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18 out of 19 people found the following review useful: Not Mindless Pap, 12 November 2004 Author: Darguz from Battle Creek, MI
Which is, unfortunately, mostly what succeeds on TV these days. Shows such as Max Headroom are just too intelligent, and go over the head of Average Joe TV Viewer (or Average Joe TV Executive). With all the proliferation and specialization of TV channels these days, maybe some day we can have an "Intelligent TV Channel" where shows like these can flourish and those too dim to "get it" can just remove it from their channel rotation.Max Headroom was brilliant. One of the most spot-on and funny pieces of satire ever produced. The fact that it was satirizing the very medium that produced it probably had something to do with its short life, as well. I mean, when you're satirizing stupidity, obviously stupidity is going to react, just by definition.Any TV producers out there reading this -- there's an idea for you. Create an "Intelligent TV Channel", and give us shows like this, or Key West, Brimstone, Cupid, etc. You could even call it that, as a dig at the mindless drivel that pours off the screen most of the time.
16 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Ahead of Its Time, Natch, 12 January 1999 Author: GalaxyGa from Tyngsborough, MA
Everyone seems to remember Max Headroom, the character and Coke pitchman, but a lot of people forget about the series Max was in. The other thing a lot of people forget is that Max in the TV screen was _not_ cgi; Max was pre-cgi, and Matt Frewer did incredibly good acting as Max. Besides that, Matt also was the lead in the series and did a lot of work as Edison Carter as well as Max.The series didn't last nearly long enough for me; the original title, "Twenty Minutes Into the Future" is very accurate-- technologically, stylistically, and in terms of content and post-production, "Max Headroom" was ahead of its time. It was a mid-season replacement and never found its audience; the database lists the tv-movie, the series (14 or 15 eps), and the original talk show which started the whole thing. I'm still amazed at the wisdom (or lack thereof) of television execs who can cancel a series halfway through a season. Then again, "Max Headroom" was about television, making some eerily accurate predictions (CNN, tabloid talk shows), and television execs are nothing if not chickens.Still, it would be too, too cool to see Max pop up to comment about the millennium...
18 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Absolutely one of the best shows on TV... ever!, 28 June 2000 Author: A-Ron-2 from Storrs, CT
I rarely gush about TV shows, especially when they haven't been on in over a decade, but I gush about MH. This show was beyond cool, it was beyond hip, and it was far too intelligent to have been on the air in the late 80s. I was lucky enough to be able to catch MH in sindication on cable a few years ago and to validate my high opinions of the show. It was still brilliant. A few episode summaries might help to clarify:Blank Reg (a blank is a person who has been removed from the corporate system, they have few rights, but the 'powers that be' can't easily find them) is put on trial for hacking (a major crime). The court is a gameshow with gameshow host for a judge and an opinion poll for a jury. I am glad to see how far off this is from reality - sarcasm :(Another episode involved a sport called rake-boarding, where skateboarders would attempt to disembowel each other while performing nifty stunts. Thank god mass media has not opted for gladiatorial shows...My question was never why this show got cancelled, but who the hell got the idea to put it on the air in the first place. I mean, this was a show whose primary entertainment value was in skewering the very medium which presented it. I can't believe that the mucky-mucks even allowed this to be seen, nevertheless broadcast.Each show was intelligent, witty and eerily prescient. I suppose the final irony was that the show itself was cancelled, but the problems that it warned us about have come true. If you get the chance to see the extant shows, see them. They are among the only truly visionary and artistic and entertaining things to have been on stupid-box since its inception.
