![]() ![]() Then he held up a can of Pepsi while reciting the Coca-Cola slogan "catch the wave." Max Headroom was, at the time, being used as a spokesperson for Coke. He mentioned Chuck Swirsky, a WGN pundit, claiming to be better than him. ![]() "That does it," the figure said, its voice distorted. However, unlike the 9:15 recording, this one had audio. It is an example of what is known in the television business as broadcast signal intrusion. The figure bobbed in front of the rotating background as before, the same mask covering his face. The Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion was a television signal hijacking occurring in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on the evening of November 22, 1987, involving at least two unknown individuals. Scan lines, like those at the beginning of a VHS recording, appeared, followed by the familiar masked figure. Then, as suddenly as before, the video cut out. Two hours after the first episode, the Max Headroom impersonator was back - this time on Channel 11.Īt 11:15 pm, the PBS affiliate WWTW was airing a Doctor Who episode titled "The Horror of Fang Rock." To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image. Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. However, their search was unsuccessful, as the broadcast turned out to be a pre-recording from a third party at a separate location. Studio engineers assumed that the hijack was an inside job and immediately began searching the building for the masked intruder. "Well, if you're wondering what's happened," he said, clearly as confused as the viewers, ".ha-ha.so am I."Īfter the brief interruption, Roan continued his previously scheduled broadcast. The figure bobbed around in front of the spinning background as a buzzing noise played.Īfter 30 seconds, signal engineers at WGN, who broadcasted Channel 9, switched the frequency of the studio link to another transmitter, bringing Dan Roan back to audiences' screens. There was hardly any sound, but the image was still frightening. Even the gray background behind the figure was reminiscent of the simulated background that appeared behind Headroom. Then, 15 seconds later, a new figure appeared.ĭressed in a rubber mask and wearing sunglasses, the mysterious intruder looked like artificial intelligence television character Max Headroom. In fact, everything disappeared from the screen as it flickered into darkness. Tonight, however, it would be different.Īt 9:14, Dan Roan disappeared from the screen. It was his usual spot during Channel 9's "Nine O'Clock News" segment, one he had been doing for years, always the same. 22, 1987, Chicago sportscaster Dan Roan was covering the highlights of the Bears' recent victory over the Detroit Lions. The Max Headroom hack came entirely out of the blue. Often, stated Roberts, they'd sneak in their subversive viewpoints without question because the overseers just didn't get the joke.During the Max Headroom hack of 1987, Chicago television stations were overtaken by a masked man who continues to baffle authorities to this day. ![]() Still, there was tension between the Max Headroom production crew and ABC's Standards and Practices department. DeGuere told Wagg he would let him know when things were getting too hot for the network, yet promised he'd always defer to Wagg's judgment. According to Wagg and Roberts, they were concerned DeGuere would be yet another company man holding them back, but the producer proved otherwise. ABC insisted on a domestic executive producer to act as a proxy for network brass, and Philip DeGuere, whose earlier credits included Simon and Simon and CBS' Twilight Zone revival, was hired. Apart from the impact Max was making on pop culture, did ABC know what they were getting into? team - producer Peter Wagg, writer Steve Roberts, actors Matt Frewer and Amanda Pays - had reservations. production, ABC took a chance on the property, although the core of the U.K. With the Lorimar company taking the reins for the U.S. And even though the show looks in hindsight like a product of its time, the storytelling is more relevant than ever. The television show looked like a nasty fever dream of tomorrow, but it was making sardonic comments about its present. The potential of viewers exploding could be dismissed as an unintended consequence of getting better returns for corporate stakeholders. Average citizens could be kidnapped and sold for organ transplants on the black market. Likewise, the Max Headroom series that eventually aired on ABC in the States dramatized oppressors against the oppressed. Stories of white people confronting Black people or rich people taking advantage of poor people wouldn't fly, so Serling substituted in people versus aliens and the living confronting the dead. Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling was very transparent about this, saying the show's morality tales were refashioned as fantastic allegories to get them past CBS brass. Science fiction is often a palatable way of delivering difficult content to a public that might reject it otherwise. ![]()
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