Product Description Remember, kids, we're professional cartoon characters. Don t try this at home. Based on Sam Purcell s enormously popular underground comic, The adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police! is an edgy and often irreverent, impudent, insolent, impious and silly series about a pair of likeable law enforcement types who don t take guff, from anybody. It' s about the timeless struggle between good, evil and snacktime;the weekly mishaps of a sixfoot dog, Sam, and a threefoot rabbitything, though he prefers the term lagomorph, Max, who have a mirthful time trying to resolve only the weirdest criminal cases of the day. Really.For your own good, and the good of mankind, enjoy Sam & Max: Freelance Police! Bonus Feature:A COMIC-CONversation With Steve Purcell!!!3 Animated Shorts Originally Seen on FOX KidsTMSam & Max: Our Bewildering Universe An original animated short written and codirected by Steve PurcellTelling The Tale Of Telltale Games A look at Telltale Games with cofounder Dan Connors, design director Dave Grossman and technical artist Daniel HerreraSam & Max Season 2 Playable Demo by Telltale GamesOriginal Series Bible by Steve Purcell .com Sam & Max: Freelance Police was a cheeky, comically perverse Fox animated series with a brief run on television in 1997, based on a comic book by Steve Purcell. Sam and Max are lifelong friends, the former a six-foot dog in generic-looking detective clothes, while Max is a short, unclothed rabbit (or, as he is often called, "rabbity thing") with a maniacal grin. Together, they set about writing wrongs and generally getting into well-meaning mischief, often receiving cryptic instructions by a never-seen Commissioner and working closely if warily with a child inventor called the Geek. The Complete Series includes 12 half-hour episodes, most of those divided between two short but imaginative tales that unabashedly derive inspiration from pop culture touchstones. (The very relationship between Sam and Max is reminiscent of the friendship between Gilligan and the Skipper on Gilligan's Island). Opener "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop" is like a wacky Scooby Doo adventure, in which the unflappable Sam and unhinged Max enter an alternative universe through Geek's refrigerator, where a green monster is pulling fridge repairmen to the other side. "Dysfunction of the Gods" is a very funny episode in which our heroes try to stop an apocalypse by repairing the romance between Zeus and Hera on Mt. Olympus. (They turn to a very modern idea to get the job done: putting Zeus and Hera on a Jerry Springer-like talk show that they personally host.) "A Glitch In Time" is one of the best stories, in which Sam and Max fool around with history's timeline by making little tweaks in the past and checking out present-day consequences. Much of what they see is rewardingly funny, but things go too far when they're separated: Sam becoming a horse groomer and Max a lab animal undergoing experiments. "The Trouble with Gary" is a variation on The Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life," in which Sam and Max try to help a boy with the power to alter anything (including people) in his environment. Two more Twilight Zone storylines are quoted in episodes "The Invaders" (which recalls a TZ program of the same title) and "Sam & Max Vs. the Uglions from Outer Spacer" (echoing TZ's famous "To Serve Man"). Special features include an interview with Purcell, in which he explains that Sam and Max were born in his parodies of his brother's comic drawings. There's also a trio of very funny Sam & Max shorts from Fox days, and another short that mocks the infamous "alien autopsy" film allegedly suppressed by the federal government. --Tom Keogh
L**
From the comics to the TV -with all the hilarity in between.
After playing the Telltale Sam & Max games, I was shocked when I learned there was a Sam & Max TV series in the 90s. I checked it out and was NOT disappointed. It carried the zany, witty tone from the comics beautifully. I only wish it could've gotten a second season.
M**E
Another great Fox cartoon that was doomed from the get-go
Sam & Max Freelance Police is a reasonably faithful animated retelling of the comic book by Steve Purcell. The program is a mix of stories contained in the comic and new material. In the case of existing stories, the dialog is pretty consistent, although much of the comic's mild profanity has been excised.Aside from this bit of kiddying down, Sam & Max is a pretty sophisticated action farce with about as much vulgarity as the writers could shoehorn in. For the sake of reaching the child audience the crime-fighting bunny-dog duo have been saddled with a girl sidekick/boffin/handler, the Geek, but she's pretty inoffensive and feels like a Purcell character enough to fit in. The show features art that is very reminiscent of the comic, with insanely detailed long shots, surreal backgrounds, and simple but consistent character designs.Sadly for Sam & Max, it arrived at a time when Fox swas piloting, then discarding a variety of clever kids' shows. The dreamlike, eerie Silver Surfer came along at the same time, and like Silver Surfer, Sam & Max was ditched fairly quickly. Nonetheless, this collection comes with hours of quality, frenetic entertainment for young and old alike, as well as a few special features and a neato Sam & Max badge decal.If you're a fan of classic 90s animation, Steve Purcell, or just want a smarter show for your kids than what's on TV nowadays, this is a great buy.
A**M
Solve global warming with a cheeseburger!
Gosh, this was fun. Watched it all in two or three days. Be prepared for some of the most ridiculous plots, full of dry humor, zany antics, and pop culture references galore. Go back to a time where the world's biggest problems could be easily solved by simply sticking with your friends and having hope in the future. Comes with a free bumper sticker as well. Get ready for Sam & Max: Freelance Police!
