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The Crazy Bizarre History of Max Headroom: TV Star, Icon, Pitch Man, Pirate

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  • Опубліковано 22 січ 2020
  • On this episode we attempt to cover the crazy, bizarre history of Max Headroom.
    For his conception as a character introducing music videos to his own TV movie, to Coca-Cola spokesperson to gone in just a few years.
    His legacy as a instrument of political commentary may be more relevant than ever.
    Network 23 Cityscape Artwork by J. Ishiro Finney: jishirofinney....
    Help the channel continue to grow by checking out our Patreon: / toygalaxy
    Follow Dan on Instagram:
    / toygalaxy
    Toy Galaxy
    P.O. box 3976
    Manchester, NH 03105-3976
    Business Inquiries:
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    teespring.com/...

КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,8 тис.

  • @tompadfoot3065
    @tompadfoot3065 4 роки тому +1142

    Matt Frewer was and is a genius actor that doesn't get nearly enough credit

    • @liljenborg2517
      @liljenborg2517 4 роки тому +20

      I really liked the Sherlock Holmes movies he did on the Hallmark Channel. Not quite Jeremy Brett level (the definitive Holmes, in my opinion), but still quite good.

    • @Astronopolis
      @Astronopolis 4 роки тому +5

      Hi Matt!

    • @LordDragon1965
      @LordDragon1965 4 роки тому +44

      And Matt was brilliant in his guest turn on Star Trek TNG

    • @thepayne7862
      @thepayne7862 4 роки тому +25

      He was great in Eureka.

    • @shenysys
      @shenysys 4 роки тому +23

      I liked him in Stephen King's The Stand mini series as Trash Can Man.
      TCM - my life for you ! :)

  • @cheezeofages
    @cheezeofages 3 роки тому +127

    I like how the whole thing was a bunch of people doing way better a job on a task than they needed to and it became a bigger thing than it was originally meant to.

    • @eelliott74
      @eelliott74 2 роки тому +3

      You read about the origins of Tron. It was basically a radio promo that grew into a movie.

    • @BonusEggs4Sale
      @BonusEggs4Sale Рік тому +1

      Right? And I thought I overthought small assignments.

  • @Itsgonnabeok1325
    @Itsgonnabeok1325 4 роки тому +352

    Whenever I mention Max Headroom, I would get a blank stare. Thank you for letting me know he wasn’t just a fever dream.

    • @bennylloyd-willner9667
      @bennylloyd-willner9667 3 роки тому +12

      Maybe a Frewer dream...

    • @justinweber4977
      @justinweber4977 3 роки тому +1

      He was both.

    • @DrWho2008t101
      @DrWho2008t101 3 роки тому +1

      i don' t understand max headroom.

    • @bennylloyd-willner9667
      @bennylloyd-willner9667 3 роки тому +6

      @@DrWho2008t101 it was a different time at the time when we saw him from time to time, at that time we had time to just let time pass while watching Max...
      I think that sums it up clearly enough...
      You had to be there to get it, before Internet was glued to you retinas 24/7.

    • @carlh-thehermitwithwi-fi679
      @carlh-thehermitwithwi-fi679 3 роки тому +1

      "um"
      "I know"
      "like"
      "literally"
      Never saw filler for filler...well welcome

  • @PongoXBongo
    @PongoXBongo 4 роки тому +338

    Max Headroom predicted the glitchy, mid-sentence jump-cut way that many UA-camrs tend to speak. It's even infecting written 👏 speech 👏 now.

    • @pete275
      @pete275 4 роки тому +11

      actually that was a thing way before youtube, it's what made MTV "unique" back then

    • @PongoXBongo
      @PongoXBongo 4 роки тому +15

      @@pete275/videos/videos/videos Indeed. That's why I said MH _predicted,_ or perhaps "foreshadowed" would be a better term, future YTer behavior. ;)

  • @OzzieAstaroth
    @OzzieAstaroth 4 роки тому +506

    I'm old enough to remember when this became a thing. It was weird, but it fit with the times. With things like Robocop, Blade Runner, and The Running Man all depicting a corrupt dystopian future, this show fit right in. I remember the idea of a TV broadcast making people explode being really scary, but also really dumb. I liked Max as a character, and I love seeing throwbacks to him in stuff these days. As for the sign name idea, how about Ped Xing?

    • @m00k61
      @m00k61 4 роки тому +14

      He looks just like a bad guy from Robocop. He could be a nuke dealer lol.

    • @jdaniels6830
      @jdaniels6830 4 роки тому +16

      @@m00k61 not a nuke dealer but Duke Nukem

    • @dubuyajay9964
      @dubuyajay9964 4 роки тому +3

      *FBI OPEN UP!!!*

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 4 роки тому +5

      In a LARP I used to play, a group of people made one of the biggest and most story-generating adventures full of movie and game references, and IIRC it was something like "The Adventure of Ped Xing" (a wizard in the adventure). I am sad I never got to go through it myself. - The name was inspired by one of those abbreviated signs for a pedestrian crossing, or PED XING.

    • @OzzieAstaroth
      @OzzieAstaroth 4 роки тому +2

      @@MonkeyJedi99 Sounds interesting. I got the idea from an old comic I used to read where someone made up a story about Ped Xing and how all the signs are for him.

  • @AllenMarshClips
    @AllenMarshClips 3 роки тому +83

    I was on a film set yesterday and the director was wearing a Max Headroom T-shirt. It was amusing watching him try to explain the concept of Max Headroom to the film's 21-year-old leading lady.

    • @stormcloudsabound
      @stormcloudsabound Рік тому

      i bet you’re as insufferable in real life as you are in this comment 😂

  • @thetreblerebel
    @thetreblerebel 4 роки тому +23

    The British pilot episode of this show is a freaking work of art. It was cool, and it created a timeless character

  • @markroderick3300
    @markroderick3300 4 роки тому +132

    i wish they talked about "the art of noise" "paranoimia" with max headroom and how it came to be

    • @koDaffi
      @koDaffi 4 роки тому +19

      I must have a star on my door, or better still a door. Please let me sleep.

