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h-worksrambles · 2 years

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What if Sam & Max got another cartoon?

The Sam & Max animated series holds a very special place in my heart. While perhaps not my absolute favourite incarnation of the two (though it’s close), it still keeps up this series’ very high level of quality, and is probably one more the more overlooked shows of its era. Furthermore, it’s also probably the iteration of the franchise that I most want to see get a revival. Partly because it’s just a very good, but also very short show that deserved more episodes. But also because I think it has a fair bit of untapped potential, to take all the best bits of the animated series we got, and turn it into something even better. So I thought I’d make a short numbered list exploring some things I would like to see if these two got another chance to grace our screens. I may do also do a future post on what I would like to see in a new Sam & Max videogame. With all that said, let’s get crackin’!

1. Target a (slightly) older demographic

The cartoon is distinct as being the only version of Sam & Max to be explicitly marketed at kids. And much of this has to do with it originally airing on Fox Kids. While I think the writers did an excellent job with what they had, and maintained much of the spirit of the series with those constraints, it’s hard not to imagine what they could have done with more freedom. To clarify, I don’t exactly want the seres to go hard R. Even at its edgiest, Sam & Max has typically between quite tame by the standards of adult animation as we know it today. The games have never gone over a T rating and the comics’ content was never above the level a teenager could handle. But when you read through the official sketchbook and see how many fun jokes were cut, I can’t help but wonder just how hamstrung the writers were by the need to keep things mostly family friendly. Even if the show still got away with a lot...

...Moving right along... 2. Draw more inspiration from the comic.

One of my personal favourite parts of the cartoon is how much it adapted from the original comics. Characters like the Rubber Pants Commandos showed up as cameos. Comic baddy Mack Salmon became a recurring antagonist. And the show did the best it could within its budget to recreate the comics’ art style, included its hyper detailed, gag laden backgrounds. One of the best episodes is a direct adaptation of one of my favourite of the comics, Bad Day on the Moon, bringing it to life with full colour, animation and voice acting. All I can say is, do that but...more. Adapt one or two of the other comics in a handful of episodes. This also builds handily off point 1. Maybe a kids’ show would have struggled to adapt Monkey’s Violating the Heavely Temple, in which the main villain dies of spontaneous combustion on-screen. But with the added freedom of a higher age rating, maybe that could actually be done (since that was the very first comic it could actually make for a solid pilot). But this goes further than just direct adaptation. Incorporate ate more comic characters like Flint Paper. And, especially, lean more into the stylism of a comic. Occasionallly the show would feature things like closing out an episode with the image of an actual comic back cover closing over. Why not do more of that? Have scene transitions that resemble panel transitions, add comic captions with additional blink-and-you’ll-miss-it gags. Make the whole show feel like a comic book come to life. The comics are in some ways still the purest expression of what Sam & Max is, and I see nothing wrong with taking more cues from it.

3. More recurring characters, less one-offs

One thing I’ve noticed in my time in the Sam & Max fandom, is that the current fans really like the show’s new characters. Newcomers like the Geek, Granny Ruth, John the gator and Lorne, the wonderfully hateable Friend For Life, are all pretty well-liked by fans.

It’s odd, therefore, that most of them...aren’t in it all that much. Lorne gets two episodes as the main antagonist, and a cameo in a third. And he’s frankly one of the luckiest ones. Despite being a fan favourite, Granny Ruth only has a single 10 minute episode. Checking the series bible also suggests other characters were planned to be recurring cast members, but were ultimately cut. The character Ms. Honeybunny was orignally going to be Sam & Max’s landlady, but ultimately only had a very different, much smaller role in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. And Mack Salmon? The show’s supposed big bad lifted from the comics? Two episodes, one of which is the finale. Now I absolutely think supporting characters can work well in Sam & Max. I have a whole other piece going into why. So I think these characters deserve more time to shine, especially the Geek, who I’ll talk about more in a later section.

To achieve this without drastically overinflating the show’s scope and run-time, it may be worth cutting down on the sheer number of one off characters and villains. If there’s one area I consider a weak point of the cartoon, it’s these guys. Does anyone really have any investment in Larvo? Did we need the incel moles? Are any fans clamouring for a return of Lactose the Intolerant? And hot take, Gary the psychic kid wasn’t sweet, he was just annoying, sorry-not-sorry. I’m not saying you can have no one off characters. But maybe cut down on the amount to make room for a slightly beefed up recurring cast. (Side note: but it’s worth pointing out that the cartoon-exclusive characters are still owned by Fox, and it would require some legal finagling to get them back. But even if these characters specifically couldn’t return, my points about the pros of an extended cast still stand). Speaking of...

