Supermax is a defunct Czech cable television channel that featured mostly animated television programs for teens and preteens. It started broadcast on 22 November 1994 (together with HBO Czech and Max1 - now Spektrum TV) and without any commercials. Supermax was completely taken off the air on 15 September 2004 and replaced by the children channel
Minimax
Minimax (sometimes MinMax, MM or saddle point) is a decision rule used in artificial intelligence, decision theory, game theory, statistics, and philosophy for ''mini''mizing the possible loss for a worst case (''max''imum loss) scenario. Whe ...
that was launched earlier on 1 January that year.
The channel was designed by Stephen Cohen, along with "Max1", as part of a package to attract sales to Czech and Slovak cable TV operators. It was based in Prague and initially was pre-recorded in 3-hour segments on long-play VHS tape cassettes which automatically switched and re-wound to create a 12-hour broadcast schedule. During its lifespan it aired numerous shows (over 200), mostly English shows
dubbed into Czech. One of the most memorable series was ''Cybernet'' (pronounced "Kybernet") that showed reviews and screenshots from upcoming games and still airs around in parts of the world time to time. "Bláznivé sporty", a show made completely of homemade videos which showed hilarious situations at sport events was also popular. Other featured shows were Friends,
Fresh Prince of Bel Air
''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy Borowitz, Andy and Susan Borowitz for NBC. It aired from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ...
,
Rugrats
''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently—Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, an ...
,
G.eek,
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part o ...
,
Fly Tales,
Pinky and the Brain
''Pinky and the Brain'' is an American Animated series, animated television series that was created by Tom Ruegger that premiered on Kids' WB on September 9, 1995. It was the first animated television series to be presented in Dolby Pro Logic, D ...
,
Thundercats,
Silverhawks
''SilverHawks'' is an American animated television series developed by Rankin/Bass Productions and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1986. The animation was provided by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation. In total, 65 episodes we ...
,
Are You Afraid of the Dark?
''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a horror anthology television series. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, wi ...
,
Count Duckula
''Count Duckula'' is a British children's animated comedy horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films and produced by Thames Television as a spin-off from '' Danger Mouse'', a series in which an early version of the ...
,
The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
,
Tom and Jerry
''Tom and Jerry'' is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the ...
, Ric Der Rabe,
Jumanji
''Jumanji'' is a 1995 American fantasy adventure film directed by Joe Johnston from a screenplay by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, and Jim Strain. Loosely based on Chris Van Allsburg's picture book of the same name, the film is the firs ...
, The Mask Animated Series,
Student Bodies
''Student Bodies'' is a 1981 American parody slasher film written and directed by Mickey Rose, with an uncredited Michael Ritchie co-directing. A spoof of slasher horror films such as ''Halloween'', ''Friday the 13th'' and '' Prom Night'', '' ...
, Conan Adventurer,
Tigersharks
''TigerSharks'' is an American animated children's television series developed by Rankin/Bass and distributed by Lorimar-Telepictures in 1987. The series involved a team of heroes that could transform into amalgams of human and marine animals and ...
,
Galaxy Rangers
''The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers'' is an American animated space Western television series created by Robert Mandell and Gaylord Entertainment Company. It was broadcast in syndication between 1986 and 1989. The series combines sci-fi st ...
,
Transformers G1
''Transformers: Generation 1'' (also known as ''Generation One'' or ''G1'') is a toy line from 1984 to 1990, produced by Hasbro and Takara. It was a line of toy robots that could change into an alternate form (vehicles such as cars and planes ...
, Heartbreak High, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ocean Girl,
Doug
Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) which ...
,
CatDog
''CatDog'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Hannan for Nickelodeon. The series follows the life of yellow conjoined brothers of different species, with one half of the resultant animal being a cat and the other a dog. ...
, So Weird, Spiderman, Biker Mice from Mars, WildC.A.T.S. and many more.
The channel showed
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
movies on Easter Day, yet this practice was stopped some years ago. Also on Easter day the channel showed a dubbed version of
Rock and Rule
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
.
The channel's on-screen ident from 1997 featured a magnet being drawn from underground to other objects, ultimately forming the "Supermax" logo. It was the channel's main ID.
At the end of its run, it showed the sitcom
Kenan and Kel
''Kenan & Kel'' is an American Buddy film, buddy comedy sitcom created by Kim Bass. The show originally aired on the Nickelodeon network for four seasons, from July 15, 1996, to July 15, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, the series follows mischiev ...
.
The channel ceased broadcasting on 15 September 2004 at 21:30 due to lack of agreement on both parties involving its broadcast and because of lower ratings.
The channel's cancellation and replacement by Minimax spurred a great upheaval by many loyal fans. Most of them argued that Supermax featured better and more mature shows.
References
{{Reflist
External links
A 1997 video promoting the channel, showcasing most of the channel's programming at that timeSupermax logo, animation
Television stations in the Czech Republic
Television channels in Slovakia