Today I am taking an in depth look at Shout’s new Max Headroom The Complete Series release. To be upfront I have never seen this show before today, but I am very familiar with some of the actors in the show and the background of Max Headroom. Max Headroom was originally concieved as an idea that Channel 4 a relatively new station in the U.K. then was looking for an innovative way to connect music videos together using a host. Channel 4 however wanted a single episode to introduce the character and his background before the music show premiered. So with the help of funding from HBO, Channel 4, and another benefactor the telefilm was produced. Max Headroom ended up being an innovative worldwide phenomenom. The original UK telefilm premiered on Channel Four on 4 April 1985. A few days later the Max Headroom Show premiered in the UK. So how does Max get from the U.K. to the U.S. the creators were given a call by Coke wanting to use the character to promote New Coke and save it from failing. Max ended up being on every TV screen across the U.S. making one of the most interesting ads in years and way ahead of its time. At that time ABC was in third place of network rankings and looking for something innovative to draw new viewers in. One of the execs was shown the telefilm from Channel 4 and they realized they could make a series out of this using the British Show as template bringing in the core crew of the original film they didn’t need much more. The US series premiered on 31 March 1987. The show featured American actor Matt Frewer as Edison Carter/Max Headroom, British actress Amanda Pays as Theora Jones
, and British actor William Sheppard as Blank Reg
returning from the British Telefilm and Jeffrey Tambor as Murray
, George Coe as Ben Cheviot
, Chris Young as Bryce Lynch
as new actors for the U.S. show. Edison Carter is the top investigative reporter in television his reports brings in ratings every station dreams of having and which ever station controls the ratings controls the world. Carter is sent out to investigate a strange explosion that happened inside an apartment complex. The moment Carter arrives on the site the plug is pulled on the assignment from the top. After the incident Carter fires his controller and in walks Theora Jones as his new controller. Carter doesn’t understand why a microwave explosion would cause such an uproar . With the help of his controller he investigates further into the situation and finds out more than he bargains as a result he ends up having a conveinant accident at the hands of a mysterious kid Bryce Lynch who somehow has involvement with Channel 23. The station realizing his ratings potential agrees to an expiramental project that will transfer Carter’s mind into a 3-D Cgi character from head up, but with a personality of his own which ends up becoming Max Headroom a host for the station. With Max having Carter’s mind blow the lid on the station’s secret? Story A I am looking at this show with a fresh perspective and it is amazing the time frame they put at in the future and how accurate it is in today’s world. Even with the limited technology at the time they really pull this off . The first ep is a remake of the British Telefilm, but with certain scenes changed and actors for the U.S. show. Is it better? In my book it is. The British version is one episode leaving you asking for more with a somewhat loose ending. Max also appears more in the first episode in the U.S. Version. Any bad things about the U.S. version well certain effects were taken straight from the U.K. version that could have been done better by then for the U.S. show. The U.K. telefilm is still good and definitely worth a watch because it the U.S. episode slightly beats it on a narrow margin mainly because of more scenes with Max and a slightly better supporting cast. What I like about the U.K version it is darker than the U.S. version. Video A-C depending on the episode you watch I really hate it when a company releases DVD’s where not all the episodes meet each other’s quality and Max Headroom suffers from this fate as well. The first episode looked perfect and then the second episode didn’t even come close to the quality of the first episode. The rest episodes of the box set are like this as well and vary in quality. So it does not look like any restoration was done unfortunately for the set. Special Features B+ • Live on Network 23: The Story of Max Headroom • Looking Back at the Future • The Big-Time Blanks • The Science Behind the Fiction • The Writers Remember • Producing Dystopia Its about 2 hours worth of special features for the boxset not bad for a show over 20 years. Interviews with the cast and crew except Matt Frewer odd enough. The only thing missing from this set is Channel 4’s telefilm, the Coke commercials, and two times Max interrupted WGN and WTTW television transmission’s in the late 80’s. One of those times Max interupted the Doctor Who serial of Horror of Fang Rock. Either way I am not going to complain much the release does gives us a lot and does not leave out much. Overall B+ A release well worth the pickup failing really only on the video side of it on some levels It would be interesting to see this show remade into a new series or movie today with Ipods, Cellular Phones, Internet on the level it is, and more Max would finally be able to be made at a level it deserves. Max Headroom – Jim Carrey
Theora Jones- Michelle Ryan Murray- Jeffrey Tambor
