this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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Today I Learned

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Wait until you learn about the WTTW max headroom broadcast takeover back in the 90s. That shit was wild as hell.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I knew about that, it was weird to me because I didn't know it was emulating MaxHeadroom.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Eminem also emulated him in a music video. That's where the "something's wrong, I can feel it" meme comes from.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

Rap God

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I love this vid. Great rap and cool pop culture references like Super Mario and The Matrix.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's quality all on its own, but even better knowing about Max Headroom.

[–] [email protected] 53 points 1 year ago (3 children)

TIL of Max Headroom

I feel so old now. That character was impossible to escape in the late 80’s. Max was everywhere. A TV show, coke ads, blockbuster movie cameos, etc.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (2 children)

How Max and Spuds McKenzie didn't get a buddy cop movie deal is beyond me.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lol I’m wondering how that would work. Would the dog pull a TV around on a little wagon?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Holy shit, it’s all coming together now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Radical dude!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nah, RoboCop Max Headroom buddy cop movie.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That has Freaky Friday crossover potential

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

Kids might not even know the AI Michael Jackson and Ronald Reagan in Back to the Future 2 are based on Max Headroom.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Dyk there are 22 year old adults that were born after 9/11.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

That's impossible because 9/11 was only 6 years ago.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Same, but also TIF (tomorrow, I forget).

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago

You JUST LEARNED about Max Headroom?

(crumbles into bones)

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I loved Max Headroom as a kid. It was so ahead of it's time that maybe now, in the 2020's, it finally fits in.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't remember anything about the show other than thinking it was cool, and loving the stutter method he used to say his name. The show was probably above my understanding at my young age.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What was the tagline? "Fifteen minutes into the future", I think. Or maybe it was ten minutes.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

(It was 20, <3)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Someone is going to make a Max Headroom agent and start 24/7 broadcasts. Ahahahaha.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's hard to express just however much this show fired up my imagination when it came out.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The world needs a Max Headroom reboot now more than ever.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Holy shit I had no idea Frewer would be in it, that's fantastic.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Oh wow, please!! Such a clever show!

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

God dammit I feel old..

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Same. I was in my 20s when Max Headroom was new.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Is that you, Gothrok?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fun fact, the effect of Max Headroom was done completely analogue with make-up and bluescreen since CG barely existed yet.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

And that’s one thing that made it SO cool-looking!! Like stop-animation!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Max Headroom as an idea completely fascinates me. I dream of someday being wealthy enough to engage in a Kaufman esque campaign reviving the spirit of Max Headroom. Like, I live the idea of Max, and especially the potential he has as an idea.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's was relatively easy and within reach of many people to do so back then. It took a bit of technical know how, don't money and you could hijack done TV signals and send out a signal that people could see.

Now it would probably take a good amount of money, lots of skill, lots of knowledge and lots of people in coordination to hack a site or service to try to reach out to a small corner of the internet. Everything is locked down now ... sure they can be bypassed and hacked ... it just takes far more effort and skill and money than it did 30 years ago.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think you're confusing Max Headroom with the "Max Headroom signal hijacking incident"

Max Headroom was a real character who was used in TV shows and commercials, etc.

The Max Headroom signal hijacking incident was where someone hijacked a broadcast in Chicago with a video of someone dressed up as Max Headroom.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I think an identical spirit embodied both the show and the stunt.

It's the spirit I would want to emulate.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

My interest in the show peaked when I found out about the old cable hack that used him while also coincidentally being on a Matt Frewer kick with movies and TV.

I've found a few things, but I came to learn what I have seen was the inferior, later version of the show that didn't understand the anti-corpotate satire and turned it into an utter shitshow. I really would like to see the original version of the show in its entirety. The clips I have seen are way better than the version I downloaded.

Some of those stunts pulled during live events would be shocking today, and they were saying it back in the 80's!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If some AI had a max face interface I would join

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That and a JohnyCab.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Wait until you hear about the Max Headroom TV Broadcast Incursion.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Catch the WAVE!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

The TV show was fascinating! And I remember loving the music, too. Matt Frewer was just fascinating as, was it Edison Carter? And as Max. Really clever concepts!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://piped.video/reMRbvXfqAo?si=MNoEegyUmS8vzXHi

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Stephen Colbert is based on Max Headroom.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

M.m.m.MAX HEADROOM!