Oddity Archive: Episode 137 - The Max Headroom Incident Revisited (30 Years On)
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- The Archive returns to its deepest roots (largely because it was convenient).
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My cousin was watching Doctor Who on WTTW when this happened. He was 16 at the time. As a huge Doctor Who fan, at first he was annoyed that his show was strangely interupted. Then he became somewhat fascinated with what was occurring and wound up finding the whole thing rather humorous.
My dvr has it
JohnnyV Val DVRs didn’t exist in 1987 dipshit. atleast commercially they didnt and judging by you you're probably lyinh
You DO realize that he probably meant a VCR, which DID exist in 1987
@@nickelodeonstuff1572 There was no need to insult somebody over confusing DVR with VCR unless you’re 12.
@@randoschannel3801 ignore him it’s just some guy wanting some attention
Oh god, imagine actually seeing this without context at 11pm. Alone. In the 80s.
In the dark.
I'd be freaked out. It looks like the beginning of a snuff film
I would never forget it, for being terrifying yet hilarious.
With a TARDIS outside your door.
My dvd recorder it
@@JohnnyV_Val DVDs didn't exist until a decade later though
For the person who really was Max and did this highjacking, you're a legend! Because you probably have seen this documentary already. Never been caught and remain unknown after all these years.The best TV hijacking in history in my opinion. You know, a masterpiece for all newspaper nerds.
I think it's funny how angry the people on the news were. Maybe its because back then you didn't have instant access to everything, so when something was on TV and you missed it, who knows when you'd get a chance to see it again?
American Doctor Who fans didn't fuck around back then.
Uh no, that's what VCRs were for.
Doctor who's fans are pretty extreme but also people back then were way too easily butt-hurt .
@@gaarakabuto1 But snowflakes are a new thing I m told...not like the good ol days.
@@zackschilling4376 should i remind you that around that time they tried to ban games like doom and Wolfenstein,because they were "ToO vIoLeNt" and that film makers like Kubrick were still getting attacked because they were atheist.
The original video was how I discovered your channel.
same! XD
Same here. Still one of his best.
Same. And it quickly became one of my favorite YT channels!
me too
same... subbed immediately because this Ben doesn't sell BS :)
Well, today is Doctor Who's anniversary too, the show that was interrupted during the incident. These dates are so eerily close its amazing.
Nowadays Max headroom can really be computer animated
I adopted the term Max Headroom for music production/mastering purposes. I’d done it subconsciously and eventually realized how ridiculous I sounded when saying “I need Max Headroom!”
I used to do the same thing! :D
Is "headroom" an actual recording tech term? If so, I can't imagine NOT taking the opportunity to say it, lol. Good on you.
archive episodes that contain callbacks to earlier archive episodes make me way happier than they necessarily should
Whoever it was I think they really loved Max Headroom and Devo. The spanking thing feels Devo inspired.
They just solved the identity of the Zodiac Killer. Maybe this guy’s not too far off from being exposed…
"Doctor! We've been strangely interupted! What do we do?"
"Well get back in the tardis, we're out of here! Allonsy!"
If it was shot on Video 8, it would have to be dubbed to VHS, producing a 2nd generation. This was maybe from direct VCR to broadcast with the equipment you talked about. The skewing is part of the Time Base Corrector maybe not functioning properly. When the jumpcut occured, there is a colorful green line going down slowly, and the skew was partially still there.
*This was most likely shot on VHS-C because of the adapters. Also, the reason [i think] why the audio was static was because of the audio carrier was interfering with the audio carrier of the WGN MW transmitter on the truck. Since the audio carrier of NTSC was 4.5mHz above the video signal, the audio would not interfere [well sometimes interfere] with the video. The MW transmitter of WGN was interfering with the hijacker's transmission, which was clashing with WGN's MW audio. WGN was able to pull the hijacker's plug, forcing the MW transmission to go somewhere else. Solution? Record a rant on WGN and broadcast that on 11 due to a lack of staff at 11pm. As such, transmit that message then! The audio carrier was not clashing on any other MW transmissions unless people were microwaving popcorn for a movie. In this case, never transmit illegally.*
There are Video8 VCRs that work just like a standard VCR.
