page_title: Max Headroom
section_title: Television hijack
hierarchical_section_title: Max Headroom / TV history / Television hijack
caption_attribution_description: English: Unidentified man wearing Max Headroom mask, as seen during the Max Headroom broadcast signal intrusion incident of November 22, 1987, Chicago.
context_page_description: Max Headroom is a fictional artificial intelligence character, known for his wit and stuttering, electronically altered voice. He was introduced in early 1985. The character was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton. Max was portrayed by Matt Frewer and was called "the first computer-generated TV personality", although the computer-generated appearance was achieved with an actor in prosthetic make-up and harsh lighting, in front of a blue screen.
context_section_description: A broadcast signal hijacking of two television stations in Chicago, Illinois was carried out on November 22, 1987, in an act of video piracy. The stations' broadcasts were interrupted by a video of an unknown person wearing a Max Headroom mask and costume, accompanied by distorted audio.
  The first incident took place for 25 seconds during the sports segment of WGN-TV's 9:00 p.m. news broadcast; the second occurred around two hours later, for about 90 seconds during PBS affiliate WTTW's broadcast of Doctor Who.
  The hacker made references to Max Headroom's endorsement of Coca-Cola, the TV series Clutch Cargo, WGN anchor Chuck Swirsky; and "all the greatest world newspaper nerds", a reference to WGN's call letters, which stand for "World's Greatest Newspaper". A corrugated panel swiveled back and forth mimicking Max Headroom's geometric background effect. The video ended with a pair of exposed buttocks being spanked with a flyswatter before normal programming resumed. The culprits were never caught or identified.
caption: Unidentified man wearing a Max Headroom mask, as seen during the broadcast signal intrusion.
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