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Max Headroom
- 359 statements
- 70 feature instances
- 57 referencing feature instances
Max Headroom | type |
TVTItem | |
Max Headroom | label |
Max Headroom | |
Max Headroom | page |
maxheadroom | |
Max Headroom | comment |
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_3'); })Back in the 1980s, it looked like computers were going to be able to do just about anything. It also looked like Japanese businessmen were going to economically conquer the world. And it looked like corporate greed was going to grow and grow until the average citizen was a virtual slave to the mega-corporations who would happily destroy the environment, culture, history, and basic human liberty all in the name of profit. Come to think of it, not much has changed and those things look more likely to happen now than back in the 1980s (only with China instead of Japan).Max Headroom, a plastic-coated stammering faux-CGI host full of sardonic wit played by the frankly underrated Canadian actor Matt Frewer, made his debut in April of 1985 in a British one hour pilot entitled Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_2'); })Though Max was the star of the show, he was really a very minor character. The story followed Intrepid Reporter Edison Carter (also Frewer) and his "controller" (i.e. director) Theora (Amanda Pays, who later played fanfic-favorite Phoebe Green on The X-Files) as he attempted to uncover a conspiracy revolving around the Blipvert, a highly compressed advertisement his station had recently adopted, which had the unfortunate side effect of causing some viewers to explode. In his daring escape from security with orders to kill, he is gravely injured when he crashes his motorcycle into a gatepost.A totally unlikable Teen Genius generates an AI copy of Carter's mind to cover up his disappearance, but the copy is somewhat unstable and has a bad stammer. He takes his name from the last thing Edison had seen before his injury: a sign on the gatepost reading "MAX HEADROOM: 2.3 METERS".Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_1'); })The pilot wasn't picked up, but the rights to the Max Headroom character were sold to the makers of a music-video program on British television, on which Max appeared later in 1985. The Max Headroom show was the first to play with the music-video format, with Max frequently talking over lousy videos and making jokes, or cutting the video off partway through, a technique later picked up by Beavis And Butthead and other satirical video shows. The character was later picked up by Coca-Cola, for a series of TV spots for New Coke and appeared on T-shirts and mer-*BZZZZZZZZZZT*That does it! He's a freakin nerd! *giggles* Yeah, I think I'm better than Chuck Swirsky! Frickin' liberallllllllll--l-l--ll-l-l...*BZZZZZZZZZT* Er, we apologize about that. Moving on. Max Headroom was a huge hit, especially in the UK. But it was in the US that the pilot was picked up. Sort of. It was remade by Lorimar in 1987 as the first episode of the Max Headroom TV series, keeping only Frewer, Pays, and Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg) from the original cast, and substantially rewriting the second half of the movie (but using all the video effects so the money budgeted to effects could be used elsewhere). The Teen Genius was changed from a villain to an unwitting patsy, and Max's role was greatly increased; in the original, Max and Edison never met, and Max spent the rest of the movie as a VJ for a pirate TV station. In the series, he and Edison became partners, breaking the Blipvert story together.Max Headroom straddled the line between Black Comedy and (mostly) serious Cyber Punk for two half-seasons before being cancelled and largely forgotten. Many believe the network intentionally killed it, scheduling it opposite two hugely popular shows, Dallas and Miami Vice (where, ironically, Matt Frewer played a villain in a two-parter shortly after his show was cancelled).The world presented by the show was strange and unwieldy, full of corporate greed, corrupt politics (elections to all political offices were decided by TV ratings: each network backed a candidate, and the highest rated network at the close of polling got their man installed), and a legal system that could not possibly have worked (it was illegal to turn a television off, books were banned in order to disenfranchise those who couldn't afford pay-per-view educational TV, bloodsports were mainstream, and trials for all but the rich and powerful were carried out in game show format). Also, everything had silly sci-fi names: "Blipverts", "Baby Grobags", "Credit Tubes", "Neurostim", etc.The character was resurrected in 2008 as part of Channel Four's marketing for the digital switchover, in a number of (full-length) adverts. In 2010, it was announced that the US series would be getting a DVD release in August of that year, with an amusing lenticular cover. The DVD set includes a bonus disc with behind-the-scenes featurettes.Episode recaps can be seen here. | |