    • @erikswenson1760
      @erikswenson1760 4 роки тому +13

      I have some art of noise LPs of Max Headroom And tapes i miss the 80s

    • @calortv9157
      @calortv9157 4 роки тому +5

      I just bought that 7” single today LOL

    • @thattbugg9531
      @thattbugg9531 3 роки тому +1

      Just heard paranomia 10 minutes ago

    • @othercharr
      @othercharr 3 роки тому +3

      @@koDaffi Ok doors... swing.

  • @KK4CNM
    @KK4CNM 4 роки тому +346

    "A world where nothing matters but ratings were the only business is keeping eyes on screens as long as possible by manipulation if necessary." So like any social media network, app, and news site/channel on tv anywhere in the world today?

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 4 роки тому +26

      One thing I remember most from the show is that it was illegal to have a television with an "off" button.

    • @nihlhinz488
      @nihlhinz488 4 роки тому +9

      Yeah, years ago it was called addiction.

    • @lucasterable
      @lucasterable 4 роки тому +31

      We are living the dystopian future envisioned by 80s works of fiction.

    • @robertholtz
      @robertholtz 4 роки тому +11

      The Late Gen Xer... Facebook = Network 23

    • @urbosasfurry2126
      @urbosasfurry2126 4 роки тому +6

      1984

  • @undeadnotunpeople
    @undeadnotunpeople 4 роки тому +50

    I live in Tulsa, and we have a Max Headroom themed barcade called The Max Retropub and Matt Frewer even sent them an autographed photo

  • @petervenkman69
    @petervenkman69 4 роки тому +135

    Max Headroom was way ahead of his time, looking back now... it was genius.... it was like they could see the present and then parodied it.

    • @vidlwebby3304
      @vidlwebby3304 3 роки тому +13

      that’s the thing, the problems of the 80s are the problems we have today. We just aren’t allowed to talk about them the same way. Nothing ever changed or improved, we were just silenced over decades. And since the 80s, we’ve been taught not to try and make our own solution

    • @sstrykert
      @sstrykert 2 роки тому +2

      @@vidlwebby3304 & military papers on this pre-date Max

  • @SanFran51
    @SanFran51 3 роки тому +319

    Fun Fact: The Creators did actually state that he was made to poke fun at "America's obsession with celebrity culture" America wasn't in on the joke.

    • @garrettmarshall1288
      @garrettmarshall1288 3 роки тому +17

      What funny is now they share the obsession

    • @danimayb
      @danimayb 2 роки тому +7

      Tis true! Many Americans watching the show had no clue it was produced by the British and it was taking the micky out of Americans lol But they loved it cause it was a hit there too - Which I didn't actually know until later years, I just thought it was one of those niche British alterative comedy shows channel 4 were famed for.

    • @sstrykert
      @sstrykert 2 роки тому +17

      I got the dark satire& so did other American kids. Just because tv creators thought they were so avant garde' didn't mean they listened in on school yards conversations. Kids are smarter than they get credit for.

    • @dcraexon
      @dcraexon 2 роки тому +1

      7/11BigGulp

    • @sstrykert
      @sstrykert 2 роки тому +6

      @Malus agreed.& always has been, no less.

  • @CharlemagneSupernova
    @CharlemagneSupernova 4 роки тому +268

    Max Headroom: the Original VTuber.

    • @odizm5196
      @odizm5196 4 роки тому +21

      A VTuber before You tube was a thing

    • @PongoXBongo
      @PongoXBongo 4 роки тому +16

      Complete with annoying, mid-sentence jump cuts.

    • @Kodeb8
      @Kodeb8 3 роки тому +2

      Only problem is he wasn't actually virtual. It was an actor dressed up to look like he was computer generated.

    • @jayeisenhardt1337
      @jayeisenhardt1337 3 роки тому +2

      @@Kodeb8 Vtubers aren't actually virtual either, they are real people behind the puppets and mask. Artificial Intelligence like Kizuna AI and Projekt Melody are not real AI it's just a show just like Max wasn't a real AI. Most everyone knows this already but thanks for pointing out the similarities.

    • @petercampi2840
      @petercampi2840 2 місяці тому

      @@odizm5196 Which is funny since UA-cam gets the "tube" part from CRT TVs. Just a reminder that this site first came online in 2005, one of the last years that new CRTs were sold in stores and at a time when they were still common.
      That's all to say that Max was both Virtual (lore-wise) and on the tube.

  • @ChapMeifan
    @ChapMeifan 4 роки тому +61

    Max Headroom was everywhere when I was a teenager. Soft drink ads. Late night interviews. Lots of videos had at least some comment by him. He was strange and sort of scary yet had a smooth professionalism. I'm surprised there wasn't an evolution of his character when computer animation became more cutting edge. He seemed to disappear within a short frame of time.

    • @MLBlue30
      @MLBlue30 4 роки тому +4

      He was too much a product of his time.

    • @Captain_MonsterFart
      @Captain_MonsterFart 3 роки тому

      I love it, there's nothing else like him. When does that ever happen?

    • @oscyiyoutube2260
      @oscyiyoutube2260 2 роки тому +3

      Its surprising how quickly he died out too. You never hear about him today. There was a time he was everywhere

  • @Tai_Jitu
    @Tai_Jitu 4 роки тому +11

    Loved this show. It broke my teenaged geeky heart when I found out Max was a prosthetic face and not actually computer generated.

