

Slow child.

[@TheMattTrakker]

Oh, it seems like someone like him is needed again to expose the censorship