YMMV / The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police

• Angst? What Angst?: "Bad Day on the Moon" is a rare moment of Sam taking a situation without a hint of comedy, namely Max has been vaporized and leaving only his scalp with his ears. However, instead of treating the situation with utter shock and tears that his best friend is dead, Sam treats it more like a sad inconvenience. Max's ghost following him and recreating his body from his remains negate this reaction even further. Max isn't even that bothered that he was dead for an untold amount of time.
• Audience-Alienating Premise: A big reason the show didn't do well enough to last more than one season was because of the particular nature of its humor: compared to most Saturday Morning Cartoons of its time, Sam & Max is hugely dependent on its fast-paced, deadpan dialogue that even adults might get lost on, and it doesn't have as much outright zany slapstick that would appeal to children as contemporaries like Animaniacs. This mattered a lot as the show was produced during an era where these sorts of cartoons were only just breaking through the Animation Age Ghetto, but considering how even Sam & Max at the time was still fairly niche, there wasn't a hugely vocal grown-up audience either, with not many really expecting much out of a children's cartoon starring two Funny Animals. Fortunately, time has been much kinder to the show, and it's since found an audience of now grown-up veterans and newcomers alike who enjoy it for being a considerably Lighter and Softer, but overall faithful adaptation of the series that retains its signature weirdness and tone.
• Cant Unhear It: Harvey Atkin and Robert Tinkler are the quintessential voices of Sam and Max for some because of this show.
• Crosses the Line Twice: In "Christmas Bloody Christmas", Sam wonders if the prisoner showers could talk to which Max shudders and says should stay shut. This is then followed with Max picking up a bar of soap while a "Do not open until X-Mas" sticker is on his butt!"
• Cult Classic: It didn't attract enough viewers to gain a second season (primarily thanks to Fox Kids constantly shifting the show around the schedule). However, its humor and tone are still very much Sam & Max despite being aimed at a younger audience, and it is still loved as much by the fans.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: The Geek has a strong and snarky personality. This, coupled with the fact she actually enjoys partaking in the series' craziness as much as Sam and Max do, has won her a lot of fans. There is a good reason why so many people who have seen the cartoon want her to make a comeback.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The episode "Fools Die on Friday" has Sam and Max sent to rescue an airship from a terrorist who intended to crash the ship into a building in New York. The entire event was just Lorne faking being controlled by a demented madman as an excuse to hang out with his heroes, but there's a good reason this episode never saw the light of day again after 2001.
• Signature Scene: The Previously on… recap of the first episode, most notably for the part where Sam and Max get married, becoming one of the biggest pieces of evidence by the LGBT Fanbase to prove that Sam and Max are married.
• Vindicated by History: When it premiered on television in 1997, it didn't attract enough viewers to warrant another season due to inconsistent scheduling, as well as taking a duo from comics and games targeted for an older audience and shifting it to children. However, 20+ years later the series has gained a massive following from Sam & Max fans as well as older fans of animation in general for its humor and tone.

---