Conference noted::sf

    I read this recently, but I don't remember where.  Max Headroom is not
    computer generated.  There is an actor who gets into costume --
    computer processing just adds cheap effects. 
    
    
    				-- edp

Max looks to me to be a model of some kind, with *some* processing of the
picture to make it look like it's computer animation...

Jim.

    	RE 361.1 is correct; it is a Canandian actor with makeup and
    some computer animation thrown in.
    
    	I would like to add that when Max's commercials were shown at
    the big European commercial showing (somewhat like the Oscars),
    its "charm" was lost on the Europeans, and I can't say that I blame
    them; it's just another American ad with a lot of gloss and little
    real information on the product itself. 
    
    	Larry
    

    I get the impression from the 3 previous replies that none of you
    have seen the 1 hour special called MAX HEADROOM on Cinimax.  This
    is a SF special that takes place 20 minutes in the future about
    a TV station call Channel 23 and one of it's reporters (can't remember
    his name) who's image is put in a computer that reacts to outside
    stimuli and thus creates MAX HEADROOM????  There is much much more
    but I won't put it here.
    
    Axsiously awaiting your replies.
    
    Steve

From:	COVERT::COVERT "John R. Covert  23-Jul-1986 0808" 23-JUL-1986 08:10
To:	@SFL
Subj:	SF-Lovers  Volume 11 : Issue 199

DEC-ADMINISTRIVIA

This is the DEC Redistribution of SF-Lovers Digest, which originates
on the ARPANET.

Submissions should be sent directly to the moderator through the
gateway to RHEA::DECWRL::"[email protected]".  Read the file
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Requests for additions, deletions, and changes to the DEC distribution
list should be sent to COVERT::SF_LOVERS_REQUEST.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

SF-LOVERS Digest         Tuesday, 22 Jul 1986    Volume 11 : Issue 199

Today's Topics:

                Television - Max Headroom (10 msgs)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 19 Jul 86 13:30:08 GMT
From: [email protected] (Ron Hitchens, Sun Wiz)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom (question)

> There is currently a music video on MTV with Max Headroom as the
> only performer.  The VJ calls this computer graphics, and many
> claims that Max is a computer synthetic have been made.  I've been
> a computer animator for years, and I claim that Max is NOT a
> computer graphic (at least, not the portrayal currently on MTV).
> The technology won't support it, and there are many "giveaways" in
> the tape I saw.  Can anyone confirm or deny this (WITH CITATIONS!)?

  Max Headroom obviously isn't "computer generated" in the sense you
mean.  But I suppose you could call him "computer processed", though
"video processed" would probably be more accurate.  Max is an actor
(the same one from the movie, can't recall his name) wearing a
plastic suit and makeup specifically designed to look flat and
"computerish".  The video signal is then processed in various ways
to make his movements look unnatural.  It's very simple to do by
duplicating and skipping frames.  They put a simple
computer-generated line pattern behind him, probably via a
chroma-key technique.  And they fiddle the audio to complete the
effect.

  I saw him on Letterman on Thursday, at one point the audio cut out
and for a few seconds you could hear the guy talking backstage.  The
Max effect wasn't quite as good in real time.  In the movie and the
other various things he's been used for (the video show on Cinemax,
commercials) they've done some post-processing also, for things like
the "scratched record effect" and such.

  Now, in the movie, character-wise, Max was computer generated.  He
was created from a brain scan of a real person.  The evil (and
wimpy) computer wiz wanted to replace the tv reporter (who was
getting too close to the truth) with a computer version.  But the
computer model had some glitches because the reporter had been
captured after crashing into a crossbar in a parking garage (max
headroom 6') trying to get away from the goons chasing him.  So he
had a concussion at the time of data aquisition and there were a few
CRC errors, hence the explanation for Max's quirky behaviour.  The
movie was actually quite good, set in a (very dirty) future
dominated by television networks and inhabited by various punk
slimoids.  BTW, the reporter didn't die in the movie.

  The producers of Max Headroom were very clever in creating Max.
They obviously understood the technology (it was made and set in
England) and purposely made the glitches part of Max's character.
The movie had lots of very good and (more importantly) plausible
computer graphics and video effects.  They've done a pretty good job
of capitalizing on him.  The movie left the impression of being the
first of a series, I'm surprised they haven't done more by now.

  Back to the original point.  The majority of the public doesn't
know the difference between "computer generated" and "video
processed".  Max has the computer "look" on purpose, and I'm sure
the producers are perfectly happy to let them be mistaken (and
amazed at what computers can do nowadays).  And with all the
sophisticated video technology in use today, mostly computer
controlled, it's not that much of a stretch anymore.  For many
people "hi-tech" == "computer", and if it has blinking lights or
velcro on it, it's hi-tech.

Ron Hitchens
[email protected]
...!seismo!ut-sally!hitchens

------------------------------

Date: 19 Jul 86 17:21:21 GMT
From: [email protected] (ccdbryan)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom (question)

In case you missed it, Max was on Late Night with David Letterman
this last Thursday, and it was obvious that Max was back stage
somewhere while Dave talked to a TV at his desk.  At one point the
sound from backstage went out and Max could be slightly heard in the
background.  Over all though, he was a big hit.

Bryan
UCDavis

------------------------------

Date: 20 Jul 86 01:14:34 GMT
From: [email protected] (Tim Abbott)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom (question)

[email protected] (Steve Miller) writes:
> There is currently a music video on MTV with Max Headroom as the
> only performer.  The VJ calls this computer graphics, and many
> claims that Max is a computer synthetic have been made.  I've been
> a computer animator for years, and I claim that Max is NOT a
> computer graphic (at least, not the portrayal currently on MTV).
> The technology won't support it, and there are many "giveaways" in
> the tape I saw.  Can anyone confirm or deny this (WITH CITATIONS!)?

Sorry, can't actually CITE anything, I was in England when Max first
came out and there was quite a lot of fuss over this question
amongst my friends, and I seem to remember one of them coming up
with some info saying that he was a human actor whose performances
were computer processed to make him look like a graphic.

("I got a letter the other day
  FR FR FRom a fan -
 He said the only funny lines on my show
 Are those behind me.......
 Hmmmm
 (Max turns and looks)
 I don't get it")

Besides, if Max isn't a computer, then what does that make the other
MTV VJs?

Tim Abbott

------------------------------

Date: 20 Jul 86 19:49:10 GMT
From: [email protected] (Jonathan D.)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom (question)

> There is currently a music video on MTV with Max Headroom as the
> only performer.

The video is by the band that loves repetitious editing, otherwise
known as Art of Noise, and the song is "Paranoimia" (or some such
spelling).  He fits right in with their style of video.

Jonathan D. Trudel
arpa: [email protected]
uucp:{seismo,allegra,ihnp4,pyrnj,pyramid}!topaz!trudel

------------------------------

Date: 18 Jul 86 16:09:31 GMT
From: [email protected] (Richard Jennings)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom origin (?)

[email protected] writes:
>As I have heard mentioned earlier, I too remember seeing this Max
>Headroom character in a movie about "blipverts" with a more
>specific subject of subliminal advertising.  I don't recall it
>being one hour long but I specifically remember the box & Max
>Headroom.  It seemed everyone was trying to get this box because of
>some great feeling or fantasic technology.  The setting I remember
>is the future and the city was run down and trashed.  Kind of had a
>"Mad Max" or "Escape From New York" tone to it (the setting).

The ``film'' was the intoductory pilot for the original UK Max
series shown on Channel 4: It was set ``20 minutes into the future''
in a (mid-atlantic) society where TV (and the ratings of the many
hundred broadcasters) is of the utmost importance.  The most
successful company (only just) was ``network 23'' who employed a
young spotty hacker (P. Brice) to develop tech-isms for them,
including the blipvert which had the side-effect of making lazy
people who sat in front of the telly all day (ie. most of the
populus) explode.

