[This file is from the Sf-Lovers Archives at Rutgers University. It is provided as part of a free service in connection with distribution of Sf-Lovers Digest. This file is currently maintained by the moderator of the Digest. It may be freely copied or redistributed in whole or in part as long as this notice remains intact. If you would like to know more about Sf-Lovers Digest, send mail to SF-LOVERS-REQUEST@RUTGERS.EDU.] MAX HEADROOM PROGRAMME GUIDE 03/31/87 Debut: In the near future, when TVs can't be shut off and ratings are all that matter, investigative reporter Edison Carter (Matt Frewer) and his computer- generated alter ego Max Headroom battle to keep the "blank" generation informed. In the opener, Carter stumbles across his own network's cover-up of a sometimes deadly new form of TV advertising called "blipverts". Chris Young (Bryce), Amanda Pays (Theora), Jeffrey Tambor (Murray), Charles Rocket (Grossberg), Ken Swofford (Gorrister), Billie Byrd (Florence), Virginia Kiser (Ms. Formby). 04/07/87 Theora may lose her job when she runs off to help her estranged brother, who's competing in a brutal sport that promoters want legalized and televised. Peter Cohl (Shawn), Wortham Krimmer (Jack Friday), JW Smith (Rik), Arsenio Trinidad (Ped Zing). 04/14/87 Carter races against time to save a woman who was shanghaied and sold to a "body bank" for experimentation. Meanwhile, Network 23's largest sponsor wants Max as spokesman. George Coe (Cheviot), Virginia Kiser (Formby), Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg), Concetta Tomei (Dominique), Scott Kraft (Mel), John Winston (Plantaganet), JW Smith (Rik). 04/21/87 Carter is accused of credit fraud and becomes a fugitive after delving into the hostile takeover of Security Systems, the world's most powerful corporation. George Coe (Cheviot), JW Smith (Rik), Concetta Tomei (Dominique), Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg), Carol Mayo Jenkins (Valerie Towne), Sally Stevens ( Voice of A-7). 04/28/87 Network 23 finds that the fine line between news and entertainment may very well be the bottom line. Dancing on that line is Braddock, a double dealing program packager who offers to sell Network 23 the exclusive rights to cover an urban-guerilla group's terrorist activities during a crucial 24-hour global ratings-sweep period. The network turns Braddock's offer down, but a smaller rival accepts. Broadcasting from a terrorist bombing site, its ratings soar -- as Network 23's plummet. Barred from that site is Network 23 ace reporter Edison Carter, to the annoyance of some Network 23 board members. But network head Ben Cheviot knows Braddock's reputation and assigns Carter to investigate. Gary Swenson (Braddock), Robert O'Reilly ( Croyd Hauser), Lisa Niemi (Janie Crane), J Michael Flynn (Lucian). 05/05/87 As the "blanks" -- undesirables with no computer records -- are rounded up and arrested, the networks face permanent cancellation by hackers who threaten to crash the city's entire computer system if their companions aren't released. Howard Sherman (Peller), Peter Crook (Bruno), Hank Garret (Ashwell), Morgan Sheppard (Blank Reg), Concetta Tomei (Dominique). 7. Edison must challenge Bryce and his classmates at the Academy of Computer Sciences when they frame Blank Reg on a charge of zipping, interrupting a network satellite feed. 8. A TV church, led by a college flame of Edison's, kidnaps Max. Edison must retrieve Max and uncover the church's phony electronic "soul storage" system, which claims to keep the personalities of the dead online -- for a price. 9. Rival Network 66 attempts to defeat Network 23 in a ratings-based election by introducing a "watch while you sleep" device into its programming to cause people to leave their TV sets on all night. 10. Some shady entrepreneurs are stealing people's dreams and selling them to the highest bidders. Edison goes undercover to expose their lethal business. 11. A video narcotic is causing people to leave their TVs tuned to Big Time Television twenty-four hours a day. 12. Zik-Zak introduces Neurostim, a device to directly stimulate the brain and bypass the need to use television for advertising. 13. Network 23 censors go a step too far when they try to shut down a secret school in the fringes, because it's using pirated Network 23 instructional programming. Episodes 1-6: Entered by Russ Perry (russell@uhura.cs.wisc.edu). Descriptions from TV Guide Episodes 7-13: Entered by Steven Grimm (koreth@ssyx.ucsc.edu). Descriptions by him as well.