Talk:Max Headroom (TV series)

A good start

"is a short-lived but ground-breaking American science fiction television series"

^^^^^ On some days i actually forget George Bush invented the internet , but usually I get woken up quite fast . —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.101.38.216 (talk) 15:58, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Bush? I don't know what that means. Oh well, at any rate, the show was not all American. It was produced in England (which might explain problems with the production design and technical quality. Gingermint (talk) 01:48, 12 June 2011 (UTC)

PLOT?

I feel that it's incredibly important at least have a basic plot description on all media based entries. Would someone who watched the show please let us all know what it was about. Facts and Cast incomplete without Point and purpose —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.148.172.152 (talk) 17:38, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Re edit needed

It would seem that some of the outside links are no longer valid. If possible someone should find valid links to the news stories of the past that will still be available. Having not read the original article I don't feel qualified to do this myself.

It would also seem that a mention of how these stories vanished off the "ahem" news sites would also be an interesting background. Something like reality seems to follow fantasy in how these true stories vanished just like the did in the show. I would get a chuckle out of it if I read it for the first time, and I think it dosen't detract from the feel of this article in any way.

My 2 cents —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.188.106.132 (talk) 03:13, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks

Very nice entry. Thanks!

You're welcome. Other than looking up the number of episodes and the actor's name who played Bryce, I did it all from memory. OK, I'll admit it, I recorded (and still have) 12 or 13 of the episodes on video tape. Gosh, I'm a geek!  :-) --Alan Millar

Scary. Very scary. ;-)

Sound file

You know, a .wav file would be cool, for people who have never heard him speak. Maybe the Coke quote, I don't know. I assume it's okay to include appropriate audio in an article, right? --Dmerrill

I can't see why not from a technical or policy viewpoint. You have to be careful about copyright though. A few seconds (such as a simple quote) constituting a very small part of the original work is probably okay under fair use provisions, so long as you acknowldge its source and that it is copyrighted. -- SJK

Clarification

Couple of things that should be added/cleared up: The original British "pilot" was a 1984 stand-alone TV-movie (Titled Twenty Minutes Into the Future), by Channel 4, not the BBC I think. Channel 4 then followed this up with The Max Headroom Show which was basically a music-video presentation show. The American made TV series came later. I only saw a few episodes of the series, but the original film was superb. Perhaps the best example of cyberpunk to ever make it to the TV. -- DrBob

Yes, I did some checking and Channel 4 is correct. Now integrated into article. --Alan Millar

M-m-m-max. Headroom. Headroom. yeah, I was heartbroken when they took that off the air.

Ron Headroom

Where did the Max Headroom-like cartoons of Ronald Reagan appear? Was in on Saturday Night Live? -- Zoe

-=-=-=-=-

The Max version of Reagan was in "Doonesbury". I believe that Max Headroom was also used in shows on the cable network CineMax in the US.

What also funny is that Max's lines in the New Coke promotions were things like "The new taste is catching on!" and such. Very Network 23ish over all.

Regards, Bill N (who has the shows on SuperBetamax!)

-=-=-=-=-

"Back to the Future Part II" included a café that featured Max Headroom-styled simulations of Michael Jackson, Ronald Reagan and the Ayatollah.

BH

"Unknown" characters

Regarding the "unknown" characters in the cast list, Rosalind Chao played a Network 23 helicopter pilot in later episodes (earlier the pilot was a character named "Ramirez", I think), and Andreas Katsulas played an executive at Network 66 who clashed with Grossberg on occasion. I don't know their character names off the top of my head, but I could probably find them.

Arteitle (who also has them all on SuperBeta, but from recent SciFi channel airings!)

