Schlock-Wire: MAX HEADROOM Will Take Us Back To The Future On DVD, Thanks To Shout! Factory
Here's some very exciting news for 1980's t.v. aficionados: after years of waiting, Max Headroom is finally coming to DVD in the U.S. For those not up on their 1980's culture, Max Headroom was a way-ahead-of-its-time show that mixed science fiction and social/political satire. It was a great vehicle for the talents of the underrated Matt Frewer (most recently seen as a villain in The Watchmen) and probably the first exposure most people had to the concept of 'cyberpunk' at that time. Read on for a more detailed description of the show and the home-video plans for it...
Shout! Factory and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc.
Announce Content Deal
SHOUT! FACTORY LANDS HOME ENTERTAINMENT RIGHTS TO POPULAR TELEVISION PROPERTY MAX HEADROOM
Los Angeles, CA – Shout! Factory and Warner Home Video, a division of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Inc., announced a multi-property alliance to bring the highly anticipated Warner Bros. television series Max Headroom to the home entertainment marketplace. Under its multi-year agreement with Warner Home Video, Shout! Factory will be the exclusive media company to distribute Max Headroom DVDs for home entertainment releases in the United States and Canada. The announcement was made today by Shout! Factory founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos ; and Jeff Brown, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Non-theatrical Franchise Marketing.Production has begun to develop a wide range of bonus content for Max Headroom: The Complete Series DVD box set, as well as re-transferring the episodes from the original elements to provide the highest picture quality.“Max Headroom is a uniquely sought-after television property, boasting a large fan following and consumer interests. We have been pursing this property with Warner Bros. for years, and we’re thrilled that it’s finally coming to fruition,” state Shout! Factory founding partners.
Starring Matt Frewer, W. Morgan Sheppard, Jeffrey Tambor and Amanda Pays, the U.S. television series Max Headroom, inspired by a British made-for-television movie 20 Minutes into the Future, aired on ABC from 1987-1988. Hailed by critics and fans as one of the most innovative science fiction series ever produced for American television, Max Headroom is considered to be the first cyberpunk television series, bolstered by its innovative premise, brilliant writing and fast-paced visual style. Unafraid to explore any subject, no matter how controversial, the series cynically tackles topical issues from the general television industry such as the exploitation of the TV ratings games, political advertising, tele-evangelism, news coverage and commercials. The world of Max Headroom is a satirically funny look at television of the not-too-distant future. There are 4,000 TV channels, cameras are everywhere, television sets can’t be shut off, ratings have been perfected to the point where programming decisions are made minute by minute, and Network 23, the ratings leader, is headed by a man who would literally kill for ratings. Enter investigative reporter Edison Carter and his alter ego, the first computer-simulated multi-media star, Max Headroom, played by Matt Frewer. Max Headroom is a production of Chrysalis/Lakeside in association with Lorimar Telepictures.