TV Show Episode Information

The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police

(from the Press Kit supplied by the Fox Kids Network and Nelvana)

Fact Sheet

Created By:	Steve Purcell

Executive Producers:	Patrick Loubert
	Michael Hirsh
	Clive Smith
	Robert Ross
	Gwenn Saunders Eckel

Producer:	Jocelyn Hamilton

Production Company:	Nelvana

Director:	Steve Whitehouse

Promotional Materials Contact:	Shannon Dashiell
	Fox Kids Network

Publicity Contact:	Janice Aguilar
	Fox Kids Network Publicity

Press Representitive:	Nicole Cerwin-Nichols
	Fox Kids Network Publicity

Character Descriptions

Sam
A six-foot dog who wears a hat and gray baggy suit, Sam's excitable, enthusiastic, and, like any dog, loves going for a ride in the car. Sam is the motivating force of the Freelance Police and is the one most charged up about being a cop. It's his slightly foggy sense of justice that gets things going. The thing that keeps Sam from taking his job too seriously is having Max around.

Max
A hyperkinetic 3-foot rabbity thing, Max's world exists only to provide him with input for his pinball-like stream of consciousness. He's uninhibites and unhinged. Max's unflappable spirit makes him game for just about anything.

The Geek
We find the teenage brainiac known as "The Geek" in Sam & Max's Sub-Basement of Solitude. She is an accomplished engineer, computer dynamo, and Sam & Max's main information source concerning scientific and technical issues. They will utilize her inventions as long as they're convenient or entertaining, but they'll be readily tossed out as soon as their novelty wears off. For Sam & Max, technology is a mild diversion. To keep them interested, it had better be fun!

The Commissioner
The Commissioner is Sam & Max's only real contact with city government. Sam & Max have never laid eyes on this guy, but they kind of enjoy the mysterious quality of his phone calls, which are brief and cryptic.

Show Description

THE ADVENTURES OF SAM & MAX: FREELANCE POLICE is an edgy, irreverent, impudent, insolent, impious, and silly series about a pair of likable law enforcement types who don't take any gruff from anybody. It's about th etimeless struggle between good and evil, and snacktime -- the weekly mishaps of a six foot dog and a three foot hyperkinetic rabbity thing who have a mirthful time trying to resolve only the weirdest criminal cases of the day.

Card carrying pals for life, Sam & Max view the world as their own personal theme park. To them, society is ripe with a rich collection of off-keel characters, anything-goes experiences, and a wide selection of fine meats, all laid out for their amusement.

Based on Steve Purcell's enormously popular underground comic book of the same name, SAM & MAX overzealously trods on the coventions of tried and true TV fare, fighting crime and battling evil doers with its own unique, certifiable sense of humor. Thirteen new two part episodes are coming this fall. Sam & Max is produced by Nelvana.

Story Synopses
[Sam & Max Homepage ed note: BEWARE, SPOILERS FOLLOW!]

The Thing That Wouldn't Stop It
Sam & Max are called in to investigate the mysterious disappearances of numerous repairmen who come to service the Geek's refridgerator in her lab, the Sub-Basement of Solitude. Risking life and limb and without medical coverage, the boys venture into a world of intrigue, suspense, and frozen "Man-Size Portion" TV dinners, where they encounter one of the most terrifying foes of their career...THE THING THAT WOULDN'T STOP IT!

The Second Show Ever
A boring "Career Day" for Miss Givens' Third Graders takes a turn for the better when Sam and Max arrive to lecture on the inticacies of Freelance Police work. Hey, what better way to show the kids what the job entails than to cram them all into the De Soto, and zoom off to do battle when a Giant Alien Floating Head bent on destroying the earth? Field trip!

Bad Day on the Moon
With vague instructions and directions, Sam and Max set off in the De Soto for a randezvous with danger and adventure on the lunar surface. To the boys' surprise, they encounter a world inhabited by giant rats, skyscraping cockroaches, and much to Max's ahagrin, one too many fur-frying electrically charged space portals.