Found 'em, added. KeithTyler

Demerge into TV show article

Should this perhaps be demerged into a Max Headroom (tv show) article, which can focus on the show itself and its mythology, and leave this as the Max Headroom "character" page? KeithTyler 19:26, Jun 9, 2004 (UTC)

Personally, I would leave them together, but perhaps proper section headings would be good. --Amillar 16:00, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

As part of my effort to break out the episodes into their own articles and move the format of all these articles to the Television WikiProject, I went ahead and de-merged the Max Headroom series from the Max Headroom character. I also went through all other wikipedia articles that referenced back to Max Headroom and removed their ambiguities. This resulted in a little below 40 references back to the character, almost 90 references to the series and about nine articles that needed to remain ambigous.--P Todd 06:49, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Artificial celebrity

I think the term "artificial celebrity" was more appropriate than "television character", since Max's first appearances were as an announcer and as a commercial salesperson for Coca-Cola. The movie and TV show appeared after Max was established in those areas. KeithTyler

Max Headroom in the UK

For me, as a UK dweller, "The Max Headroom Show' is the most memorable appearance of the character Max Headroom. This was a pop video show on British TV's 'Channel 4' which was hosted by Max ( actually linked by great heavily edited stuttering comedy monologs ). There was also a later talk show with a studio audience and guests. I've seen it written he first appeared on the British TV Channel 4 in 1982.

I believe this ( the 'vj' show ) was the starting point followed by the original British TV film (1985), and then US series (1987) based on it came after. I don't know what the date of the Coke advert was, but I think it's very unlikely to be his first ever appearance, though probably his first appearance in America.

All arguments for demerging IMO. KeithTyler 21:46, Jun 15, 2004 (UTC)

"Average" viewer "convinced"?

Regarding the statement:

With the backgrounds and video editing, the average viewer was convinced that Max was computer generated.

This sounds a bit too much like simple opinion, or the hope of the Max Headroom creators. Is there any evidence of such a prevalent belief? I may not be an "average" viewer, having a passing acquaintance with computer graphics in 1985, but I was rather sure that such a computer-generated "talking head" was well beyond the technology at the time. -- Jeff Q 05:39, 8 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Broadcast hijacking reference.

This is comparable to scenes in the episode ¨Academy¨, where students overrode network signals for short periods of time in an act called ¨zipping¨.

(I was considering appending it, but it is partially spoiler materal)

DVDs?

I've been trying to search around for any news of a DVD release and haven't found anything but fan demands. Amazon doesn't even have a page for people to request the item and ask to be notified if its release is announced. Does anyone know who owns the rights to the series? Postdlf 06:25, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

Well...there is bootleg versions of the episodes that were broadcasted on SciFi available.

They're out there, but you gotta look for them.--24.89.215.104 00:37, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

I was at a convention this weekend with W Morgan Sheppard, and he said that the producers are arguing about who owns Max Headroom, so don't expect to see anything official until the dispute is resolved (if it ever is). 87.194.248.24 (talk) 18:48, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Sources

"Network 23 was inspired by the 23 enigma with the specific real and theoretical televisual reference derived from Genesis P-Orridge's use of the number 23 etc". This is a statement of fact, and Wikipedia cannot make statements of fact because it is not an authority in itself; it must provide sources. If this could be written as "According to series creator Annabel Jankel in (article, date), the name of Network 23 was inspired by "quote" etc" it would be acceptable, but in its current form it is not. I am also unconvinced by the reference to Genesis P-Orridge.

What does the phrase specific real and theoretical televisual actually mean? I mean, and I'm not trying to be perjorative, what could that possibly mean? wasserperson 04:56, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Gibson's script reference

Here's a reference. http://www.fuchsiashockz.co.uk/articles/cyberpunk/william_gibson_interview_by_giuseppe_salza.php This was revealed doing a simple search on Google. Whoever deleted this: Lay off the burden of proof bit and take the time to make sure you're correct before deleting valid information. --Happylobster 14:53, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

Cut or Uncut?

Given the propensity for both network and cable stations to reedit and censor old shows (like The Tick for example), I wouldn't be greatly shocked to discover that G4/TechTV (whatever they call it these days) went to the editing room and cut things out. If true, does anyone have some details on this? Sweetfreek 20:30, 14 May 2006 (UTC)

Television Wiki Project

Hello all. Added this series to the Television Wiki Project and I'm working to reformat and build out the series entries.--P Todd 00:10, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

New category

I've just added a new category for the show's episodes. Robert Moore 04:31, 27 July 2006 (UTC)

Max's Maneuverability

I think that in the television movie, Max was restricted to the hardware in which he was delivered to the pirate television station and therefore only appeared on their station. In the series, of course, he may show up anywhere, and speak to anyone.

