That’s a great observation!

I’d forgotten Max Headroom originated in the UK, thanks for that story! Even if British TV didn’t influence the USA in the 80s, British music did. Last night, every song I heard in the grocery store was a song from an 80s UK band or performer, except for one Talking Heads song.

I agree with you that the USA is no longer a futuristic place. The money doesn’t go as far as it did in the 80s or 90s either. Change the accents in the UK comedy Keeping Up Appearances and you’d have a rather good picture of 21st-century middle-class USA.

Weirdly, Max originated in an offbeat British made-for-TV film broadcast on our Channel 4, a channel which was set up to cater for niche audiences and experimental content. Because the character of Max was so striking (and played by a Canadian actor) and caught the zeitgeist, with the growing mainstream interest in computing, he was picked up for a series by an American network.

I can’t remember any other 80s British TV IP travelling across the Atlantic the Max Headroom. Usually, the cultural influence went from west to east in those days – brash American soaps like Dallas and Dynasty were popular in the UK at the time, and even inspired the BBC to try to make its own “glamourous” 80s series, Howard’s Way. Back in the 80s and 90s, we tended to see the US as a wealthy and futuristic place, but that’s not the case these days.

remember spectre man? Michael Jordan, Super bowl shuttle Amy Mihaljevic?

the University of Chicago was my dream school at the time