A Signal Intrusion from 1987

Watching some old Doctor Who on Britbox led me to a haunting episode I hadn't seen in decades. 'Horror of Fang Rock'

Can you imagine living in America watching late night TV back in 1987, some ten years after the episode first aired.

And then....

there as a guy on reddit who did a pretty through investigation and (allegedly) discovered who did it after interviewing police who were on the case and experts familiar with television broadcasting. supposedly, this is still an open investigation- it's just not actively investigated because there are more pressing issues to focus on.

see also captain midnight signal intrusion

One of the greatest pranks of all time.

Also required viewing:

Allegedly Max Headroom was a direct inspiration for the creation of SHODAN in the System Shock series.

Also

ahhh yes its been a while since ive seen this one come by

  On 4/13/2020 at 11:18 PM, Nebraska said:

there as a guy on reddit who did a pretty through investigation and (allegedly) discovered who did it after interviewing police who were on the case and experts familiar with television broadcasting. supposedly, this is still an open investigation- it's just not actively investigated because there are more pressing issues to focus on.

see also captain midnight signal intrusion

reddit thread i mentioned

"catch the wave"

  On 4/14/2020 at 12:37 AM, Nebraska said:

reddit thread i mentioned

"catch the wave"

Great stuff. There's something I really like about this piece of media history. An episode of a 70's British Sci-Fi cult series being re-run on American TV ten years after it first aired, and then being hi-jacked by someone badly impersonating a fictitious computer-generated character from the mid 80s. It's got all the great creepy ingredients.

Plus the interruption cutting out just as Tom Baker announces "As far as I can tell, a massive electric shock. He died instantly."

It's all very cyberpunk and hauntological at the same time.

interesting, had never heard about this before.

this brought to mind the scene in Batman '89, where Nicholson's Joker hijacks a tv broadcast with those insane cosmetic products. makes me wonder if the max headroom hijack was a direct influence on that scene, since it happened in late 1987 when Batman would have been in pre-production.

I remember hearing about this like 8 years ago on this video. Very interesting.

Most IDM 1987.

  On 4/13/2020 at 11:18 PM, Nebraska said:

there as a guy on reddit who did a pretty through investigation and (allegedly) discovered who did it after interviewing police who were on the case and experts familiar with television broadcasting. supposedly, this is still an open investigation- it's just not actively investigated because there are more pressing issues to focus on.

see also captain midnight signal intrusion

Thanks for posting that, one of the first things about it that came to mind.

  On 4/14/2020 at 3:28 PM, zero said:

interesting, had never heard about this before.

this brought to mind the scene in Batman '89, where Nicholson's Joker hijacks a tv broadcast with those insane cosmetic products. makes me wonder if the max headroom hijack was a direct influence on that scene, since it happened in late 1987 when Batman would have been in pre-production.

this is a good one too

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Television_broadcast_interruption

another list of similar incidents / mess ups, less surreal but still interesting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_signal_intrusion

There was a guy who used to record live tv feeds and capture often frank or unflattering candid coversations - one with Larry King and Bush comes to mind. I can't find it via google though. I saw it in a media class back in college.

  On 4/14/2020 at 7:52 PM, IDEM said:

Most IDM 1987.

Incidentally that was the year SB & RB officially founded Autechre.

  On 4/14/2020 at 11:07 PM, timbre monke said:

Incidentally that was the year SB & RB officially founded Autechre.

Okay, second most IDM 1987 ...

gotta love those anvil vapre outtakes

There's a vape shop around where I live called Anvil Vapor and it always makes me think of AE when I drive by

Er, Avail Vapor not Anvil Vapor, looks similar