History WesternAnimation / TheAdventuresOfSamAndMaxFreelancePolice

Created by the Canadian animation studio Creator/{{Nelvana}}, the ''[[Franchise/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]'' cartoon series premiered on Creator/FoxKids in 1997 (and aired on Creator/{{YTV}} in Canada) under the full title ''The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'' and lasted only 13 full-length episodes, with 24 individual stories. The show faced some inevitable {{Bowdlerization}} in heading to children's television, but make no mistake: it was made for fans of Sam and Max first and for kids second.

The ''[[Franchise/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam & Max]]'' cartoon series premiered on Creator/FoxKids in 1997 (and aired on Creator/{{YTV}} in Canada) under the full title ''The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'' and lasted only 13 full-length episodes, with 24 individual stories. The show faced some inevitable {{Bowdlerization}} in heading to children's television, but make no mistake: it was made for fans of Sam and Max first and for kids second.

* BrickJoke: In "The Trouble With Gary," when the titular child first demonstrates his RealityWarper powers, Max begs to be [[BalefulPolymorph transformed into a Painted Turtle]]. Later, when Sam and Max enrage Gary with some roughhousing, Gary turns Sam into a bovid plushie, at which point Max complains that his earlier request to be turned into a Painted Turtle went unfulfilled. Gary, still upset, immediately complies, to which max cheerfully thanks him.

* NoisyStraw: In the episode "Little Bigfoot", Sam becomes extremely annoyed with Max for doing this, to the point where he takes the straw out of the cup and shoves Max's head through it. Max, oddly enough, takes this in stride:

* RecycledSoundtrack: During the scene where Max stops Sam from choking on a wallet at a church, the same organ music from ''WesternAnimation/StickinAround'' is heard, as the music was composed for both shows by John Havelock Tucker.

---> Sam: "We were to be airdropped into a virtual hell on Earth in order to engage in a life or death offensive in order to locate and retrieve the Commissioner's lost keys."
** Also, Max does say "God's Sake" at one point, even though in all the other episodes, "Gosh" seems to be the word that they can use. Ex: The extremely forced "Good Gosh" spoken by the Geek.

* InstantlyProvenWrong: "The Second Show Ever" does one with a [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall break]]:

-->''[Sam and Max are being sucked into Darla's school science experiment]''
-->'''Max:''' That's COOL!
-->'''Sam:''' Wanna come live in our basement, devoting the rest of your life to fighting crime?!
-->'''Darla:''' ''[flatly]'' Okay.

-->'''Sam:''' "Easy, Festus; we's just returnin' this here Bigfoot youngin' to his kin, is awl."
-->'''Max:''' "Sam, I didn't know you spoke ''Bumpkin!''"

--> ''[a refrigerator monster morphs into a basket of kittens making PuppyDogEyes to try and avoid being roasted by flamethrowers]''
--> '''Sam:''' Gee, I don't know anybody who could firebomb kittens...
--> '''Max:''' Here, let me!

** In one episode Sam mentioned how his grandma said "Idle hands are the devil's monkey bars". A couple episodes later we see her herself and she instead says "Idle hands end up in the machinery.".
** We see one of the Mole Men with a Mole Woman underground a couple episodes after they were featured.

-->''[tiny invader attempts to fly into Sam's open office window]''
-->'''Sam:''' ''[stops typing]'' [[LampshadeHanging I think I'll just close this window for no good reason!]]
-->''[[[GlassSmackAndSlide smack!]]]''

** Sam is seen sporting his trademark giant revolver (albeit loading it with [[AbnormalAmmo rubber bullets]]) in the opening of "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", and normal firearms are shown numerous times throughout the series even if they are rarely fired. The duo's favorite handguns are no-no in the animated series; flamethrowers and rocket launchers are kosher though.

---> Sam: "We were to be air dropped into a virtual hell on Earth in order to engage in a life or death offensive in order to locate and retrieve the Commissioner's lost keys."

* HomoeroticSubtext: Enough for a dedicated [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HoYay/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Ho-Yay page.]]
* HongKongDub: Parodied in "The Second Show Ever", where one of the career day guests is a {{samurai}} in full armour. He speaks Japanese with subtitles; Sam and Max join in, PaintingTheMedium by speaking in the usual stilted dub.

