Max Headroom coming to DVD in August

[stonester1]

I never even heard of this show, but it sounds right up my alley. I'm a big fan of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., another steampunk western series.

Max Headroom isn't a western, though. It's closer in spirit to Terry Gilliam's Brazil, with a healthy dose of Orwell and a dash of Running Man.

I think stonester1 is referring to the show Christopher mentioned. With Richard Dead Anderson.

Correct. If I were to be genre specific about Max Headroom, I'd call it cyberpunk.

 

[Christopher]

Yeah. Max Headroom was definitely cyberpunk, and it's rather amazing that it was, since it came along only a couple of years after cyberpunk began to emerge as a literary movement. As a rule, science fiction in film and TV tends to lag behind what the literature is doing by a couple of decades.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

the new top spot belongs to Mann & Machine. Yancy Butler's performance was magical! Best of her career (also the first)!
If they can put crap like Small Wonder out on DVD, there's no excuse anymore.

That one's definitely on my list, along with South Beach, the Modesty Blaise-like secret agent series Butler made for Dick Wolf the year after Mann and Machine (it also featured John Glover of Smallville fame). Both series only lasted 10 episodes - I can't see why they couldn't be released in a single set. I agree Butler's performances in both were terrific and it's a shame her star never rose the way it should have.

Wasn't Yancy Butler also the star of Witchblade?

And yes, as far as I'm concerned the release of Small Wonder -- which I have now even seen in stores like Wal-Mart that refuse to carry things like Doctor Who DVDs -- has set the precedent. And unlike Batman I can't imagine there being huge issues regarding the rights to Mann and Machine and South Beach. The only thing I can imagine is that Law & Order's Dick Wolf, who was the creator/producer of both series, doesn't want them released.

That sounds unlikely to me. From what I've heard, Dick Wolf is a very pleasant, amenable guy (unless you're an actor asking for a pay raise. Then he'll either kill you or send you to Staten Island). I doubt he would ever object to any of his shows being seen. More likely, the studio that owns the rights is just really friggin' lazy. (For gods' sake, Universal is still 11 seasons behind on their Law & Order DVDs.)

BTW, you mentioned Wal-Mart refusing to carry Doctor Who. I think it's interesting that I've seen the 1st 2 seasons of Torchwood available at Target but never any Doctor Who.

 

[Pilot Ace]

Wasn't Yancy Butler also the star of Witchblade?

She was indeed.

 

[Professor Zoom]

More likely, the studio that owns the rights is just really friggin' lazy. (For gods' sake, Universal is still 11 seasons behind on their Law & Order DVDs.)

One wonders though, is it laziness or sales....from articles I've read, there is a diminishing return on shows with longer runs. And Law and Order is on ALL the time.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ If they're worried about TNT reruns eating into the DVD sales, then they shouldn't be, since TNT only shows episodes from the last few seasons. The DVDs are only up to season 7, and TNT doesn't show eps that old.

 

[barnaclelapse]

Yeah. Max Headroom was definitely cyberpunk, and it's rather amazing that it was, since it came along only a couple of years after cyberpunk began to emerge as a literary movement. As a rule, science fiction in film and TV tends to lag behind what the literature is doing by a couple of decades.

That's true. I never thought about Headroom that way.