J**Z
Great animated comedy adventure from the late 1990s revived at the request of a cult fan base upon the release of a video game!
When a show is said to be ahead of its time, it often still ends up being dated once that time has caught up. Not the case for Sam & Max. While still very ahead of its time for a late 1990s Saturday Morning Cartoon, the humor and wit can still be appreciated even now.Even though most of the episodes are available on YouTube and all but a handful can be watched on Gamptap, having the episodes on DVD means you don't have to fight bandwidth traffic or compressed video and audio quality to enjoy the wacky cases of the Freelance Police. There are little details that you probably missed because of the low quality as well as jokes you probably want to revisit to find out what they said now that you can understand them clearly.If you are already a fan, you probably already have this set of DVDs. If you like cartoons that skirt the lines of what can and cannot be said on TV, you'll enjoy what Sam & Max can get away with.Either way, get this DVD set. "I have one, as does everyone I respect and admire!"
N**S
Great Content, Not So Great Distribution.
I'm a relatively new fan of the Sam & Max franchise. The games from TellTale Games were fantastic and I craved more! Which lead me to this, the short lived TV show.Now the content is fantastic. The voice acting is a little...off from the video game and the action is a little too quickly paced for the TV medium, but it's a must see for any S&M fan out in the wild blue yonder. The bonus DVD with the sketch book is also very nice as it goes on to show a few frames of how the characters are drawn as well as the original "Show Bible", which is an in-depth character study.However, buyer beware. The DVD format is some sort of strange formatting. There's something about the formatting on the disk that makes it incredibly hard for DVD players to read. On my PC, it takes a few tries of inserting it over and over again before it'll pick up that there's video/data upon the disk.
R**N
Steve Purcell's brain child leaves a short lived, but humorous series.
Sam and Max could probably never find an audience outside of the nerd culture, however within it, it found a place to thrive, within limits. The restrictions of the Fox Saturday Morning Line-up are apparent within the episodes, as the violent and macabre nature of the comics and earlier videogame are considerably downplayed. This Intellectual Property would have fared a longer run on, say, USA akin to their series like Duckman, however the bizarre blend of the goofy-yet-strangely adult themes makes for an interesting taste that really takes a selective palate. Most children wouldn't truly grok an episode dedicated to Apocalypse Now, and many of the older viewers might find the nonsensical actions a bit hard to swallow.The special features mostly feature TellTale Games and the new game series they built around this series of comics and the like, which, while interesting, felt more like tacked on advertisement (also the DVD set includes a demo for the PC game). There's an interview with Purcell, the creator, and also concept sketches of characters, props, and the like.Overall, it's worth the money if you're a Sam and Max Fan, but I'd probably rent it off of Netflix if I was a neophyte to the series.
A**S
Love These Two
Fantastic zaney comedy that holds its own even after all this time. Max is my fave little psychopath. I hope they make new episodes one day and bring it back.
D**G
A Perfect DVD Set of an Almost Perfect Show
I'd personally like to mention the great job that Shout Factory did with the production of this DVD set. The quality is wonderful. It is nice and compact due to the use of thinpaks to hold the DVDs. Unfortunately, though it is much smaller than most 3 DVD sets, it won't quite fit in a storage container designed for single DVD cases. It's just a bit too thick. However, you still can take the individual thinpaks out of the slipcover and they will both fit into a slot designed for a regular DVD case. The custom cover art is amazing. The actual content of the DVDs is great too. Each of the menus fit very well with the show. Overall, it is a beautiful presentation and I'm really glad that Shout Factory put so much love and care into its production.(And it comes with a nice Sam & Max sticker. Who doesn't like stickers?)
B**R
Region 1 But worth buying a multi region player just for this!!!
I think my title says it all really. Loved watching these when they aired on tv here, and just wish they'd released them over here on dvd!! But i will say that this series alone is more than worth buying a cheap multi-region player! :D A definite must buy!!
M**E
FINALLY!!!!!
I have been waiting for this for years! I wached this way back when it was a staple of underrated shows shoved into an unfit time slot on Fox Kids and I couldn't get enough. I have the tapes from the US but a box set??? I never thought they'd finally release one. It's slightly more approachable than Ren and Stimpy and with more story line. But the sarcastic laughs are brilliant! I can't wait till it arrives!
J**I
Gran diversión libre de zona.
Los personajes más locos de los videojuegos en una serie de animación. 3 DVD's libres de zona con muchos extras. Lástima que solo esté en inglés sin subtítulos.
H**L
Very good condition and fast delivery
Very good condition and fast delivery. Just like how I remember from my childhood. So happy to stumble upon this at random and amazingly was able to get this signed at the expo I was going to months later.
J**F
Love this show
The discs are so light on extras that I wanted to take a star away but I just couldn't do it. Definitely on the wacky end of the comedy spectrum but if you were a fan as a kid this lives up to the memory.
Trustpilot
2 weeks ago
3 weeks ago
