Max Headroom Episode 1 (1985)

Max Headroom is a fictional character created in 1984 by Annabel Jankel, Rocky Morton, and George Stone, portrayed by actor Matt Frewer.
The character debuted in the British-made cyberpunk TV movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future (1984), where he is depicted as an artificial intelligence created from the mind of journalist Edison Carter after a motorcycle accident.
The AI, named Max Headroom after the "Max. headroom" sign Carter saw before his crash, became a satirical, computer-generated TV host known for his biting commentary, stuttering voice, and pitch-shifting delivery.
Although advertised as computer-generated, Max was actually Frewer wearing a complex latex mask, prosthetics, and a plastic suit, filmed in front of a blue screen with editing effects to enhance the illusion.

The character was spun off into two television series. The first, The Max Headroom Show, was a music-video showcase that aired on Channel 4 in the UK.
The second, a US series titled Max Headroom (1987–1988), aired on ABC and was set in a dystopian future ruled by powerful television networks.
In this series, Max Headroom is a computer reconstruction of Carter, appearing as a digital bust on a wire-frame background, often providing comic relief and insightful commentary while Carter, the investigative journalist, uncovers corporate corruption.
The show's plot centers on Carter's efforts to expose unethical practices, including the deadly "Blipverts" advertisements, which were created by network CEO Ned Grossberg and his assistant Bryce Lynch.

Max Headroom became a significant pop-culture icon of the 1980s, embodying themes of media saturation, corporate control, and the blurring line between human and machine.
His influence extended beyond television, inspiring references in various media and being cited as a foundational "cyberpunk hacking trope".
The character's legacy was further cemented by a real-world event: on November 22, 1987, an unidentified individual hijacked the signals of two Chicago television stations, WGN-TV and WTTW, broadcasting a distorted, 90-second pirate transmission featuring a person wearing a Max Headroom mask and costume.
The hijacker, who made cryptic references to the character's advertisements and other cultural elements, remains unidentified despite a Federal Communications Commission investigation and decades of speculation.
The incident, which required significant technical expertise and a powerful microwave transmission, is now considered nearly impossible to replicate due to the shift from analog to digital broadcasting in 2009.