Network 23 had a highly successful programme called
_The_What_I_Want_To_Know_ Show_, hosted by one Edison Carter.  In
making one of the programmes, he got ``too damn close to the truth''
and Brice decided (without authority) to terminate Carter.  The
network chief was none too pleased about this, so Brice tried to
appease him by making a computer model of Carter - this is Max
Headroom; the name comes from the sign which was the last thing
Carter saw before he hit his head on it, ``Max. Headroom: 2.3m'.

To cut a long story short(ish), a small-time TV station (known as
_Big_Time_ TV_) who just played old promos got hold of the Max box
and started to use it to do their links - hence the show.

>But the real reason for this posting is that it was mentioned that
>this was first aired on channel 4 18 months ago.  I remember seeing
>this movie here in the states around THREE years ago on pay
>television.

Not so.  The Pilot show was (c) 1985 by Chysalis Video Programming.
It is thought here that you may possibly be confusing it with
_Videodrome_ (myself I'm not so sure).  It is also thought that this
is just another example of Americans assuming that all TV is US TV -
cf. the astonishment on t'other side of the water not so long back
when it was explained to them that, in fact, _Dr._Who_ was entirely
made by the British Broardcasting Corporation, actually.

>By the by, I am still waiting for someone to come up with the title
>of this movie.  I would appreciate it.

Believe it or not: ``Max Headroom''.

Incidentally, as I write, _Paranoimia_ by Art of Noise & Max is
playing on the radio...

Richard Jennings
[email protected]

------------------------------

Date: 21 JUL 86 08:59-EST
From: JJL8733%[email protected]
Subject: Re: The M-M-M-Max Headroom Story

Brian Bishop (Bishop at Usc-Oberon) writes:
>  Apparently he was a reporter originally (and went by a different
>name) when he broke the story on *blipverts*, thirty-second ads
>squeezed into three seconds, real-time.  Unfortunately he was
>killed for this, smashing into a sign that read "Max. Headroom 6
>M." He was resurrected with the new name....Max Headroom. The rest
>is history.  Note: this info is second-hand, as I haven't been able
>to get a videotape of Max, as I can't get Cinemax, (hint hint....I
>have several "Prisoner" episodes...)

   Actually he did not _Die_ when his motorcycle crashed in to the
"Max. Headroom 6 M." sign. He was hurt, but later recovered. In the
meanwhile a crazed scientist has already scanned his brain and has
the pattern in his computer.

Steve Higgins writes:

>   As I have heard mentioned earlier, I too remember seeing this
>Max Headroom character in a movie about "blipverts" with a more
>specific subject of subliminal advertising.  I don't recall it
>being one hour long but I specifically remember the box & Max
>Headroom.  It seemed everyone was trying to get this box because of
>some great feeling or fantasic technology.  The setting I remember
>is the future and the city was run down and trashed.  Kind of had a
>"Mad Max" or "Escape From New York" tone to it (the setting).

Correct on the tone of the setting (if that's the proper
terminology), but everyone was after the box (there was a more
scientific sounding name but I've forgotten it already) because Max
Headroom had information that could destroy the largest T.V.
network around.

Jason
BITNET,VNET,EARN,NETNORTH: JJL8733@RITVAXC
ARPA: JJL8733%[email protected]

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 21-JUL-1986 09:56 EDT
From: Ronald A. Jarrell  <JARRELLRA%[email protected]>
Subject: Max Headroom

Max Headroom (also known as The Max Headroom Story, but I think the
former is the actual title) first appeared in the U.S. early last
year on Cinemax.  This year all of a sudden he started popping up
everywhere.  Cinemax also did some episodes of the Max Headroom Show
for a while.  Max Headroom is running again now on Cinemax, in fact
I saw it last night I think.  The city isn't really bombed out, it's
only set "20 minutes into the future".  It's just that some areas of
the city (which is presumable london) are very slummed-out.

The movie is really about a reporter, Edison Carter, that does a
live news show "on the road" with a portable camera.  He (and other
reporters like him) stay in contact at all times with their
"controllers", the people back in the news room with the huge
computer consoles that can apparently tie into any computer known to
mankind.  They can at the very least link up to sattelites to get
directions, and seem to have databases with the floorplans of every
building in london.  The network (network 23) uses "compressed"
advertising called blip-verts, that shows a 30 second commercial in
3 seconds, preventing channel switching.  But there seems to be a
problem no one wants to talk about.  During the course of the movie
we find out how Max is created.

BTW, Max is currently that star of a new video.  I only caught part
of it, so I don't know the song/group, but at a guess I think it's
either Quiet Riot, or Art of Noise.. (4am is a bad time to try to
figure those things out.)

Ron

------------------------------

Date: 21 Jul 86 04:16:13 GMT
From: [email protected] (Carl Greenberg)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom (question)

[email protected] (Steve Miller) writes:
>There is currently a music video on MTV with Max Headroom as the
>only performer.  The VJ calls this computer graphics, and many
>claims that Max is a computer synthetic have been made.  I've been
>a computer animator for years, and I claim that Max is NOT a
>computer graphic (at least, not the portrayal currently on MTV).
>The technology won't support it, and there are many "giveaways" in
>the tape I saw.  Can anyone confirm or deny this (WITH CITATIONS!)?

Oh, I don't know...  have you ever seen Tony de Peltrie, or Andre
and Wally B.?  PIXAR (ex-Lucasfilm computer division) has come out
with some interesting stuff....  From what I've seen of Max Headroom
(2 TV commercials), he's possible for them, though the last thing I
saw that was computer-animated was clearly weird: too much chin,
looked pretty strange..  If you have the animation festival in town,
it should feature Tony de Peltrie...  the thing was at the UC
theatre in Berkeley recently....

Carl Greenberg

------------------------------

Date: 21 Jul 86 20:26:11 GMT
From: [email protected] (Cam Clarke)
Subject: Re: Max Headroom (question)

This morning, Monday July 21, Good Morning America was originating
from England (I guess they are the whole week because of the royal
wedding).  They had a segment about Max Headroom, including clips of
the movie that started all this, clips from his series in England
(he interviews people like Boy George and Sting), the actor who
plays Max (I partially missed the actor's name, Matt Fruer or
something that sounds like that.  Anyway, he's American, not
British, and they had a picture of him), and an interview with Max,
much like the one David Letterman did, only shorter and without any
audio glitches.  They said the process used to create Max was a
"secret" that the interviewer had sworn not to tell.

If someone's really interested, ABC sells transcripts of GMA,
they give a P.O. Box number at the end of each show.

Cam Clarke
clarke%[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

------------------------------

Date: Monday, 21 Jul 1986 08:32:23-PDT
From: marotta%[email protected]  (MARY J. MAROTTA MRO1-2/L12
From: 467-4277)

Having just seen The Max Headroom Story -- The Beginning on Cinemax
this weekend, I want to recommend it to SF lovers and make a few
comments on earlier messages.  As Tim Abbott (rather bitingly)
points out, the computer-generated image is not a critical part of
the plot.  Actually, the story is about Edison Carter the news
reporter, and the advertising scam called "blipverts."  It's a
fascinating, hour-long episode about Edison's attempt to publicize
the dangers of blipverts and to avoid being "wasted" by the network
biggies.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  The setting was reminiscent of
Blade Runner.  The characters, too.

Since Cinemax chose to call this "The Beginning," I have hopes that
they will show other episodes from the series.  I wonder if Max
Headroom figures in the these other episodes (after all, they named
the series "Max Headroom").  In any case, Edison Carter and his
beautiful coworker are interesting enough characters, and the
writing seems to be above the standards of most American television
(I have come to expect this of British television).

Oh, by the way, Tim, the movie "Escape from New York" is worth a
viewing, if only to see Kurt Russell live up to his acting ability.
The script is fine, and the plot has enough action to keep you there
till the end.  Best of all, though, is the setting -- New York as a
prison is not so far from our present reality!  (sorry, Apple
lovers!)

