Max headroom
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Max headroom |
| Original title | Max headroom |
| Country of production |
United States United Kingdom Japan |
| Year (s) | 1987-1988 |
| length | 45 minutes |
| Episodes | 14 in 2 seasons |
| genre | Science fiction |
| First broadcast | March 31, 1987 (USA) on ABC |
| German-language first broadcast |
April 24, 1989 on Sat.1 |
| occupation | |
|
Main actor:
Supporting cast:
| |
Max Headroom is a Cyberpunk - science fiction television series based on the character Max Headroom is based, in 1984 as an announcer for music videos of the British Channel 4 acted. Already on April 4, 1985, the almost one-hour television film Max Headroom - 20 Minutes into the Future (released in Germany in 1989 as Max Headroom - Der Film ) was broadcast on American television with the crew of the later television series. The series was produced by Lorimar Productions .
action
The main character is Max Headroom , portrayed by Matt Frewer , who was generated from the brain waves of the nearly fatally injured reporter Edison Carter. The name is explained by the fact that Carter crashed his head against a barrier labeled MAX. HEADROOM (English for clear height or max. Headroom ) crashed, and this writing was the last thing he saw before he fell into a coma .
The main theme of the series is the fight of reporter Edison Carter from network 23 against corruption , crime and oppression. The dangers of manipulating viewers through the medium of television , but also its good (educational) sides, are also mostly discussed. This fight almost always ends for the reporter in front of the desk of his boss Ben Chaviot, who blames him for it, even though Carter is almost always victorious. Carter is assisted by his assistant Theora Jones, the hacker Bryce Lynch (who also programmed Max Headroom), news producer Murray, and his stuttering alter ego Max Headroom himself.
The first episode was noticeable because of the extremely high sequence of cuts (scenes often less than 1 second), which gave the film its own atmosphere, but the effort was not made.
The second season of the series was canceled prematurely due to poor audience ratings. During a 1988 strike by US screenwriters, the full series including the two episodes that had not yet been broadcast was re-broadcast.
Episodes
The German free TV broadcaster Sat.1 broadcast the German-language first broadcast from April 24 to July 24, 1989.
1st season
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
German title | Original title | First broadcast in the USA | German language first broadcast (D) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Psychological spots | Blipverts | 31 Mar 1987 | Apr. 24, 1989 |
| The reporter Edison Carter discovered the secret of the psycho-TV spots and is supposed to be neutralized. After an accident, he is believed to be dead. The computer specialist Bryce transfers Edison's memory to a computer copy: Max Headroom is born. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | Fight Board Tournament | Rakers | Apr 7, 1987 | May 8, 1989 |
| Unscrupulous managers want to make a profit out of the plight of young skaters. The kids have to earn their living at life-threatening skateboard tournaments, which Sender 23 wants to broadcast live. Edison and Max Headroom want to find out who is behind it. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | Organ bank | Body banks | Apr. 14, 1987 | May 1, 1989 |
| The mother of the millionaire Plantagenet is said to be saved by an illegal organ transplant. Before the operation, Bryce is asked to make a computer copy of the mother using the regeneration program. But Max Headroom realizes that the life of an innocent person is in danger. | |||||
| 4th | 4th | Electronics barriers | Security Systems | Apr 21, 1987 | May 29, 1989 |
| The company Security-Systems controls almost everything with its computers. Edison Carter notices power shifts at the top of the company. The person responsible for this then lets the main computer classify him as a criminal. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | Anarcho TV | Was | Apr 28, 1987 | May 15, 1989 |
| In order to drive up the audience figures, competing television companies try to outdo each other with spectacular contributions. Carter therefore senses behind reports on the "White Brigade" and its terrorist attacks material for his show. | |||||
| 6th | 6th | Non-existences | The blanks | May 5th 1987 | May 22, 1989 |
| So far, people who had their records deleted from the central computer were tolerated as "non-existences". Now Peller wants to destroy them. Computer failures are the result, because those affected fight back. | |||||
2nd season
| No. ( total ) |
No. ( St. ) |
German title | Original title | First broadcast in the USA | German language first broadcast (D) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7th | 1 | Zip programs | Academy | Sep 18 1987 | June 5th 1989 |
| Illegal insertions, known as "zip programs", threaten to ruin channel 23. Blank Reg from Bigtime TV-Bus is accused. His friend Edison Carter is supposed to help. Max Headroom recognized the real culprit. But the evidence is missing. | |||||
| 8th | 2 | Video religion | Deities | 25 Sep 1987 | June 12, 1989 |
| The Vu Age Church promises resurrection via television screen. Its head Vanna Smith is a former friend of Edison Carter. This should expose the lies of the church in a report. Thereupon he is blackmailed with the extinction of Max Headrooms. | |||||
| 9 | 3 | Info manipulation | Grossberg's Return | Oct 2, 1987 | June 19, 1989 |
| In the electronics democracy, television voting is the norm. Political power is exercised by those who achieve the highest ratings. A bitter election campaign ensues between broadcaster 23 and its toughest competitor, broadcaster 66. | |||||
| 10 | 4th | Brain donations | Dream Thieves | Oct 9, 1987 | June 26, 1989 |
| Through "brain donations" the poorest of the poor sell their dreams to a video company. She sells these at high prices - with the risk of death. When Edison Carter loses a friend as a result, he takes action. | |||||
| 11 | 5 | Whackets quiz show | Whackets / The Addiction Game | Oct 16, 1987 | 3rd July 1989 |
| The Whackets quiz show is the new hit with the public. When Carter investigates, he finds out that the show is addicting. He tracks down two criminals who are only interested in ratings. Even with Max, the effect is not lacking. | |||||
| 12 | 6th | Neuro-stimulation | Neurostim | Apr 28, 1988 | July 10, 1989 |
| Total advertising threatens: the Zik-Zak group throws neuro-stimulators in the form of drug bracelets on the market that seem to make dreams come true. They trigger a real buying frenzy. Even Edison Carter falls victim to this madness. | |||||
| 13 | 7th | Censorship computer | Lessons | May 5, 1988 | July 17, 1989 |
| Task forces of the censor want to arrest a woman who manages to escape at the last second. When Carter wants to report on the activities of the censor task forces in a live broadcast, the censorship computer switches it off. | |||||
| 14th | 8th | Baby reproduction | Baby grobags | - | July 24, 1989 |
| The company Ovu Vat offers parents to make babies for them. When Theora's friend wants to pick up her ordered child, she is accompanied by Edison Carter. But the child has disappeared without a trace. Edison senses a scandalous business. | |||||
media
The 1985 television film is available in Germany as a VHS video cassette. In addition, Karussell released a five-part radio play series on audio cassette in 1989 , in which ten episodes - two episodes each on one cassette - were adapted as a radio play. In the USA the series has been available as a box with 5 DVDs since August 2010 , but a release in Germany is not yet planned.