  • @Cid_Hi
    @Cid_Hi 4 роки тому +38

    To me, Jim Carey has taken a lot of inspiration from Matt Frewer

  • @redgrain3914
    @redgrain3914 4 роки тому +173

    If Hasbro made a Max Headroom figure holding a New Coke, I would buy it. While shadowed by the sneaking suspicion that I'm entirely missing the point.

    • @RonnieBarzel
      @RonnieBarzel 4 роки тому +22

      Seems like a natural fit for a FUNKO Pop figure.

    • @funkworthrollin4959
      @funkworthrollin4959 4 роки тому +11

      They Live....

    • @Takeshi357
      @Takeshi357 4 роки тому +7

      I can't imagine a Max Headroom figure. At best, I can imagine a toy television set with Max Headroom on it.

    • @BigAL68xyz
      @BigAL68xyz 2 роки тому +2

      @@RonnieBarzel exactly what I was gonna say

  • @MoteofLobross
    @MoteofLobross 4 роки тому +57

    The wgn interruption was hilarious. The rotating sheet metal was genius.

    • @peterdarr383
      @peterdarr383 4 роки тому +5

      If the "statutes of limitations" are up by now, the PERP could come forward and boast about it freely.

    • @NicholasSouris
      @NicholasSouris 4 роки тому +3

      He will never come forward

    • @seatspud
      @seatspud 4 роки тому +5

      @@NicholasSouris Nor should he. Some things ought to remain a mystery.

  • @thebfg836
    @thebfg836 4 роки тому +45

    It's funny I didnt recognize that voice as Matt Frewer until now. He was on an episode of Star Trek: TNG as a time traveling scientist.

    • @JaimeWulf
      @JaimeWulf 4 роки тому +3

      Glad you remembered that I knew there was a connection but just couldn't recall what it was, lol...

    • @thebfg836
      @thebfg836 4 роки тому +5

      @@JaimeWulf Thank BBC America and their endless TNG,DS9,Voyager reruns lol

    • @suzettehenderson9278
      @suzettehenderson9278 4 роки тому +3

      He was a semi-regular on Eureka as well.

    • @DistracticusPrime
      @DistracticusPrime 4 роки тому +3

      Morgan Shepard appeared on Babylon 5.

    • @amishrobots
      @amishrobots 4 роки тому +3

      you should check out "Orphan Black" another great show that he was in
      en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Black

  • @FoolishFlock
    @FoolishFlock 4 роки тому +10

    When my uncle showed me Max-Headroom as a little kid it straight scared the shit outta me!... i actually had a strange nightmare that Max-Headroom bit off my finger when i touched the TV Screen & before i knew it he had pulled/sucked me into the TV Set!...

  • @AcroRay
    @AcroRay 4 роки тому +41

    Brilliant work, gentlemen! Our honored S-S-S-Saint Headroom is one of the reasons I went into the creative t-t-television profession. Love seeing the property acknowledged so re-re-re-respectfully! Bravo!

  • @TWaldon
    @TWaldon 4 роки тому +127

    Max Headroom: Twenty Minutes into the Future story took 20 mins? Was this done on purpose?

    • @SecretGalaxyTV
      @SecretGalaxyTV  4 роки тому +75

      Got it as close as I could

    • @PixelatedH2O
      @PixelatedH2O 4 роки тому +14

      @@SecretGalaxyTV Well under 21 minutes is still 20!

    • @zacetto
      @zacetto 4 роки тому +6

      I always wanted to be a fly on the wall in the movie pitch.
      “The film’s set in the future.”
      “How far?”
      “Twenty minutes.”
      I was too young to get it, but I do remember hauling the ‘portable’ into the study and watching The Max Headroom show, at the age of 12.
      The list was:
      ‘Run to You’ Bryan Adams
      ‘We Close Our Eyes’ Go West
      ‘Ha Ha Said the Clown’ Men without Hats.

    • @albertagibinik8883
      @albertagibinik8883 4 роки тому +5

      Wasn't it 23 minutes?

  • @machupikachu1085
    @machupikachu1085 2 роки тому +11

    I'm sure someone already mentioned this, but max headroom is also an audio term for maximum volume without distorting. Which is, of course, a great name for a video show.
    Cheers!

  • @JokersVsZombies
    @JokersVsZombies 3 роки тому +27

    To this day, max headroom is one of the coolest characters ever

  • @winstonheard9769
    @winstonheard9769 4 роки тому +201

    Idea Pitch:
    "so... it's like, Network meets Bladerunner"
    *sniffs line of coke*
    "...i love it, here's a million dollars"
    also, i was all set to congratulate you on your new job as Cleveland Browns head coach, but you had to go and shave the beard

    • @PsychoWerekitsune
      @PsychoWerekitsune 4 роки тому +15

      Was that a line of New Coke?

    • @Chalor.
      @Chalor. 4 роки тому +13

      @@PsychoWerekitsune
      Nah, original formula...coke classic.

    • @LnPPersonified
      @LnPPersonified 4 роки тому +6

      Won't combining these things be hard?
      No, it'll be super easy, barely an inconvenience!

    • @KRAFTWERK2K6
      @KRAFTWERK2K6 4 роки тому +1

      @Winston Heard: this is the most 80s comment i have ever seen.

    • @matthewtanner5127
      @matthewtanner5127 3 роки тому

      @@PsychoWerekitsune new coke is why people are dying from fentanyl :(

  • @RandomAmerican3000
    @RandomAmerican3000 4 роки тому +81

    14:15 I was taping Channel 11 that night. I was pissed when it happened. The way they showed Doctor Who back then it would have been over a year before that episode came up again and the tape was ruined. I angrily stopped recording and went to bed.
    In hindsight, I really should have kept that tape.

