History WesternAnimation / TheAdventuresOfSamAndMaxFreelancePolice

* LorreLookalike: In one episode, the title duo meet up with a contact who's a dead ringer for Creator/PeterLorre. Max, being Max, annoys the little guy by [[ImTakingHerHomeWithMe asking Sam if they can keep him]].

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

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Sam does this when The Geek tries to warn him and Max that the Uglions aren't just putting on a show for their patrons:
-->'''The Geek:''' "These guys ''aren't'' actors!!"
-->'''Sam:''' "Well, I'll admit they lack the theatrical chops of a Mr. Creator/BobSaget..."

** The first episode, "The Thing that Wouldn't Quit It", features the duo stranded at an outpost in a frigid wasteland, menaced by a shapeshifting creature that they fight with flamethrowers and dubbed, "[[Film/TheThing The Thing]]."

* FantasyHelmetEnforcement: In "The Friend For Life", Sam uses Max as a battering ram to break into the Mad Thespian's lair, but beforehand puts a helmet on Max and gives the audience a DontTryThisAtHome warning. The out-of -print art book "The Effigy Mount" reveals that [[ExecutiveMeddling network executives]] insisted on the helmet, fearing that children might try to imitate the stunt with real rabbits.

* LoonyFan: Lorne, [[{{Leitmotif}} THE FRIEND FOR LIFE!]] is an ExtravertedNerd who's obsessed with Sam and Max. He thinks they're best friends -- they can hardly wait to get away from him. He ends up pulling off supervillain plots to get their attention, and has more screen time than their actual supposed RoguesGallery.

Notable for being among the first 2D animated series to have all its episodes animated in digital ink-and-paint rather than cels.

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''[[labelnote:*]]though never actually referred to as such on-screen; the title sequence alternates between ''[[ExcitedShowTitle Sam & Max Freelance Police!!!]]'' or just ''Sam & Max''[[/labelnote]] 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.

** "Christmas Bloody Christmas" has a scene where the duo enter a prison shower room a quick pair of jokes that to kids may seem moderately naughty, but are loaded with [[PrisonRape a much more obvious, filthier connotation]] for adults:

--->'''Sam''': The prison showers! If these walls could talk, eh Max?\\

* BareBottomedMonkey: The opening of the episode "The Second Show Ever" -- which is a spoof of the beginning of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'' -- has one of the monkeys express an interest in wearing clothes and [[NakedPeopleAreFunny Max]] asking why he'd want that. The monkey answers by [[{{Squick}} sticking his naked behind in Max's face]], along with this exchange:

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* 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 up to eleven. 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.

* IDoNotLikeGreenEggsAndHam: In "The Glazed MacGuffin Affair", Kent Standit refuses to even try the titular sugary snack. Plus, half of the title duo ''is'' named Sam, so you get two {{Shout Out}}s for the price of one.

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

* EstablishingSeriesMoment: In the first episode, there's a "[[PreviouslyOn Last time]], on ''Sam & 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.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Normally, Sam is willing to look the other way for Lorne, despite sharing Max's dislike of him as he knows Lorne is relatively harmless. However, when Lorne hijacked a blimp full of innocent Austrians and acted like he was being controlled by a villain into ramming into the Statue of Liberty in his second appearance as an excuse to hang out with the Freelance Police, he doesn't hesitate to have him arrested.

* 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.

-->'''Gary:''' [[BalefulPolymorph This is what I think YOU are!]]

* FurryReminder: Despite having jobs and an office, Sam and 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.]][[invoked]]

* 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.

Notable for being among the first animated series to have all its episodes animated in digital ink-and-paint rather than cels.

* Max screaming. Like, every episode.

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''[[labelnote:*]]though never actually referred to as such on-screen[[/labelnote]] 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.