Max Headroom | fetched |
2018-10-14T23:20:17Z | |
Max Headroom | parsed |
2020-06-25T17:32:14Z | |
Max Headroom | processingComment |
Dropped link to StarTrekTheNextGeneration: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
Max Headroom | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Max Headroom / int_12610160 | type |
Computerized Judicial System | |
Max Headroom / int_12610160 | comment |
Computerized Judicial System: With floppy disks! | |
Max Headroom / int_12610160 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_12610160 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_12610160 | |
Max Headroom / int_1777688d | type |
Genre Savvy | |
Max Headroom / int_1777688d | comment |
Genre Savvy: Most of the characters have their moments. in Baby Growbags, Edison and Theora both assume correctly that the fact Edison was given free access into another network must mean it's a trap, especially since said network is run by Edison's old boss Grossberg. It doesn't stop Edison though from going straight into it anyway for much needed answers. | |
Max Headroom / int_1777688d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_1777688d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_1777688d | |
Max Headroom / int_192853e5 | type |
Repetitive Audio Glitch | |
Max Headroom / int_192853e5 | comment |
Repetitive Audio Glitch: Max often repeats syllables and words he's spoken within the past three seconds. | |
Max Headroom / int_192853e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_192853e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_192853e5 | |
Max Headroom / int_1ba09c9d | type |
Human Resources | |
Max Headroom / int_1ba09c9d | comment |
Human Resources: Breughel and Mahler's primary source of income is disposing of corpses for other criminals by selling them to body banks, which harvest the organs for use as transplants. | |
Max Headroom / int_1ba09c9d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_1ba09c9d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_1ba09c9d | |
Max Headroom / int_1c6ded94 | type |
Wicked Cultured | |
Max Headroom / int_1c6ded94 | comment |
Wicked Cultured: Breughel has a predilection for quoting classical literature. | |
Max Headroom / int_1c6ded94 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_1c6ded94 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_1c6ded94 | |
Max Headroom / int_21d70919 | type |
Crapsack World | |
Max Headroom / int_21d70919 | comment |
Crapsack World: Let's put it this way: Instead of foodstamps, the government gives the needy free TV sets. And only because the TV is used mainly for population control. | |
Max Headroom / int_21d70919 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_21d70919 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_21d70919 | |
Max Headroom / int_222dc873 | type |
Black Comedy | |
Max Headroom / int_222dc873 | comment |
Black Comedy: Throughout the series. | |
Max Headroom / int_222dc873 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_222dc873 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_222dc873 | |
Max Headroom / int_26ac510e | type |
Mythology Gag | |
Max Headroom / int_26ac510e | comment |
Mythology Gag: In the TV series, as Blank Reg is watching Max's telecast he notes: "What I could do with one of him." In the original movie, Max ended up at Big Time Television. | |
Max Headroom / int_26ac510e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_26ac510e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_26ac510e | |
Max Headroom / int_2be271c7 | type |
Hollywood Hacking | |
Max Headroom / int_2be271c7 | comment |
Hollywood Hacking: Complete with Rapid-Fire Typing and a Shout-Out to William Gibson with the term "ICE" (Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics). | |
Max Headroom / int_2be271c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_2be271c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_2be271c7 | |
Max Headroom / int_315f7f2c | type |
Auto-Tune | |
Max Headroom / int_315f7f2c | comment |
Auto-Tune: Matt Frewer's voice gets electronically distorted whenever he's playing Max. | |
Max Headroom / int_315f7f2c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_315f7f2c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_315f7f2c | |
Max Headroom / int_319e4a2f | type |
Even Evil Has Standards | |
Max Headroom / int_319e4a2f | comment |
Even Evil Has Standards: Grossberg, on stealing babies: "Carter, you've got to believe me. What you speak of is even beyond me!" | |
Max Headroom / int_319e4a2f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_319e4a2f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_319e4a2f | |
Max Headroom / int_31cd5fe7 | type |
Apologetic Attacker | |
Max Headroom / int_31cd5fe7 | comment |
Apologetic Attacker: Mel is this in Body Banks when he kidnaps Theora to force a conversation with Edison to happen. | |
