The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police


The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is an animated television series, based on the Sam & Max comic series by Steve Purcell. The series follows vigilante private investigators Sam, an anthropomorphic dog, and Max, a lagomorph or "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing", as they investigate strange and bizarre cases and confront the criminals responsible.
The show was first aired in October 1997 on Fox Kids in the U.S. and YTV in Canada, producing 13 episodes and winning the 1998 Gemini Award for "Best Animated Series". Despite being well-received and performing well, the series was cancelled in April 1998 after just one season.

Premise

The series revolves around Sam & Max, 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, the centre of the Earth or the mutant inhabited waters of Bohunk Lagoon. In between these assignments, the pair also manage to squeeze in fridge-spelunking, time traveling, Bigfoot-hunting and numerous other escapades. There were also holiday-themed episodes, such as visiting a prison on Christmas and delivering an artificial heart on Valentine's Day.

Characters

Sam is a 6-foot anthropomorphic canine dog detective dressed in noir-styled suit and hat.Max is an easily excitable 3-foot "hyperkinetic rabbity thing".The Commissioner is Sam & Max's mysterious agent and only known link to any form of official government body.Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek is the detectives' personal 12-year-old scientist and laboratory technician, housed in the pair's very own "Sub-Basement of Solitude". She often provides the duo with new gadgets and inventions to aid them on their missions. She is the only main character who does not also appear in the comics.Lorne, The Friend for Life is a clingy and over-exuberant fan of Sam & Max, and self-declared "friend for life", who only ends up annoying the duo and getting in the way of them doing their job.

Telecast and media releases

The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police was first aired in October 1997 on Fox Kids in the U.S., but was cancelled in April 1998 and was replaced by The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs. In Canada, it also aired on YTV.
Selected episodes from the show had been released in three separate compilations on VHS by Sullivan Entertainment. The episodes included in the VHS compilations are as follows:
The Y FilesAll Creatures Great and SmallCome Fly With Me

  • "Sam & Max vs. the Uglions"
  • "The Invaders"
  • "They Came from Down There"
  • "The Trouble with Gary"
  • "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It"
  • "The Second Show Ever"
  • "The Tell Tale Tail"
  • "Big Trouble at the Earth's Core"
  • "That Darn Gator"
  • "Little Bigfoot"
  • "Max's Big Day"
  • "Dysfunction of the Gods"
  • "We Drop at Dawn"
  • "Bad Day on the Moon"
  • "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"
  • "Aaiiieee Robot"
    • GameTap released one episode from the show each week on GameTap TV in October 2006, as a promotion for Telltale Games' Sam & Max: Season One. Their schedule includes a release of every episode, appearing out of order. Up until mid-July 2008 all episodes were available to watch online at GameTap for free until the GameTap TV section was shut down as part of a site redesign.
    In March 2008, the complete series was released by Shout! Factory. Features include original case art by Steve Purcell, three "educational" shorts, an interview with Purcell, a short featurette about Telltale Games, an art gallery, an "Original Series Bible", a Flash-based cartoon titled 'Our Bewildering Universe' and a playable demo of Ice Station Santa. A sticker of the Sam & Max title card was also included.
    As of 2022, the show is now streaming on Tubi and Pluto TV.