Mary

------------------------------

End of SF-LOVERS Digest
***********************

    The story of MAX, from what I heard on NPR, is as .4 states, but
    he left out how he got the name MAX HEADROOM.
    The story is that the reporter was covering some story in a parking
    garage. He got hit by a high speed vehicle, and as he flew through
    the air torward one of those low ceiling beams found in garages,
    the last thing he saw was the sign there: MAX. HEADROOM X m(eters)
    He was such a good reporter though, they went to superhuman efforts
    to restore him by feeding his brain patterns into a computer.
    Unfortunately, his only memory of his living past are the words,
    MAX HEADROOM.
    
    sm

    He wasn't Killed.  It was open of those parking garage "stop and
    pay before I raise" do hickies and he ran into it while on a
    motorcycle.  The bad guy scientist was experimenting with that kind
    of computer generation and did it to the good guy before ordering
    his death.  He escaped and exposed the bad guys.  End of story.
    
    Steve

    Max Headroom is an example of an interesting feature of pop-art:
    carefully duplicating the short-comings of hi-tech so as to suggest
    hi-tech.  Thus Max has flat perspective, jerky animation, bad voice.
    Of course, the people who really work on this sort of thing would
    like to eliminate all that.  (I gather Max's creator would like
    to have, as well.)
    
    In the old Buck Rogers TV show, lots of signs in public places were
    written in stiff, semi-legible seven-element characters like you
    see on a pocket calculator.  Before those came in, hi-tech writing
    was frequently in magnetic-ink characters like those on checks.
    
    And of course any number of TV robots have been made to "sound robotic"
    by speaking in electronically degraded speech.  Remember the Cylons?
    I could hardly ever understand a work they said.  HAL and C3P0 are
    more realistic in that particular regard.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    Max Headroom is a 'talk show' host/VJ for an MTV or VH1 type
    show on one of the subscription channels (Cinemax or Showtime).
    
    The show has a regular (I think) schedule.  Since I don't subscribe
    to that channel, I don't follow 'his' schedule...
    
    Dwight

    	I got my information about Max Headroom being an actor with
    computer graphics added on from an ADWEEK mgazine a few weeks back,
    just so there's proof of my info. 
    
    	In regards to the story of Max being a computer-simulated reporter,
    does anyone remember a short-lived 1981 ABC-TV thriller show called
    DARKROOM, narrated by James Coburn?  In its first episode, it featured
    a TV news reporter who was permanently replaced on the evening news
    program by a computer simulation of himself.
    	Perhaps this is where the idea originated from?
    
    	Larry
    

    
    If you want a story of using computer simulations of people (minor
    part of the movie) see 'Looker'.  They get into the use of both
    computer simulations of people and subliminals for a sort of mind
    control.
    
       Klaes
    
    P.s. Pity Max isn't a real simulation, I can't think of lots of
    people he could easily replace.  Heeeeerrreeeee's Max!
    

I believe the original mention of synthetic TV reporters was in a 70's
novel by Algis Budrys called "Michaelmas".  Michaelmas was a top independent
news broadcaster who did most of his work with the aid of an enormous 
AI system that he'd cobbled together.  As a sideline the AI system 
ran the world.  Almost all TV images were computer generated.
/jlr

    "Real simulation"?
    
    ESW

    "Michaelmas" was an excellent book, but I think "The Moon is a Harsh
    Mistress" contains an earlier example of a simulated TV personality.  
    It was done by the itelligent computer personality in order to aid the
    revolution.

Re: .12
>                    -< LOOKER is a great unknown SF movie! >-

Is "Looker" about a TV advertising agency that "digitizes" real people
and then makes ads by running the simulations through "live" sets,
combining them on videotape? The sinister side is that the simulations
have a light in their eyes which hypnotizes people, and the bad guys have a
gun that fires a hypnotic flash. I saw this film once but cannot remember
the name of it. I think Doug Trumbull was associated with this film, too.

This is probably a 10 on the bogusmeter, but I would like to remember
what this is...

John O.

re: simulated TV personalities (a redundancy?)

Philip K. Dick had some simulated TV personalities in his 1964 and
1965 books "The Simulacra" and "The Penultimate Truth".  Usually
they were the President, I think.  (He must have foreseen Ronnie.)

    re:.16
    
    I don't think Doug Trumbull worked on LOOKER (you might be confusing
    this point with BRAINSTORM), except in perhaps a special effects
    role (I don't know either way on that). The writer/director, however,
    was Michael Crichton.
    
    --- jerry

re: .19 
>The writer/director, however, was Michael Crichton.
    
>    --- jerry

Thanks, Jerry. I liked the film, but only saw it once and couldn't remember
why I associated it with someone who had prior SF movies to his credit.

J O

    Max Headroom started out in a life as a 40 minute clip which left
    me thinking it was a series...then it was replaced by a Rock Video
    show on Channel 4 which I believe has recently restarted (I think!
    I don't get home early enough). It's a real pity the clip didn't
    develope into a full series.
    
    By Channel 4, I mean the UK Channel 4, since I'm in England.

    "Max Headroom: Twenty Minutes in the Future" will be on ABC sometime
    in March.
                                                   
                  /
                 (  ___
                  ) ///
                 /
    

    Awesome to think that Heinlein is 90 years off on his
    time-frame.  One thing about Max - Adam Selene he ain't !

    Re .23:
    
    WAG:  Is Adam Selene a fictional Heinlein character who is completely
    electronically-generated?  If so, then there is no correspondence to
    Max Headroom. 
    
    
    				-- edp

    I believe Adam Selene is the false identity used by Mike, the computer
    that ran the Lunar revolution in "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress."
    Mike was the only personality involved, but he mocked up a face,
    voice, and backdrop for Adam's TV appearances.
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    Re .25:
    
    That sounds familiar, in which case the author of .23 is advised:  Max
    Headroom is NOT electronically generated.  Max Headroom is a Canadian
    actor with a few electronic effects.  You should have seen the _Late
    Night with David Letterman_ episode where Dave interviewed Larry "Bud"
    Melman with the same effects. 
    
    
    				-- edp 

    
    	_Max_Headroom:_Ten_Minutes_into_the_Future_ becomes an ABC series
    	starting Tuesday, March 31 at 10pm after MOONLIGHTING.
    
    	_The_Boston_Globe_ gives it 4 *'s. They call it a "new wave"
    action-adventure series.
    
    		 /
    		(  ___
    		 ) ///
    		/     

    	Sorry, Steve, but it's TWENTY Minutes into the Future.
    
    	Larry
    

    What's a few minutes between friends?
    
    Does anyone know how many episodes this series is? I'm presuming
    it's a limited series. Can any of our British noters tell us?
    
    --- jerry

    Well, my question in the previous reply seems irrelevant, as it
    appears that this MAX HEADROOM series is a new, American-produced
    series, rather than a showing of the original. The cast, with one
    notable exception (Edison's new "controller" --- I don't recall
    her name), seems to be American. I recognized a few of them from
    other places. And the Executive Producer is Philip DeGuere, fresh
    from the same spot on the late, lamented TWILIGHT ZONE.
    
    The lot of this opening episode, featuring Max's origin, was fairly
    simple, but the execution was marvelous. The style was very remin-
    iscent of the recent film BRAZIL, with a little of NETWORK thrown
    in. Very effective use of videotape in place of film during certain
    scenes. And for once, the computer doings weren't *completely* out
    of line (though certainly there are a few quirks). The show has a
    proper 1984-ish feel and manages to be reasonably good science
    fiction despite its "adventure"-esque context.
    
