Captain Maxaminimum
"Captain Maxaminimum" is the name of a syndicated TV comedy program in the 1980's in the world of Champions Online MMO
The title refers to the bumbling superhero who could not keep his secret identity a secret.
Series
The comedy series was made on a low-budget soundstage in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was during a time of cheap syndicated programs that could air on UHF stations before the rise of cable programming. C-grade starving comedians filled the rolls of the three main characters.
The series picked up major sponsorship when the mega-conglomerate ARGENT agreed to fund the show. That allowed for better special effect in the "hero" segments, which improved the pilot tremendously from it's cheap computer animation and greenscreen images.
Major Cast
Cooper Cushing - Max Minn, aka Captain Maxaminimum
Toby Stories - Billy, the "not" sidekick and next door neighbor
Belle Smart - Day Damsel, the "love interest" and "damsel in distress" who really isn't.
Plot
The series focuses on Max Minn (Cushing), a bumbling weatherman for a low-budget TV station who moonlights as the superhero Captain Maxaminimum. He spends most of his time rescuing cats in trees and helping old ladies cross the street. He yearns to catch the attention of Day Damsel (Smart), the news anchor of their nightly broadcasts, but she want to be the next big anchorwoman.
In this middle of this is Billy (Stories), a lonely teenager who discovers his next-door neighbor is a superhero and desperately tries to be that hero's sidekick. (Note: they never gave Billy a last name.)
The punchline is that every week, Max accidentally reveals his secret identity, often by forgetting to tuck his cape under his clothes, or wearing his mask instead of his glasses. However, Day never notices this because she never notices Max or Captain Maxaminimum. This is referred to as being "caped", since it is his cape that usually sticks out.
Behind The Scenes
The production dynamic was considered tedious at best. Scripts were badly written and constantly re-written, designed more for corny laughs than realistic conversation.
Teenager "Billy" was supposed to be 15, but was being played by Toby Stories, who was 29 at the time. Critics questioned where Billy's parents were during the series, as the writers came up with dozens of excuses as to why he was left alone all the time. At the end of the season, they simply declared Billy to be orphaned as a way to generate sympathy.
Cushing would continually demand more money for his work since he was the title character. He also pushed for more "serious" roles as "Max Minn", saying he hated playing a superhero, and that the polyester hero outfit chafed him badly. Smart, on the other hand, was barely present after the first half of the season. She considered comedy shows to be a waste of talent and the "token damsel" role to be demeaning. She also rejected any talk of a romance between her character and Cushing's.
Episodes
The series ran a total of 12 episodes before being cancelled. They did not get enough to qualify for syndication re-broadcast and, aside from a few nostalgic fans, there are no plans to re-release the series in any video format.
Reaction
Critics were disgusted by the cheap comedy and the characters, especially by the sloppy work of the title character. One review called it "Major Amazingly Awful" and that "it cheapens super-heroism to a level worse than Saturday-morning cartoons. Some questioned whether lead sponsor ARGENT had an ulterior motive in funding the series.
The series took place a few years prior to the Battle of Detroit, so the idea of a teenager being orphaned was a viable plot point for superhero programs of the time. After the destruction, however, shows like that were quickly condemned.
Aftermath
After the cancellation, the cast and crew moved on to different projects.
Cooper Cushing tried to get involved with other superhero-related projects, but too many people in Hollywood saw him as the bumbling Captain Maxaminiumum. He would get one final appearance in the straight-to-video "Foxbat The Victorious" as a homeless guy mumbling about his failed movie career as a superhero. Five years later, he would be seen in a homeless shelter trying to crack jokes to entertain his fellow homeless citizens.
Belle Smart never tried for any other TV show again after the series ended. In her barely-read book "I'm No Damsel", Smart claimed that other producers were looking for someone who was "sexy" and willing to be the helpless damsel, which she refused to be. She renounced her US citizenship and is living in Canada doing local theater and the occasional tourism photography.
Toby Stories tried to get a spin-off series sold that would feature his character, but ARGENT had no taste for anything more of that kind of show, especially after the Battle of Detroit. He would do a handful of low-budget movies and then write his book "Not the Sidekick", focusing on his career as the typecast sidekick. He would often speak on behalf of superheroes whose identities were "caped".
In 2020, Toby Stories made headlines for being kicked out of a Foxbat convention in Millennium City for speaking out against the commercial glamorization of a supervillain, even one like Foxbat.
Related Information
Toby Stories will have a brief appearance in "Future's Guardian" #22 discussing about being "caped".
