Max Headroom has never been released in home video format. Not completely or well, anyway.

The original British telefilm was released on VHS and can still be found in used video stores and on eBay. Some of the shows were released on laserdisc in Japan. At least the first half-dozen shows were released on VHS, perhaps only in the UK. And there appears to be at least one other legitimate VHS tape, although its contents are unclear. And just recently the telefilm was released on DVD... for the Japanese rental market.

So where is the complete Max Headroom DVD set?

(Pardon me, I'm going to rant for a few moments here.)

We're in an era where it seems as if studios with legacy TV programs can't seem to shovel their garbage bins into the DVD racks fast enough. Complete season sets of every crappy TV show ever aired flood the racks. A few are inexplicable. I suppose Bradymania warrants the release of the complete series for fans, and Star Trek and Babylon 5 need no special justifications - they have large, obsessed audiences waiting.

But my god, some complete sh*t is being huckstered. I'd rather buy Network 23's complete 527-tape "Teach Yourself Chinese" program than ever see some of these dismal shows resurface in disc form.

And it's only getting worse, as new shows appear in collected sets shortly after the end of each season. I saw people avidly snapping up the season release of some lame science-fictionish show they must have watched first-run the night before.

Just when I think this trend has bottomed out, my eye is drawn to a package in the rack. It's a sci-fi show whose name I faintly recognize. It's emblazoned "The Complete Series - All Nine Episodes!" And there, in smaller type: "Includes 5 episodes never shown on TV!" ...WHAT!? This dismal piece of crap was yanked after four episodes, yet the studio thought people would pay to own the thing?

(Okay, rant over. Mostly.)

Clearly, producing a TV series DVD set is a trivial effort these days - the production methods, the distribution channels and the market awareness are all there. If the studios seem to be literally scraping the bottoms of their refuse bins to find things to package. why not Max?

I have a tiny, wee, fragile connection to Max's keepers, and I plan to use it to keep sending this message:

20th Anniversary Deluxe Set, dudes. Come on - the complete series, the original telefilm, the UK talk/music show, the US talk show, the specials, the Coke commercials. It's all just crap cluttering your collective vaults; get together and make some bux from it. And extras - commentary on the shows. Interviews with Matt Frewer, Amanda Pays, Chris Young, Jeffrey Tambor, the telefilm cast and crew, and Max's creators and shapers.

As Max recently said:

I r-r-realize you're all in t-t-television, so I'll ssssay thissss verrry ss-ss-ssslowly: 20th. Anniversary. Deluxe. S-Set. Do It. Do it for the fans, do it for me, do it for those unlucky enough to have never met m-me, do it for your wallets. J-J-Just Do It! (Hey, I like the sound of that phrase... is it taken?)

Is there a market? Well... a quick search of the web will show that there are multiple sources for bootleg copies of Max video, including complete sets of the episodes for download and on pirate DVD.

Somebody must be interested. A lot of somebodies, it would seem.