    --- jerry

    Yes, this was a lot of fun.  Cyberpunk makes it to television!  
    It had all the classic elements: rule by distant, malevolent 
    corporations,  general decay in living standards, and fascination with
    man-machine mixtures.  They even had the 
    venetian-blinds-with-bright-lights-outside that were so common in
    "Bladerunner".  Some of the things were a little mis-timed, eg 
    they should have held off on showing the effect of the blipverts until
    the end, but it was nicely plotted overall.  Don't know how 
    they're going to keep this up as a regular series, though.  Does anyone
    know if they're made in England?  Or who does the computer graphics?
    
    /jlr

    Is there any explanation of WHY blipverts make couch-potatoes explode?
    
    Earl Wajenberg

    Because electricity from nerve endings builds up due to inactivity.
    When the blipverts are played, they overstimulate the brain causing
    all the built-up energy to discharge.    Booooom!

    Re .33:
    
    This is why I do not think showing the Rebus film at the beginning of
    the show was poor timing.  If it had been shown at the end, it would
    have been a cop-out:  Oh, here is a totally-unbelievable wimpy ending
    we put in.  Shown at the beginning, it is an invitation to suspend
    disbelief and watch as the rest of the show plays with the premise.
    
    In other words, you can introduce fantastic or silly things at the
    beginning, but if you do it at the end, you are not playing fair.
    
                                      
    				-- edp 

	If this MAX HEADROOM is the same as the British one ( ie person
	with moving background grid and a voice that changes tone, pitch
	and speed all the time ), then it was 'created' in 1984 (sic).

	It is produced with an actor then the film is changed using paint
	box and other tools to create the finished article.

	The special tailoring of the film is done by ..

	the 'Cucumber' ( or is that Rhubarb ) Company in Soho London, by
	a husband and wife team.

	Paul.

        The actor & Max Headroom image is the same as the British
        version, but the rest of the show is different.  Pretty good
        series, so far.  Casual observation of NOTES and MAIL personal
        names indicates that Max fever has hit DEC hard... :-)
        
        	/dave

    re:.36
    
    Amanda Pays (Theora Jones) and the guy that plays Blank Reg
    (name unfortunately forgotten) are also from the original.
    
    --- jerry

    ...and I hope nobody is missing "Ron Headrest" in Doonesbury...

    
    I've heard that the series will return to U.S. TV soon on Fridays
    at 9 p.m.
    
    Perry
    

  > will return to U.S. TV soon...
    
    It has indeed.
    
    I had heard that the British series had at least 12 episodes.
    Is that true?  Does anyone have any of them (other than the first,
    which I have already).
    
    I have all the episodes of the American series so far.
    

    re:40
    
    There is no British series, at least as we understand it. This is
    how it works (British netters please correct me if I'm wrong).
    
    MAX HEADROOM: 20 MINUTES INTO THE FUTURE is a one-hour "adventure"
    that dealt with the "origin" of Max Headroom. Then, a series was
    started that is basicly a talk show, with Max interviewing various
    celebrity guests. This program has been shown in the US on Cinemax.
    
    Then, ABC optioned a new "adventure" series on the character. The
    man who wrote the original origin film rewrote the script and it
    was refilmed as the premiere episode of the ABC series. Other episodes
    followed.
    
    Cinemax is now showing a new series of "talk show" episodes as well,
    under the title THE ORIGINAL MAX "TALKING" HEADROOM SHOW, but near
    as I can figure, these new episodes are filmed in the US (probably
    because it was easier than trying to fly Matt Frewer back and forth
    over the pond to do both shows).
    
    --- jerry

Path: muscat!decwrl!ucbvax!husc6!rutgers!daemon
From: [email protected]
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
Subject: MAX HEADROOM is gone...
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 16 Oct 87 02:21:20 GMT
Sender: [email protected]
Lines: 12
 
From: Will Martin -- AMXAL-RI <[email protected]>
 
    Caught this news on ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT on Wednesday, 14 Oct.:
 
    The ABC-TV network has cancelled MAX HEADROOM abruptly, in the
midst of production of a show (cutting work off and cancelling it the
afternoon of 13 Oct.), due to the show's low ratings.  The episode
scheduled for Friday, 16 Oct., will be the last one shown.  There are
three more episodes already produced which will *not* be shown (though
there is a possibility that somebody will buy them for cable or
syndication). 
 
    Will Martin

    re .42:
    
    To be replaced by Mr. Belvidere and some new mid-season replacement.

    The argument I read for the cancellation was that ABC had hoped that 
    Max would be able to pull over some disaffected Miami Vice viewers.
    When that failed to happen, they decided to cancel. What I can't understand
    is why waste three episodes they've already paid for. It's not like
    the substitution they chose will be able to lure away MV viewers
    either.
    
    
    AAARRRGGGGHHH
                                                   
                  /
                 (  ___
                  ) ///
                 /
    

    Has anyone seen the single page cartoon version of VAX HEADROOM?

    The one with Ken Olsen in sunglasses against a lined background?
    Were you interested in a copy of it?

    Well, given that last year, CBS did not intend to show the last
    X hours of TWILIGHT ZONE and ended up doing so anyway, it remains
    to be seen whether the canned MAX episodes show up.
    
    It was obvious that the producers stuck that last little bit ("This
    was Max Headroom's finest hour!") in after the cancellation decision.
    I almost fell out of my chair.
    
    --- jerry

    	Considering how MAX HEADROOM so daringly satirized the way
    television networks and their employees operate the system, I am
    surprised (though very pleased) that it got on the air at all!
    
    	It is just another example of the network morons cancelling
    a good SF series because they haven't the brains to understand it
    or care!
    
    	Larry
    

    As usual, one of the few shows with some class gets axed. We were
    out the night of the 16th, so we recorded "Max Headroom". We got
    home before it was over, so turned on "Miami Vice" for a while.
    Dullsville! They never were long on plot, and pastels in the dark
    and the music do tend to wear after a while.
    
    "Max" had some problems in keeping the storyline fresh, but could
    easily have gone off in any number of directions. Perhaps the show
    will be resurrected, a la "Star Trek".
                               
    - Richard

    re resurrection:
    
    Don't hold your breath. MAX's demise was not the fault of "network
    morons". It was the "moron audience". MAX had an audience of about
    7 million. 10 million is dismal in tv land, 7 is an arrid wasteland.
    
    The Boston Globe friday had a very good "eulogy" to Max and really
    laid it in to the mindless couch potatoes. Max could not be enjoyed
    without paying attention, and THAT is what killed it.
    
                                                   
                  /
                 (  ___
                  ) ///
                 /
    

    I can think of another thing that probably killed this show.  The
    pilot episode was fantastic, but the next episode was dismally bad.
    The episodes for the remainder of the season were back to fantastic,
    but I wonder how many people watched the terrible second episode
    (the motorized skateboards one, by the way) and never watched again.
    Then the new season started, and the season premiere (sp?) was
    fantastic, then the second episode of the season (the televangelist
    parody) was awful (and probably cost viewers again), but the (few)
    episodes since were fantastic again.  Most people will watch until
    one bad episode and then turn back to Miami Vice (or whatever).
    
    Also, if you missed the pilot it made the rest of the series quite
    hard to follow.  I really hate shows that have to tell the whole
    background during the credits every week, but perhaps it would have
    helped here.
    
    Oh, well.  Did any of us expect it to finish even one season?  We
    were lucky it went so long.  Don't forget this was ABC, the series
    that cancelled Police Squad because "the viewers would have to think
    to much when watching."
    
    --Andy Humphrey

    RE .-1
    
    OK, so ABC is a network not a series.  Don't confuse the issue with
    facts.  I'm still overwrought.
    
    --Andy Humphrey

    re .49  People who pay attention are more likely to *read*. TV is
    not geared towards them; with only three networks, commercial TV
    is geared towards the LCD. the good thing about books is that their
    relatively low production costs make it possible for a wider variety
    to be produced and each find its' own audience. For instance, I'm
    partial to Kesey's "Sometimes A Great Notion" but it is certainly
    not for everyone. even the movie version didn't go over big. But
    you can still find it in print.
    