    • @groupie8985
      @groupie8985 3 роки тому +1

      did you get scared by it? i would have been terrified Lol

    • @wilelowman
      @wilelowman 3 роки тому

      Pissed me almost as Disco Demolition

  • @cseguin
    @cseguin 4 роки тому +8

    Matt Frewer lives on the same island I do . . . just off the coast of Vancouver Island. I've done work for him in the past - building a fair-weather skating rink that you can use ice-skates on . . . he's not only an actor but also a great hockey player . . . and a really nice guy to as well.

  • @TheOnlyTominator
    @TheOnlyTominator 3 роки тому +11

    I did not perpetrate the hack, but I did witness it live. I was sitting in my dorm room watching late-night TV when it came on. It was confusing and funny and a little scary. The content itself, wasn't scary, but the thought that someone was hijacking a live feed was disturbing.

  • @HertzBadguise
    @HertzBadguise 4 роки тому +51

    “Dangerous Curves”
    Also, as I was unfamiliar with this character, the whole time I was thinking “homeboy looks a lot like the Dennis Hopper King Koopa.” I’m guessing it wasn’t a coincidence.

    • @Po4to
      @Po4to 4 роки тому +4

      I had a similar ideas, except I'd spell it Dan Gerous :D And yeah, this story explains a lot of things about the SMB movie - including why it's a futuristic dystopia - much like Max Headroom. And absolutely nothing like Super Mario. Another thing it *might* explain is why the makers of another cinematic abomination capitalizing off of a somewhat cult IP - Lawnmower Man's sequel - insisted Matt Frewer would be oh so perfect as the virtual Jobe. The guy looked NOTHING like Jeff Fahey.

    • @juliusuzutunda
      @juliusuzutunda 4 роки тому

      I am also unfamiliar with, "DANGEROUS CURVES" 😁😁

  • @roy1701d
    @roy1701d 4 роки тому +75

    I've always loved Max, for a variety of reasons. He was a satirical scion of media self-awareness, a prophetic glimpse of things to come, and actually pretty damn funny. The ABC TV show got many things right about the future: the X-Games, the 24/7 news cycle, private police forces, human organ black markets, television (internet) addiction, and (of course) the omnipresent media who know what to sell you before you know you want to buy it. Better yet...as a person who stutters, Max actually made me popular...for about 20 minutes. 🙂
    PS I own a copy of "Max Headroom's Guide to Life." 😆

    • @sstrykert
      @sstrykert 2 роки тому +1

      So he was A-lex J-ones?

  • @MCastleberry1980
    @MCastleberry1980 2 роки тому +15

    This really is the most unnecessarily convoluted backstory for a character introducing music videos

    • @bartholomewprice3221
      @bartholomewprice3221 Рік тому

      They were competing against the original MTV veejays and I think they were quite successful! Even today Max Headroom is much more memorable than Martha Quinn, JJ Jackson, Mark Goodman, Nina Blackwood, and Alan Hunter.
      "Unneccessarily convoluted" has been a feature (not a bug) of any project which explores media theory at least since Cronenberg released "Videodrome" (1983), which I'll quote from here... "The battle for the mind of North America will be fought in the video arena: the Videodrome. The television screen is the retina of the mind's eye. Therefore, the television screen is part of the physical structure of the brain. Therefore, whatever appears on the television screen emerges as raw experience for those who watch it. Therefore, television is reality, and reality is less than television."
      --Brian O'Blivion
      O'Blivion's statement was difficult to understand in 1983 (or maybe I was too young to understand it), but today it's trivially easy to see. The battle is (largely) between Fox News and MSNBC. And for their dedicated audiences, what Tucker Carlson tells his audience, or what Rachel Maddow tells her auduence, is more "real" than what actually happens in the real physical world. Because of that, I think now is the perfect time for Max Headroom to make a comeback.

  • @Shootingstarcomics
    @Shootingstarcomics 4 роки тому +119

    Max was awesome, I wish they’d bring him back as a virtual assistant.

    • @rb8058
      @rb8058 4 роки тому +3

      The Red Sombrero that’s a fantastic idea!

    • @AmbrociousXP
      @AmbrociousXP 4 роки тому +1

      Look up the 2015 movie called Pixels, he was in that.

    • @membrane5565
      @membrane5565 4 роки тому +7

      He should come back as a Vtuber.

    • @PaulV3D
      @PaulV3D 4 роки тому +5

      I'd bug that for a dollar!

    • @wallacechrstensen7406
      @wallacechrstensen7406 4 роки тому +1

      Yes

  • @78deathface
    @78deathface 4 роки тому +263

    Can we all just take a moment to admire the beauty of Amanda Pays?

    • @jopestv1063
      @jopestv1063 4 роки тому +16

      I could take a whole weekend. she was yummy

    • @daniiel1495
      @daniiel1495 4 роки тому +13

      I've always had a thing for her. Gorgeous.

    • @johnlynch8042
      @johnlynch8042 4 роки тому +10

      Lovely looking lady - breathtaking in fact.

    • @erikswenson1760
      @erikswenson1760 4 роки тому +11

      Amanda Pays is in the movie 1989 underrated sci-fi horror Leviathan its Alien underwater

    • @ohgary
      @ohgary 4 роки тому +6

      Seems like she was bra less on Max Headroom. Not so much in Leviathan.

  • @everything80spodcast68
    @everything80spodcast68 4 роки тому +77

    Most of the animated "CGI" backgrounds were done by Rod Lord who also created the "computer-generated" imagery in Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. I feel you can see a lot of the influence of Matt Frewer in Jim Carrey. Frewer also played Russ Thomspson, the neighbor in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.

    • @JW...-oj5iw
      @JW...-oj5iw 4 роки тому +3

      Also a time traveler in TNG.

    • @andgate2000
      @andgate2000 4 роки тому +1

      There was no cgi in hitch hikers either.....check out the making of HH

    • @Vamptonius
      @Vamptonius 3 роки тому

      I thought that exploding blipvert looked familiar.