He had partial maneuverability. He was "kidnapped" by Big Time TV once. But most of the time, he was restricted to Network 23's facilities. Some times, he was able to escape, but those were special circumstances. Val42 01:56, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

entertainment show?

This article now uses the phrase "entertainment show" twice. At least in American English, this doesn't mean anything. Does it mean comedy? I'd fix it myself, but I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean. ike9898 16:19, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

WGN-TV Hacking Reference?

It seems to me that it'd be of interest to mention the WGN-TV hacking incident. No? --Koudelka 17:01, 23 January 2007 (UTC)

• I was thinking the same thing - there is an article at Max_Headroom_pirating_incident already, maybe it could be mentioned on the TV series article? Daedalus01 (talk) 05:38, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

A short description of the main ideas in the 'Max Headroom' world

Can we get a short description of the main concepts of the 'world' here in the first paragraph. Thanks —Preceding unsigned comment added by TransControl (talk • contribs) 04:11, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

Impact?

I removed the following from the "impact on society" section, first, because it is unreferenced, second, this content has nothing to do with the topic:

The president of Network 23's largest corporate sponsor from Asia, the Zik-Zak corporation, is named Ped Xing. It could be a Chinese name (unlikely as Spoken Chinese has no syllables ending in "d"), but it is also the common American traffic sign "PED XING," an abbreviation for "Pedestrian crossing."

In similar fashion to the twisted, yet bizarrely familiar future world of Terry Gilliam's Brazil, the juxtapositions of intentional technological anachronisms were a recurring feature in the series. As Theora types in computer commands for real-time control of satellites, a tight shot shows her typing on the keys of a manual typewriter; in a similar way, some videophone calling devices featured large telephone handsets. Cars appear to be modeled from the 1950s.

All of this could be useful information, were it referenced and placed in an appropriate section. But, as I said, it has nothing to do with the program's supposed influence on society.

On the subject of the show's impact, though, I would suggest that the predictions section be merged with the impact. Those two belong together. Thoughts? ---RepublicanJacobite_{The'FortyFive'} 16:22, 14 November 2008 (UTC)

Second Life Users

Many Second Life users have experienced a "lag" while using SL'd voice chat program. this causes the other listener(s) to hear a stutter effect which is known in SL as "Max Headroom-ing". Since I have no link to this fact I can not put it in the article. 71.80.71.225 (talk) 21:41, 25 March 2009 (UTC)

Predictions

In the Predictions section, the equation of "a 'computer bomb,' which 'links all the programs through the main one simultaneously, (creating) a massive overload.'" to a DOS (Denial-of-Service) attack is wrong. This is not what a DOS attack is. A DOS attack does involve an overload, but not by "linking all programs through one" simultaneously. The overload is of a server application running on a host, by a high number of spurious messages in the form of external requests from one or many other hosts, such that the target host cannot service legitimate requests. The phenomenon as presented from the TV show would be analogous to all programs on a host being "linked through" the operating system, which, aside from the trivial obvious facts regarding the OS's management of running programs, is nonsensical (at least in common personal computers and embedded systems). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Metafax1 (talk • contribs) 07:57, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

Article about Max Headroom Predictions

Max Headroom predicted my job, 20 years before it existed, Annalee Newitz, August 10, 2010, IO9.com

Newitz is a published column, essay, and book author. Though it is a blog entry, it's by a noted author, so this may help support the Predictions section. --Lexein (talk) 06:59, 24 April 2011 (UTC)

Order?

What does this comment mean? "Although each story was self-contained, most of season one was aired in the wrong order as Body Banks follows on from Blipverts which is obvious from the dialogue."

It is unsourced, and having just watched episodes 1-5, I can't tell what is meant by it. According to the episode air dates later in the article, the episodes were aired in the same order they're listed in the series (and presented on the DVD). 76.218.69.148 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 10:15, 28 August 2010 (UTC).

Maxine Legroom

June 1987 Playboy centerfold Sandy Greenberg had a Max Headroom inspired persona for a few pictures named Maxine Legroom (in January 1987). Thinking a mention might be warranted for the impact on pop culture. I just don't have any external sources readily available right this second to add. Figured I'd mention it in case someone watching this page might want to edit it. Medleystudios72 (talk) 16:52, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

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