Sam & Max

From Homestar Runner Wiki

Revision as of 13:36, 26 January 2011

They fight crime. Sometimes on purpose.

Sam and Max is a long-running series about the adventures of Sam, a six-foot revolver wielding dog, and Max, a hyperkinetic-rabbity-thing. Together they form the Freelance Police and take on many strange cases involving, amoungst other things, washed-up child stars, the mafia, volcano gods, talking space gorrilas and Lovecraftian elder gods. They have been referenced in the Homestar Runner series a few times, mostly through Telltale Games' involvement in Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.

Sam first interacted with Homestar Runner characters in Make a Scene With Telltale at PAX 2010 when he question Marzipan about a murder. Mr. Featherly, a chicken who was famous as an actor on a television show in Sam & Max Save the World, also had a speaking role, and Strong Bad and several of Telltale's Sam & Max characters had non-speaking roles. However, in that cartoon the characters had dialog and voices written and performed by fans at the Penny Arcade Expo. The first instance of characters from both universes interacting together with their official voices and with dialog written by the license holders came in Poker Night at the Inventory when Max and Strong Bad were both participants in a poker tournament at an exclusive club called The Inventory where video game characters relax on their days off.

Max's Relationship with Strong Bad

I don't trust you one bit, ra-bbit.

Due to Max's cheery personality, he seems to like all of the players at The Inventory's poker match, including Strong Bad. However, when he finds out Strong Bad "dabbles in nefarious activities", he's happy because he wants Sam and himself to come after Strong Bad and rough him up. Strong Bad doesn't trust Max at cards because he can pull his gun seemingly out of nowhere, and Strong Bad thinks Max can use that ability to hide "a never ending supply of aces". However, he likes Max because he feels that they both were misrepresented in Telltale's games about their lives. Max only has short term memory, so at times he doesn't realize he was part of a video game, while other times he does. His liking of Max doesn't stop him from making fun of him. At one point Strong Bad compares him to a Pokémon and thinks it would be funny to see a prepubescent kid stick him inside of a baseball.

Appearances

• Sam & Max Season Two Alternate Ending 101 — Homestar Runner reveals himself to be behind the plot of Sam & Max Season Two.
• Make a Scene With Telltale at PAX 2010 — Sam, Max, General Skun'ka-pe, Pedro, Sal and Mr. Featherly from Telltale's Sam & Max seasons appear in the toon.
• Poker Night at the Inventory — Max is one of the players along with Strong Bad. Bluster Blaster, the arcade game from the Sam & Max games, is played by Strong Bad after he loses the game. Also, Banang, a running joke in games by Telltale Games that originated in "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Episode 2: Moai Better Blues", is continued in a conversation between Strong Bad and Max (a container of Banang also appears in a room in the opening scene when the elevator is going down to The Inventory).
  • Poker Night at the Inventory Teaser — Max appears in silhouette, along with Strong Bad, Tycho and The Heavy.
  • Poker Night at the Inventory Trailer — Max, Strong Bad, Tycho, and The Heavy are seen interacting for the first time.

References

• Email secret identity — The disk in the Floppy Disk Container reads "sam and max" reffering to the Lucasarts game Sam and Max Hit the Road.
• SBCG4AP Advertisement — Strong Bad refers to Telltale's previous game as "Rabbitdog and Bunnym'n" while crude drawings of Sam and Max appear on screen.
• Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People — The cabinet design of the TROGDOR! arcade game is modeled after Bluster Blaster, the arcade game from the Sam & Max games. Also, the "Item Get!" sound when Strong Bad gets an item is from "Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 5: Reality 2.0".
  • Homestar Ruiner — Homestar Runner's reply of "Yes? Yes. Yes. Yes? Nooooo! Yes. Yes!" to Marzipan on his cellphone is the same as the reply Sam gives the Commissioner in "Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 4: Abe Lincoln Must Die!" Also, if the area of the light right above The Cheat in the Snap Shak is clicked, the pointer changes to the Max crossbones shirt from the Telltale Games store.
  • Strong Badia the Free — If the highest awesomeness rating is achieved, the Max Crossbones shirt is unlocked for Strong Bad to wear in the Snap Shak. Strong Bad describes the shirt as a "cheesy cross-promotional marketing tie in". Also, Strong Bad can obtain the rank of "Secretary of the Posterior", the same title Max can convey to Superball in "Abe Lincoln Must Die".
  • Baddest of the Bands — One of the backgrounds in the Snap Shak is of the moon from "Sam & Max Save the World: Episode 6: Bright Side of the Moon".
  • Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective — Dangeresque's office on the map uses the same design as Sam & Max's office. A timecard from "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Episode 4: Chariot of the Dogs" appears in Perducci's deck. Also, The Commissioner from the Sam & Max series calls Strong Bad by accident, resulting in Strong Bad replying "Do WHAT to a rabbit? You've got the wrong number, pal." Additionally, one of the backgrounds in the Snap Shak is Sam & Max's office and Bosco's Inconvenience store from "Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space".
  • 8-Bit is Enough — When you set the machine to high backstage at Gel-Arshie's Pro Fruitboarder, Gel-Arshie says "Hi! I'm Gel-Arshie!" in the same way that Hugh Bliss said "Hi! I'm Hugh Bliss!" in "Sam & Max Save the World".
• Behind the Bad Chapter 1: The New Hire — There are Sam & Max banners behind Strong Bad in the main entrance.