Max Headroom holds a prominent place in my childhood.
Not only was it the first science fiction show I was exposed to (set brilliantly “20 minutes into the future”) but the character Max Headroom was also used on a math show for kids on PBS called Square One.
I bring all of this up because now the short-lived original series “Max Headroom” is now on DVD!
From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“Max Headroom: The Complete Series: Matt Frewer turns in the best performance of his career as a former reporter whose mind is copied into a computer after an accident. He becomes the sarcastic on-screen Max Headroom.
The late-’80s series is set in a world with 4,000 TV channels where the networks rule. Only Max can help keep a check on them, with help from a handful of supporters. This whole examination of TV’s place in the world is fascinating and made better by Frewer’s memorable shoulders-up performance. (Grade: A-minus)
Only 14 episodes were produced, but the show remains one of the most innovative and creative TV offerings.”
My parents have a tape of the original pilot with the original commercials (talk about an artifact), but I also have acquired, thanks to my mother’s support of my nerdiness and her love of yard sales, what seemed to be the same pilot but with a british cast, except the main character who remained Matt Frewer.
Though, it turns out, I have it backwards. According to Wikipedia, “Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future is a 1985 cyberpunk television movie created by Chrysalis Visual Programming Ltd. for Channel 4 in the UK to provide a back story for Max Headroom, a computer generated TV host. An American television series, Max Headroom, was later developed from the original film.”
This makes more sense to me. Being the avid Doctor Who fan that I am and growing up in the US, I can say that this depiction of a dystopian future would be more likely to thrive in the UK. In the UK, theories like Evolution and The Big Bang are accepted as truths, so the idea of science and technology moving us forward while at the same time possessing a healthy fear of it destroying our way of life makes for, what i consider to be, good television.
Generally, the US doesn’t really like the idea of a dystopian future. We like our television to be an escape from our daily woes, not to add to our worries of the future. I won’t go too far down this rabbit hole or I’ll end up writing forever. So instead, I will leave you with part 1 of “Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future” and Part 1 of the pilot for the American “Max Headroom” and you can judge for yourselves. Let me know what you think in the comments!:
Note the young Jeffrey Tambor:
