Difference between revisions of "Episode ABC.2.3: "Grossberg's Return""

Revision as of 16:43, 27 March 2015

The third episode of the second ABC series season was supposed to be the first, leading off the new story line with the return of foe Ned Grossberg as the head of rival Network 66 and establishing a new Network 23 board member.

Synopsis

20 minutes into the future, it's 3 a.m., and the audiences are building for the 9 o'clock autocount for the telelection primary - the candidate associated with the Network that has the highest ratings at that time is the winner. Network 23 has the ratings edge, so their candidate Simon Peller is on track to being reelected... but Network 66's ratings are steadily climbing on a marathon showing of a show so bad it's called "visual halitosis." "Porky's Landing" is on its way to helping elect 66's candidate, Harriet Garth.

It's panic in the late-night boardroom as Edwards and Lauren - Miss Formby's replacement, it would appear - watch the ratings edge erode. They call Cheviot, then Peller, then Bryce in an attempt to find out why 66's ratings are climbing and to try and stop the election upset.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of 66, Thatcher, and the Network 66 board are chuckling at the success of their new trick, "ViewDoze," brought to them by their new board member... Ned Grossberg.

With his usual fine disregard of the rules, Bryce calls up his counterpart at 66, a girl named Jenny who is a former classmate of his at ACS. She cheerfully tells him about ViewDoze, finally noting that it's a complete scam. Viewers have been told the new service lets them "view while they sleep," so a huge number of people are tuning to 66 and the unaccountably popular "Porky's Landing" - putting the morning telelection in jeopardy for Network 23.

Cheviot calls his counterpart, Network 66 Chairman Thatcher, to complain about the improper and possibly illegal manipulation of ratings - "falsifying ratings is criminal larceny!" Thatcher laughs him off. It's time for the big guns: Cheviot calls Murray, who calls Carter, who calls Theora...

...who proves not to be alone. A very masculine shoulder is showing beyond her in the bed. Carter is too shocked to speak, then curtly tells her they're needed at the network... and he's sorry for intruding. That doesn't stop him, when he gets to Control ahead of her, from peeking into Theora's communication console to see that she had a dinner date with someone named Ted. Which makes him uncharacteristically grumpy with Murray, then Theora and then even Max.

As the trio (plus Max) begin to unravel the mystery of ViewDoze, a layer of Grossberg's plans is peeled away, revealing a much darker objective. The ViewDoze project has only the goal of winning the telelection. What it leads to, in Grossberg's plans is the destruction of Cheviot, Carter, Murray, Theora, Max and Network 23 - revenge for "conspiring against him" long before.

When Harriet Garth objects to Grossberg's plans, he tells her to play along and she'll be elected at one minute after nine. He then contacts his ace in the hole... Kurslar, the freelance news agent, who is setting up to steal security footage from Garth's apartment... and modify it as necessary.

And then there's Kurslar, selling his breaking hot story about some stud in the "upright" Harriet Garth's apartment to Network 23. Murray is suspcious and Carter doesn't want to do "video paparazzi" work, but Cheviot orders them to drop the ViewDoze story and follow up on trying to discredit Garth just before the telelection.

The tension between Carter and Theora reaches a head, and Carter curtly demands "clear-headed backup - Angela." Angela turns out to be a hotshot chopper pilot and field backup like Martinez, but even more aggressive about the "backup" part. There's also some dislike between her and Theora that strikes sparks as they land at Harriet Garth's apartment building.

They are just in time to catch the man leaving, and Angela chases him down and begins grilling him mercilessly - she clearly has no compunctions about being a "video paparazzi." Cheviot orders the feed live, and after a moment's panic in the Network 66 board room, Grossberg chuckles. Network 23 has swallowed his bait whole - even better results than he'd wished for. He then modestly ensures that everyone understands that Network 66 chairman Thatcher is the man to whom credit is due.

When Thatcher goes on the air with alternate security camera footage of Garth being interviewed at exactly the same time as the supposed liaison, public opinion and rating swing against Network 23 and Peller. Garth calls for both Cheviot and Peller to step down. Cheviot orders Carter to go find the truth "no matter the cost."

On Thatcher's orders, Garth receives Carter - if a bit frostily - and maintains that she was being interviewed, by a global reporter, at 5 a.m. As her remarks go out on Network 23, Grossberg drops his bomb to the Network 66 board: she is lying. He has security cam footage that shows she clearly was fooling around with the man in her apartment, not holding an interview. Pandemonium erupts and the board insists Grossberg take the fall for the network's loss of face... and he smarmily notes that Thatcher has already gone on record as taking responsibility and assuring viewers of Garth's truthfulness, on his word.

Bartlett calls for the vote; it goes three to one against Thatcher. Thatcher leaves, along with the other two board members, leaving Bartlett and Grossberg in charge of Network 66. Bartlett graciously (or perhaps wisely) concedes the chair to Grossberg.

Grossberg goes on the air to repudiate Thatcher's claim of Harriet Garth's innocence, then calls Cheviot to let him know that he's back and he's going to win from now on, starting with this battle. However, Carter already has Harriet Garth's story in the can and is on the air, telling the seamy story of Grossberg's manipulations. Grossberg still claims he's going to win (although it's not clear how)... and then, in a last-moment show of disgust by the viewers, the ratings for another network, Network 85, soar and their candidate J. Rivers is elected.

Garth and Simon Peller are out - at least for the time being - and Cheviot is humble in accepting that maybe they can't fool the viewers as much as they thought they could. At an open-air restaurant ("The Watering Hole," from the awning in the background), one of the first such we've seen, Murray and Carter end up in a brawl with Kurslar and Network 66 board members... but the real battle, between 23 and Grossberg, is just beginning, far over their heads.

Notes & Commentary

Why is Carter watching "Porky's Landing" at all - especially in light of his later derisive comments - and why does he leave his TV on that station when he goes to bed? Is it to thwart a vote for Network 23's Peller, whom he detests? Or to keep Max from bothering him?

"Porky's Landing," just in case anyone should fail to make the connection, is a hybrid of the extremely popular "Porky's" lowbrow teen sex movies and the equally popular nighttime soap opera dramas such as "Dallas" and "Knot's Landing." This is a particularly pointed jab, as a good part of the reason for the failure of the series was that it was positioned against "Dallas" and "Miami Vice" - not only among the top-rated shows of the time, but popular with the same demographic as that for "Max Headroom." Without network support to build an audience, M-Max never had a chance. The exceptionally nasty comments from Edwards and Lauren in the beginning are probably not about "Porky's Landing" at all...

It seems that the affair between Cheviot and Formby is no longer a secret - Lauren's arch comment makes it clear why Formby is no longer with Network 23.

The jumble that flashes over Bryce's screen after Edwards disconnects appears to be C programming language code for some sort of visual coordinates application.

Some new network and channel names appear in this episode:

• Network 66
• Breakthru TV (seen in Episode ABC.1.5: "War")
• Harmony View
• Network 144
• OTXIS Net 62
• Tap Zoom TV
• Dream Wave
• Overview TV
• Riotus Rerun
• Compu Viz
• Tableau Pg.
• Victory Net.
• Theaterdial
• Network 85

Edwards dials seven digits to reach Peller, but eight digits to reach Bryce. Cheviot and Carter both dial seven digits to reach, respectively, Murray and Theora.

The place of Angela Barry is unclear. On the one hand, she seems to be a replacement for Martinez as a chopper pilot and general backup to Carter in the field. But Carter makes a point of asking for her as "clear headed backup" while he's jabbing at Theora, implying that her role somehow supplants Theora. But then, there's Theora controlling Carter (and Angela) in the field, just like always.

The Indian commentator makes special note of "the code of ethics." The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Code of Ethics was a ruling, if toothless, agreement among the networks from the radio days through about 1982. The code was discarded in 1982 and reformulated in a much weaker version in 1990. A good article on its history cand be found here.

Having the battle between Networks 23 and 66 fall to a third party - Network 85 - is consistent with what is known about advertising battles. In nearly all cases of an extended ad campaign that names a competitor as inferior (such as "Coke is better than Pepsi!"), both products and makers often show a decline in market share. Whether the writers of this episode were aware of this or simply pulling a surprise ending out of the hat, I don't know.

Near the end, Grossberg quotes the "old Klingon proverb" from "Star Trek II" about revenge being a dish best served cold. Although this line is quoted in many films from "Young Sherlock Holmes" to "Kill Bill Vol. 1," its appearance here must be in some way related to the start of "Star Trek: Next Generation" the same year as Max.

Harriet Garth seems to flipflop entirely between scenes, particularly towards the end. Within a few minutes, she is first calmly accepting the loss of the telelection, and then frantic with Grossberg about the loss. Poor story or film editing?

Max's riff at the end about jealousy manages to omit the one key word about who doubts and loves and loves not: the cuckold. (Since Carter is feeling somewhat, if wrongly, cuckolded by Theora.) The quote Max is mangling is from Othello:

IAGO:
O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on; that cuckold lives in bliss
Who, certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But, O, what damned minutes tells he o'er
Who dotes, yet doubts, suspects, yet strongly loves!

Murray doesn't like milk. Or so he says.

Max's last snip of song is from "If I Ruled the World," originally from the 1963 London musical "Pickwick" and recorded by many others.

William Morgan Sheppard is credited in the leading cast (as he is a regular star in the second season) but does not appear in this episode.

Opening Credits

This episode uses the standard second-season opening credits.

Subliminal Credits

This episode has no subliminal credits in the Zik-Zak montage.

It has the embedded credits "B. Laramie" and "J. Rivers" in the list of candidates under Peller and Garth. Bernie Laramie is the show's post production supervisor. "J. Rivers" is a mystery name unless comedian Joan Rivers is intended. (Which would be a hoot, considering that Rivers wins the telelection...)

Quotes & Caps