All the while, Max was expanding his image into book publishing and, with enormous success, Coca-Cola commercials. This later evolved into ''Maxtrax,'' a talk-show format featuring such guests as Michael Caine and Vidal Sassoon. Meanwhile, in England, Max went on to become the host of ''The Max Headroom Show,'' a kind of MTV sendup with interviews of such performers as Sting and Boy George. The satire was considerably diluted and just about disappeared in subsequent episodes.
The character, with Peter Wagg serving as its executive producer, was born on British television and first appeared in the United States on Cinemax in an hourlong adventure entitled ''The Max Headroom Story.'' That biting satire of television and broadcasters was later redone as the first episode of the ABC series ''Max Headroom'' that made its debut last season. ''CARAMBA!,'' I exclaimed, ''they've turned Max Headroom into David Letterman.'' This epiphany occurred while watching a tape of ''The Original Max Talking Headroom Show,'' a new series being carried on pay-cable's Cinemax service (it can be sampled this evening at 11).Īny considertion of the Max Headroom industry demands a historical review.