    • @kirkawhyte5323
      @kirkawhyte5323 2 роки тому +1

      The background on Max Headroom was based on opening and closing Vannison blinds

  • @MicBain
    @MicBain 4 роки тому +410

    Jim Carrey stole a LARGE part of his wacky comedy personality from Max.

    • @michaelmartin9022
      @michaelmartin9022 4 роки тому +31

      The digital TV switchover ads in the UK actually called that out.

    • @MicBain
      @MicBain 4 роки тому +14

      @@michaelmartin9022 Haha that's great. Yeah it's pretty obvious to anyone who has seen them both.

    • @silversunlicker
      @silversunlicker 4 роки тому +9

      I totally had that thought! I also thought how sad that The Mask has zero social commentary.

    • @47Str8
      @47Str8 4 роки тому +9

      AlllllllllRighty then!

    • @stevezpj
      @stevezpj 4 роки тому +13

      I cannot stand Jim Carrey at all. I am definitely not going to see the Sonic film because Jim Carrey is in it. I can certainly see how he copied Max, though - it's just that Max did it well.

  • @duncanwcraig9668
    @duncanwcraig9668 3 роки тому +2

    I grew up in New Zealand. I was 16/17 when it came out. We were addicted. This show was brilliant.

  • @ZBott
    @ZBott 4 роки тому +22

    Max Headroom selling New Coke seems like the ultimate in sarcastic marketing. And it was before the whole thing became a technical failure.

  • @Statsy10
    @Statsy10 4 роки тому +10

    I remember watching the show and thinking how far ahead of its time it was. Thanks for covering this. One of your best episodes to date!

  • @InAmOrAtA1983
    @InAmOrAtA1983 3 роки тому +8

    I absolutely love Matt Frewer. I was too young to remember Max Headroom beyond parodies on kids shows, but I'm interested now.

  • @ronaldfields992
    @ronaldfields992 2 роки тому +2

    Not only was your history of Max Headroom spot on, but your commentary was insightful and painfully accurate.

  • @DanielS2001
    @DanielS2001 4 роки тому +81

    I always imagined that Max Headroom took place in The Sprawl novels by William Gibson. Max seems to be a step up from the Dixie Flatline, which is a copy of a personality of a real person. In the show, Carter talks about finding someone to "break some ICE" in one episode, ICE (Intrusion Countermeasure Electronics) was introduced in Neuromancer.
    Honestly, I'd like to see Max come back, with Matt Frewer providing the voice and using actual CG for him (like how he appeared in Pixels). Maybe even bring back the show, this time set "40 Minutes Into The Future," with Carter now in the role of producer at Network 23 (now a streaming service) and Max helping the next generation of newscasters. I'd like to see how Max and Carter would deal with the changes in their world while still reflecting our own.

  • @Norrisc761
    @Norrisc761 4 роки тому +72

    Matt Frewer, to me, is the best and funniest comedic actor ever. His talent truly shined on Doctor Doctor, but Max Headroom was a very good example as well.

    • @MezTZO
      @MezTZO 4 роки тому +4

      Doctor Doctor... now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Good times.

    • @Norrisc761
      @Norrisc761 4 роки тому +1

      @@MezTZO And don't forget Shaky Ground

    • @marasmusine
      @marasmusine 4 роки тому +1

      I loved him in a TV movie called "Short Time" with Dabney Coleman. Also it's a shame he wasn't in Timeless more.

    • @brettcooper3893
      @brettcooper3893 4 роки тому +2

      JC Norris he also had 1 line in Life of Brian.

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 4 роки тому +1

      He really chewed the scenery to great effect in The Stand.

  • @grahamking9121
    @grahamking9121 2 роки тому +5

    I loved to watch The Max Headroom Show in my teens, and actually never knew to this day that Max Headroom was NOT genuinely a cutting-edge CGI face - but actor Matt Frewer, with prosthetics, made up!
    The team did this so well!
    Thanks for this insightful and affectionate documentary video.

  • @Humongous420
    @Humongous420 3 роки тому +8

    I have loved this character since my childhood and had NO clue Max wasn't created with CGI! Mind blown 🤯

  • @brandonpage7087
    @brandonpage7087 4 роки тому +18

    Wow, I already knew of Max Headroom, prior to this video, even though I sadly, missed out on the Max Headroom craze, as I was SO young at the time, but I had no idea that he was meant to mock those in power, or that according to the movie, he was originally a human!! Also had no idea that Matt Frewer performed the character in full on makeup & prosthetics, with a digital background! I always assumed that the entire image was an early version of CGI!!!

    • @Heath.houston
      @Heath.houston 2 роки тому

      Actually, even the background was physical, as rendering that moving background digitally was too expensive and looked worse.

  • @BrickMantooth
    @BrickMantooth 4 роки тому +30

    That was terrific. I really enjoyed the ABC series at the time as I was in television production classes and my (weird) instructor loved to discuss the episodes at length thus me being able to blow off 70 minutes.

    • @zeromancer-x
      @zeromancer-x 4 роки тому +1

      Funny. I used to be able to get my C++/Java language professor to talk about the TV show "Sliders" and blow about half the classroom time there. Less on topic, but with the same effect.

  • @henrymatos9551
    @henrymatos9551 4 роки тому +5

    Wow! I loved this! I remember Max Headroom battling within its futuristic, anarchistic world of corporate dictatorship. I thought the whole concept was interesting. Thank you for the narrative history and bringing back some good memories!

  • @CoinOpTV
    @CoinOpTV 4 роки тому +67

    epic recap!

  • @taylormatthewhyslop
    @taylormatthewhyslop 4 роки тому +11

    Thankyou for this super nostalgia hit. In this world of CGI and DeepFakes, it's amazing how ahead of it's time Max Headroom was.