In 1989 Chrysalis / Polydor released a single Mr. MAX: Max Headrom calling with extensive samples from the German television series.
In 1989 Lübbe Verlag published the paperback series Die neue Kultfigur MAX HEADROOM , which was discontinued after four volumes. The author of the novels was Hajo F. Breuer .
Trivia
- The action takes place in 2005/2006, because in the pilot it is mentioned that Bryce is 18 years old and a file shows that he was born in 1987. In a printed edition of Tödliche Spots , however, the following is told in Chapter 2: "Indeed, Bryce Lynch was a rather unusual cast ... Far too big cheap glasses ... in the milk face of the boy who was no more than fourteen years old ..." and in Chapter 3: "So - Bryce Lynch, born on October 7th, 1988. That's still a boy!" As a result, the series would begin before 2003.
- Max Headroom, even if it appeared, wasn't computer-generated graphics, but was played by Matt Frewer himself. The image was only alienated afterwards.
- The graphic was produced in 1987 with a Commodore Amiga .
- The Max Headroom character made a number of guest and cameo appearances . She appeared in a commercial for the American beverage manufacturer Coca-Cola and was the concert announcement in a music video by Tina Turner . In the music video for the song Paranoimia by the band The Art of Noise , the figure was primarily seen. Short appearances on US television were made on a Christmas special and on a talk show. In the 1989 US feature film Back to the Future II , virtual waiters with the faces and voices of Ronald Reagan , Ayatollah Khomeini and Michael Jackson were seen on screens, but they moved and spoke like Max Headroom. He also made a brief cameo in the film Pixels .
- In the music video of Gigi D'Agostino's Another Way , a person with a rubber mask appears who is very similar to Max Headroom.
- In the episode Nightmare with Urkel from the second season of the series All Under One Roof , where series star Steve Urkel had built an atomic bomb , a Steve Urkel version of Max Headroom appeared on his computer. He announced the command when the atomic bomb was released. This also stuttered. What is remarkable is that not only Max Headroom, but also All Under One Roof was once produced by Lorimar. In Selena Gomez's music video & the Scenes Love You Like a Love Song , many TV screens in the chorus show images of Gomez that resemble Max Headroom.
- In the episode The Red Shoes of the Sledge Hammer series ! the protagonist Sledge Hammer is brainwashed with a Max Headroom-like replica of himself.
- The free video codec Theora was named after Theora Jones .
- The American rapper Eminem parodied Max Headroom in his video for the song Rap God in 2013 .
- One of the most famous TV hacks in US media history was involved in a person wearing a Max Headroom costume. The hitherto unknown attacker (s) succeeded in disrupting the TV signal in Chicago on November 22, 1987, and in two hours playing a short clip on one of the stations. Despite an investigation by the FCC , the perpetrator or perpetrators were not caught.
See also
Literature for the television series
- Hajo F. Breuer: Deadly Spots. MAX HEADROOM Volume 1. Lübbe Verlag 1989, ISBN 3-404-11406-X .
- Hajo F. Breuer: Manhunt. MAX HEADROOM Volume 2. Lübbe Verlag 1989, ISBN 3-404-11407-8 .
- Hajo F. Breuer: The outlaws. MAX HEADROOM Volume 3. Lübbe Verlag 1989, ISBN 3-404-11408-6 .
- Hajo F. Breuer, The False Goddess. MAX HEADROOM Volume 4 . Lübbe Verlag 1989, ISBN 3-404-11409-4 .
- David Hansen, Paul Owern: Don't despair, ask the headroom! Goldmann Verlag 1989. ISBN 3-442-09491-7
- Steve Roberts: Max Headroom. 20 minutes beyond the future . Goldmann Verlag 1989, ISBN 3-442-09492-5 .
Web links
- Max Headroom in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Max Headroom as a radio play
- Image by Max Headroom
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Max headroom. In: fernsehserien.de. Retrieved April 15, 2020 .
- ↑ Trivia at imdb.com
- ^ The Public History of a Campaign That Failed. In: maxheadroom.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015 ; accessed on April 15, 2020 .
- ^ Max Headroom On Pixels Movie (2015). Retrieved March 24, 2020 .
- ↑ theora.org
- ↑ Still from the video Eminem as Max Headroom ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ https://motherboard.vice.com/de/article/59yvj5/30-jahre-max-headroom-warum-uns-der-beruhmteste-tv-hack-bis-heute-fasziniert
