The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is an American-Canadian animated television series produced by Nelvana Limited and based on the comics by Steve Purcell. The series was first aired in October 4th, 1997 until the final episode was aired in April 25, 1998 on Fox Kids.
"It's Sam & Max: Freelance Police!"
Production[]
As it is aimed at children, the violence inherent in the franchise is "toned down" or replaced with more abstract forms of harm, and the characters do not use the moderate profanity that they use in their other appearances. The series had been turned down with Nickelodeon before later being picked up by Fox Kids. 24 episodes were produced, and it won the Canadian Gemini Award for "Best Animated Series", before being canceled in 1998.
Episodes[]
With the exception of the first and final episodes, which each had a running time of about 20 minutes, each episode was approximately 10 minutes in length, excluding commercials, and the episodes were usually aired in pairs. Each episode has a list: Click here.
Sam and Max in the animated series.
Credits[]
Executive Producers: Patrick Loubert, Michael Hirsh (producer), Clive A. Smith, Robert Ross, and Gwenn Saunders Ecke
Plot[]
As in all Sam & Max stories, 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 nonnative locales such as the Moon, Mount Olympus, the center of the Earth 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. Holiday episodes, such as visiting Blood Island on Christmas and delivering an artificial heart on Valentine's Day, were also included.
Commercial availability[]
VHS[]
Selected episodes from the series had been released in three separate compilations on VHS by Sullivan Entertainment. 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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DVD[]
On June 13, 2007, TVShowsOnDVD.com reported a DVD box set currently in development by Shout! Factory. It had also been reported that it will be a 3-disc set, complete with box art by Steve Purcell. Bonus features were stated to include an interview with Purcell.
A region-free DVD boxset containing the complete series could be purchased at the Telltale Store, before its shutdown.
A Gametap Ad promoting the episodes releasing on the platform.
Online release[]
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 episodic games. Their schedule included a release of every episode, appearing out of order, until eventually all episodes (except for "Fools Die on Friday") were available to watch online at GameTap for free. This situation came to an end in July 2008, when Gametap TV was closed down indefinitely. As of 2022, the series is now shown on Tubi, and can be found reuploaded en-masse on Youtube.