    Dana

    It's ironic when you think that "ratings are everything" according to 
    Network 23 on the Max Headroom show.  Perhaps ABC got into too many
    episodes of Max Headroom...the ratings start to slip, time to do
    something.  Or maybe picture this; Charles Rocket (villain in two
    episodes of MH) sitting behind the desk of head of production at
    NBC.  :^)
    re .53
    I think it's safe to say there's four networks now.
    Mike_L

    
    REPLY TO .44 AND .45 - 
    
    	Are you serious? Where can I get a copy? Hope there is a copy
    in REGIS for our demo system.

The problem with Max Headroom was Max Headroom.
I only started watching Max (the show) during the last few weeks because
my only other exposure to Max (the character) was in Coke commercials.
Max is/was a TERRIBLE character.  The premise was interesting (capturing
an injured person's personality via computer, having an alter ego),
but it had nowhere to go.  The thrust of the show was only peripherally
with computers - Max was even less integrated into the plots than
was "My Mother the Car."

So say good bye to reasonable Speculative Fiction, but don't mourn for Max.

- tom]

Path: muscat!decwrl!labrea!rutgers!clyde!watmath!utgpu!utcsri!tom
From: [email protected] (Tom Nadas)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: MAX HEADROOM
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 23 Oct 87 13:58:06 GMT
References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected] (Tom Nadas)
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Lines: 18
Posted: Fri Oct 23 09:58:06 1987
  
    Of course, those of us fortunate enough to live in southern
Ontario, Canada, and, I suspect, other places outside the US, will see
the final three MAX HEADROOM episodes immediately.  CHCH Hamilton
Channel 11 is apparently still getting the episodes shipped up to them
and for tonight (Friday) at 9:00 p.m. a new episode is scheduled.  The
same thing happened with BEYOND WESTWORLD (remember that series?) a
few years ago. 
 
Cheers,
Robert J. Sawyer
in Toronto
c/o

					Tom Nadas
 
UUCP:   {decvax,linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,allegra,utzoo}!utcsri!tom
CSNET:  tom@toronto

    
    Hi,
    
    I don't normally follow this conference, so this is a bit late.
    Prepare yourself for the MAXimum in Max Headroom information.
    
    I am the co-founder of an organization called Viewers Appeal for
    Max. We are only a week old, but we've made some very serious noise
    here in Los Angeles.
    
    Our Hotline telephone number is: (818)377-5000 24hrs a day
    
    Send your letters in support of Max to:
    
    ABC Entertainment
    Attn: Brandon Stoddard
    2040 Avenue of the Stars
    Century City,  CA  90067
    
    Max was canceled due to "Poor Ratings", when in fact it was scheduled
    against "Miami Vice" and "Dallas". In this time slot, getting the
    ratings it needed was impossible.
    
    The decision to cancel it DID NOT come from the ABC management, it
    came from the Capital Cities people in New York. It was pulled on
    the first day of shooting of the most bitting episode yet "Families",
    a story about the ratings system being controlled by only one person.
    
    Our group has made some serious progress. I'm now tied in with Peter
    Wagg (Executive Producer of Max) and have gotten a lot of support
    from his office.
    
    Last Sunday, we had an event at a local Sci-Fi convention here. Matt
    Frewer (Edison & Max), George Coe (Ben Cheviot), and Jeffery Tambor
    (Murry) all came talked and signed autographs. Support here for Max is
    incredible. 
    
    We need help, if you would like to help out in another city, please
    send me VAXmail. I have access to a lot of video and other Max stuff.
    
    I hate to say this, but I'm to busy to begin monitoring yet another
    notes file. Questions about Max should be directed to me via VAXmail.
    
    							--- Neal
    
    

Path: muscat!decwrl!labrea!jade!ucbcad!ames!hao!oddjob!gargoyle!ihnp4!cbosgd!
From: [email protected] (Tom Nadas)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: MAX HEADROOM
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Date: 28 Oct 87 13:29:24 GMT
References: <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> 
Reply-To: [email protected] (Tom Nadas)
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Lines: 25
Posted: Wed Oct 28 08:29:24 1987
 
                             **SPOILERS**
 
    Upload the episodes, eh?  Well, I don't know about that, but the
first of the final three MAX HEADROOM episodes, as seen in Toronto,
had to do with a someone - apparently Blank Reg - zapping (i.e.,
hacking through security to fiddle with) Network 23's ratings, putting
the Zik Zak account in jeopardy.  Lots of good stuff with Blank Reg,
People's Court taken to extremes, visit to Bryce's alma mater, and a
fascinating bit where Edison does an impersonation of Max, giving us
our first glimpse of what Matt Frewer looks like playing Max without
make- up appliances and *before* the video effects are added in.  Oh,
yeah, Theora asked Murray to mary her, but, poor Murray, I think she
was teasing.  A fine episode, certainly as good as the others from
this season. 
 
Cheers,
Robert J. Sawyer
in Toronto
c/o

					Tom Nadas
 
UUCP:   {decvax,linus,ihnp4,uw-beaver,allegra,utzoo}!utcsri!tom
CSNET:  tom@toronto

    The L.A. WEEKLY reported yesterday that a "Save Max Hotline" has
been set up.  The number is (818) 377-5000.  Letters should be
directed to Brandon Stoddard at ABC. 
 
    As a bonus, we present a short program for MAXing text files:
 
#include <stdio.h>
/*
 *   Max Headroom the input
 *
 */
  
main (argc,argv)
int argc;
char *argv[];
{
 
       FILE *fp;
 
       srand(getpid());
 
       if (argc == 1) 
             doit(stdin);
       else
          while (--argc > 0)
               if ((fp = fopen(*++argv,"r")) == NULL) {
                       printf("mix: can't open %s\n", *argv);
                       break;
               } else {
                       doit(fp);
                       fclose(fp);
               }
}
 
doit(fp)
FILE *fp;
{
 
       int c, last, i;
 
       last = ' ';
 
       while ((c = getc(fp)) != EOF) {
 
         if (((rand()%10) > 7) && (last == ' ')) {
 
            /* M-M-Maximize it */
 
            for(i = (rand()%3)+1; i-- > 0;) {
               putc(c,stdout);
               putc('-',stdout);
            }
         }
 
         putc(c, stdout);
         last = c;
 
     }
 
 
}
 
    Scott R. Turner
    UCLA Computer Science     
    Domain: [email protected]
    UUCP:  ...!{cepu,ihnp4,trwspp,ucbvax}!ucla-cs!srt

    re:.59
    
    Unfortunately, what Robert Sawyer described was the premiere
    episode for this season. Perhaps in Canada, they just started
    repeating the five that were already broadcast rather than
    continue with the "unshown" ones.
    
    --- jerry

    
    Okay, I went to the wrap party on Sunday night. They showed
    "NeuroStim", the first of the three "Unseen" episodes. Brilliant!
    
    By far, this episode is an order of magnitude better then most of
    the rest of the episodes.
    
    Spoilers follow...
    
    The episode deals with a new give-a-way by the Zik Zak corporation.
    With the purchase of any "Burger-Pak" you get a NeuroStim bracelet,
    a kind of electronic LSD. One draw back, it gives you the munchies!
    But only for Zik Zak products.
    
    Edison sees this as a threat to Network TV, if everyone is using
    these bracelets, no need for advertising.
    
    Edison has a fight with Max because Max took up his air time before
    a Scum Ball game (a sort of Auto Polo) and because he wants the best
    story possible to show up Max, Edison decides to try a bracelet.
    
    Zik Zak plants a very strong version of the bracelet on Edison, he goes
    on a mad shopping spree buying Armani jackets, and looking to buy a
    farari(sp?). Max tries to talk to Edison, but because he is still angry
    at Max this is unsuccessful. To make a long story longer, Edison is
    almost killed by some thugs and ends up at home. 
    
