#Max headroom show series
#Max headroom show tv

He almost makes his escape on a motorcycle through the buildingвЂ™s parking garage only to be thwarted by Lynch, who drops a low-clearance warning barrier into his path. Their covert shenanigans draw the wrong kind of attention in the form of Bryce Lynch, a snotty teenaged hacker employed by the network, and CarterвЂ™s forced to bail. With the help of his trusted network вЂњcontroller,вЂќ Theora Jones (played by Amanda Pays), Carter sneaks into 23вЂ™s headquarters in search of evidence to solidify his story. He discovers the execs at his own network are behind the blipverts and donвЂ™t care who theyвЂ™re killing just so long as the ratings remain awesome.

#Max headroom show tv

Set in the near futureвЂ“you guessed it, вЂњ20 minutesвЂќвЂ“the film introduces us to Edison Carter as portrayed by actor Matt Frewer, a field reporter for вЂњNetwork 23вЂќ who tracks down all manner of crazy stories for his own sort of low-rent blend of investigative journalism and sensationalism already being made infamous by tabloid TV evocateurs such as Morton Downey Jr, Phil Donahue, and Geraldo Rivera (this was before RiveraвЂ™s infamous TV special with Al CaponeвЂ™s vaults, but the signs were there, people).Д¬arter stumbles upon the truth behind вЂњblipverts,вЂќ a form of hyperaccelerated, subliminal advertising thatвЂ™s actually screwing with the neurons of people who spend too much time couch surfing in front of the TV and eating shitty food. Long before the 24-hour news cycle and in-your-face ad-based media became our everyday normal, Max Headroom was already mocking such things. A darkly satirical look behind the curtain of media and entertainment empires and unchecked corporate gluttony. It was on April 4th, 1985, that Channel 4 aired Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future. What did they end up with? IвЂ™m glad you asked. The trio set to work expanding their ideas into a longer story.

#Max headroom show series

Their original plan was to roll out the origin story in a series of five-minute chunks, but when they pitched their idea to Channel 4, the execs there liked it enough they pushed for an actual film with all of this baked in. They landed on the idea of a character who would be вЂњcomputer generated.вЂќ Morton then started coming up with bits and pieces of how the character came to be and that he was actually based on a real person. In the midst of this development, Stone, Morton, and Jankel decided that simply linking music videos with a series of graphics or other silliness just wasnвЂ™t interesting. Hell, by 1985 it was already old hat, so Stone, Morton, and Jankel were enlisted to come up with something new and fresh. ThatвЂ™s right, kids! There was a time when the вЂњMвЂќ meant вЂњmusicвЂќ and the bulk of MTVвЂ™s program wasвЂ¦.wait for itвЂ¦music videos. YouвЂ™re just in time, because as it happens, Max turns 35 today.Д¬onceived by creators George Stone, Rocky Morton, and Annabel Jankel as a means to introduce music videos for Channel 4, the still fairly young London-based broadcast television station, Max was meant to mix up the format solidified by MTV. At the same time, I canвЂ™t help giving you a little side-eye, because come on! ItвЂ™s Max Headroom, for crying out loud. There you are.ДЇor those of you whoвЂ™ve somehow managed to get to the year 2020 without coming across this guy, I applaud you on your ability to remain focused on things that actually matter. Shit just has to happen in a certain unpredictable order resulting in a perfect storm, and boom. I think we all have to agree thereвЂ™s really no formula for that kind of thing. I donвЂ™t know that anyone consciously sets out with a plan to develop a character intended to introduce music videos who ends up getting a dystopian origin story before going on to become a talk show host, Coca-Cola pitch man, and star of a short-lived television series on a whole other continent from the one where he was born and then laying a legitimate claim to being an icon of 1980s pop culture and even somewhat better than average prognosticator. вЂњ Say, would someone mind checking the ratings? I seem to have an audience of two.вЂќ