The Max Headroom Show

Episodes

Channel Four created a one-hour science fiction film, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future, to give the character a backstory before he hosted their new music video show. That film’s plot and characters were never mentioned again in the later music video or talk show versions. Two years afterward, the movie was adapted into the first episode of an American science fiction TV series.

In the first series, Max acted as a music video host, frequently cutting in with remarks and stunts. The show aired Saturday evenings at 6pm, mixing early 1980s hits with newer songs. This time slot gave significant exposure to artists then unknown in the UK, while also including established names. Among the featured acts were German groups like Makromad and Ledernacken, musician Udo Lindenberg, and the Australian band Severed Heads.

The second series reused clips and music videos from the first, adding fresh material. Max would have a guest in a lounge bar setting, but Max himself only appeared on a television set sitting on the bar. The interviews were short and usually drifted into Max’s fixation on golf.

This series debuted in the United States on Cinemax in November and December 1985, with a new spoken introduction from Max. The third series brought in a studio audience for Max to interact with. He ran a quiz where audience members took part, but the promised prize was often not given, or the quiz was cut short because Max spent too long explaining rules that changed every week. Most episodes included a performance art piece in the studio.

Each week featured a special guest, either present in the studio or appearing on a screen. Max frequently performed comedic jazz or swing songs he wrote. This series premiered in the US on Cinemax from August to December 1986.

Spin-offs

Following the first mini-season of ABC's Max Headroom science fiction adventure series in spring 1987, Cinemax produced another series of talk shows, The Original Max Talking Headroom Show, this time in New York and without British participation. The six-part series aired every two weeks on Cinemax between July 1987 and October 1987, the last two episodes coinciding with the first two of the second season of the sci-fi show.

These six episodes were not broadcast in the UK. Two weeks after this Cinemax series ended, the ABC show was cancelled. Max Headroom disappeared from the airwaves, with only a few later appearances: leftover ABC episodes broadcast as timeslot-fillers in spring 1988, a cameo on Sesame Street around the same time, and another cameo on a Comic Relief programme in spring 1989.