This! I've been wondering if the WGN could have been live and the WTTW pre-recorded. The rant being about being overridden makes perfect sense. The place where it interrupted Doctor Who was just too perfect, as if planned by a Whovian with some editing skills.
Hmm. I wonder who it was. Someone said he's with us even today. Might live in Ocala, Florida. Might have worked for Quest Studios in 1990. Rumor of course
Do you have more information? Who told you that rumor?
Given that your channel has videos shot on Orlando, Florida, I guess that you lived there.
Since the last two videos (as of now) on your channel are of hurricane Ian and that you mentioned Ocala, Florida, I also guess that you moved there after the hurricane.
So, did you hear the rumor from someone in your area?
Like D.B.Cooper, never caught, never will be, and a legend that grows greater with time.
That is true. He won't be caught. But I heard a very strong rumor that he has a UA-cam channel. And lives in Ocala, Florida now Wink Wink
Do you know what does he have on the youtube channel?
I have a strong suspicion it has a lot of home videos, from a few decades. But I could be carried away too much by my hunch.
Can you verify that with whoever told you the rumor?
Me, upon seeing this video: *OH, MY PILES*
"I got so upset, that I wanted to file my piles. I really did."
*takes a giant shit*
File your piles with PREPARATION H!
I actually saw this live while I was watching Doctor Who. Pretty trippy.
Ironically, a ring modulator is what gives Daleks their robotic voices.
Great episode, especially your theories on the hacking...incidentally, FuzzyMemories has finally unearthed the entire WGN incident, which ends with Dan Roan blaming the incident on the station computer having "took off and went wild" before repeating his report on the Bears' victory earlier that day. Oh, and closing with your original theme song was also a nice touch!
By total coincidence, XTC's Working Overtime was also part of the Sleeping Dogs video game soundtrack :D
But it is fascinating that 30 seconds of video has obsessed people for all these years. There's been others, even ones of people pretending to be from another planet, but Max Headroom is always the poster boy for these.
why do i keep seeing you everywhere
I was thinking the same Yobe :D
You watch these too? Who knew you like what I watch!!!!
why do you have the exact same tastes as me
yobelkcip's trash can because he's a boss
U-Matic marked "Playboy, Exxxtasy and Max Headroom". Perfect description for this channel IMO
These people are modern folklore legends.
Clearly from my point of view, while Max dances, the music is Antenna from Kraftwerk; the boucles in the middle of that masterpiece from the electronic german can be recognized.
The Max Headroom episode was the real reason I subscribed. I swear I was watching something about broadcast highjacking and went to look up Max Headroom and I found you last summer and then binged all your content. Good job. Glad you are still going and not giving up regardless of the small reception. Sometimes even just knowing 5 people regularly watch you is encouraging enough to keep going but I know you have a larger following than 5 people.. Keep up the good work.
This also happened the day before Doctor Who's 24th anniversary.
I’ve always heard the maid say “Bend Over Bitch.” It’s clear as day after Max says “They’re coming to get me!” Also, I doubt that Max was nervous since this was recorded previously and is wearing a mask as well having that voice changer thing, regardless of how good it was at disguising one’s voice, him having a mask on would likely help. Looks like he was imitating Max Headroom the best he could and appeared to be acting very odd.
From a technician point of view, you may find it interesting to know when you have 2 FM stations transmitting on the same exact frequency, you get the kind of "ringing" distortion you hear in the video.
Back when television was analog, the video is amplitude modulated while the sound is frequency modulated, like on FM radio, but on different bands.
I am not certain what you hear was intentional voice alteration, but instead may be interference from WTTN & WGN original audio signal.
My theories:
The WGN intrusion was a test. Someone had to know the microwave interlink frequencies of both WGN and WTTW. WGN being a test because it had no audio or they weren't close enough to intrude on the audio. But they were close and powerful enough to completely over ride WTTW. Hasn't anyone tried to digitally clean up the audio? Demodulate the ring to get the voice.
The reason we join the intrusion video in progress is the operators need a signal and a few moments to get the intrusion up to strength.
Max getting his arse paddled with a fly swat will never not be hilarious.
Wouldn't we already be beyond the statute of limitations on this crime? I wish the person would come forward.
5 years on UA-cam, great work! I'll keep up with this show, heres to another 5 years of archive!
