What do you think of the animated series?

[ezzetabi]

This is what I think:
01 "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It"
Nice.

02 "The Second Show Ever"
So and so

03 "Max's Big Day"
Bah. Ugly.

04 "Bad Day on the Moon"
Nice. The book is better I think.

05 "They Came From Down There"
Nice.

06 "The Friend for Life"
I hate him. But the episode is nice.

07 "The Dysfunction of the Gods"
Cool.

08 "Big Trouble at the Earth's Core"
Cool.

09 "A Glitch in Time"
One of my favourite.

10 "That Darn Gator"
Cool.

11 "We Drop at Dawn"
Cool... the first half. Boring afterward.

12 "Christmas Bloody Christmas"
Nice.

13 "It's Dangly Deever Time"
So and so.

14 "Aaiiieee Robot"
Nice.

15 "The Glazed McGuffin Affair"
Very nice.

16 "The Tell Tale Tail"
So and so.

17 "The Trouble with Gary"
Cool.

18 "Tonight We Love"
One of my favourite.

19 "The Invaders"
So and so.

20 "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"
The commissioner daughter? WOW! Good episode.

21 "Little Bigfoot"
It would the nice ending a part... all the work for nothing.

22 "Fools Die on Friday"
I still hate him, but once again nice episode.

23 "Sam & Max vs. the Uglions"
The best one imo.

24 "The Final Episode"
Great.

I didn't explained much why... but we can speak, can't we?

[Sp0tted]

I've gotta admit, that while the TV series had limitations due to the Saturday Morning bit, it is still a hilarious, edgy show.

The first time I saw it (when it was on TV) I wasn't a huge fan, as it wasn't what I was expecting (the only Sam and Max I knew was the Lucas Arts game). But after reading the comics and getting more deeply involved with the series, the TV show really surprised me. I wish we could have seen a second season, as they really got into their stride with the later episodes.

[nhaingen]

I love the Freelance Police cartoon for many reasons, but I sympathize with the Sam & Max fans who were put off by it. If I'd been a S&M fan during the show's production, I think I'd be worried that it would eternalize Sam and Max as TV show kid's characters and bring a halt to the more adult games. Now I'm in 2008 and I can appreciate the show with the pleasant knowledge that TellTale is churning out quality episodes by the bucketful.

The animation itself is really dynamic, something not even the 3D games can really achieve, and it's fun to see our favorite unorthodox lawbreaker/enforcers with so much movement. Each episode is fun to watch and rewatch for the witty dialogue, which has always been the best part of all things S&M.

I want to write more, but in all honesty I haven't seen all the episodes yet - a fact I plan to change ASAP.

...Wait, I sense an opinion I don't quite agree with and which is therefore wrong. You didn't like Max's Big Day? Not even the pelt of piety? D:

[ShaggE]

I didn't really like it. It's not true Sam & Max to me.

[ezzetabi]

@ShaggE
What about some explanation, I am curious to understand why you think so.

@nhaingen
Max big day didn't feel right to me. In the comic we never see Sam or Max deform so much, they are capable of incredible things but using Max as parachute or Sam as jacket... It was out of the settings.

[OMA]

I think the TV series are great so far (I still haven't seen all episodes), but I think Shout should have included subtitles in its DVD release. Not even translations, just the subtitles of the original English version. That would be great both for deaf people and non-English-native people, since some sentences are a bit hard to understand. I can't see why it doesn't include any subtitles. Any decent commercial DVD release has subtitles in a ton of languages. It can't be that expensive to hire some subtitling services, specially for a DVD set that is probably going to sell quite well, since S&M are quite popular. Having subtitles for several languages would also increase sales for them, I think. But even just the English subtitles would be a lot better than nothing.

I'm quite disappointed about this new release for that reason. I mean, it's great that they've rescued all the episodes of the animated series with perfect image and sound quality, but not having any subtitles at all in this release really detracts a lot from what is an otherwise excellent DVD set.

[Mercury2142]

It's not the same as any other S/M stuff, but then it probably was designed to be so. I still think it's great.

[wisp]

i like it...even if it's somewhat different, but the games aren't totally like the comics either.

[ShaggE]

@ShaggE
What about some explanation, I am curious to understand why you think so.


Well, the watered-down tone kind of nags at me, for one. Remember Toxic Crusaders and Tales From The Cryptkeeper? Two cartoons made from franchises that were clearly intended for adults, and the quality suffered because of it. (Especially with Toxic Crusaders... what the hell was Troma thinking?)

Second, it just wasn't all that funny. Calling an episode "The Second Show Ever" is probably the only thing about it that made me truly laugh.

Third, and I know this is a nitpick, but the voices were AWFUL. Just plain bad.

[nhaingen]

Third, and I know this is a nitpick, but the voices were AWFUL. Just plain bad.

I know this is a matter of personal opinion, but I really liked the voices. Max had a degree of insanity to him that I thought was really fitting, and Sam had a lot more emotion. I still prefer his dryer, more sarcastic voices, though.

On another note I can't read any of Purcell's comics without hearing Hit The Road's Max (Nick Jameson) in my head. All 3 of Max's voices have their virtues, if the current William Kasten is my favorite.