Max Headroom / int_31cd5fe7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_31cd5fe7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_31cd5fe7 | |
Max Headroom / int_39ba2515 | type |
Advert-Overloaded Future | |
Max Headroom / int_39ba2515 | comment |
Advert-Overloaded Future: The very premise of the series. | |
Max Headroom / int_39ba2515 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_39ba2515 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_39ba2515 | |
Max Headroom / int_3c5ae1a1 | type |
Schizo Tech | |
Max Headroom / int_3c5ae1a1 | comment |
Schizo Tech: Trope Namer for 20 Minutes into the Future, but the cars are all from The '50s. And whenever a computer keyboard was shown, it was actually the keyboard from an antique manual typewriter. | |
Max Headroom / int_3c5ae1a1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_3c5ae1a1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_3c5ae1a1 | |
Max Headroom / int_4499cea4 | type |
SecondhandStorytelling | |
Max Headroom / int_4499cea4 | comment |
Secondhand Storytelling: In "Body Banks", Edison mentions a long conversation he had with Max the night before, wherein Max asks him many questions concerning his memories and what they mean. Script-writer Steve Roberts mentions that the one thing they were unable to do in the show was actually have a real-time conversation between Max and Edison, with the two reacting to each other. (Every time someone talked to Max, they were talking to an empty screen or pre-recorded footage, unlike the video phone conversations where the actor was actually talking to another actor on another set in real-time.) Matt Frewer on his part has told in an interview how the separately filmed Max Headroom scenes had to be choreographed to match the other actors: Say the line, stay quiet while "listening", look left towards one person, look right towards another... | |
Max Headroom / int_4499cea4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_4499cea4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_4499cea4 | |
Max Headroom / int_4508b16b | type |
The Guards Must Be Crazy | |
Max Headroom / int_4508b16b | comment |
The Guards Must Be Crazy: Max certainly thinks so. | |
Max Headroom / int_4508b16b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_4508b16b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_4508b16b | |
Max Headroom / int_4b316d47 | type |
Break the Cutie | |
Max Headroom / int_4b316d47 | comment |
Break the Cutie: In Dream Thieves: During an assignment, Edison runs into Paddy, an old friend and colleague who lost nearly everything thanks to Edison breaking a story before him. While he feels guilty about it, Edison fully breaks that night when after reconciling with Paddy, he later finds him dead and goes on a hunt to find out why. He ultimately beats up a defenseless doctor live on-air and has to be given a What the Hell, Hero? speech by his producer Murray. By this point, Edison isn't so much angry about Paddy being dead, more that they only killed him so they could sell his dreams onto a subscriber network for a new show. | |
Max Headroom / int_4b316d47 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_4b316d47 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_4b316d47 | |
Max Headroom / int_4baebbc8 | type |
Soul Fragment | |
Max Headroom / int_4baebbc8 | comment |
Soul Fragment: Edison's relation to Max. | |
Max Headroom / int_4baebbc8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_4baebbc8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_4baebbc8 | |
Max Headroom / int_4e43e4e6 | type |
Engaging Conversation | |
Max Headroom / int_4e43e4e6 | comment |
Engaging Conversation: Notable in that it's the woman who pulls out the "marry me!" gag. | |
Max Headroom / int_4e43e4e6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_4e43e4e6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_4e43e4e6 | |
Max Headroom / int_5028baf2 | type |
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"? | |
Max Headroom / int_5028baf2 | comment |
What Is This Thing You Call "Love"?: How Max is able to get Security Systems' A-7 computer to turn against the corporation and help Edison. | |
Max Headroom / int_5028baf2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_5028baf2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_5028baf2 | |
Max Headroom / int_5539b84f | type |
Corrupt Church | |
Max Headroom / int_5539b84f | comment |
Corrupt Church: The VU-Age Church exists for the purposes of bilking parishioners of their fortunes when they die. | |
Max Headroom / int_5539b84f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_5539b84f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_5539b84f | |
Max Headroom / int_5da3f522 | type |
Big Brother Is Watching | |
Max Headroom / int_5da3f522 | comment |