  • @yoyodynetoys
    @yoyodynetoys 4 роки тому +9

    my max inspired street sign name? Ped Xing! thanks for this video - Max Headroom is a media property often overlooked as a mascot, rather than a means of cultural critique. The sci-fi show dealt with some very interesting post-humanist issues on tv before we knew what cyberpunk was.

  • @stephenwevans
    @stephenwevans 4 роки тому +7

    Watched the US series again a few weeks ago. I remember when it was on TV. It's crazy how relevant so much of that show is today. Thanks for this breakdown!

  • @JennieBonbons
    @JennieBonbons 4 роки тому +2

    First, Max Headroom made me laugh in my childhood; while slowly teaching me to LOL about the kooky childhood fears I overcame!🤪😆😑😊🤪

  • @edd4740
    @edd4740 4 роки тому +64

    This show was too far ahead of its time when it aired but we’re ready for him to come back! (As long as Frewer voices him)

  • @deralfenderson
    @deralfenderson 4 роки тому +5

    Thank you for making this. Good way to expand the channel's focus. Dig it.

  • @solidus3168
    @solidus3168 4 роки тому +38

    Wouldnt be able to do Max Headroom today. Left thought the media would be ran by the Right. WHAT A TWIST!!!

    • @solidus3168
      @solidus3168 2 роки тому

      @@gamephreak5 bro the IM A CAR video you posted KILLED ME!!!!
      GOOD TIMES!!!!

  • @smokeydoke100
    @smokeydoke100 3 роки тому +5

    That was such a great show. My favorite character, besides Max, was Blank Reg.

  • @DasNordlicht91
    @DasNordlicht91 4 роки тому +61

    I’m curious what Max’s original creators ever thought of their character turning into the very thing they were satirizing when he became a Coca-Cola spokesman.
    Also, that planned movie of Max running for president should be dug up today, as it would be oddly relevant for today’s times.

    • @kerbal666
      @kerbal666 4 роки тому +6

      Black Mirror did something similar

    • @djofortunato5799
      @djofortunato5799 4 роки тому +5

      The 80s were an interesting time indeed (!)
      I'm sure Bowie shared some of the same thoughts about his own "Aw what the Hell let's make art go full on mainstream" period

    • @LaikaLycanthrope
      @LaikaLycanthrope 4 роки тому +3

      Black Mirror: The Waldo Moment

    • @tomboyd224
      @tomboyd224 4 роки тому +7

      The Democrat party are allegedly thinking of substituting Max Headroom for Joe Biden. They figure they can pull it off now that the Coronavirus has forced the cancellation of all live appearances. Just put Max up on the big screen and nobody will know the difference.

    • @wallacechrstensen7406
      @wallacechrstensen7406 4 роки тому +1

      @@dansmith1661 yes

  • @bombyouup62
    @bombyouup62 4 роки тому +11

    I remember being a kid and liking Max Headroom but then I couldn't figure where to see him.

    • @michaelmartin9022
      @michaelmartin9022 4 роки тому +3

      It was like that with The Simpsons for me. I knew Bart Simpson was this cool new thing, and for some reason UK TV showed that music video all the time. I don't think I realised there was an actual show until years later.

  • @a_pullin
    @a_pullin 3 роки тому +52

    Bizarre to watch this now and realize that given the "right/left" design intent of the character, that division has literally inverted in the world since.

    • @tinman5496
      @tinman5496 2 роки тому +13

      I was thinking the same thing !

    • @timothyashe3779
      @timothyashe3779 2 роки тому +8

      I was going to mention this myself if anyone else hadn't.

    • @joythought
      @joythought Рік тому +1

      Back then those issues of corrupt media and Reaganomics/ Greed is good wasn't left vs right, it was the masses of outsiders vs the few insiders. It's still like that but you have been fooled into turning into a tribal left/right thing that ensures you continue to look in at the insiders through your devices and still don't get access.

    • @jonathanstein6056
      @jonathanstein6056 Рік тому

      Bingo!

    • @BonusEggs4Sale
      @BonusEggs4Sale Рік тому

      Lol no it literally hasn't. The world and media is as neoliberal (right-wing) as it ever was. Problem is you guys have been told by the right-wing media that neoliberalism is left-wing, as the right goes further right. You guys are the brainwashed people in the dystopia.

  • @shoesncheese
    @shoesncheese 4 роки тому +4

    I think the fact that Max Headroom became what he was supposed to satirize but it was for New freakin' Coke of all things is entirely appropriate.

  • @kafkasvulture
    @kafkasvulture 4 роки тому +72

    So, I dig the covering of weirdo 80's TV. May I suggest Automan, Misfits of Science, and The Wizard (not the Fred Savage movie, the TV show with the guy from Time Bandits).

    • @StevieDrawStuff
      @StevieDrawStuff 4 роки тому +9

      Love all of those. Also, My Secret Identity

    • @ianrobinson2115
      @ianrobinson2115 4 роки тому +2

      Please YES!!!

    • @crankysaint
      @crankysaint 4 роки тому +9

      Small Wonder and Manimal.

    • @deathwrenchcustom
      @deathwrenchcustom 4 роки тому +10

      Stingray, Suberbike, Airwolf, Highwaymen (the futuristic truckers, one of whom was Jokko.

    • @mccallosone4903
      @mccallosone4903 4 роки тому +7

      yeah the wizard was the shit!

  • @BrianPollard
    @BrianPollard 4 роки тому +15

    It would be interesting to see a new Max Headroom series, especially in relation to our current Digital Age.

  • @docgonzales
    @docgonzales 4 роки тому +2

    Matt Frewer was a next level ad lib master. Amazing mind on the guy

  • @hoosez
    @hoosez 4 роки тому +3

    I guess you can say that Max was a "head" of his time.
    Today he would be a UA-cam/Face Book sensation.
    Max was made for the world we are becoming now.
    I miss the tv show and all the MTV stuff. The concept was so simplistic but it worked. Maybe one day, with AI we can get a new Max. One that will be there when we least expect it, and jolt us back to reality.