    While Edison is having his Miami Vice trip, Zik Zak pulls all of
    its advertising from Network 23 and, you guessed it, buys the Network
    out because of its deflated value. After all, who needs TV with
    NeuroStims free at your local Zik Zak stores.
    
    Bryce uses a NeuroStim plugged into Max to "reprogram" Edisons
    synapses. Max and Edison have an argument while they are plugged
    into each other. Edison says, "You don't know how it feels to always
    have a part of you competing with you". Max replies, "How do you
    think it feels being only a part?"
    
    As always, Edison does a story about Zik Zak, and Zik Zak sells
    Network 23 back.
    
    I really can't explain the feel of the show in words. It was fantastic!
    And to see it with Matt, Amanda, George, and Morgan made to viewing
    all that more special.
    
    Btw, this is the only of the last three episodes in the can.
    BabyGrowBags and Lessons are still in post production.
                                                    
    							--- Neal
    
    

    G'day from the Great White North, eh.
    
    If any of you hosers would like an in-depth interview of Matt Frewer,
    aka Max Headroom, and a history of the original show, just indicate
    so in this notesfile and I'll drop it in.
    
    BTW, Matt comes from Ottawa, his dad was Captain of Canada's last
    aircraft carrier the HMCS Bonaventure, and Matt graduated from 
    Lakefield College (near Peterborough, Ontario) which Prince    
    Andrew also attended.
    
    Enough of the tid-bits, if you would like more (like when Matt was
    a fledgling actor in the UK, he started out as a male stripper)
    then hang onto your tuques - as soon as it gets above -20 C, I'll
    start typing again!
    
    How're ya now, eh
    
    Pat

    	Please post the interview and series history here when you have 
    sufficiently warmed up.
    
    	:^)
                                                                       

Painstakingly typed by Pat Rushton in the Great White North, from the
April 1987 edition of 'Chatelaine'.


			Matt Frewer:

         	The Canadian Behind Max Headroom


		(An interview by Robert Collison)


	Max Headroom has become a cult figure on both sides of the Atlantic,
yet the Canadian actor who created him is virtually unknown here.


	Not long after he graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
in 1980, a young London-based Canadian actor named Matt Frewer auditioned
for a part in a nude stage show at Raymond's Review Bar, a famous if 
somewhat sleazy Soho nightclub.  Wearing nothing but a pair of Velcro-
fastened trousers, Frewer was required to engage in a mock apache dance
with a nubile young woman.  At one particularly steamy point in the
proceedings, the woman grabbed Frewer by his belt buckle and then pulled
 - decisively.  Snap went the Velcro and off came the trousers, and Frewer
found himself standing centre stage in all his full-frontal splendor.

	"It was all extremely embarrassing," remembers the 28-year-old
actor.  "I got the job but didn't take it."

Raymond's wanted him to sign a two-year contract.  Fresh out of acting
school, Matt just needed a theatre gig to qualify for an Actors' Equity
card.  Fortunately, in a year or so, the almost classic Big Break would
save him from, as he mockingly puts it, "a lifetime of red-faced
enbarrassment and social diseases."

	On a friend's recommendation, Frewer read for the title role in
a television movie that would quite literally turn him into an overnight
sensation.  Matt Frewer is, you see, the actor who plays Max Headroom,
the world's first computer-generated talk-show host, whose ingratiating
smirk, offbeat wit and plastic-perfect good looks have turned him into 
a cult figure on both sides of the Atlantic.

	Since 'Max Headroom' first aired on Britain's innovative Channel 4
in 1985, it has been praised by critics as the most original phenomenon on
television.  Initially, broadcast as a one-hour special, the movie was,
in fact, planned as a "trailer" to introduce Max as the offbeat "computer-
man" host of a new rock-video program.  But Max's quirky personality and 
his fast line of patter quickly became more popular than the music videos
he introduced.  So the show mutated once again; this time into a talk show
that features Max's unique conversational talents.  Although he occassionally
"intros" the latest rock videos, most of the time he just talks, interviewing
such celebrity guests as Michael Caine, Sting and Vidal Sassoon, whom Max
calls V.D. Sassoon.

	Max is a host with a difference: he sees no percentage in being 
nice to his guests.  If he finds someone like Sting boring, he'll doze off
in midsentence.  And if he finds them pompous or pretentious, he'll savage
them with his supercilious wit.  He even insults the studio audience.  Seeing
a dishy blonde, Max swooned, "You could make my floppy disc stiff."

	For Matt Frewer, 'Max Headroom' is something akin to a tidal wave
that's carrying him to dizzying heights of fame and fortune.  Max and/or
Matt are everywhere: on the cover of People magazine, in Rolling Stone,
kibitzing late at night with David Letterman, whom Max calls "Davey-doo."
Max T-shirts outsell Madonna's and every other contemporary pop icon in
the U.K.  And Max has even published his own 'Guide to Life'.  These artifacts
are eagerly consumed by "Maxheads" - kids who ape their hero's wacky mannerisms
and verbal tics.  "Doing a Max" involves delivering snarky putdowns with
a Max-like stutter, or as Max prefers to call it, "a slight verbal hes-hes-
hesitancy."  Being a computer, Max, after all, is subject to the occasional
mechanical malfunctions.

	Curiously, despite his emerging celebrity, Matt Frewer is still 
relatively unknown in Canada.  He left his Ottawa home at 18 to go to drama
school at the Bristol Old Vic, after graduating from Lakefield College
School, the elite Ontario prep school, which Prince Andrew also attended.
Today, he only returns to Canada to visit his mother and his father, 
a retired naval officer who was once captain of the H.M.C.S. Bonaventure,
Canada's last aircraft carrier.

	Although he'd originally intended to return to Canada after drama
school, Frewer began getting work right away and decided to stay.  Starting
out, he did everything from touring with Samuel Beckett's 'Waiting for Godot'
to playing bit parts in feature films like 'Supergirl',  'Monty Python's
The Meaning of Life' and Michael Caine's 'The Fourth Protocol'.  But those
few years as a struggling actor came to an abrupt end when Frewer got 
the Max Headroom part.

	To date, most Canadians haven't been able to catch Max Headroom in
action.  Because Canadian television signals can penetrate the pay-TV
markets in the U.S., the company that owns Max is contractually limited
from selling the show to Canadian broadcasters whose signal spills into 
the American market.  And so far, no Canadian pay-TV service has bought 
'Max Headroom'.  Still, Canadians can get a "taste" of Max in a series
of television ads he's done for Coca-Cola.  In the spots, Max coyly urges
"Cokeologists to catch the wave" and drink Coke.  The Coca-Cola company
has invested a reported $25 million in an ad campaign that's based on the
premise that Max isn't just a teen fad; he's a fad for all ages.  "Max
is the Monty Python of the 1980's," says an ad executive for the Coke 
campaign.

	For the uninitiated, Max's appearance will likely be as unnerving
as his flipped-out kinetic manner.  Max is, after all, a machine masquerading
as a man.  To achieve the right "Maxenstein" look, Frewer undergoes a 
cosmetic metamorphosis that ends up making him look like a parody of all
the pretty-boy TV announcers he's meant to symbolize.  But cosmetics only
partially explain why Max looks so convincingly like a computer geek.
A series of video techiques give him the impression that Max is constantly
trying to catch up with himself.

	But possibly the real reason why Max is so popular isn't because
of how he looks, but what he signifies.  Almost unwittingly, Max Headroom
has become a coda for the sophisticated technology that increasingly seems
to be dominating our lives - and mankind's destiny.  Like Max, computers 
are talking back and taking over.