Big Brother Is Watching: Insofar as the Networks have effectively become the government, Edison could often use the threat of his camera on uncooperative leads. The protagonists often exploit ubiquitous surveillance to learn things their superiors want to remain hidden. | |
Max Headroom / int_5da3f522 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_5da3f522 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_5da3f522 | |
Max Headroom / int_5f52cfcf | type |
Intrepid Reporter | |
Max Headroom / int_5f52cfcf | comment |
Intrepid Reporter: Edison Carter (and theoretically, Max himself). | |
Max Headroom / int_5f52cfcf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_5f52cfcf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_5f52cfcf | |
Max Headroom / int_673b2da6 | type |
Instant A.I.: Just Add Water! | |
Max Headroom / int_673b2da6 | comment |
Instant A.I.: Just Add Water!: Insufficient resources are mentioned in the episode "Deities" to be the reason that the Vu-Age Church's Brain Uploading process only created an "idiot version" of the deceased that could only respond to people in a pre-programmed manner, whereas the system resources of Network 23's mainframe made Max Headroom, a complete artificial intelligence, possible. | |
Max Headroom / int_673b2da6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_673b2da6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_673b2da6 | |
Max Headroom / int_693cabaf | type |
Gladiator Games | |
Max Headroom / int_693cabaf | comment |
Gladiator Games: In "Rakers" Carter investigates the rise of the violent sport of raking, which involves skateboard riders with weapons fighting each other. | |
Max Headroom / int_693cabaf | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_693cabaf | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_693cabaf | |
Max Headroom / int_7064ec04 | type |
Cassette Futurism | |
Max Headroom / int_7064ec04 | comment |
Cassette Futurism: The TV movie and subsequent series. Even though it's the Trope Namer for 20 Minutes into the Future, there's no flat-screen digital HDTV, no internet, computer graphics have a distinctly pre-Windows appearance and TV shows are still recorded on tape. | |
Max Headroom / int_7064ec04 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_7064ec04 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_7064ec04 | |
Max Headroom / int_71a223fc | type |
Up to Eleven | |
Max Headroom / int_71a223fc | comment |
And only because the TV is used mainly for population control. | |
Max Headroom / int_71a223fc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_71a223fc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_71a223fc | |
Max Headroom / int_7a21fc07 | type |
New Old Flame | |
Max Headroom / int_7a21fc07 | comment |
New Old Flame: Vanna Smith in "Deities" is Edison Carter's girlfriend from college. | |
Max Headroom / int_7a21fc07 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_7a21fc07 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_7a21fc07 | |
Max Headroom / int_7a555627 | type |
Honest Corporate Executive | |
Max Headroom / int_7a555627 | comment |
Honest Corporate Executive: A Downplayed Trope version with Ben Cheviot, verging on a Downplayed Trope of Corrupt Corporate Executive. Generally, Cheviot acts in the defense of the protagonists but he has a responsibility to the network and his sponsors who are exceedingly corrupt. As such, he mostly serves as a defense and middle-man between the cyberpunk future's worst aspects and our heroes. | |
Max Headroom / int_7a555627 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_7a555627 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_7a555627 | |
Max Headroom / int_7c4ae6b0 | type |
Hot Librarian | |
Max Headroom / int_7c4ae6b0 | comment |
Hot Librarian: Theora is both smart and beautiful. | |
Max Headroom / int_7c4ae6b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_7c4ae6b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_7c4ae6b0 | |
Max Headroom / int_7eb49b31 | type |
Almost Kiss | |
Max Headroom / int_7eb49b31 | comment |
Almost Kiss: At the end of Blanks. | |
Max Headroom / int_7eb49b31 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_7eb49b31 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_7eb49b31 | |
Max Headroom / int_808cbaeb | type |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking | |
Max Headroom / int_808cbaeb | comment |
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In the world of Corporate control, there's one crime you better dare not commit: | |
Max Headroom / int_808cbaeb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_808cbaeb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_808cbaeb | |
Max Headroom / int_814356cb | type |
White-Dwarf Starlet | |
Max Headroom / int_814356cb | comment |
White-Dwarf Starlet: Max himself is humorously treated as one during Channel 4's digital switchover ads, constantly bemoaning how he was Screwed by the Network and trying to talk to his handler in the retirement home he lives in about his Glory Days in the 80s. | |