Max's Big Day
A slight mix-up in the seating plan for Sam and Max's flight home results in their accidentally falling from the plane's landing gear, only to splash down in th ecooking pot on a primitive tribe of New Guinea Pigs. Max's ability to make a variety of sounds with his body qualifies him as the savage's new king, a position that he revels in, until his loyalty of Sam and his inability to spend too much time with any group of people without insulting them leads to inevitable abdication.

That Darn Gator
Sam and Max learn that parenthood is not all sunny days in the park and pleasant banter at the Sunday night dinner table when they become surrogate parents to a bouncing baby alligator! "John" (so named because he was found in the commode) becomes the joy and the bane of their lives as we follow his development from finicky infant to snarling danger to society. Kind of an urban "Born Free" with scales.

We Drop at Dawn
Sam and Max don paramilitary garb and attitudes as they are parachuted into an uncharted pocket of Central Park to recover the Commissioner's lost keys. As is the case with most residents of the park, the natives are none too friendly and th eboys must use all their powers of deductive reasoning and diplomacy to retrieve their boss' rightful property. And if that doesn't work, the lads may just have to rough 'em up a little!

The Tell Tale Tail
Our story opens in a 19th Century English drawing room where famous literary figures of the period are gathered to do a little brainstorming and snacking. Unfortunately, Sam and Max are also there (they just are, that's how!) and the entourage of intelligentsia are subjected to their less than erudite rendition of a really scary story. It is a yarn that tells of a tragic mishap that results in a Three Foot Rabbity thing in the prime of life being physically separated from his fluffy rear appendage. It is a dark story of his quest for reattachment, a quest that requires that he and his partner face the terror of graveyards, a mad scientist, and the kitchen of a Victorian Fast Food Restaurant in pursuit of a happy ending to...The Tell Tale Tail!

The Monkeys from O.N.C.L.E.
While attending the Commissioner's daughter's wedding in an Unnamed Alpine European Country, Sam and Max are dragged into a World of International Intrigue and Danger!! Working as Freelance Agents for O.N.C.L.E., the French version of U.N.C.L.E., the boys must race against time to keep the leader of TRUSS, the Villainous Larvo, from releasing a virus on teh world that has the strength of 1,000,000 Obnoxious Tourists On a Sweaty Tour Bus in Terromellnos! In a thrilling climax at Larvo's Caribbean Island Headquarters, Sam abd Max battle it out with the forces of evil in a desperate attempt to keep the Loud Shirt and Bermuda Shorts Crowd from destroying the planet!

They Came From Down There
When an alarming number of inhabitants from a sleepy rural fishing village are reported missing, Sam and Max head to the hinterland to unravel the mystery. Little do they suspect that the answer to this riddle will include zombies, mutant gamefish, and their old nemesis...MACK SALMON!

The Dysfunction of the Gods
When a lover's spat between Zeus and Hera leads to dangerous atmospheric conditions for the earth, Sam and Max, make their way to Mount Olympus to serve as Marriage Counselors to the Gods. Summoning all their knowledge on relationships, primarily based on Ambush Television shows, the boys must orchestrate the happy reunion of these two dieties before it is too late for the earth, and them!

The Friend for Life
Hero worship is taken to a dangerous height when "Lorne", Sam and Max's greatest fan, starts getting just a little too close for comfort. Lorne's overzealousness results in chaos for the boys' crime fighting efforts, and almost in their personal demise!

Big Trouble at the Earth's Core
An urgent message from the Commissioner sends Sam and Max on a dangerous mission via a Giant Salad Spinner to the Center of the Earth! The boys discover that a race of disgruntled Mole Men responsible for maintaining th etemperature for the earth's core are planning a mass exodus to the planet surface in search of entertainment, better food, and most of all...dates! Sam and Max must act quickly to appease these lovelorn Keepers of the Core, before the biggest boiler in the world goes on the permanent fritz.

[ed note: Could these be the same Mole Men as shown in `The Tick'?]

A Glitch in Time
When Max inadvertently discovers that the new watch Sam has given him is capable of transporting the lads backwards and forwards in time, the fun begins! However, blatant disregard for the old rule of not changing anything in th epast during time travel results in bizarre and catastrophic changes in the present day world of Sam and Max. Max must draw upon all the resources in his walnut sized brain to rectify the situation before his special friendship with Sam is severed forever!

