In order to introduce the character who would host their new music video programme, Channel Four broadcast a short (one-hour) science fiction movie, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future, which supplied him with a backstory.
The events and characters in this movie were never again referred to in music video or talk show versions of Max Headroom.
This series was first screened in the US on Cinemax during November and December 1985, with a new voice over introduction by Max: "He's the toast of the town (lightly buttered).
Often the announced prize was not awarded, or the quiz was "cut for time" because Max took too long to explain the rules (which changed every week).
Between the second and third series, an hour-long special, entitled Max Headroom's Giant Christmas Turkey[1] aired on Channel 4 at 10pm on Boxing Day 1986.
This programme had already premiered in the US on 18 December 1986, under the title The Max Headroom Christmas Special and was repeated several times over the holiday period on Cinemax.
The six-part series aired every two weeks on Cinemax between July 1987 and October 1987, the last two episodes coinciding with the first two of the second season of the sci-fi show.