11 out of 13 people found the following review useful: The most brilliant TV series ever made, 17 May 2003 Author: mkham6 from RI
Anyone who has Taped episodes, contact me. This was on FX?? When?This was the most clever, prescient, witty, well produced, and subversive TV series ever created. I saw some of the shows, but then was expeditioning and missed many. MAX HEADROOM (the 85-86 TV series- I'm not familiar with the other permutations)was brilliant on 5 levels at once, like old Firesign Theatre skits, where one can watch again and again and see different levels each time. The money and production values were unprecedented (now each ER costs $14mil, God nows what Friends runs) in it's sly depiction of a media controlled hilarious nightmare world. Gonzo droll Matt Frewer did bang-up work as both a real TV reporter, controlled by the lush Amanda Pays via continuous links, and the sly double-entendreing computer generated Max. This was a searing critique of media run amok- everything was some brilliant trashing of some current or future trend (with Fear Factor losing me forever at the bull penis eating portion, they were prophetic). It saddens me that Frewer is trapped in lame para-psychological claptrap when he was so good in this unknown gem. Mike Hammerschlag
5 out of 5 people found the following review useful: So much for biting the hand that feeds., 17 July 2004 Author: LegoMovieMan from USA
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Max Headroom. What can be said about him? Ahead of his time.Just as an aside: The Max Headroom this section of IMDb refers to is the 1987 short-lived ABC series, as opposed to the original Channel 4 British 2-hour TV-movie, which aired in 1985, and was subsequently released on home video as "Max Headroom: The Original Story." Well, that was a long sentence.Now then, Max Headroom. It was a show that followed the exploits of one Edison Carter, the intrepid reporter, as he tried to uncover the shadier sides of a corporate future (20 minutes into the future, to be exact) where success is measured in ratings. From advertisements inducing epileptic (and explosive) seizures, to in vitro babies being stolen for their high intelligence, Edison covered it all for 12 actually aired episodes (14 total), before being cancelled. Of course, in doing this, Edison Carter naturally unearthed the corruption of the networks that were often partially responsible for such wrongdoing. And since Max Headroom (the show) was so spot-on in it's predictions of where television was taking society, it was seen as both a breath of fresh air for the viewers who got it, and a slap in the face for the 'real' networks, who realized "hey! They're making fun of us on this show." Perhaps the best example of this from the series is in one episode where Edison Carter, in one of his usual outbursts, asks producer Murray, "Since WHEN has news been ENTERTAINMENT??"Murray calmly looks at him and, very reasonable, replies:"...Since it was invented?"This is all fine, but I'm forgetting one important part of the show: Max himself. Max Headroom is a computer generated character based on the memories and mental functions of Edison Carter. In the SPOILER first episode, Edison SPOILER gets knocked out in an bike accident whilst trying to uncover *something*. In order for Network 23 (who was, of course, behind it all) to keep Carter's reports coming in, but keep Carter himself out of commission, they have the head of Network R&D, Bryce Lynch (who is, of course, a teenager) create a computer-generated version of Edison Carter, and feed Edison's mind into this CG creation. Of course, the CG-carter doesn't work correctly, and upon activation, begins stuttering "M-m-max Headr-r-room," 'Max Headroom' being the last words Edison saw in the parking garage before getting knocked unconscious. OK, well, I've said enough now. Max Headroom. An excellent show for all the reasons above. It'd be nice to see him make a reappearance, now that many of the show's prophesies are coming to light.
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: The "future" of media that has now become real, 15 January 2005 Author: cadfile from Columbus, Ohio
I happened on the "Max Headroom: 20 minutes into the future" film on the cable channel Cinemax by accident in 1986 or so. The story, the setting, and the characters drew me in and I was blown away. Then I found out ABC would be doing a version with 3 of the main characters from the UK film - Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, and William Morgan Sheppard as "Blank Reg".While the ABC version was a good copy, like any copy, it just wasn't the same. The UK film, talk show, and ABC version spawned Max as a celebrity. He was everywhere including being a pitchman for Coke.If you want the best "Max Headroom" experience, see the 1985 UK film. But if they ever broadcast the ABC series, see it.What is ironic is that the motivation for the evil deeds of the corporate owners of Network 23 is what did in this series. It was put up against ratings giants "Dallas" and "Miami Vice" and canceled midway through their only season.