	So too, it seems, is Matt Frewer.  But 'Max Headroom' is just the
beginning.  Aside from working on Max, Frewer is also developing a script
about two Moroccans who come to London in search of fame and fortune.
It's an idea that he and an actor friend developed while working in Morocco
on a film with Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty.  "The Fez Brothers are 
our version of the Blues Brothers."  For a man with Beatty's good looks,
Frewer's ambitions are decidedly different.  Let others play romantic leads.
"By the time I'm 40, I want to be a well-established comic actor."  Playing
Max, Frewer seems to have realized that ambition already - at 28.  From
the money he made from the Coke ads alone, he and his wife, English actress
Amanda Hillwood, have recently bought a flat overlooking London's Hyde Park.
Not bad for an actor who was willing to bare all just a few years ago to
pay the rent.

Thank God that's finished!  I hope that article had some interest for you
folk.  Well, I'd better get home and shovel the water out of my driveway
which was pushed in by the water-plow this morning.  The weather has
turned unseasonably mild (+5 C!!), and it's RAINING.  Jeez, I can't stand
wimpy winters - It has to be cold enough to bring in your brass monkeys
and freeze farts, or it's not winter.

G'day, eh

Pat

From:	ASHBY::USENET  "USENET Newsgroup Distributor  13-Apr-1988 1702" 13-APR-1988 17:06
To:	@SUBSCRIBERS.DIS
Subj:	USENET alt.cyberpunk newsgroup articles

Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk
Path: decwrl!labrea!husc6!ukma!psuvm.bitnet!cok
Subject: Crosspost from rec.arts.sf-lovers
Posted: 11 Apr 88 20:24:14 GMT
Organization: Syd Barrett Cabal & The Harlequinade
 
Niel Ottenstein in rec.arts.sf-lovers writes:
 
>
>In today's Washington Post TV Column (4-11-88), it was announced that last
>week PROBE was beaten by CBS' 48 HOURS.  With that heartening news, ABC has
>decided to drop PROBE and starting April 28 will be showing MAX HEADROOM.  They
>do have the three "new" episodes to show, though, knowing how things go if the
>first show gets dismal ratings we might not get to see the other two.  On the
>other hand, if somehow MAX pulls great ratings (going against COSBY we know
>what chances there are) it might be back for even more episodes sometime in the
>future.  It is time to find some Nielson families and get them to tune into it.
>ONWARD>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
 
I just thought this would have a place here.
>                                        Neil A. Ottenstein
>                                        [email protected]
>                                        OTTEN@UMCINCOM
>------
-------
"Above all, talk.bizarre posters strive for *illegitimacy*."  greg Nowak
 
UUCP:. . .rutgers!psuvax1!psuvma.BITNET!cok|The Kzinti Ambassador is God.
 
========================================================================
Received: by decwrl.dec.com (5.54.4/4.7.34)
	id AA05480; Tue, 12 Apr 88 23:15:12 PDT

    
    YEAH!  this is somewhat heartening to me, I only hope it is true.    

    Yes, it's true. As I've heard it, MAX HEADROOM will be returning,
    in re-runs following the broadcast of the made_but_not_yet_shown
    episodes.
    
    Don't get your hopes up, though. There's no doubt in my mind that
    the only reason for this display of magnanimity on the part of
    ABC is the writers strike currently in progress. ABC likely
    figures that it has nothing to lose by showing something that's
    already been made, but still "new". They have to show *something*,
    after all.
    
    --- jerry

    
    Let's not forget to watch Max tonight...
    
    	Gosh, I wonder what would happen if somehow Max managed to get
    good ratings.  Gee, ABC wouldn't recognize a mistake on their part
    would they?
    
    brad
    

    They continually amaze me how they manage to bite the hand that
    feeds them. Tonight, they went on about how network television's
    purpose in life is to sell products through advertising, and that
    entertainment is just a means toward that end.
    
    And next week, they get to attack The Censors!
    
    --- jerry

    
    Yeah, but remember, these are not "new" episodes, they have been
    sitting in the can since november.  Perhaps, this was one of the
    motivating factors to shutdown the series.  I did hear though that
    the cost to make one episode of Max Headroom was somewhere around
    1million dollars.
    
    brad
    

  I saw last night's episode and I have one question:  Did Ped Xing
  (president of Zik Zak) start using Grecian Formula?  I seem to
  remember Ped's hair as being all grey.

  -- Bill B.

    This week's episode had a couple of choice quotes that complement
    the "Max Headroom's finest hour" speech at the end of the "final"
    episode from last Fall:
    
    (Network 23 news announcer at the very beginning of the episode)
    
    	"Following widespread international rioting caused by the
    	cancellation of the Max Headroom Show, Network Chief Ben
    	Cheviot ordered its return tonight. Calm has now returned."
    
    (Couple of random people at the "church" watching tv)
    
    	"Hey, I want to see Max Headroom. He's the only guy around
    	here makes any sense!"
    
    	"They'll cancel him, then."
    
    The first quote makes me suspect that this episode had actually been
    planned as the first of the returnees, but was pushed back to second
    place.
    
    --- jerry

    I know that I'm sometimes slow on the uptake, but I was just
    checking TV GUIDE, and I notice that ABC is not showing MAX
    tonight. What happened to the third of the Unseen Episodes?
    
    It won't be on next week, since judging from next week's GUIDE,
    ABC is bringing back PROBE for a round of repeats.
    
    --- jerry

    A recent catalog I got from a local (Waltham) laserdisc retailer
    lists as available three import discs from Japan containing the
    first six episodes (the first season) of MAX HEADROOM. They
    have Japanese subtitles, so the soundtrack is still in English.
    
    On my list to buy...
    
    --- jerry

    
    Does the dealer only carry videodisc?  Do you know if they will
    be available on VHS as well?  How about cost (std 39.99 for the
    disc?)  How about a name and phone number oh please...
    
    thanks.
    
    brad

    re:.74
    
    Sorry, but the dealer (Wok Talk, Inc. in Waltham) only deals in
    laser videodiscs. I would assume that they'll be available on
    tape as well, but getting them will be the problem. I doubt that
    Wok Talk will want to bother special-ordering tapes, but I don't
    suppose it can hurt to try them (phone number is 894-8633 or 8634).
    Instant Replay, also in Waltham, is another possibility, but again,
    they really only deal with discs, at least as far as ordering from
    Japan goes.
    
    The only problem is that they get their info from Japanese catalogs.
    If those catalogs don't list a videotape release with an order
    number, there won't be any easy way for them to order the tape.
    
    As for price, they will be in the $45-50 range (each). The Japanese
    price is �5000. Since the dollar/yen exchange rate fluctuates
    widely, there's no telling exactly how much it will be. If the
    price seems high, remember that they have to pay for shipping costs
    and import duties as well as the discs themselves.
    
    --- jerry

    For a limited time only, the Max Headroom sixels I made have been
    resurrected, they are at:
    
    SNDCSL::DUA1:[smith.transfer.tape]max_headroom_sixels.bck
    
    in a backup save_set.  *.SPR is printable sixels for LA-100 and
    LN03PLUS (etc) printers, *.SVT is for video terminal sixels (VT-125,
    VT-240, etc). Some time in the future I'll have the individual files
    back up on the net, but disk space is hard to come by.....
    
    Willie

    Re: .76
    
    Okay, I copied it over.  Now what!  I can't TYPE it.  What do I
    do with it?
    
    Thanks,
    
    Miffed (also new to VAX)

    re .77:
    
    try:
    
    BACKUP max_headroom_sixels.bck *.*
    
    This should extract all the files from the save set and result in
    all the .SPR and .SVT files mentioned.  Then you _can_ TYPE the
    .SVT files (if you have a 125 or 240 or 3xx)
                                                   
                  /
                 (  ___
                  ) ///
                 /
    
    

    
    Sorry to be so dense.  This is what I've done:
    
     1. Copied sndcsl::dua1:[smith.transfer.tape]max_headroom_sixels.bck
        to my disk *.*
    
     2  BACKUP of the COPIED dataset produced another .BCK file
    
    I must be missing something.
    
