The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police
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| The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police | |
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 The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police title screen. |
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| Genre | Animated series |
| Running time | 10–12 minutes |
| Creator(s) | Steve Purcell |
| Executive producer(s) | Patrick Loubert Michael Hirsh Clive A. Smith Robert Ross Gwenn Saunders Eckel |
| Starring | Harvey Atkin Robert Tinkler Tracey Moore |
| Country of origin |  United States Canada |
| Original channel | Fox Broadcasting Company |
| Original run | October 4, 1997–April 25, 1998 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is an American animated television series which features a pair of crime-fighting private investigators based in New York City. The show was created by Steve Purcell, originator of both the Sam & Max characters and the original comic book series. The series first aired in October of 1997 on the FOX television network, producing 24 episodes and winning the 1998 Gemini Award for "Best Animated Series" before it was cancelled in April of 1998.[1] Each episode was approximately 10 minutes in length, excluding commercials, and were usually aired in pairs.
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[edit] Characters
- Sam: A 6 foot anthropomorphic canine detective dressed in noir-styled suit and hat. Voiced by Harvey Atkin.
- Max: An easily excitable 3 foot "hyperkinetic rabbity thing." Voiced by Robert Tinkler.
- The Commissioner: Sam and Max's mysterious agent and only known link to any form of official government body. Voiced by Dan Hennessey.
- Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek: The detectives personal teenage scientist and laboratory technician, housed in the pairs very own "Sub-Basement of Solitude." She often provides the pair with new gadgets and inventions to aid them on their missions. She is the only main character who doesn't also appear in the comics. Voiced by Tracey Moore.
[edit] Plot
The series revolves around the freelance police accepting missions from the mysterious Commissioner, whom they have never seen. The assignments usually lead them into far-off and exotic locales such as the Moon, Mount Olympus or the mutant inhabited waters of Bohunk lagoon. In between these official adventures, the pair also manage to squeeze in fridge-spelunking, time-travelling, bigfoot-hunting and numerous other escapades.
[edit] Commercial availability
Selected episodes from the series were released in three separate compilations on VHS by Sullivan Entertainment. The remaining episodes have never been commercially released, and while the show has been rerun a number of times since its cancellation, certain episodes (namely "Christmas Bloody Christmas") are reported to have only ever been aired once. The episodes included in the VHS compilations are as follows:
| The Y Files | All Creatures Great and Small | Come Fly With Me |
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GameTap announced on October 11, 2006 that they would shortly be releasing one episode from the series each week on GameTap TV, as a promotion for Telltale Games' Sam & Max video game.[2] Their schedule includes a release of every episode, appearing out of order.
[edit] Episode list
| # | Episode | Air date | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It" | October 4, 1997 | . . . |
| 2 | "The Second Show Ever" | October 11, 1997 | . . . |
| 3 | "Max's Big Day" | October 11, 1997 | . . . |
| 4 | "Bad Day on the Moon" | October 18, 1997 | . . . |
| 5 | "They Came From Down There" | October 25, 1997 | . . . |
| 6 | "The Friend for Life" | November 1, 1997 | . . . |
| 7 | "The Dysfunction of the Gods" | October 18, 1997 | . . . |
| 8 | "Big Trouble at the Earth's Core" | October 25, 1997 | . . . |
| 9 | "A Glitch in Time" | November 1, 1997 | . . . |
| 10 | "That Darn Gator" | November 8, 1997 | . . . |
| 11 | "We Drop at Dawn" | December 20, 1997 | . . . |
| 12 | "Christmas Bloody Christmas" | December 20, 1997 | . . . |
| 13 | "It's Dangly Deever Time" | February 6, 1998 | . . . |
| 14 | "Aaiiieee Robot" | February 27, 1998 | . . . |
| 15 | "The Glazed McGuffin Affair" | February 13, 1998 | . . . |
| 16 | "The Tell Tale Tail" | February 20, 1998 | . . . |
| 17 | "The Trouble with Gary" | February 20, 1998 | . . . |
| 18 | "Tonight We Love" | February 13, 1998 | . . . |
| 19 | "The Invaders" | February 27, 1998 | . . . |
| 20 | "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" | February 6, 1998 | . . . |
| 21 | "Little Bigfoot" | April 4, 1998 | . . . |
| 22 | "Fools Die on Friday" | . . . | |
| 23 | "Sam & Max vs. the Uglions" | April 4, 1998 | . . . |
| 24 | "The Final Episode" | April 25, 1998 | . . . |
[edit] Production notes
- Episode 1, entitled "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It", is twice the normal length of any other episode produced, being approximately 21 minutes long (excluding commercials). The plot and villain in this episode loosely parody John Carpenter's The Thing.
- Episode 3, entitled "Max's Big Day", features an introduction which parodies the beginning of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey with a loud, drawn out, orchestral shriek introducing a large, black pillar surrounded by a group of inquisitive primates. Furthermore, Sam walks in dressed in Fred Flintstone's trademark black-spotted orange furs and green necktie.
- Episode 4, entitled "Bad Day on the Moon", is a fairly faithful adaptation of the original Sam & Max comic of the same name.
- Episode 11, entitled "We Drop at Dawn", has a theme reminiscent of Apocalypse Now, including a character impersonating Marlon Brando.
- Episode 14, entitled "Aaiiieee Robot", refers to Isaac Asimov's famous I, Robot collection of short stories.
- Episode 17, entitled "The Trouble with Gary", is a goofy interpretation of "It's a Good Life".
- Episode 20, entitled "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", is a parody of James Bond style movies, complete with tropical island lair, evil minions, and tuxedos. The phrase "kiss kiss, bang bang" originates from Japan where it was used to refer specifically to the James Bond movies.
- Episode 21, entitled "Little Bigfoot", features a reference to the 1991 movie Hook and also LucasArts' 1993 adventure game Sam & Max Hit the Road, wherein the pair have managed to dislodge a solitary bolt from a road-side attraction causing the large reptilian structure to fall forward, capturing the two safely in between its jaws. This episode was written by Steve Purcell.
[edit] References
- ^ 13th Geminis "Best Animated Program or Series" results. Canada's Awards Database, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. Retrieved on 2006-05-26.
- ^ Hagerup, Eivind. "Sam & Max animated series heading for GameTap", Adventure Gamers, 2006-10-11. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
[edit] External links
- The Unofficial Sam & Max Website's animated series section
- The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police synopsis and episode listing at Nelvana
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| Computer games |
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| Sam & Max Hit the Road • Sam & Max Freelance Police (cancelled) |
| Sam & Max game series: "Culture Shock" |
| Cartoons |
| The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police |
