Viewers are unable to tear their eyes away from a seemingly mindless new game show called "Whacketts." Meanwhile, Big-Time is finally on top of the ratings. But is Big-Time just a pawn in a much larger game of addiction?
Top TV reporter Max Edison discovers Network 23 is experimenting with advertising that is lethal to some viewers. His boss tries to kill him and copy his mind to a controllable simulation. Instead Edison survives - and Max Headroom is born.
Following the death of an old colleague who was found literally drained of life, Edison races to expose the deadly process of recording and broadcasting dreams. But is the audience's own demand for the innovative new program too great to conquer?
Zik Zak comes up with a new promotional giveaway called the Neurostim bracelet which implants the perfect life into your imagination and gives you the drive to make it happen no matter what the cost.
While Max attempts to fill the many gaps in his and Edison's memory, a young woman goes missing, revealing the shadowy world of involuntary organ donation.
Edison and the Network 23 team are dumbfounded when a lesser rival network appears to be always at the scenes of recent terrorist attacks for the big ratings-drawing exclusives.
An old friend of Theora's goes to the lab to pick up her in vitro baby only to find out it's been kidnapped. Theora and Edison make it their personal mission to expose the truth behind the disappearances of other babies.