At least he's not reviewing the Max Hardcore incident.
That was most likely shot on Betamax :P
What is that?
I've been following this case for so many years and as much as I wish I could solve it, I remind myself sometimes that one of the things that makes it so special is that he/she never got caught. I wish who ever was behind the mask well and thank them for giving us one hell of a story/mystery to play with :)
One of the first youtube videos I ever saw was a copy of the Max Headroom hijacking.
If you are reading this, dear culprit, I salute you.
Well, this was a nice trip down memory lane.
…for this channel. (I'm too young for this incident)
I was 4 years, 52 Months and 5 Days old when it occurred back on Sunday Evening November 22,1987.
It's crazy to think that the people behind this probably went on to live normal lives. Their families probably don't even know what they've done.
The biggest clue for me in this is Chuck Swirsky. Max must've been a Chicago/Illinois sports fan or at least enough of a fan to know who Chuck Swirsky was. Chuck was local to Chicago and not a national name. So unless he was a Chicago transplant I doubt Max is from outside Illinois. Unless Max could get the channel Chuck was on out of state.
Cool to see you revisiting the old! I love your channel Ben, and the Oddity Archive is part of the cornerstone of my UA-cam viewing. Along with other retro electronics themed channels.
I had a feeling it would have been either broadcast engineers or radio hams.
I also think the real perpetrators are never going to admit it.
It's 30 years ago now, statute of limitations ran out even 10 years after it happened.
This channel claims to be the guy: ua-cam.com/video/GGqkcKU0wf4/v-deo.html
Tornado1994 um....that channel doesn't claim to be them?
@@Tornado1994 read that description bro.
Thank you for revisiting this, Ben! Stumbling across your original video a few years back was how I came to be one of the OA's faithful. Keep up the great work!
This could be the ultimate of Thanksgiving turkeys. (The MAX Headroom incident, that is). Great work Ben, the Oddity Archive guy. 😄😁😀😊☺
I agree with you, Jill Valentine. From your friend, DCAU Supergirl.
The greatest troll TV interruption ever seen in history
Its also the 28th Anniversary of the death of Mariko Shiga.
The episode that got me into this channel. Thank you for revisiting it. This event in broadcast history is so unique and I don't think it is rivaled.
The first video I saw from you was The Max Headroom Incident. That was like 3 years ago. I saw the story on Facebook, and I wanted to find out more so I looked it up on UA-cam and I found your channel. I'm glad I did.
Everto Vences me too!
30 years ago... damn, I feel old.
Welcome back, my man. Also, MY PILES!
congratulations on 5 years, ben!
really feel like the world lost something when stuff like this became impossible.
Best analysis I've heard on this
Am I the only one who thinks that the guy who got upset and wanted to bust his TV set looks like Leonard Nimoy? I personally think he does.
Jackson's 45's I can see that
Looked more like the love child of Richard Benjamin and Robert Forster.
This is my Magic Bullet Theory. i've always been amazed & astounded at the Max Headroom hacking incident, i want to know how it happened more than i want to know if there's a God. lol
I haven't watched this channel in ages, but I sure recall first discovering it via the Max Headroom video. This is a nice revisiting.
Thank you for revisiting one of my favoUrite Oddity Archive episode. I'd love to see you in that Richard Nixon mask.
If it's on Reddit, you can safely assume it is a troll, lolcow farmer, griever, fantacist, etc. liar looking for attention. I really wish people would stop referencing any Reddit articles under the assumption that anything at all is real.
Ben revisits Max Headroom?! I never clicked on a video so fast...
Quality stuff, as always. Thanks!
the townsfolk interviewed were more perturbed at being interrupted rather than in awe of what just happened.
I`ve been saying for years that it has to be an inside job. Someone who was just fired, someone who ended up being fired or quit. This was clearly "to send a message" as the Joker put it.
Also Ben, if you don`t mind me saying, I have a feeling You know something and not telling us....
But lets keep it at that. :)
Man... I'm disappointed you didn't bring back "Senses Working Overtime" for this one.