  • @rustedbeetle
    @rustedbeetle 4 роки тому +106

    Amanda Pays got me through a lot of the 80's.

    • @brettcooper3893
      @brettcooper3893 4 роки тому +2

      rustedbeetle *Paynes. She was also married to Corbin Bernsen.

    • @streetmagik3105
      @streetmagik3105 4 роки тому +9

      @@brettcooper3893 -No, it's Pays. Look it up.

    • @cernstormrunner7263
      @cernstormrunner7263 4 роки тому +2

      Indeed

    • @cernstormrunner7263
      @cernstormrunner7263 4 роки тому +1

      @@Me4-gc8qs time wounds all heels

    • @Inertia888
      @Inertia888 4 роки тому +1

      Live fast....
      Grow old at a young age and deal with the pain of burning the candle at both ends back when you thought you'd live forever.

  • @areasevenpro
    @areasevenpro 4 роки тому +78

    "Between Dallas and Miami - what a terrible place to be!" - Sledge Hammer

    • @HeGeekSheGeek
      @HeGeekSheGeek 4 роки тому +15

      Luckily, he knew what he was doing.

    • @carlb5558
      @carlb5558 4 роки тому +9

      I trusted him!

    • @pauljoyner4338
      @pauljoyner4338 4 роки тому +10

      Great tv show. Shame it only lasted 2 seasons. The Marvel comic was short lived too. Only 2 issues I believe.

    • @TheEvilpossum
      @TheEvilpossum 4 роки тому +10

      Guns don't kill people, bullets do.

    • @JonathanMCook
      @JonathanMCook 4 роки тому +5

      @@TheEvilpossum My favorite was the time he was wanting to watch some movies that he rented (Gun parodies of popular films of the era) and one was a video recording of a paper target like you see at a gun range. He pops it in the VCR, image comes up, followed by a voice over going "Shoot me...Shoot me....Shoot me" whips out his magnum and shoots the TV. In a deadpan tone said "Need to remind myself to never rent that again". 😆

  • @jeremymtc
    @jeremymtc 4 роки тому +7

    I was so pissed when my sister taped 90210 over my VHS recordings of the ABC series.

  • @ArtoPekkanen
    @ArtoPekkanen 4 роки тому +2

    Awesome story! This kind of well researched, compiled and narrated content is what I watch UA-cam for :) many thanks

  • @Azaul
    @Azaul 4 роки тому +10

    Wow. This one was on another level. Well done.

  • @danielherrin
    @danielherrin 4 роки тому +15

    I remember the TV show, I never had any idea what was going on.

  • @mikeblackfunny
    @mikeblackfunny 2 роки тому +2

    I loved that Max appeared in the book Ready Player One and was disappointed that he didn't make it into the film.

  • @snarkus63
    @snarkus63 4 роки тому +7

    I remember ABC's *Max Headroom* series...the pilot episode was a retelling of the original British movie,except it didn't end with Network 23 going under. I thought the series was pretty good.

  • @the_flyattractor8656
    @the_flyattractor8656 4 роки тому +21

    Ahh one of TV's Lost and Forgotten Best Characters Ever. BLANK REG!

    • @acoulthardclark
      @acoulthardclark 4 роки тому +4

      Loved that Blank Reg got his name, according to the novel, by not appearing on any data base, system or record. Part of the 'blank' underground society

    • @brianartillery
      @brianartillery 3 роки тому +1

      On one episode, Blank Reg gives a girl a book. Never having seen one before, she asks him what it is, to which he replies:
      "It's a non-reactive information storage and retrieval device."

    • @melissawickersham9912
      @melissawickersham9912 Рік тому +2

      @@brianartillery Reg actually called a book a “non-volatile storage medium”, to be precise.

    • @brianartillery
      @brianartillery Рік тому

      @@melissawickersham9912 - Thank you. Being over 35 years since I saw it, I couldn't actually remember the exact term - I wasn't far out - 'reactive' instead of 'volatile'. It is a great scene, though, and sadly, damn near true for today.

  • @jamesjackson6563
    @jamesjackson6563 4 роки тому +19

    Well interesting that this channel covering this keep expanding your horizons keep up the excellent work 👍

  • @harryfromwork
    @harryfromwork Рік тому +1

    I went out as Max Headroom for Halloween when I was 9 and I nearly died. I had the suit and the gelled back hair, however I wanted a TV screen around me (complete with the background). I had a box to walk around in, but it had no arm holes, because that would be stupid. The box was also really long, like to my knees, so the thing was a awkward, immobile death trap. When walking up to a door on a narrow sidewalk path from a driveway, my friend and I bumped into each other and I fell over on to the people's little garden. A tomato stake pierced through the box and missed impaling me by about 4 inches. Absolutely nuts and total 80s.

  • @brendancull8316
    @brendancull8316 4 роки тому +5

    It would be great to have him back on Telly again, and he would fit in perfectly the way the world is today, he would have plenty of material to poke fun at.

  • @BigEpinstriping
    @BigEpinstriping 4 роки тому +13

    I love the series; I have it on DVD. Long time Max Headroom fan! It was a genius work of cyberpunk fiction. Oh, and growing up in the Chicago area, I did see the pirate broadcast on Channel 11 when it interrupted Doctor Who back in the day.

  • @paulmares9511
    @paulmares9511 4 роки тому +3

    Guys this was a fantastic episode! One I never would have thought you guys would ever tapped into. Toy Galaxy your the best, keep'em commin!

  • @btetschner
    @btetschner 2 роки тому

    Legendary video!
    I did not watch a lot of versions of Max Headroom, but I always thought his character was intriguing.
    Very curious to see what the reboot is going to turn out like, I hope they nail it.
    Thank you so much for the video, it is just of very high quality.