[Kitmit13]

mine just arrived and I love it <3

[RobD]

I love it. While it doesn't have all the over the top violence and mayhem of some of the comics that I've come to love, it's still great fun and, imo, still true to the nature of Sam & Max.

-Amazing! I had no idea my skull was threaded for easy access!

-Quick, press down on the medulla oblongata! Five bucks says he smells burnt toast!"

[Murray the Chao]

Third, and I know this is a nitpick, but the voices were AWFUL. Just plain bad.
Max really wasn't that bad. Don't how I could ever stand Sam, though.

[Sir Lemming]

I really like the Glazed McGuffin episode.

"I'm sure our methods of persuasion will have him seeing things our way."
"Or not seeing things at all!"

(At work; can't get exact quote.)

[ezzetabi]

oh yes, that was nice.

[thelonepig]

I too would have liked subtitles.

Still, I can't complain too much. Despite the "watered down" tone of the show, I still found myself rewinding part of the show just to see if he really did say what I thought he just said. And, yes, most of the time he did.

[ezzetabi]

Everyone moans about this "watered down" thing... But I really do not understand why, probably because I am not a native speaker... :S

What do you feel missing?

[nhaingen]

Missing? Well, the violence, mild expletives, and edginess (though they definitely got away with a LOT more than any cartoon could today, that's for sure.)

Also, while I felt a lot of it retained the Sam & Max vibe, other parts felt atypically cartoony and kiddish.

[ezzetabi]

I now understand the point about violence. In the cartoon we never see something like Sam and Max catch a pick pocketer, recover the stolen bag and a angry crowd hit the thief. During the chase they shoot and yell all the time.
Even in `Bad day on the moon' the scene where they threaten the mouse is different.

But can you tell me more about the edginess, please?

[Amaterasu]

there were parts when I just could'nt stop laughing.
the animated series was really funny. XD
I liked how it just went swoosh from here to there.

there was this scene when they both were in a plane with army suits and beards... XD
lol bearded max makes my day.
also there was this scene with the huge robo-max, and they came to japan, and there was this sign: "you must be this high to attack tokyo".
XDXD lol that cracked me up little buddy. XD

[mre]

Even though the quality varies quite heavily between episodes, I must say that there are a couple with a lot more mature setting than you'd expect in a morning kids' cartoon. Take my favorite episode "Christmas Bloody Christmas" for instance - an episode about a prison riot! Thay even do a joke about dropping the soap in the shower. :eek:

[Quuux]

I felt we missed out when the execs stopped them from having max sniff a soiled mattress ;)

[questionthemajority]

I have to say that the cartoon is my favorite incarnation of the Freelance Police. Yes, it was watered down a bit, but the censorship limitations made the writers have to resort to even stranger methods of violence that often resulted in being even funnier. I'm fairly sure even Steve Purcell mentioned once that he thought it made Sam & Max funnier when they weren't allowed to pull out weapons like handguns, but they could use weapons that were so over the top as to be considered silly, like bazookas. Plus the secondary characters like the G.E.E.K. and Lorne were hysterical (always wondered why Flint never showed up). And I've got to say that the cartoon voices, to me, are the best voices for the characters. I always hear those voices in my head whenever I read the comics.

[RobD]

(always wondered why Flint never showed up).

Maybe because he mostly drinks scotch, pummels thugs and not much else. Hardly a good role model for impressionable kids.

I think...

[questionthemajority]

Maybe because he mostly drinks scotch, pummels thugs and not much else. Hardly a good role model for impressionable kids.

I think...

Flint could easily have been characterized as the sort of by-the-book cartoon detective character that appeared in Saturday morning cartoons at the time. After all, he was a spoof of by-the-book comic book detectives to begin with!

[RobD]

Flint could easily have been characterized as the sort of by-the-book cartoon detective character that appeared in Saturday morning cartoons at the time. After all, he was a spoof of by-the-book comic book detectives to begin with!

I thought it was a spoof of more film noir detective rather than comic books. A lot darker and gritty.

[questionthemajority]

I thought it was a spoof of more film noir detective rather than comic books. A lot darker and gritty.

They sort of go hand-in-hand. There are a lot of old dark and gritty detective comics that are based off of that sort of movie.

[Ashton]

I think the eppisodes were far too short, not giving enough time to really get into the story before it ended, and often causing what seems to me like a 'plot jump' where things happen that arent explained but should be.

Also they were watered down, I mean I loved them for the wackyness, but when I started reading Surfing the Highway and started playing the TT games, it was such a (wonderful) shock to see the more mature plots and characters. The games and comics seem a lot more serious (if that's the proper word to describe these loveable loonatics) than the series did. Granted a lot of this WAS due to the censors placed on kids TV (though, as stated above, tehy got away with a LOT more than coudl be done today)

I do think Flint shoudl have amde a cameo though, perhaps just in-passing, so nobody would see him doing his 3 favorite things (pummeling, drinking, and seducing women (though thel latter I have to wonder how good he is at, despite all hsi big talk he clearly doesnt have a GF...))

I wish TT'd make a combo with surfing hte highway, limited edition hardback, and the freelance police TV series... I'd snap that up near=instantly!