SeanStrife wait till the credits
45 Records Man yeah. I’ve been following this case off and on for about 4 years
Hooooo-leeee shit. Did not expect Ben to ever have anything to do with the Max Headroom incident again after episode one, aside from little references to him sprinkled in.
if there's any tools that can clean up audio and remove the ring modulation, i think we might have a real lead for this
R modulation? Whats that again ? Lol jw
I'm not sure if that's even possible. It's been 30 years and I haven't seen anyone do it.
The best attempts I've seen were to just clean up the background noise to get a better idea of the speech. Reversing the ring modulation to reveal the speaker's real voice is probably a no-go and I'll bet you the pitch has been adjusted as well.
You'd think the gubment might have had access to the best enhancing equipment at the time.
I could be wrong, but my theory of the background noise is that a portion of it is the sound of a ring modulated electric fan. I imagine that with the lights and the mask, it would have been quite hot for "max" when the video was recorded, so a fan running would be entirely plausible.
weasel2htm o
Now you need to do a video on a ring modulator, talk box, sonovox.
So I just did an article about this for my website, and was planning tonight to share your original video, and commentary, on the whole thing.
Looks like now I have 3 videos to share in the follow-up article!
Lived in KC at the time with my dad watching the WGN 9pm news on cable in the basement. Suddenly he yells “get down here!” and when I arrived it was already over but said some guy broke into programming... danced around for a few seconds... and nobody knew what happened.
There’s an old blog or forum post somewhere on the net by a guy who (supposedly) knew the group responsible... but wasn’t involved himself. He goes into considerable detail how they did it.
i love this show.
Excellent video.
I hope this event will make its way to into history books. I would never have memorized the Gettysburg Address if I could have just reenacted the Max Headroom incident.
My theory about the Max Headroom hijacking is that it's some kind of prank being pulled on viewers of two of Chicago's most watched TV networks.
you figure that out all by yourself? lol?
I asked you.
Note several clues in the dialog that eventually roadmap to the concept of being "replaced"
I asked you
The autism theory and Chicago scene theories may not be far off the mark. Ddial BBS was big at the time and some of those people were very adept technicians and electronics engineers. Perhaps not so adept socially.
The original intro music! I *love* XTC and I can't wait for my copy of the Blu-ray release of 'Black Sea' that just shipped!
Well done!
[leaving a comment that isn't about piles or the Senses Working Overtime theme]
MrWolfSnack Thanks for those truly inspiring words.
MrWolfSnack I just wanted to say that I like your avatar.
Oh nice with the ending music
Love YOUR CHANNEL BENNIE BOY My Bro Got Me Hooked on your Channel 5 years ago NEW SUBSCRIBER HERE LOVE TO SEE OL,SCHOOL BACK IN THE DAY EPISODES LIKE THIS HAVE A GREAT WEEK!! BEN
It looks like a creepy version of Ray Charles
A guy says he wanted to bust his T.V. over it...SMH,
Lord have mercy, it was not THAT bad. Lol
They said that it took a lot of special equipment, but that’s not true.. I took over a TV and radio station that I worked for (the radio side) one day (WITH PERMISSION to show my boss how easily it could be done) from my car with ham radio equipment and a video camera
It makes me laugh how serious people took this, even today maybe, as if it was the fucking crime of the century! It was a small interruption that, dare I say, made TV a little interesting just for a moment. It's good to make the zombie TV viewer twitch sometimes!
You say they might have had a grudge with the station, but that was a backup
Also like the closing theme for this episode. It just sounds so familiar. That theme SCREAMS Oddity Archive. 😄😄😄😄😄
I love that song. It definitely, absolutely, positively SCREAMS Oddity Archive. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Best episode yet keeeeeeep going.
The Max Headroom Incident is the ultimate of Thanksgiving Turkeys. 🤗☺😇😊😀😁😄😄😄😄😄
I wonder what the real Max Headroom thought of this incident
Redcomet_ He might get blamed.
" Too liberal " :P
And I likewise dismissed the 2010 Reddit article for the same reasons...given all the WGN references made by "Max" throughout the video, it was clearly targeted towards said station, and WTTW only entered the picture when their initial hijacking effort didn't work as well as they'd hoped.
Yes, that guy has totally retracted his original story and acts as if he never wrote it. I think he just took a couple of well-established theories, made a story out of it, and karma whored knowing it would get a reaction.