--> '''Sam:''' Say, that reminds me. Feeling light-headed, kids? Are you suffering the ill effects of too many fast-paced hard-sell in-your-face adverts designed to compete for your parents' hard-earned dollar? Well, you're not alone!
--> '''Max:''' The folks in programming are sympathetic to your plight, and as such, have agreed to present today's episode in its entirety without any commercials at all.
--> '''Sam:''' You heard right, gang! One whole episode of Sam & Max without commercial interruptions of ''any''—
--> ''([[SmashCut cut]] to [[CommercialBreakCliffhanger commercial]])''

* NeverSayDie: Subverted with extreme prejudice, still unusual for a Saturday morning cartoon in TheNineties. Sam and Max constantly talk about about cheating death, brushes with death, etc. Similar to the case under FamilyFriendlyFirearms, the show gets around the ban on directly using the word "kill" by simply going ''more'' over the top and putting Sam's penchant for dense, flowery analogies to good use.

* OhNotNotAgain: In "The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It", The Geek's reaction to seeing [[ItCameFromTheFridge something in the fridge creeping up on her]] is an annoyed "Not again! This is the third time this morning."

-->'''Sam:''' "Look, Max! These Sea Chimps actually ''look like the ones on the box!'' And they're playing with a tiny beach ball!"
-->'''Max:''' "Our prayers, they've been answered!"

-->'''Dr. Cerebri:''' They laughed at me at the academy! They laughed at me, at the institute!
-->'''Sam:''' ''[to Max]'' He must've been a lot funnier then.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It's peppered with innuendo and {{Parental Bonus}}es.
** Some people have commented to Steve Purcell that they were surprised how much the show got away with. Purcell has also mentioned that in some small towns, MoralGuardians tried to get the show pulled for that reason.
** Two stand out in "Christmas Bloody Christmas":
---> '''Sam:''' The prison showers. If these walls could talk...\\
'''Max:''' ''(shudders)'' [[PrisonRape I think it's best if they keep their mouths shut.]]\\
''(in the very same scene)''\\
'''Max:''' ''(bends over to pick up a bar of soap, a sign on his bum labeled "Do not open till Christmas")''
** The show is not able to depict blood when discussing the function of the heart. Sam informs us of this [[LeaningOntheFourthWall while standing in front of a red-colored background]]
** The lines spoken by Max as he and Sam are being picked up by a helicopter, leaving a stereotypical attractive secretary adrift on a raft in a major shipping lane.
---> '''Max:''' Don't worry, miss, a boat will come along soon, and that means sailors. Yep, you'll get picked up, alright...
%%ZCE ** The hitman in "The Final Episode".
** In "We Drop At Dawn", Max finds Arlo in a bush. A ''cannabis'' bush.
** Max gets this one-off line in "The Glazed MacGuffin Affair":
---> '''Max:''' Thwarted by a clip-on tie. It's like prom night all over again!

** The fighting over who gets to answer the phone is also expanded to answering the door as well. In "We Drop at Dawn" they fight over who gets to open their mission instructions at the appointed hour. Also, Max manages to actually ''win'' twice. But there ware extenuating circumstances. First was "A Glitch in Time": he'd messed up time so that Sam had become a monk. It's especially funny because he cringed right before he picked it up, insinuating he expected to lose. The second time, [[PyrrhicVictory the caller is Lorne, THE FRIEND FOR LIFE]].

* ConvenientEclipse: Sam and Max get thrown into dire peril and deathtraps in every episode, but always escape through blind luck, ContrivedCoincidence, and DeusExMachina, then retaliate with cartoon violence.

** The fighting over who gets to answer the phone is also expanded to answering the door as well. In "We Drop at Dawn" they fight over who gets to open their mission instructions at the appointed hour. Also, Max manages to actually ''win'' twice. But there ware extenuating circumstances. First was "A Glitch in Time": he'd messed up time so that Sam had become a monk. It's especially funny because he cringed right before he picked it up, insinuating he expected to lose. The second time, the caller is Lorne, THE FRIEND FOR LIFE.

