On this date in 1985 Max Headroom first appeared on TV. 10 things you might not know about Max Headroom:
The TV film he first appeared in was called Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future and it aired on Channel 4.
He wasn’t computer generated. Max Headroom was actor Matt Frewer in prosthetic make up.
He was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton as a satire of 1980’s TV presenters who wanted to appeal to young people but had no idea about youth culture.
The origin story according to the film is that he began life as a journalist called Edison Carter, who is fleeing from enemies in a car park on a motorcycle and crashes into the exit barrier. The last thing he sees before an AI replication of his mind is created is a sign reading “Max Headroom” which was the wording used at the time for UK maximum height clearance signs.
A TV show based on the film aired days later and was an immediate hit in the UK, doubling Channel 4's viewing figures for that time slot within a month.
The graphics on the show were created using a Commodore Amiga.
In the second season, Max was shown in front of a live audience and interviewing celebrities, but he appeared on a screen rather than actually being there to maintain the illusion of an AI living in broadcast signals and computer systems.
Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin wrote a Christmas special of Max Headroom.
In November 1987 a person in a Max Headroom mask hacked into broadcast signals in Chicago. The hijacker stood in front of a corrugated spinning panel and spoke in a distorted voice. The hacker has never been identified.
In the 1980s, Garry Trudeau created a character called Ron Headrest for the comic strip Doonesbury. The character parodied Max Headroom and then US President Ronald Reagan.
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