Post by mikef6 on Jun 24, 2020 0:50:55 GMT
Max Headroom Season 1, Episodes 1-4 (1987). The two-season American series based on a U.K. hit series. The setting is a cyberpunk future where TV networks dominate, TV sets cannot be turned off, and all networks vie for ratings which can be tabulated on a moment to moment basis. In the middle of the city is a large population of homeless fringe individuals who are often exploited. Also, it is always night. When Edison Carter (Matt Frewer), ace investigative reporter for Network 23, uncovers misdeeds at this own network, the network's head, Grossberg (Charles Rocket, see note following this review), begins a campaign to silence him. This results in a motorcycle accident that leaves Carter unconscious. Grossberg wants to know what Carter knows so asks his tech expert, a 16-year-old genius named Bryce (Chris Young), to use new technology to download Carter’s memory into a computer file. This results in the creation of Max (Carter’s last sight before being knocked out was an exit warning reading “Max Headroom 2.3 meters”), an alternate rebellious and sarcastic version of Carter who doesn’t co-operate with Grossberg. Max is also played by Matt Frewer. Throughout the 2 seasons, Carter continues to uncover dastardly plots with the help of his network news staff Theora (Amanda Pays), Murray (Jeffrey Tambor), Bryce, new network director, Cheviot (Barry Coe), and, of course, Max, wisecracking all the way.
NOTE: Charles Rocket turned out to be one of the few possible breakthrough performers of the 1980-81 season of Saturday Night Live, the first season after the departure of the original cast. Promising, that is, until the evening of February 21, 1981 when, during the closing as the cast gathers around the host, Rocket used the “F” word (“fuck”) on live TV. This resulted in a week off for the show, Rocket’s dismissal, the ultimate ending of that SNL regime, and most of the new cast. He continued to get work mainly in small roles in feature films until 2005 when he was found dead in a field with his throat cut (age 56). The verdict was suicide.
Back - Max Headroom and Chris Young. Front - Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, Jeffery Tambor, Barry Coe
NOTE: Charles Rocket turned out to be one of the few possible breakthrough performers of the 1980-81 season of Saturday Night Live, the first season after the departure of the original cast. Promising, that is, until the evening of February 21, 1981 when, during the closing as the cast gathers around the host, Rocket used the “F” word (“fuck”) on live TV. This resulted in a week off for the show, Rocket’s dismissal, the ultimate ending of that SNL regime, and most of the new cast. He continued to get work mainly in small roles in feature films until 2005 when he was found dead in a field with his throat cut (age 56). The verdict was suicide.
Back - Max Headroom and Chris Young. Front - Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, Jeffery Tambor, Barry Coe