* AdaptationExpansion: Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek is a cartoon-only creation filling the role of gadget provider. She lives and works in the basement of Sam and Max's building.

* AnimationBump: The episodes worked on by Creator/PhilippineAnimationStudioInc.

* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: the episode "AAIIIEEE Robot" has a host of 50-foot whatevers invading Tokyo and the Moon Cockroaches from the adaptation of ''Bad Day on the Moon''.
* {{Badbutt}}: Both main characters in this adaptation, as actual blood and guts were frowned upon so they're limited to more cartoonish mayhem.

-->'''Max:''' Each year I ''wish'' it would get better, but it never does!

* CanonForeigner: The Geek, who has yet to appear anywhere else.

-->'''Sam:''' ''[stops typing]'' "I think I'll just close this window for no good reason!"
-->''[[GlassSmackAndSlide [smack!]]]''

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: In the first episode, there's a "Last time, on Sam And Max", showing them [[IncredibleShrinkingMan shrunken down]] and trapped in a bottle being poked by a nerd, [[HomoeroticSubtext having a wedding]] (Sam as the bride and Max as the groom), fighting an octopus underwater, riding a boar in the jungle, and parodying the ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'' intro, with the rock breaking, to sell the series' wacky tone.

* FamilyFriendlyFirearms: The duo's favorite handguns are no-no in the animated series; flamethrowers and rocket launchers are kosher though.
** Like all the attempts at {{Bowdlerization}}, Purcell and company waltzed around this one, too; Sam is seen sporting his trademark giant revolver (albeit loading it with [[AbnormalAmmo rubber bullets]]) in the opening of "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang", and normal firearms are shown numerous times throughout the series even if they are rarely fired.
** In "Tonight We Love", the president's bodyguards openly fire on the Freelance Police, with real bullets. Well, one is a realistic bullet, the others seem to be a [[CartridgesInFlight whole bullet, shell and all, fired, but not detonated, from the guns.]]

%%** The hitman in "The Final Episode".

* HomoeroticSubtext: The series, in general, has [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/HoYay/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice quite a bit of it.]]
%%* HongKongDub: Parodied in "The Second Show Ever".

* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: "The Glazed MacGuffin Affair". Plus, half of the duo ''is'' named Sam, so you get two {{Shout Out}}s for the price of one.

* JustTheIntroductionToTheOpposites: In “The Friend for Life,” we’re introduced to the Mad Thespian, a diabolical villain, and Lorne, an obsessive nerd who idolizes Sam & Max. In a clever reversal of the characters’ expected roles, it’s the Mad Thespian who gets kidnapped by Lorne and used as bait to lure the heroes into a trap.

* LighterAndSofter: Due to the {{Bowdlerization}} required by the AnimationAgeGhetto, the titular duo couldn't carry their realistic guns, the humor and plots were a bit more ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes''-style {{slapstick}}, among other things. That said, fans still like it -- according to some interviews, since they weren't allowed to be too Dark in the Cartoon, they decided to grab everything else which make Sam and Max, like the weirdness and the ParentalBonus, and upgrade them UpToEleven. Steve Purcell has said that the show's use of bazookas and rocket launchers instead of handguns and firearms both placated the censors and brought the show closer to the spirit of the original comic.
* LoonyFan: Lorne, [[{{Leitmotif}} THE FRIEND FOR LIFE!]] is obsessed with Sam and Max.

* NobodyCanDie: Averted once, otherwise played straight thanks to {{unexplained recover|y}}ies. Max is vaporized in the adaptation of "Bad Day on the Moon".

* PreviouslyOn: Spoofed in the very first episode.

* ShoutOut: Sweet caviar nestled into the fur of a giant moon bear, are there shout outs. There's at least a couple every episode. There are just too many to name. From a whole episode of spy shout outs, to the monster movie shout outs, you have to watch the show if you want to know all of them.
** The Glazed MacGuffin making machine looks like [[Film/NothingButTrouble Mr. Bonestripper]]

** And from ''The Friend for Life'', [[ComicBook/RedSkull the Crimson Bonehead.]] (Ironically, Fox Kids was supposed to air a ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' series the year after this show, but Marvel's bankruptcy put an end to that.)