  • @williamhughes9559
    @williamhughes9559 4 роки тому +1

    Had forgotten about this. Thanks for bringing the 80s back up

  • @hondorockz
    @hondorockz 4 роки тому +8

    Just got slapped in the face with some crazy nostalgia, very cool DDDDDan!

  • @bricktrooper540
    @bricktrooper540 4 роки тому +73

    And it will all be owned by Disney.

    • @rainyday6430
      @rainyday6430 4 роки тому +3

      Everything is owned by Disney!

    • @mzaite
      @mzaite 4 роки тому +2

      Who's special membership club is......D23.

  • @mrbleak9873
    @mrbleak9873 3 роки тому +3

    I ended up with a Playboy that had a parody character, Maxine Headroom, in one issue. I still think it was weird.

  • @johnzale7748
    @johnzale7748 3 роки тому

    What a great summing-up. I've been looking for this.

  • @alimfuzzy
    @alimfuzzy 4 роки тому +7

    Max Headroom and the Story Teller were definitely my favorite shows when I was a kid. Why cant they make shows like these any more?

  • @ZiddersRooFurry
    @ZiddersRooFurry 4 роки тому +3

    The last 20 minutes of this was about as true to the spirit of the original movie as it gets. Well done.

  • @rb8058
    @rb8058 4 роки тому +22

    “It saw a world where people in poverty’s only escape was through the consumption of media.” Isn’t that Ready Player One in a nutshelll?

  • @l3igl3astard
    @l3igl3astard 4 роки тому +11

    Who knew the M in MTV stood for Music.

    • @krissydoll8213
      @krissydoll8213 3 роки тому +2

      Yes my dear, once upon a time, MTV was all about music. And was actually worth watching.

    • @l3igl3astard
      @l3igl3astard 3 роки тому +2

      @@krissydoll8213 yeah I know I was being sarcastic lol I was born in 80. Headbangers Ball was great and when Beavis and Butt Head first debuted. Their cartoons pretty much paved the way for Adult Swim etc.

    • @krissydoll8213
      @krissydoll8213 3 роки тому

      @@l3igl3astard Ahh, got it.👍🏾 Haha!

  • @freakshowfilmfestival3591
    @freakshowfilmfestival3591 4 роки тому +40

    Matt F. should have played the Riddler in some form.

    • @MicBain
      @MicBain 4 роки тому +9

      Instead Jim Carey basically ripped off Max Headroom, then played the Riddler haha

    • @BrokenNeuron
      @BrokenNeuron 4 роки тому +1

      Damn, now I want Jim Carrey to be the next max headroom.

    • @OldGrumpyDude
      @OldGrumpyDude 4 роки тому

      *See his character in Altered Carbon.

  • @Larry
    @Larry 4 роки тому +51

    Channel 4 isn't a news station dude, it's general entertainment all around. like the BBC and ITV, They also brought back Headroom in the '00s as a senile old man to promote them switching over to digital TV.
    AAnnndddd of course he had his own video game in the UK :P

    • @SecretGalaxyTV
      @SecretGalaxyTV  4 роки тому +20

      Might be a slight misunderstanding in the way I pronounced "new station."

    • @Larry
      @Larry 4 роки тому +9

      @@SecretGalaxyTV Aah, new station news tation, yeah I can see that being a bit of a tongue twister there!

    • @aztro.99
      @aztro.99 3 роки тому +4

      lol nerd

    • @LlamaGlamaDrama
      @LlamaGlamaDrama 3 роки тому +2

      I've never heard of a Zee X Spectrum...

    • @dogwalker666
      @dogwalker666 3 роки тому

      I loved the film, but Never saw the TV series, next time I saw him was the art of noise Paranoia video.

  • @LordProteus
    @LordProteus 3 роки тому +9

    Great video. Shame about the anti-right propaganda at the end though.

  • @sweslac
    @sweslac 4 роки тому +4

    What an amazing clip. Well researched, amazing commentary, good timing and interesting. Thank you!

  • @WooWeeItsJeff
    @WooWeeItsJeff 4 роки тому +15

    When I was a kid, Max Headroom, Michael Jackson, and Spids Mackenzie was my world

  • @TonySpike
    @TonySpike 4 роки тому +5

    I am British and I was today years old when I found out this was a British creation, and my mind is blown by this fact

  • @Hopscotchlemonadespritz
    @Hopscotchlemonadespritz 3 роки тому +1

    Too young to have seen Max live on TV but various references to him survive. Seemed well ahead of its time and I'm happy to find more out about this curiously ingenious creation.

  • @bitpusher2600
    @bitpusher2600 3 роки тому +1

    One of my favorite pieces of my childhood. As a tech nerd kid, around 6, I loved Max. Even in this day I still occasionally wear my Network 23 and ZikZak t-shirts.

  • @erikhouse7907
    @erikhouse7907 4 роки тому +16

    I'd love to see Toy Galaxy cover the Super Bros. Movie, if they haven't yet.

    • @SecretGalaxyTV
      @SecretGalaxyTV  4 роки тому +12

      It's on the list

    • @DasNordlicht91
      @DasNordlicht91 4 роки тому +3

      There’s even some action figures they released for the Mario movie for you to cover. :)

  • @jon-michaelharris5840
    @jon-michaelharris5840 4 роки тому +8

    Even though I’m a conservative Republican and is in your words “cruel and heartless”, i will still watch your show. I appreciate your work on toys and pop culture.

  • @DwayneIsKing
    @DwayneIsKing 2 роки тому +1

    Lol all of us that knew about the "Max Headroom Incident" was just WAITING for that part of this video 😂

  • @victorfroes6650
    @victorfroes6650 4 роки тому +3

    Great vid. Max Headroom is as much a piece of cyberpunk culture as blade runner.