Max Headroom
First time I was introduced to Matt Frewer was as his "CGI" character. Like a lot of kids at the time I believed the story that he was not played by a real person and just a completely fabricated character.
shareI was introduced to him in the Coca-Cola commercials that begat the TV show. Yes, that’s right: fucking commercials led to the show.
And I always knew he was a human.
The character actually was created in the UK, where he appeared in a movie (20 Minutes Into the Future) and TV show (The Max Headroom Show) in 1985.
In 1986, Cinemax began broadcasting the show in the USA, and the Coke commercials followed shortly after to help introduce the character to American audiences.
The 1987-88 ABC show followed later.