* TimeTravel: "A Glitch in Time", which include a bit SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong flavor and the obligatory meeting with their soft, marketable younger selves.
* TitleThemeTune
* ToServeMan: The Uglions are frying up people in their theme restaurant.

%%** The hitman in ''The Final Episode''.
** In ''We Drop At Dawn'', Max finds Arlo in a bush. A ''cannabis'' bush.

** The fighting over who gets to answer the phone is also expanded to answering the door as well. In ''We drop at Dawn'' they fight over who gets to open their mission instructions at the appointed hour. Also, Max manages to actually ''win'' twice. But there ware extenuating circumstances. First was "A Glitch in Time": he'd messed up time so that Sam had become a monk. It's especially funny because he cringed right before he picked it up, insinuating he expected to lose. The second time, the caller is Lorne, THE FRIEND FOR LIFE.

** On a sign: Perfectly Normal Industries (And By No Means A Military Complex)

-->'''Dr. Cerebri:''' ''"They laughed at me at the academy! They laughed at me, at the institute!"''
-->'''Sam:''' [to Max] ''"He must've been a lot funnier then."''

* TotallyRadical: [[ConversationalTroping Brought up]] during ''Aaiiieee Robot,'' where Max says that "Extreme Freelance Police" sounds like a rebranding cooked up for the next season.

* PunnyName: Ms. Givens, the overly cautious and nervous schoolteacher. You might say she has some "apprehensions"[[note]]"''misgivings''"[[/note]] about the Freelance Police showing up for Career Day.
** There's also Kent Standit, the ban-happy[[note]]as in "''can't stand it''"[[/note]] Snack Food & Drug Administration head responsible for getting Glazed [=MacGuffins=] pulled from the shelves.

-->'''Monkey:''' Monkeys on skates? This truly is the dawn of evolution!
-->'''Monkey Elder:''' And we have Sam and Max: Freelance Police, to thank for it!
-->'''Monkey:''' Sam and who?

* DiabolicalMastermind: Mack Salmon. As the name implies, he's the self-proclaimed ArchEnemy of Sam and Max. He's a villainous orange salmon in a fishbowl mounted on top of a fake body, as in the comics. Here he has a [[SuperWheelchair hover chair]] instead of a regular wheelchair and seemingly unlimited resources to build bases and elaborate underground labs, with which he seeks his revenge on the duo for their part in causing his "condition"... of which they have [[ButForMeItWasTuesday no memory whatsoever]].

** Some people have commented to Steve Purcell that they were surprised how much the show got away with. Purcell has also mentioned that in some small towns, MoralGuardians tried to get the show pulled for that reason. Some jokes would probably also go [[ParentalBonus unnoticed by kids]], if this applies here. Two stand out in "Christmas Bloody Christmas":

* GoshDangItToHeck: No matter how intense the situation is, this is never subverted.

** Except, oddly, in "We Drop At Dawn" where Sam's narration contains the line:

%%* HongKongDub: Parodied in ''The Second Show Ever''.

* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: ''The Glazed MacGuffin Affair''. Plus, half of the duo ''is'' named Sam, so you get two {{Shout Out}}s for the price of one.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: ''The Second Show Ever'' does one with a [[BreakingTheFourthWall fourth wall break]]:

* AdaptationExpansion: Darla "The Geek" Gugenheek is a cartoon-only creation filling the role of gadget provider. She works in the basement of the office.

-->'''Max:''' "That's COOL!"
-->'''Sam:''' "Wanna come live in our basement, devoting the rest of your life to fighting crime?!"
-->'''Darla:''' ''[flatly]'' "Okay."

* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: the episode ''AAIIIEEE Robot'' has a host of 50-foot whatevers invading Tokyo and the Moon Cockroaches from the adaptation of ''Bad Day on the Moon''.

* ClipShow: Parodied and lampshaded with ''The Final Episode'', which is a Clip Episode composed by clips which are original material for the episode.

