Max Headroom and The Norm Show come back around, Shout! Factory reissues

By April MacIntyre Mar 1, 2010, 17:17 GMT

Max Headroom, courtesy of Shout! Factory

Quirky sci-fi hit "Max Headroom" and "The Norm Show" were hit series that featured great ensemble casts.

"Matt Headroom" featured Matt Frewer in the role of W. Morgan Sheppard.  His catmates included Jeffrey Tambor and Amanda Pays.

The series was inspired by a British made-for-television movie 20 Minutes into the Future, and it aired on ABC from 1987-1988.  Hailed as one of the most innovative science fiction series ever produced for American television, Max Headroom is considered to be the first cyberpunk television series, bolstered by its innovative premise, brilliant writing and fast-paced visual style. 

The world of Max Headroom was a satirically funny look at television of the not-too-distant future. The series cynically tackled topical issues from the general television industry such as the exploitation of the TV ratings games, political advertising, tele-evangelism, news coverage and commercials.

There are 4,000 TV channels, cameras are everywhere, television sets can’t be shut off, ratings have been perfected to the point where programming decisions are made minute by minute, and Network 23, the ratings leader, is headed by a man who would literally kill for ratings. 

Enter investigative reporter Edison Carter and his alter ego, the first computer-simulated multi-media star, Max Headroom, played by Frewer.

"The Norm Show" was the starring vehicle for Saturday Night Live veteran Norm Macdonald, and chronicled the misadventures of former NHL hockey player turned dysfunctional social worker whose life has been thrown for a loop due to gambling and tax evasion.

The Norm Show was one of the top rated sitcoms in 1999 and ran on ABC for three seasons. The second season also brought about the shortening of the show’s title to simply "Norm."  The series ensemble cast including Laurie Metcalf, Ian Gomez, Artie Lange, Bruce Jarchow, Max Wright and Faith Ford. 

Shout! Factory and Warner Home Video today announced a multi-property alliance to bring the Warner Bros. television series Max Headroom and The Norm Show to the home entertainment marketplace. 

Under its multi-year agreement with Warner Home Video, Shout! Factory will be the exclusive media company to distribute Max Headroom and The Norm Show DVDs for home entertainment releases in the United States and Canada.

The announcement was made today by Shout! Factory founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos; and Jeff Brown, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Non-theatrical Franchise Marketing.

Production has begun to develop a wide range of bonus content for Max Headroom: The Complete Series DVD box set, as well as re-transferring the episodes from the original elements to provide the highest picture quality.

“Max Headroom is a uniquely sought-after television property, boasting a large fan following and consumer interests. We have been pursing this property with Warner Bros. for years, and we’re thrilled that it’s finally coming to fruition,” state Shout! Factory founding partners. “We’re pop culture fanatics at Shout!, and both of these shows are loved by fans of TV and are highly requested.  We’ll do them justice with great extras and packaging.”

“It’s a privilege to partner with Shout! Factory and we look forward to combining our efforts to bring these two highly-regarded television programs to the home entertainment audience,” said Brown.  He added, “We look forward with anticipation to the opportunity of creating a series of releases that will be innovative, original and stand out in the home entertainment market place.”