The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police

The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, Sam & Max: Freelance Police!!! or just simply Sam & Max, is an American animated television series starring Sam & Max, a duo of private investigators composed of Sam, an anthropomorphic dog, and Max, a lagomorph or "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing." The show was created by Steve Purcell, also creator of the original comic book series. The series first aired in October 1997 on Fox Kids in the United States and YTV in Canada, producing 24 episodes and winning the 1998 Gemini Award for "Best Animated Series" before it was canceled in April 1998. With the exception of the first and last episodes, which each had a running time of about 20 minutes, each episode was approximately 10 minutes in length, and were usually aired in pairs.

Premise
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, the center 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-travelling, 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: 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 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 doesn't also appear in the comics. Voiced by Tracey Moore.

Production notes

 * Nelvana's website lists the series as having a total of 13 episodes, pairing all 10 minute episodes together but leaving the two extended episodes (the first and last) as standalone, reflecting how the series was intended to air.
 * The plot and villain in Episode 1, "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It," loosely parody John Carpenter's The Thing. There are also numerous references to the film Aliens, with one of the refrigerator repairmen being captured and cocooned (and asking to be killed for some reason until Sam offers to save him instead) and another repairman being named Hudson who shares his name and constantly becomes hysterical like the Aliens character. The episode also references the Red Dwarf episode "DNA."
 * Episode 2, "The Second Show Ever," 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 appears dressed in Fred Flintstone's trademark black-spotted orange furs and green necktie. The rest of the episode is a loose parody of The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling.
 * Episode 4, "Bad Day on the Moon," is a fairly faithful adaptation of the original Sam & Max comic of the same name.
 * Episode 9, "A Glitch in Time," parodies the time travel-themed Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder."
 * Episode 11, "We Drop at Dawn," has a theme reminiscent of Apocalypse Now, including a character impersonating Marlon Brando who consistently refers to the duo as Sam and Dave.
 * Episode 14, "Aaiiieee Robot," refers to Isaac Asimov's famous I, Robot collection of short stories.
 * Episode 16, "The Tell Tale Tail," is a Sam & Max version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
 * Episode 17, "The Trouble with Gary," is a goofy interpretation of "It's a Good Life."
 * Episode 20,"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 an Italian journalist who referred to James Bond as "Mr. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang."
 * Episode 21, "Little Bigfoot," features a reference to the 1991 film 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.

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:

DVD
On March 11, 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.

Web release
GameTap announced on October 11, 2006 that they would be releasing one episode from the series each week on GameTap TV, 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 (except "Fools Die on Friday", possibly due to the September 11 terrorist attacks) were available to watch online at GameTap for free until the GameTap TV section was closed down as part of a site redesign.