--> ''A refrigerator monster morphs into a basket of kittens making PuppyDogEyes to try and avoid being roasted by flamethrowers''

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: "[[ChristmasEpisode Christmas Bloody Christmas]]" only aired once on Fox, and was never included in the syndication reruns. Eventually averted with the DVD release in 2008.

-->''(Sam and Max are being sucked into Darla's school science experiment)''

-->'''Darla:''' ''[flat]'' "Okay."

-->'''Refrigerator Repairman:''' ''[Inspecting a fridge]'' What seems to be the problem?\\

-->'''Max:''' "Each year I ''wish'' it would get better, but it never does!"

* ChristmasEpisode: "Christmas Bloody Christmas", in which Sam's grandmother, a former prison warden, takes the boys to [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Blood Island Maximum Security Penitentiary]] to spread Christmas cheer -- only to end up needing to foil a jailbreak instead. The episode formerly qualified as KeepCirculatingTheTapes, as it only aired on Fox once, and was never included in the syndication reruns. Eventually averted with the DVD release.

-->''*tiny invader attempts to fly into Sam's open office window*''
-->'''Sam:''' ''*stops typing*'' "I think I'll just close this window for no good reason!"
-->''[[GlassSmackAndSlide *smack!*]]''
* ConvenientEclipse: Sam and Max get thrown into dire peril and deathtraps in every episode, but always escape through blind luck and DeusExMachina, then retaliate with cartoon violence.

* CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon:
** Max offers up an especially funny threat to Arlo over his annoying verbal tic:
--> '''Max:''' ''"I'll make you a deal: you end one more sentence with the word 'Man,' and I get to remove one bone, of my choosing, from your body."''
** Sam one-ups him.
--> '''Sam:''' ''"Two bones if you refer to me as a cat again."''

* DiabolicalMastermind: Mack Salmon -- as the name suggests, the self-proclaimed ArchEnemy of Sam and Max. He's a villainous orange salmon in a fishbowl mounted on top of a fake body, as in the comics. Here he has a [[SuperWheelchair hover chair]] instead of a regular wheelchair and seemingly unlimited resource to build elaborate underground labs, with which he seeks his revenge on the duo for their part in causing his condition... of which they have [[ButForMeItWasTuesday no memory whatsoever]].

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: In the first episode, there's a "Last time, on Sam And Max", showing them in a bottle being poked by a nerd, [[HomoeroticSubtext having a wedding]] (Sam as the bride and Max as the groom), fighting an octopus underwater, riding a boar in the jungle, and parodying the ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing'' intro, with the rock breaking, to sell the series' wacky tone.

* FriendToAllChildren: A defining trait of Sam and Max in this adaptation. Although they rarely interact with kids in the rest of the series, here, they get along great with kids. Perhaps, like the creators of the cartoon themselves, Sam and Max realized that kids would love their antics, as long as they're [[{{Bowdlerize}} toned down a little]].
* FurryReminder: Despite having jobs and an office, Sam & Max are still animals and are occasionally treated as such. In "A Glitch in Time", Max even winds up in a cage at the vet's [[FurryDenial while Sam is busy running a pet wash.]] [[MST3KMantra Don't think too hard on it.]]

** Some people have commented to Steve Purcell that they were surprised how much the show got away with. Purcell has also mentioned that in some small towns, MoralGuardians tried to get the show pulled for that reason. Some jokes would probably also go [[ParentalBonus unnoticed by kids]], if this applies here. Two stand out in "Christmas Bloody Christmas"

'''Max:''' *shudders* [[PrisonRape I think it's best if they keep their mouths shut.]]\\

-->'''Sam:''' (watching Max produce an object from seemingly nowhere) Wow, Max, I didn't know you were a marsupial.\\

--> '''Sam:''' Say, that reminds me. Feeling light-headed, kids? Are you suffering the ill effects of too many fast-paced hard-sell [[ExtremeCloseUp in-your-face]] adverts designed to compete for your parents' hard-earned dollar? Well, you're not alone!

--> ''([[SmashCut cut]] [[CommercialBreakCliffhanger to commercial]])''

* LetsMeetTheMeat: [[spoiler: It's what the monster of the first episode really wants. Sam is all too happy to oblige.]]