4. Use the Geek more, you cowards!

The Geek is simultaneously one of the most distinct aspects of this version of Sam & Max while also being the most under-used. Sam & Max’s tech supplier and resident girl-in -the-chair, she provided the duo with wacky inventions to solve cases with, while playing the role of deadpan snarking straight-woman to their insanity. Despite being effectively a studio mandated inclusion, a trend that has previously fallen flat in other shows, she actually works really well in Sam & Max’s dynamic, and there’s almost an implied screwed-up found family aspect between the three given that she’s living in their basement. Unfortunately, the fact that she was studio mandated is the most likely reason why she’s barely in the show. Whether for fear that she would mess up the pair’s dynamic, or just resentment at being foisted with her in the first place, the writers seemed hesistant to use her more than the bare minimum. She gets little to no screen time in the handful of episodes where she’s present, outside of one episode where she is kind of the focus.

Still, as I said, I think that, despite the writers’ reservations, the Geek proved herself and succeeded where other kid avatars failed. And I would like a revival to use her to her full potential. Let her come on a case or two. Give her an episode where she’s the clear focus. And most of all, let her be a full-on mad scientist, every bit as morally ambiguous as her kinda-sorta dads. This is a girl who should be building deaths rays and running highly unethical experiments in her lab because it’s a Tuesday and she’s bored. I also wouldn’t mind playing up the found family angle she has with Sam & Max, but not too much. Sam & Max has always been really good at creating a believable relationship between its leads without being too saccharine. As much as I love how fans have run with the interpretation that the Geek is their adopted daughter I wouldn’t want to overplay it and try too hard to be cutesy or cloying. This franchise is classier than that. Basically, I want more of the energy encapsuated in this one scene from the show.

Effervescent.

5. Have some nods to the wider series, but not too many

Since I went on about taking more from the comic and having more recurring characters, you may be wondering if I want to see references to, or characters from, the video games in a cartoon revival. The answer is...kinda. Much as I enjoy the recurring cast of the Telltale games, and as much as I feel Hit the Road’s characters are actually super underrated, I do wonder if this could turn into overkill. Part of the charm of Sam & Max is its relative lack of canon. Every incarnation is distinct and so you can start wherever you like and have a good time. If Telltale characters were showing up every episode, the show would risk feeling less like its own thing, and being its own thing in the franchise was part of what made the cartoon so charming.

The best blueprint for the approach to fanservice I would want actually comes from the recent game, This Time It’s Virtual. While my feelings on this entry are admittedly mixed, one thing it nails is being an absolute love letter to the series without risking continuity lockout. Most of its homages to the rest of the franchise are in off-hand references, or background gags. These are a treat for fans, without leaving newcomers confused. It’s still a solid jumping on point if you should choose to start there. Likewise, I would like to see the show reference the video games, but not too much. Maybe I don’t want Sybil and Bosco every episode, but you could perhaps use Bosco in one episode plotline based around his paranoia and absurd prices, getting the gist of his character across to newbies with no other knowledge required, and leave it at that. Or maybe Sybil gets one episode instead, hiring the two out for a case and switching jobs three or so times across the episode. Or perhaps a Conroy Bumpus revenge episode. And I’d say that much, at most. I see no problem drawing freely from the comic since that’s effectively the series’ source text. But as for the rest of the franchise, by all means homage it, but don’t go overboard. Throw the fans a bone while still letting the show stand on its own. ...And that’s pretty much all my ideas for what I would like to see in a new Sam & Max cartoon! Oh, and before you ask about voices, while I would love to see David Nowlin and Rob Tinkler, my favourite Sam & Max respectively, perform together, this would likely be decided by the logistics of where the show was produced and what voice actor union the creative team would be pulling from. So I would be entirely open to new voice actors, or old ones returning, I wouldn’t mind either way.

I hope this was a fun read and that you’ll join me in keeping your fingers crossed that, one day, we will get another TV series with these goofballs. If you have any ideas of your own for what a new cartoon would look like, feel free to leave a reply. I’d love to see other folks’ ideas too!

#sam and max #sam and max freelance police #adventures of sam and max freelance police #cartoon revival #thought experiment #i wax poetic about a show that will probably never happen #hey i'm not talking about video games this time!#...kinda

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