6 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Filmed at 30 frames a second, 15 July 2007 Author: dan-1315 from United States
Here's a piece of trivia. Max Headroom was filmed at 30 frames a second instead of the standard 24 frames a second. One of the reasons was so the series could more easily incorporate video with film, but a welcomed side-effect was that it gave the show a Hi-Def, futuristic look on 1980s television. It really did look different from any other show on TV.What's interesting is that some current shows on video shoot at 24 or 25 frames a second to look more like film. It would be interesting to see what some filmed shows would look like in HDTV if they were shot at at 30 frames a second. You would get true HD.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Max Headroom...The original talking head., 6 September 2007 Author: smlubecki from Buffalo, New York
Max Headroom was the most brilliantly written show ever to be be put on television. Set in the not to distant future amidst a semi post apocalyptic world. Reporter Edison Carter has uncovered a very scary secret. The network he works for has produced and aired commercials that kill people due to their sedentary lifestyle. This show not only hit hard against the greed and politics of network television but bit the hand that fed as well. Tackling issues such as censorship and manipulating the news to fit whatever slant the network feels fit. Matt Frewers double duty as both Edison Carter and Max Headroom was excellent and I am extremely surprised his career didn't boom because of this show ( or maybe it was doomed because of it). This was a show that was way ahead of it's time in film style, topics, and dialog and I applaud ABC for having the guts to air it at the time (it was after all the late 80's, a time when the networks pretty much dictated what you liked and didn't like). Spoiler warning During the first episode Edison Carter, a reporter for Network 23, has made a startling discovery during a news story. His network has been airing commercials that have been compressed into 30 second intervals. These "Blipverts" cause such a massive sensory overload that the viewers head literally explodes. While being chased by network thugs Edison befalls the accident that results in the creation of Max Headroom. While fleeing these thugs he hits a parking barrier that reads " Max. Headroom 5m." The executive chairman takes Edisons body to his boy genius to hook him up to a computer to search his mind to find out how much he really knows and by doing so inadvertently creates Max Headroom. By the end of the first episode Edison finally recovers to deliver the truth to the viewing audience and thus begins the next 13 episodes. This is a show that begs to be revived and taken out of the body-banks (those of you who are fans get the reference). It's content warned us about so many societal pitfalls and network manipulations that have surprisingly come to pass. Max Headroom himself went on to become something of a "15 minute" variety icon due to his quirkiness but never the less this show deserved better and I can truly say that if it was aired on a cable network it's possible it may still be on the air. Mainly because modern times have provided such great source material. If you are looking for a completely original and intelligent show to watch I can highly recommend this to anyone.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: every thing max did should be on DVD, 19 December 2005 Author: fish4spider-1 from United Kingdom
there are so many good shows that should be on DVD and are not why, max should be on DVD this start's of with a remake of the original uk movie which was brilliant. there are two versions of the uk movie the 60 min version and a 100 min version which is the same movie it has more of max and music video's it an half hour show edited in to the movie the 100 min version was made for the us so the us can understand why max had his own showthe remake had some change's one of them is bryce he turns out to be a friend of edison's and not a little brat like in the uk version we don't see big time TV until later, the ending is different max stay's with network 23 its a shame the uk movie was never continued as uk series i would have loved to have known what happened to network 23, max with blank reg and bryce,grossmen or the us version just continue from the uk pilot the series as very good but it lost what the uk version has i think what i liked about it was it was in the future and there are not many shows around like this maybe we might see a new max headroom TV series or movie or even see max v j ing again one day
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful: Max Headroom.., 31 October 2005 Author: Absolutredskin from United States
It "dawned" on me finally where I had seen the actor named "Frank" (Matt Frewer) from "Dawn of the Dead" (2004) and all these memories of my childhood came back (born in '79). I remember I watched it faithfully and although I was way too young to actually understand the satyric nature of the show, I was mesmerized by the early use of CG on the idiot-box. I can still see that guys head and the way the computer used to "chunk" when he talked. Funny how now, almost two decades later, we're still dealing with chunking in streaming audio and video feeds. Somebody knew which way the world was headed. Just a great show and I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane
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