* LoonyFan: Lorne, [[{{Leitmotif}} THE FRIEND FOR LIFE!]]

''*Cut to Sam and Max running from the tribe of angry New Guinea Pigs*''\\

* PermaStubble: Max gains a coating of stubble (over fur) while he has his helmet in ''We Drop at Dawn''.

** The fighting over who gets to answer the phone is also expanded to answering the door as well. In ''We drop at Dawn'' they fight over who gets to open their mission instructions at the appointed hour. Also, Max manages to actually ''win'' twice. But there ware extenuating circumstances. First was ''A Glitch in Time'': he'd messed up time so that Sam had become a monk. It's especially funny because he cringed right before he picked it up, insinuating he expected to lose. The second time, the caller is Lorne, THE FRIEND FOR LIFE.

-->'''Monkey:''' "Monkeys on skates? This truly is the dawn of evolution!"
-->'''Monkey Elder:''' "And we have Sam and Max: Freelance Police, to thank for it!"
-->'''Monkey:''' "Sam and who?"

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: From "That Darn Gator":
--> '''Max''': We visited him many times after that.
--> '''Sam''': And not because he swallowed our keys and we're waiting to the nature to do its thing!

* SlippedTheRopes: Sam and Max, captured by a VillainTeamup of previous foes, repeatedly escape from their bonds during the JustBetweenYouAndI rant in the last episode because they're bored.

* {{Badbutt}}: Both main characters in this adaptation.

* BarefootCartoonAnimal: Sam, as usual.
* BreakingTheFourthWall: At least OnceAnEpisode.

* ChristmasEpisode:
** ''Christmas Bloody Christmas''.
** This episode formerly qualified as KeepCirculatingTheTapes, as it only aired on Fox once, and was never included in the syndication reruns. Eventually averted with the DVD release.

* ComedicSociopathy: They still manage to get some in at least.

* ConvenientEclipse: How Sam and Max get out of pretty much every situation. Hilariously lampshaded at one point.
--> "I think I'll just close this window for no good reason."

* DemonicDummy: Deadly Dangly Deever. However, the original Dangly Deever (who averts the trope) is still around, and he helps Sam and Max round up his evil doppelganger.
* DeusExMachina: The Rubber Pants Commandos show up here, too.
* DiabolicalMastermind: Mack Salmon.
* DontTryThisAtHome:

* DoomyDoomsOfDoom:
** One of the kidnapped repairmen in the first episode constantly yells "We're doomed man, WE ARE DOOMED!", much to the other characters' annoyance.
** His name is even Hudson, in keeping with the ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' parody.

** Like all the attempts at {{Bowdlerization}}, Purcell and company waltzed around this one, too; Sam is seen sporting his trademark giant revolver (albeit loading it with [[AbnormalAmmo rubber bullets]]) in the opening of ''Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang'', and normal firearms are shown numerous times throughout the series even if they are rarely fired.
** In ''Tonight We Love'', the president's bodyguards openly fire on the Freelance Police, with real bullets. Well, one is a realistic bullet, the others seem to be a [[CartridgesInFlight whole bullet, shell and all, fired, but not detonated, from the guns.]]

* FurryReminder: Despite having jobs and an office, Sam & Max are still animals and are occasionally treated as such. In ''A Glitch in Time'', Max even winds up in a cage at the vet's [[FurryDenial while Sam is busy running a pet wash.]] [[MST3KMantra Don't think too hard on it.]]
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: It's peppered with innuendo and {{Parental Bonus}}es. Some people have commented to Steve Purcell that they were surprised how much the show got away with.
** Purcell has also mentioned that in some small towns, MoralGuardians tried to get the show pulled for that reason.
** Some jokes would probably also go [[ParentalBonus unnoticed by kids]], if this applies here. Two stand out in ''Christmas Bloody Christmas''
--> '''Sam:''' The Prison Showers. If these walls could talk...
--> '''Max:''' *shudders* [[PrisonRape I think it's best if they keep their mouths shut.]]
--> ''(in the very same scene)''
--> '''Max:''' ''(bends over to pick up a bar of soap, a sign on his bum labeled "Do not open till Christmas")''

--> '''Max:''' Don't worry, miss, a boat will come along soon, and that means sailors. Yep, you'll get picked up, alright...
** The hitman in ''The Final Episode''.

