#20: The Max Headroom Broadcast Take Over

It isn’t every day that a television broadcast is interrupted by someone wearing a face mask impersonating a British TV personality. On November 22, 1987, a man using the alias “Max Headroom” after the British AI television personality took over two different Chicago television channels. Whilst the man on everyone’s television screen quite clearly wasn’t the real Max Headroom, people were shaken up.

His first channel takeover occurred on WGN-TV for 28 seconds, where he was seen swaying but not talking. Before he was able to say anything, the signal cut off and went back to original programming. However, it wasn’t until later that night that the same man appeared again on a local PBS station. This time the broadcast lasted 90 seconds and spoke. People recall seeing him sing and showing his naked behind, neither of which were said to be so riveting. The authorities never found out who hijacked the television stations, and some people believe him to have been an employee at WGN-TV.