Max Headroom / int_814356cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_814356cb | featureConfidence |
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Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_814356cb | |
Max Headroom / int_830343d8 | type |
We Will Use WikiWords in the Future | |
Max Headroom / int_830343d8 | comment |
We Will Use WikiWords in the Future | |
Max Headroom / int_830343d8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_830343d8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_830343d8 | |
Max Headroom / int_8864f9a9 | type |
Those Two Bad Guys | |
Max Headroom / int_8864f9a9 | comment |
Those Two Bad Guys: Breughel and Mahler. | |
Max Headroom / int_8864f9a9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_8864f9a9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_8864f9a9 | |
Max Headroom / int_895ec17 | type |
Only in It for the Money | |
Max Headroom / int_895ec17 | comment |
Only in It for the Money: Breughel and Mahler are more than willing to turn on their employers if someone else makes them a better offer. | |
Max Headroom / int_895ec17 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_895ec17 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_895ec17 | |
Max Headroom / int_8e81e57f | type |
Voice with an Internet Connection | |
Max Headroom / int_8e81e57f | comment |
Voice with an Internet Connection: Probably the Trope Codifier in its "with Internet" form. When the show was made, AOL was brand new, CompuServe was hip and hot, college students were just starting to get email addresses, and the Web was still years away. Nevertheless, Theora and the other controllers clearly are accessing something Internet-like and providing the info to Edison et. al. This was terribly prescient at the time, but now suffers from "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny. | |
Max Headroom / int_8e81e57f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_8e81e57f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_8e81e57f | |
Max Headroom / int_95b7c400 | type |
Faux Affably Evil | |
Max Headroom / int_95b7c400 | comment |
Faux Affably Evil: Croyd Hawser in Wars initially presents himself to Edison as a friendly figure who doesn't want to harm civilians, despite being the leader of a terrorist organization. It doesn't take him long to go Axe-Crazy and start initiating fatal attacks once Edison realizes he's been duped. | |
Max Headroom / int_95b7c400 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_95b7c400 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_95b7c400 | |
Max Headroom / int_97346240 | type |
We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future | |
Max Headroom / int_97346240 | comment |
We Will Not Use Photoshop in the Future: Thoroughly averted. A central theme in the series is the disparity between reality and what is depicted in the media. And whether the image provided by the media is actually more real to the masses than the "real" reality. Just think about it for a while... | |
Max Headroom / int_97346240 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_97346240 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_97346240 | |
Max Headroom / int_9b610976 | type |
I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin! | |
Max Headroom / int_9b610976 | comment |
I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: The episodes "Whakets" and "Neurostim" feature a game show that broadcasts an addictive subliminal signal and a bracelet that implants images of a perfect life (and the urge to buy everything to make that perfect life a reality) into wearers' heads, respectively. | |
Max Headroom / int_9b610976 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_9b610976 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_9b610976 | |
Max Headroom / int_9c45b5a2 | type |
What Measure Is a Non-Human? | |
Max Headroom / int_9c45b5a2 | comment |
What Measure Is a Non-Human?: "For God's sake, treat A-7 with some respect-spect! She's not just a machiiiiiiine...!" | |
Max Headroom / int_9c45b5a2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_9c45b5a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_9c45b5a2 | |
Max Headroom / int_aa809887 | type |
Blipvert | |
Max Headroom / int_aa809887 | comment |
Blipvert: The Trope Namer. | |
Max Headroom / int_aa809887 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom / int_aa809887 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Max Headroom | hasFeature |
Max Headroom / int_aa809887 | |
Max Headroom / int_ac0f4761 | type |
Future Imperfect | |
Max Headroom / int_ac0f4761 | comment |
Future Imperfect: It's a Cyberpunk show, it's par for the course. TV ruling the world, a polluted, dying city, no industry, little real justice, an apathetic populace... | |
Max Headroom / int_ac0f4761 | featureApplicability |
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Max Headroom / int_b0485a20 | type |