--> '''Max:''' Thwarted by a clip-on tie. It's like prom night all over again!

** Except, oddly, in ''We Drop At Dawn'' where Sam's narration contains the line
--> Sam: "We were to be air dropped into a virtual hell on Earth in order to engage in a life or death offensive in order to locate and retrieve the Commissioner's lost keys."

* {{Hammerspace}}: Max, naturally.

* HongKongDub: Parodied in ''The Second Show Ever''.

* ItCameFromTheFridge: ''The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It'', a monstrosity born of Darla's leaky chemicals and a frozen steak dinner.

* LargeHam: Max gets his ham volume turned up somewhat. (Probably to make up for the parts of his violent side they couldn't show.)

* LighterAndSofter: Due to the AnimationAgeGhetto, the titular duo couldn't carry their realistic guns, the humor and plots were a bit more Looney Tunes slapstick, among other things. That said, fans still like it.
** According to some interviews, since they weren't allowed to be too Dark in the Cartoon, they decided to grab everything else which make Sam and Max, like the weirdness and the ParentalBonus, and upgrade them UpToEleven.
** Steve Purcell has said that the show's use of bazookas and rocket launchers instead of handguns and firearms both placated the censors and brought the show closer to the spirit of the original comic.

* McGuffin: The titular Glazed McGuffin from ''The Glazed McGuffin Affair''

* MythologyGag: ''Bad Day On the Moon'' was based directly on a story in the original comic, which is, at the same time, based in one of the original comics Steve Purcell drew as a kid. The episode has Max {{lampshade}} this fact by holding up a copy of said comic which the original ''Bad Day On the Moon'' comic was based and proudly proclaiming "The preceding joke was originally conceived back in 1978."
* NeverMessWithGranny: Max's, I mean Sam's Granny Ruth, who works at a ''maximum security prison'' on [[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Blood Island]]. The duo visit her on Christmas Eve just as the prisoners attempt a jailbreak. True to this trope, Granny kicks seventeen types of ass to get the rapscallions back into place.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Harvey Atkin's Sam voice seems to be heavily based on [[Series/TheAddamsFamily John Astin's]].
* OminousPipeOrgan: [[VillainOfTheWeek The Mad Thespian]] from "The Friend For Life" has this as his {{Leitmotif}}.

* PermaStubble: Max gains this while he has his helmet in ''We drop at Dawn''.

* PunnyName[=/=]StealthPun: Ms. Givens, the overly cautious and nervous schoolteacher. You might say she has some "apprehensions" about the Freelance Police showing up for Career Day.
** There's also Kent Standit, the ban-happy Snack Food & Drug Administration head responsible for getting Glazed [=MacGuffins=] pulled from the shelves.

* RunningGag: The fighting over who gets to answer the phone is also expanded to answering the door as well. In ''We drop at Dawn'' they fight over who gets to open their mission instructions at the appointed hour. Also, Max manages to actually ''win'' twice. But there ware extenuating circumstances. First was ''A Glitch in Time'': he'd messed up time so that Sam had become a monk. It's especially funny because he cringed right before he picked it up, insinuating he expected to lose. The second time, the caller is Lorne, THE FRIEND FOR LIFE.
** Also as a CouchGag of sorts, every intro sequence in the first episodes featured a character that had no idea who Sam and Max were.

** The Glazed Macguffin making machine looks like [[Film/NothingButTrouble Mr. Bonestripper]]

* SlippedTheRopes: Sam and Max do this repeatedly in the last episode of the series, because they're bored.

* SuperNotDrowningSkills: It's part of their abilities as Cartoon Characters

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: From ''That Darn Gator'':
--> '''Max''': We visit him many times after that

* TimeTravel: ''A Glitch in Time'', which include a bit SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong flavor and the obligatory meeting with their soft, marketable younger selves.

* ToServeMan: The Uglions