The Uglions From Outer Space
Sam, Max, and the Geek are alarmed to find that a new theme restaurant in town called The Frying Saucer is being run by real aliens! Even more shocking is the fact that the aliens want their patrons to not only stay for dinner, but to become part of the menu! When the trio try to report their findings to the authorities, they run up against that old titanium wall of an oxymoron, Army Intelligence. Once again, it's up to Sam and Max to take charge of the defense of the earth, overcome impossible odds, and save mankind from annihilation. All this, without even time and a half!

The Glazed McGuffin Affair
A casual trip to the supermarket turns into a nightmare for Sam and Max when they learn that their most favoritest snack food ever, Glazed McGuffins, have been banned for sale by the government! The boys go from shock to despair and finally to rabid crusaders as they organize a huge petition signing campaign to bring an end to the embargo. Needing only one more signature to push them over the top, they encounter a holdout who refuses to sign! It is now Sam and Max's mission in life to convert this pagan and return the hallowed dough balls to their rightful home on the country's grocery shelves.

It's Dangly Deever Time
Sam and Max fiddle with an experimental television set in The Sub-Basement of Solitude, and disaster results. This TV only receives signals of long forgotten programs, including an old kiddy show from the '50s hosted by a marionette named Dangly Deever. When a power surge brings Dangly to life in present day Manhattan, he takes a shine to the old (well, new to him) town and runs amok! Can the boys return Dangly to his former black and white home in time to avert the greatest programming catastrophe since Sonny and Cher? Let's pray, and don't touch that dial!

"Aaiieee, Robot"
Sam and Max are not happy when the Geek comes to dismantle the MEGAMAX 3000, a giant Max-shaped robot that they have used in the past to combat crime, save the world from destruction or to just tool around in on a slow night in town. Instead of allowing it to be used for spare parts, they take it on a road trip to Tokyo, a place where they feel a supposedly "over-the-hill" Giant Monster Thingy will get treated with a little more respect. Unfortunately, their is not the only aging behemoth to seek a new career in the Land of the Rising Sun, and they find themselves in a battle for Tokyo with Totzilla, a gigantic Toddler who has missed his nap and is intent on making everyone suffer for it.

The Trouble With Gary
Sam and Max are just giddy with excitement when they are summoned to the military headquarters known as the "Rhombus", to oversee the production of the government's Newest Top Secret Weapon. The lads are crushed when they find out that the weapon is "Gary," a precocious 10 year old boy with a bad attitude, who has the ability to make anything happen -- just by thinking about it. His parents are top scientists at the Rhombus and they want Sam and Max to take the boy out on a "Big Brother" outing and show him a good time. Not knowing much about entertaining adolescents other than themselves, the boys meet with varied success on their journey to find a cure for "The Trouble with Gary."

Have a Heart
St. Valentine's Day has become a traditional day of celebration for Sam and Max as they rejoice in the fact that they have absolutely no romantic committments, responsibilities, or inclinations! This year, however, they are dragged into all the garish trappings and emotional instability of the day when during the course of an emergency mission to transport an artificial heart to a super secret recipient in Washington, D.C., the De Soto is stolen!. Our Baby! The irony deepens when their search for the kidnapped car and heart leads them to "Loveland" an Amusement Park for Lovers only. Only their devotion to duty and their beloved DeSoto can inspire them to wade into a crowd of dewy-eyed saps, and retrieve that which they cannot live wihtout. Now that's true love.

Christmas Bloody Christmas
While visiting Sam's Granny on Christmas Eve, Sam and Max join her on an impromptu visit to her former place of employment to bring the joy of the season to some of the shut-ins. Well, actually, the "cage-ins", as Granny turns out to be the retired warden for the Blood Island Correctional Institute, home for society's most hardened criminals. Their goodwill mission shortly takes on dangerous overtones when some of the cons stage a daring attempt at a jail break! Only Granny's personal knowledge of the layout of the facility, and various martial arts disciplines stand between the criminals and freedom. Oh, Sam and Max are also obstacles, but only if they can keep up with Granny's blistering disciplination pace!