ABC · Ended

Max Headroom

Drama, Science-Fiction · 1987 · Rated 7.5/10

Last aired: S2 E8, Baby Grobags · 1988-05-12

It is the day after tomorrow, and television networks rule the planet. The TV sets themselves do not turn off, and the programming is designed to keep citizens in a state of complacency. Society is in a shambles, with poverty rampant. In the shadows of the Networks, untold millions live on the streets with only a TV to their names, and many can only make their living by selling dead bodies on the organ transplant black market. The one ray of hope is Edison Carter, investigative reporter for Network 23. Edison covers the stories that matter, and he is the voice of the people who have no other. Edison, of course, winds up on the wrong side of some very bad men who try their best to have him killed. An attempt to find out what he knows by reading his brain with a computer inadvertently creates a stuttering, manic computer simulation of Edison that calls itself Max.

Cast

Matt Frewer Edison Carter

Matt Frewer Max Headroom

Amanda Pays Theora Jones

George Coe Ben Cheviot

Chris Young Bryce Lynch

Jeffrey Tambor Murray

William Morgan Sheppard Blank Reg

Season 2

Season 1 Season 2

E1 Academy 1987-09-18 · 60 min Blank Reg is arrested for "zipping" (hijacking) Network 23's satellite feeds, and is put on trial on a courtroom game show. Meanwhile, Edison and Theora learn the truth from Bryce: the zipping attacks are really being carried out by a group of students from a private academy for gifted children, the Academy of Computer Sciences, from which Bryce graduated.

E2 Deities 1987-09-25 · 60 min The leader of the Vu Age church, who happens to be Carter's ex-girlfriend, kidnaps Max from Network 23 and threatens to erase him to prevent Carter from running a story exposing the church's false claim of saving its parishioners' minds as AI constructs.

E3 Grossberg's Return 1987-10-02 · 60 min Electrodemocracy goes haywire when a politically corrupt ratings maneuver threatens to destroy Network 23. Grossberg wages a grim vendetta against Edison and Network 23 by taking firm control of their arch rival Network 66. 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.

E4 Dream Thieves 1987-10-09 · 60 min In an attempt to get an edge over the major networks, a subscription cable channel turns to airing recorded dream sequences. When Carter begins researching a story on dream recording, he learns that the process can have fatal side effects for the donors.

E5 Whackets 1987-10-16 · 60 min After witnessing survivors of a building collapse running into the wreckage to rescue their TV sets, all of which are tuned to the same game show, "Whackets", Carter investigates and learns that the show hooks its viewers, including Max, with an addictive subliminal signal. Guest Star: Bill Maher

E6 Neurostim 1988-04-28 · 60 min Zik-Zak's new promotional giveaway, the Neurostim bracelet, implants memories (and overwhelming urges to buy Zik-Zak products) directly into people's minds. When Carter gets too close to the truth behind the new promotion while researching his latest story, the promotion's developers plan to throw him off the trail by giving him a special, highly addictive Neurostim bracelet.

E7 Lessons 1988-05-05 · 60 min Carter discovers that Network 23's automated censor system is sending the police to arrest Blanks who are gaining unauthorized access to pay-per-view educational programs, the only source of education for homeless children.

E8 Baby Grobags 1988-05-12 · 60 min While researching a story on genetically engineered "designer babies", Carter discovers that babies with exceptionally high IQs are being stolen from their parents just before being "born" to be used for a new TV show on Network 66.

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