He also claims that he's seen a high-res reproduction of the "Max" tape and how clear it was. He claims it sent shivers down his spine, you could even make out details in the room and the reflection on the sheet metal. If he's not BS'ing us then where did he get the footage?
He got it from us. A number of years ago we found a higher-quality SP-mode VHS original recording of the incident but we haven't released it publicly because it could give away some important clues. We can't talk about the incident or reveal who was behind it until the person passes away - that's the bottom line. So stay tuned...
The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV) How will you know when the person passes away? You will only be able to do that if you've already identified them.
There's a mix of liking to know because it was such a rare thing for anyone to intercept a tv signal, but also yes, if anyone ever did step up you can bet authorities would be on it. I dunno about internet trolls though, I think it's a little too "back in the day" for them to really care and there's a few cases of known media hijacks where those people's relations seem to have been allowed to slip quietly back into private life.
But it wasn't like Max was spouting complete gibberish, he references the channel he originally wanted to hi-jack - it must of been someone who knew the station well enough. Maybe a really dedicated but spurned fan or an ex-employee.
It was easy to hack into the system. Microwave. The man lives in Ocala, Florida now.
Do you have more information?
If you're doing that for attention and what you wrote is false, can I help you in any way?
(Provided we find a way to communicate without other readers claiming to their either of us, we can chat.)
I was only 3 when this happened, but knowing my luck, I would have been watching both programs before the interruptions.
I wonder if anyone on WGN's engineering staff had been fired a few days prior to the Max Headroom incident…
Max headroom incident revisited this is so amazing. it was a room near the sears tower they were broadcasting the max headroom tv high jacking
Thanks for this one. Much better than the first, especially the technical info. And it's too bad taking over a TV station wouldn't matter so much anymore...
Glad everyone likes my work.
the most shocking thing in all this story is the promise never achieved of a Max Headroom!
Max, even in the series, is perfectly framed, no headroom in the composition. What a appointment.
The wildest thing in my opinion is that somebody was recording The Playboy Channel and Doctor Who on the same U-Matic cassette in 1988
11:00 I hear it every time pretty clearly. Not sure how you don't, but OK.
I never even heard of Max headroom or the interruption broadcast this until I searched up about broadcast interruptions on youtube. Edit: They guy saying that the guy was “too autistic” to hold a job upsets me as a autistic my self.
Just regarding the broadcast being joined halfway through. I reckon the first WGN hijacking was the beginning of the tape (starting from black). His movements on the WGN footage don't match any point on the WTTW footage. The hijacker either forgot to rewind the tape or it took time for the transmitter to warm up before it could be used, by which time the video had already started.
I also think the rotating background was done using a blue screen. Max isn't reflecting off it nor is he casting any visible shadow The last shot however, you can see the camera moves slightly and the background moves with the scene, which wouldn't happen with a blue screen.
i noticed the different video sections too. but i think "that does it, he's a freakin nerd!" and the chuck swirsky comment fitted perfectly with interrupting Dan Roan's sports broadcast. if the comments were said further into the hijacking it wouldn't have had the same effect.
the only thing i could think is whether hacking WTTW was part of the plan after all and the 1st video we saw was actually the one intended to be played on WTTW and that maybe the hacker got the videos confused under stress.
@10:19
ROFLMAO "Marital aid"
As a kid we used to pass a shop which had a sign that said: "Marital aids". I said to my mum: "Look, a martial arts shop!"
"Marital aid" was the polite term in those days.
The thing on his finger is an ET glowing finger toy.
destroyernoah anything can be a dildo if your brave enough.
David Steele anything can be good grammar if you’re smart enough.
BroKnows is the name. Well played well played
My theory on this has been Max was the annoying weekend sports guy who was fired due to politicking by Chuck Swersky and the incident was his way of getting back at all those who wronged him, like a big "fuck you" to them. I am still convinced it was the work of a former employee of WGN, but in my fantasy world he was killed by the man and girl in the news video for interrupting their Doctor Who!! lol!
i sort of miss when you used to cover av-related oddities as opposed to just obsolete equipment but there's really only so much of that you can cover
I always thought that the incident took place much earlier in 1985. And 1987 was when the series and movie came out. My bad.
This must be hard to do hijacking a TV signal.
The guy seems like he just escaped from an asylum