Toon Zone Talkback - Toon Zone Interviews Steve Purcell About "Sam & Max the Animated Series"

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This is the talkback thread for Toon Zone Interviews Steve Purcell About "Sam & Max the Animated Series".
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I suppose I must've been doing something productive, like working, when this series was broadcasted because I had never heard of it until now. Was this series TVY7 or one of those E/I programs? Would you recommend this program to fans of The Tick or Invader Zim? Or is it simply too late to bother?
 
Nice interview. There's some pretty interesting stuff in there. It's odd that they weren't renewed for a second season despite doing so well in the ratings. The part about making fun of his brother's comics is something of a revelation to me. Now (I think) I understand why he chose to put in some of the funny things in the early comics ("Sam, I mean Max, we have to...")
 
My advice: get the DVD; you won't regret it.

No, Sam & Max wasn't E/I; it didn't really belong on Saturday morning at all, to be honest. That was a stupid move on FOX's part, and one of the things which led to its' premature demise. Sam & Max was originally a semi-underground cult comic, and it rightfully should've aired in prime-time where they could have gotten away with more, but I guess FOX execs saw the doggie and bunny characters and assumed it was a kids' show. (That, and the only animated prime-time shows that FOX cares about are shows about dysfunctional families, so the series was probably destined to receive shoddy treatment no matter where they put it on the schedule.)

As for whether it's too late to bother, well, unfortunately, the chances of the series being renewed or picked up anywhere seem bleak at this stage. (Sam & Max would be a great fit on [adult swim], IMO-here's hoping Steve Purcell takes the hint.) There are, however, some Sam & Max episodic games are being made right now; that's better than nothing. The hardest thing I had to adjust to in the games was hearing someone other than Harvey Atkin voicing Sam; the show wasn't on long, but in its' brief lifetime, Atkin was Sam to me. Whenever I read a Sam & Max comic, it was Atkin's voice I heard in my ear.

Sam & Max deserves some sort of award for creating an made-for-TV add-on character who actually wasn't intrusive or annoying (The Geek). Unlike most "this character was added for balance" characters, I actually liked The Geek. After reading the interview, I'm kind of sorry they never got to use Honey and Hack Hatchet on the show; they sounded like interesting characters.
 
To be fair, I've never gotten the impression that Purcell pitched it as anything other than a kid's show.


That's very funny to me, because so many people had trouble getting over the fact that in the TV show, Sam wasn't voiced by the same actor as in the original video game (Sam & Max Hit the Road), which was the first time the character had ever been voiced. And they have trouble accepting the new game voice as well.

Oh, and the new games are much better than nothing.
 
I've actually heard all three Sam voices over the course of these past few days, and I have to say Atkin's is my favorite by far, although I also like Bill Farmer's in Hit the Road (kinda sounds like Goofy impersonating Jack Webb).

Yeah, this show was the the kind that would be doomed to a short life, but I'm glad the episodes that were made were mostly top notch. I bought the DVD and have been watching it. 'Tis great. And Purcell's sounds like the type of cartoonist who'd be an inspiration to others everywhere.
 
Haha, I've always found it funny how it's called Sam and Max. I have two cousins named Sam and Max and ironically, they're a lot like the characters (with Max being the hyper one and Sam being the calmer, brainier one).
 
Yes to the first question, and no to the second. Every animation fan--specifically fans of animated comedy--should watch "Sam & Max". I've been a fan going back as far as the original comics and love the LucasArts game so much I still play it occasionally throughout the year. Purcell is a comedy genius, and he populates Sam & Max's world with entertaining characters, highly quotable dialog, great sight gags, and lots of frenetic, funny, fun stuff.

And like Silverstar said, Sam & Max would be ideal for [as]. It's primed for a revival--they already have a strong cult following and the game downloads have been quite successful.

A new Sam & Max series would make a better comedy by far than such crap [as] shows as "Assy McGee", "12 Oz Mouse", and "Xavier: Renegade Angel".
 
In terms of content, I don't see what was wrong with making Sam and Max a kids show. The only questionable content they do is swear sometimes, and even then it's the minor stuff like "hell" that can easily be done with "heck" or "darn" and a few jokes about sexuality maybe, but for the most part the humor stems from the quirky off beat situations they get into and snappy word-play between Sam and Max, not pushing the envelope like other "adult comedies". Granted, the elaborate word play dialog may turn kids off compared to the slap-stick portion, but the humor comes from both parts, Sam and Max respectively. Maybe a little violence issues, but the violence is pretty cartoony to begin with (ala Billy and Mandy). If the Telltale games are anything to go by, I'd see no reason why kids can't play those, aside from the mild swearing (though Timmy Two-Teeth sort of ups that up in the second season, albeit censored)
 
But it would cost a lot more, and therin lies your big problem with these "Let's get Show X remade for adults" ideas. Granted, I hate those three shows, but they're a lot more cost effective than a new Sam and Max.
 
After finishing season 2 of the games, I would say they're a definite PG-13. It's not a constant barrage of risky material, but it goes far enough every so often.


I think an Adult Swim version of the cartoon series would be worth it just for the luxury of allowing Max to, say, remove someone's kidneys every now and then. And guns. And, it'd be great to revive the show in any case.

But since Steve Purcell is busy enough with the games and his main duties at Pixar, I guess it won't be happening any time soon.
 
There's a prison rape joke in the Christmas episode of Sam & Max (scroll down), which is one of the reasons why it's vaulted into my top 10 animated Christmas specials list (maybe coming soon to an OpEd section near you). Now, admittedly, it's presented in such a way that kids can laugh because they see a silly butt joke and grown-ups can laugh because they see an entirely different butt joke, but the fact remains that they went a whole lot farther than the "bar of soap" reference that I remember slipping into an episode of Batman the Animated Series. I'm also guessing that not many 8-year olds have seen Apocalypse Now, even if it does have Han Solo in it briefly, so doing an entire episode around that for SatAM kids TV was pretty bizarre. Still, kids laugh because it's silly and adults laugh because they recognize the parody. Most of the really adult humor in Sam & Max works like that, which is probably why they could get away with as much of it as they did.

I still can't quite wrap my brain around the finger puppet lingerie, though :D.

-- Ed
 
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