Ditzy Genius | |
Max Headroom / int_b0485a20 | comment |
Ditzy Genius: Bryce Lynch. The most prominent example being when Grossberg says (over Carter's unconscious body) that they need to know how much Carter knows about the adverse effects of Blipverts; Bryce suggests they ask him when he wakes up. Also when Grossberg mentions that it would be unfortunate if the public discovered that the Blipverts were making people explode, Bryce suggests they don't tell them. | |
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Max Headroom / int_b434558 | type |
Video Phone | |
Max Headroom / int_b434558 | comment |
Video Phone: Featured several times on the show. It is The Future, after all. | |
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Max Headroom / int_b83aeca9 | type |
Lantern Jaw of Justice | |
Max Headroom / int_b83aeca9 | comment |
Lantern Jaw of Justice: Both Edison and Max, but the "of justice" part usually only applies to Edison, since Max generally prefers snark and mischief over heroism. | |
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Max Headroom / int_bdddc73e | type |
Yakuza | |
Max Headroom / int_bdddc73e | comment |
Yakuza: Revealed to be the owners of the omnipresent ZikZak Corporation | |
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Max Headroom / int_bebf0356 | type |
Mission Control | |
Max Headroom / int_bebf0356 | comment |
Mission Control: Theora, and occasionally Murray. | |
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Max Headroom / int_c1ffa6fd | type |
Virtual Celebrity | |
Max Headroom / int_c1ffa6fd | comment |
Virtual Celebrity: Take a wild guess. | |
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Max Headroom / int_c69902e7 | type |
Church of Happyology | |
Max Headroom / int_c69902e7 | comment |
Church of Happyology: VU-Age Church has qualities like this as well as televangelism and cryonics. They claim to be able to use technology to Brain Upload a parishioner's consciousness and then transfer it to a newly cloned body. It is, of course, an enormous scam. | |
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Max Headroom / int_c75df49a | type |
Shout-Out | |
Max Headroom / int_c75df49a | comment |
Shout-Out: Infamously, the series received a truly bizarre one when an unknown hacker took over TV signals in Chicago and broadcast a rambling string of nonsense while wearing a Headroom mask. Read about that here. | |
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Max Headroom / int_cb3fd288 | type |
Ad Bumpers | |
Max Headroom / int_cb3fd288 | comment |
Ad Bumpers: As was common in one-hour primetime TV shows at the time: | |
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Max Headroom / int_cbe687ab | type |
Corrupt Corporate Executive | |
Max Headroom / int_cbe687ab | comment |
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Ned Grossberg. Many of the other network executives have their moments as well. | |
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Max Headroom / int_cc4b45f6 | type |
Word of God | |
Max Headroom / int_cc4b45f6 | comment |
Word of God is that it is a post-apocalypse dystopian Los Angeles. This can actually be confirmed in The Blanks when we get a view of the skyline. | |
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Max Headroom / int_d280a296 | type |
Teen Genius | |
Max Headroom / int_d280a296 | comment |
Teen Genius: Bryce In the TV series, Bryce is an unusually likable example of this trope in large part because of the fact that he was depicted as a normal 15-year-old boy in terms of his personality, maturity, and sense of humour who happened to be a genius. The TV movie Bryce, on the other hand, is more irritating than Wesley Crusher and Adric combined. And, you know, evil. | |
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Max Headroom / int_d5a060a8 | type |
Interchangeable Asian Cultures | |
Max Headroom / int_d5a060a8 | comment |
Interchangeable Asian Cultures: For whatever reason, the often-featured executive of the Japanese Zik-Zak corporation is Ped Xing, a Chinese man — presumably so they could work in the joke.note Compounding this is that Xing himself was never played by a Chinese actor, but a Filipino one (Arsenio Trinidad) in the first season and a Japanese actor (Sab Shimono) in the second. | |
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Max Headroom / int_dca70c44 | type |
Reasonable Authority Figure | |
Max Headroom / int_dca70c44 | comment |
Reasonable Authority Figure: As president of Network 23, Ben Cheviot's top priorities are always increasing ratings and trying not to antagonize Zik Zak, their biggest sponsor. However, he does have a moral compass, and he's a tough but fair boss to Edison and Murray, which is a vast improvement over his predecessor, Corrupt Corporate Executive Ned Grossberg. | |
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Max Headroom / int_e25ff7 | type |
The City | |
