Great Moments in Televison History

I'll be damned if I didn't forget the 20th anniversary of the Max Headroom Pirating Incident, an infamous (yet surreally funny) part of Chicago TV history. Having remembered watching Max Headroom as a child (Turd Boy even had a Max t-shirt!), it's hard to believe the impact it would have years later.

Imagine, if you will, that you are a Bears fan living in Chi-town. (Mind you, you'd immediately be a moron, because the Bears suck.) You missed the game against the Packers or Vikings or whoever the hell they played, so you plan on catching the highlights on WGN-TV (before satellite became a hit) that evening. Dan Roan (God, he's still on the network after all these years!) sets you up for some highlights. All of a sudden, some interference occurs and you get a brief glimpse of what appears to be Max Headroom grinning like a loon. A few seconds later, cut back to Dan Roan, looking confused as hell. Apparently the pirate's attempt to hijack WGN's signal was a failure.

But it gets better. Much, much, better.

Now let's imagine you're a sci-fi geek, and apparently a subscriber to public television. You park your ass on your basement sofa for WTTW's Sunday night airing of Doctor Who. Fifteen minutes later, apparently when some shit is going to go down with the Time Lord, "Max" strikes again......


The dude never got caught. The lucky bastard. That whole incident probably made some great conversation at work the following day. That is, unless you were a Bears fan desperate for highlights or a PBS subscriber. Enjoy the trip down memory lane, Midwesterners. And thank you Mr. Pirate, wherever you are.