    Would you MAIL me instructions from start to finish?  
    I would appreciate it.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Vince
    

    Sorry about that, I assumed too much (this is why I don't normally
    package the files as backup save_sets).  Once you have the save
    set, try:
    
    $ BACKUP whatever.BCK/SAVE_SET *.*
    
    which _will_ unpack it properly.  (You have to tell BACKUP which
    of the files is a save_set so it knows if it's packing or unpacking).
    
    Does this help?
    
    BTW:  I managed to clog the system disk, if you've had trouble
    recently, try it again now....
    
    Willie

    
    Thanks, that did it!
    
    Vince
    

    Wow! These are great! A must for every MAX HEADROOM Fan.
    
    If they would only wize up and bring it back...
    
    pete

    	For those of you who miss MH (like me), you might be able to
    take some consolation with the 1987 film, THE RUNNING MAN.  While
    it is more of a cyberpunk for the masses, it's decent entertainment,
    has very little gore (despite the subject matter), and thank God
    Arnold Schwarzennager has a sense of humor.  The feel of the
    city environment and the all-important task of television to get
    ratings and placate the masses is right up there with MH.  The
    BOMBE::MOVIES Conference has a Topic on TRM, though oddly nothing
    here in SF.  Press the KP7 or SELECT key to add MOVIES to your
    Notebook.
    
        Briefly, human civilization has collapsed by the year 2017,
    and a military state has taken over.  The government has been trying
    to brainwash the populace with propoganda and suppresion, plus using
    an old Roman Empire trick of entertaining the masses with a gladiator
    style game show titled THE RUNNING MAN, where a contestant (usually
    a state criminal) has to run a gauntlet of stalkers who are out
    to kill him through various nasty means.  Arnie becomes a contestant
    after refusing to gun down food rioters with his helicopter, and
    later escapes the prison he was sent to for disobeying the state.    
    
    	TRM is on HBO this month, and you can also rent it on videotape.
    
    	Larry
             

    And for those of you who like to read, THE RUNNING MAN is a short
    story written by Steven King (although I can't remember if he wrote
    it under the name of Bachman or not.)  It's in one of his 4 short
    stories in one book.  Maybe someone else can rememeber the title.
    
    Regards	,		Keith R>

    	The film of the story has the credit for the work it was based
    on being done by Richard Bachman, King's pen name, if this helps
    you any.  I have not yet read the story, but I remember that the
    Richard Benjamin character was a scrawny little Everyman, not the
    muscle-bound AS type.
                                       
    	Larry
    

    THE RUNNING MAN was not a short story. It's a full-length novel.
    It originally appeared as a separate book, was later reprinted
    as part of the BACHMAN BOOKS omnibus, and again later published
    as a separate book (as a movie tie-in).
    
    And yes, the movie deviates from the original story radically.
    
    --- jerry

    
       The book was major disapointment! The story was developing super
    then all of a sudden it ends. It looks like Bachman (King) had to
    finish the story for a dead line or became bored with it. In the
    end he has Ben Richards crash a 707 into the same floor of the building
    that the producer and MC of the show happens to be on. He leaves
    a large number of sub-plots hanging. The movie a loosely based on
    the book and the movie is far superior to the book!
    
                                         Randy

    	I really would have appreciated it if you had put a SPOILER
    WARNING before telling how the novel ended.
    
    	:^(
    

Article: 3618
From: [email protected] (VERNON SCOTT, UPI Hollywood Reporter)
Newsgroups: clari.news.interest.people,clari.news.features,clari.tw.environment
Subject: Max Headroom lives!
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 92 22:08:06 EDT
	
 _U_P_I _A_r_t_s _& _E_n_t_e_r_t_a_i_n_m_e_n_t --
_S_c_o_t_t_'_s _W_o_r_l_d 
	
	HOLLYWOOD (UPI) -- Matt Frewer will go to his grave with his
alter ego intact, perhaps even sharing his headstone with the infamous, 
computer-generated Max Headroom, the zoned-out character he played 
briefly on TV. 

	Unlike some performers closely identified with a particular
character, Frewer did not die when Headroom bit the dust four or five
years ago.  In fact, Max may be resurrected by the man who created him:
Frewer. 

	Headroom was no more wacky than some of Frewer's other
improvisational characters invented on the spur of the moment, then
refined and shaped into memorable comedy entities.  But none caught the
public fancy so unexpectedly. 

	Frewer recently completed a Columbia movie titled ``Twenty
Bucks,'' an olio of sorts in which a $20 bill is passed from hand to
hand among a wide assortment of individuals. 

	The cast includes Linda Hunt, Christopher Lloyd, Gladys
Knight, Spaulding Gray, and dozens of other, an ensemble group with
most players participating in only a single scene. 

	``My character spends the 20 bucks on bingo,'' Frewer said recently. 
``It winds up in the hands of the priest who runs the bingo hall. 

	``It's an off-beat part for me, but not as unique as the role
I play in the HBO movie 'Mother's Day,' the story about the woman who
hired a hit man to get rid of a cheerleader's mother.  I play a lawyer
who failed to get the woman off.'' 

	Despite his image as an off-the-wall comic actor, Frewer is a
classically trained performer who established a reputation in British
theater and TV.  American born and Canadian reared, Frewer was unable
to attract Hollywood producers until he came up with Headroom on
British TV. 

	This TV season Frewer will be starring in ``Shaky Ground'' for
Fox Broadcasting.  He plays a man disenchanted with urban life who
wants to flee to Mexico to retire but is saddled with a burdensome job
and family responsibilites. 

	``Fox has ordered 13 episodes but it hasn't been locked into
the schedule,'' he said.  ``It is a replacement show, which means it
could go on the air as early as October or as late as never. 

	``It's a bit like a sitcom version of (the movie) 'Grand
Canyon.'  It's the story of a malcontent who can't adjust to the pace
and values of living in a big, dirty, fast-paced city like Los Angeles. 

	``Right now this is a good time for me.  I've been so busy.  
For the past three years I've been talking with people about making 
a Max Headroom movie.  They originally wanted to base the picture on 
an unreleased Headroom TV espisode. 

	``But that's a bad idea because if you're going to introduce
those characters in a cinematic way you have to open it up, not keep
it cosseted in the TV world that Max was based in. 

	``What I have in mind is taking Edison Carter -- the other guy
I played in the series -- into Max's world.  It's going to be like a
computer-generated version of 'Apocalypse Now' with Max as the Colonel
Kurtz figure. 

	``'Max Headroom' as a series poked fun at the TV networks.  So
what made it popular was also what killed it.  It was only a matter of
time before the ABC executives wised up to what we were doing. 

	``You know that one day the wife of one of the network
bigshots woke up and told her husband, 'Can't you see they're making
fun of you?'  And he says, 'They are, honey?  We'll kill it!' 

	``And that's what they ended up doing.  There was instant media
attention to the show and from a creative standpoint it became a matter 
of style over content.  Like 'Miami Vice' with a lot of loud music and 
wonderful lighting and not much else. 

	``There was an amazing awareness about the character.  Maybe
too much too soon.  The movie version would flesh out Max and give him
other things to do -- if the script is good.'' 

	Fortunately for Frewer's career, the heavy latex makeup he
wore for Headroom gave him a certain amount of anonymity, which allows
him to play a variety of roles without having audiences identify him
with good old Max. 

	For instance, for his role as a cop in ``Short Time'' with
Dabney Coleman and Teri Garr, only a handful of moviegoers made the
connection to Headroom. 

	``If the Headroom movie gets made, I would think of it simply
as a tip of the hat to a character that I enjoyed playing,'' he said. 

	``There are a lot of people around who aren't sure that Max
was played by an actor.  They still believe he was a computer-generated
cartoon-like character.  In a way, Max was ahead of his time.  If he
made his debut today maybe things would be different for him.  Maybe not. 

	``Max was great for me.  I'd been in England for 11 years, and
it was the Headroom character who became a real calling card. 

	``We produced only a dozen episodes, but they were enough to
make Max unforgettable.''