Max Headroom / int_e25ff7 | comment |
The City: With a small dose of Where the Hell Is Springfield?? Both American and British accents are ubiquitous and it's ambiguous what continent the series takes place in. Word of God is that it is a post-apocalypse dystopian Los Angeles. This can actually be confirmed in The Blanks when we get a view of the skyline. | |
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Max Headroom / int_e34400ab | type |
Ambiguously Gay | |
Max Headroom / int_e34400ab | comment |
Ambiguously Gay: The usher issuing tickets to human guinea pigs in Dream Thieves is this in spades. | |
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Max Headroom / int_e5e6640b | type |
Flanderization | |
Max Headroom / int_e5e6640b | comment |
Flanderization: A vague-but-important UK-Japan business deal in the original TV movie balloons into Japan Takes Over the World in the TV series. | |
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Max Headroom / int_e6291d05 | type |
Percussive Maintenance | |
Max Headroom / int_e6291d05 | comment |
Percussive Maintenance: On a coffee maker, no less! | |
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Max Headroom / int_ee7ed46e | type |
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything | |
Max Headroom / int_ee7ed46e | comment |
The Terrorists Who Don't Do Anything: Deconstructed in the episode "War" where the organization White Brigade has struck a deal with a news reporter: they blow up abandoned buildings, and tell the reporter beforehand. The terrorists get publicity for their cause, and the reporter can break the news about the "terrorist strikes" before the competition without anyone actually dying. Everyone wins. Subverted in the end, as the White Brigade decides to start targeting populated places after all. | |
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Max Headroom / int_f32d85ab | type |
20 Minutes into the Future | |
Max Headroom / int_f32d85ab | comment |
20 Minutes into the Future: Trope Namer — appears onscreen at the start of the movie and every TV episode. In the TV series, Bryce Lynch was born in 1988, and Chris Young was 16 when he played him, so the setting can be pinned down to the year 2004. Give or take a couple of years. Bryce's age is never mentioned on the show, and characters aren't necessarily the same age as the actors who play them. The teleplay book of the original movie gives Bryce's age as 16 in the line | |
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Max Headroom / int_f511ea9b | type |
Product Placement | |
Max Headroom / int_f511ea9b | comment |
Product Placement: Max inadvertently plugs non-branded auto parts. | |
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Max Headroom / int_f5a3e496 | type |
SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute | |
Max Headroom / int_f5a3e496 | comment |
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Rick Ducommun wasn't able to reprise his role as Mahler for the second season, so the writers replaced him with another character, justifying the swap by having Breughel kill the original Mahler offscreen during a slow business night, selling his corpse off, and naming his new partner "Mahler" as a mocking tribute. | |
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Max Headroom / int_f6507695 | type |
Everything Is Online | |
Max Headroom / int_f6507695 | comment |
Everything Is Online: The way the internet in this show was shown to work, one could very well hack into a tree if they wanted. | |
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Max Headroom / int_faf36236 | type |
Cyberpunk | |
Max Headroom / int_faf36236 | comment |
Cyber Punk: One of the first television shows to apply this trope. | |
Max Headroom / int_faf36236 | featureApplicability |
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Max Headroom / int_fbc1a68d | type |
Low Clearance | |
Max Headroom / int_fbc1a68d | comment |
Low Clearance: According to the movie, this is where Max Headroom's name came from—the last words seen by Edison Carter before getting clocked by the sign. | |
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Max Headroom / int_fc52510 | type |
Brain Uploading | |
Max Headroom / int_fc52510 | comment |
Brain Uploading: How Max was created. The process was less than perfect, and Bryce only allocated enough of 23's system memory to simulate the head and shoulders. Max stutters because the 23 mainframe's video memory bus wasn't QUITE fast enough to generate the 3D image frames of Max in real time ("it takes a moment to read out the frame store"). In later episodes the "Max Headroom process" is brought up as a potential method of saving the life of a terminally ill billionaire, as well as letting those visiting graves talk to their departed loved ones via a "Max" type image in the headstone. | |
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Max Headroom |
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