Today I am taking an in depth look at Shout’s new Max Headroom The Complete Series release. To be upfront I have never seen this show before today, but I am very familiar with some of the actors in the show and the background of Max Headroom. Max Headroom was originally concieved as an idea that Channel 4 a relatively new station in the U.K. then was looking for an innovative way to connect music videos together using a host. Channel 4 however wanted a single episode to introduce the character and his background before the music show premiered. So with the help of funding from HBO, Channel 4, and another benefactor the telefilm was produced. Max Headroom ended up being an innovative worldwide phenomenom. The original UK telefilm premiered on Channel Four on 4 April 1985. A few days later the Max Headroom Show premiered in the UK. So how does Max get from the U.K. to the U.S. the creators were given a call by Coke wanting to use the character to promote New Coke and save it from failing. Max ended up being on every TV screen across the U.S. making one of the most interesting ads in years and way ahead of its time. At that time ABC was in third place of network rankings and looking for something innovative to draw new viewers in. One of the execs was shown the telefilm from Channel 4 and they realized they could make a series out of this using the British Show as template bringing in the core crew of the original film they didn’t need much more. The US series premiered on 31 March 1987. The show featured American actor Matt Frewer as Edison Carter/Max Headroom, British actress Amanda Pays as Theora Jones
, and British actor William Sheppard as Blank Reg 
returning from the British Telefilm and Jeffrey Tambor as Murray
, George Coe as Ben Cheviot
, Chris Young as Bryce Lynch 
as new actors for the U.S. show. Edison Carter is the top investigative reporter in television his reports brings in ratings every station dreams of having and which ever station controls the ratings controls the world. Carter is sent out to investigate a strange explosion that happened inside an apartment complex. The moment Carter arrives on the site the plug is pulled on the assignment from the top. After the incident Carter fires his controller and in walks Theora Jones as his new controller. Carter doesn’t understand why a microwave explosion would cause such an uproar . With the help of his controller he investigates further into the situation and finds out more than he bargains as a result he ends up having a conveinant accident at the hands of a mysterious kid Bryce Lynch who somehow has involvement with Channel 23. The station realizing his ratings potential agrees to an expiramental project that will transfer Carter’s mind into a 3-D Cgi character from head up, but with a personality of his own which ends up becoming Max Headroom a host for the station. With Max having Carter’s mind blow the lid on the station’s secret? Story A I am looking at this show with a fresh perspective and it is amazing the time frame they put at in the future and how accurate it is in today’s world. Even with the limited technology at the time they really pull this off . The first ep is a remake of the British Telefilm, but with certain scenes changed and actors for the U.S. show. Is it better? In my book it is. The British version is one episode leaving you asking for more with a somewhat loose ending. Max also appears more in the first episode in the U.S. Version. Any bad things about the U.S. version well certain effects were taken straight from the U.K. version that could have been done better by then for the U.S. show. The U.K. telefilm is still good and definitely worth a watch because it the U.S. episode slightly beats it on a narrow margin mainly because of more scenes with Max and a slightly better supporting cast. What I like about the U.K version it is darker than the U.S. version. Video A-C depending on the episode you watch I really hate it when a company releases DVD’s where not all the episodes meet each other’s quality and Max Headroom suffers from this fate as well. The first episode looked perfect and then the second episode didn’t even come close to the quality of the first episode. The rest episodes of the box set are like this as well and vary in quality. So it does not look like any restoration was done unfortunately for the set. Special Features B+ • Live on Network 23: The Story of Max Headroom • Looking Back at the Future • The Big-Time Blanks • The Science Behind the Fiction • The Writers Remember • Producing Dystopia Its about 2 hours worth of special features for the boxset not bad for a show over 20 years. Interviews with the cast and crew except Matt Frewer odd enough. The only thing missing from this set is Channel 4’s telefilm, the Coke commercials, and two times Max interrupted WGN and WTTW television transmission’s in the late 80’s. One of those times Max interupted the Doctor Who serial of Horror of Fang Rock. Either way I am not going to complain much the release does gives us a lot and does not leave out much. Overall B+ A release well worth the pickup failing really only on the video side of it on some levels It would be interesting to see this show remade into a new series or movie today with Ipods, Cellular Phones, Internet on the level it is, and more Max would finally be able to be made at a level it deserves. Max Headroom – Jim Carrey 
Theora Jones- Michelle Ryan Murray- Jeffrey Tambor
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