Max Headroom is a British-produced American satirical science fiction television series by Chrysalis Visual Programming and Lakeside Productions for Lorimar-Telepictures that aired in the United States on ABC from March 1987 to May 1988. The series was based on the Channel 4 British TV pilot produced by Chrysalis, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future. The series is often mistaken as an American-produced show due to the setting and its use of an almost entirely US cast along with being broadcast in the USA on the ABC network. Cinemax aired the UK pilot followed by a six-week run of highlights from The Max Headroom Show, a music video show where Headroom appears between music videos. ABC took an interest in the pilot and asked Chrysalis/Lakeside to produce the series for US audiences.
The show went into production in late 1986 and ran for six episodes in the first season with eight being produced in season two.
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Best Episodes of Max Headroom
Blipverts
S1 Ep1
7.8
31st Mar 1987
In the near future, when TVs can't be shut off and ratings are all that matter, investigative reporter Edison Carter and his computer-generated alter ego Max Headroom battle to keep the "blank" generation informed. In the opener, Carter stumbles across his own network's cover-up of a sometimes deadly new form of TV advertising called "blipverts".
Grossberg's Return
S2 Ep3
7.8
2nd Oct 1987
Rival Network 66 attempts to defeat Network 23 in a ratings-based election by introducing a ""watch while you sleep"" device into its programming to cause people to leave their TV sets on all night.
Rakers
S1 Ep2
7.6
7th Apr 1987
Theora goes AWOL when she learns her estranged brother is involved in the brutal and dangerous ""sport"" of raking, which the promoters are trying to have legalized and televised.
Body Banks
S1 Ep3
7.6
14th Apr 1987
Breughel and Mahler are stealing live bodies from the Fringes and selling them to Nightingales Body Bank. The wealthy Plantaganet wants pituitarys from the bodies for an operation which could save his aging mother. While Carter races to save a Fringer girl's life, Cheviot is more concerned that Max is offending Network 23's biggest sponsor, ZikZak, who have decided to buy him.
Worst Episodes of Max Headroom
Lessons
S2 Ep7
6.9
5th May 1988
Network 23 censors go a step too far when they try to shut down a secret school in the fringes, because it's using pirated Network 23 instructional programming.
Neurostim
S2 Ep6
7.0
28th Apr 1988
Zik-Zak introduces Neurostim, a device to directly stimulate the brain and bypass the need to use television for advertising.
The Blanks
S1 Ep6
7.1
5th May 1987
As the ""blanks"" -- undesirables with no computer records -- are rounded up and arrested, the networks face permanent cancellation by hackers who threaten to crash the city's entire computer system if their companions aren't released.
Whackets
S2 Ep5
7.2
16th Oct 1987
A video narcotic is causing people to leave their TVs tuned to Big Time Television twenty-four hours a day.
Max Headroom Episode Guide
Blipverts
S1 Ep1
7.8
31st Mar 1987
In the near future, when TVs can't be shut off and ratings are all that matter, investigative reporter Edison Carter and his computer-generated alter ego Max Headroom battle to keep the "blank" generation informed. In the opener, Carter stumbles across his own network's cover-up of a sometimes deadly new form of TV advertising called "blipverts".
Rakers
S1 Ep2
7.6
7th Apr 1987
Theora goes AWOL when she learns her estranged brother is involved in the brutal and dangerous ""sport"" of raking, which the promoters are trying to have legalized and televised.
Body Banks
S1 Ep3
7.6
14th Apr 1987
Breughel and Mahler are stealing live bodies from the Fringes and selling them to Nightingales Body Bank. The wealthy Plantaganet wants pituitarys from the bodies for an operation which could save his aging mother. While Carter races to save a Fringer girl's life, Cheviot is more concerned that Max is offending Network 23's biggest sponsor, ZikZak, who have decided to buy him.
Security Systems
S1 Ep4
7.5
21st Apr 1987
Carter is accused of credit fraud and becomes a fugitive after delving into the hostile takeover of Security Systems, the world's most powerful corporation.
War
S1 Ep5
7.5
28th Apr 1987
In the middle of a global ratings sweep programmer packager Frank Braddock tries to sell Network 23 a package covering the activities of a terrorist group, the White Brigade. Edison and Murray become suspicious when Breakthru TV, who have bought the package, start broadcasting terrorist bombings as soon as they occur.
The Blanks
S1 Ep6
7.1
5th May 1987
As the ""blanks"" -- undesirables with no computer records -- are rounded up and arrested, the networks face permanent cancellation by hackers who threaten to crash the city's entire computer system if their companions aren't released.
