Talk:Max Headroom (TV series)

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Contents 1 Thanks 2 Sound file 3 Clarification 4 Ron Headroom 5 "Unknown" characters 6 Demerge into TV show article 7 Artificial celebrity 8 Max Headroom in the UK 9 "Average" viewer "convinced"? 10 Broadcast hijacking reference. 11 DVDs? 12 Sources 13 Gibson's script reference 14 Cut or Uncut? 15 Television Wiki Project 16 New category 17 Max's Maneuverability 18 entertainment show? 19 WGN-TV Hacking Reference? 20 Fair use rationale for Image:MaxheadroomMpegMan.jpg

[edit] 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. ;-)

[edit] 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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

[edit] "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

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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

[edit] 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)

[edit] "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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] New category

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

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] 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)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:MaxheadroomMpegMan.jpg

Image:MaxheadroomMpegMan.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 17:34, 2 January 2008 (UTC)