›

Do you prefer the show's humor, or the games'?

KatanaKatana
edited May 2007 in Sam & Max
I've watched a number of the SnM animated series on Gametap, at first inspired by the game episodes, but after a few episodes I slowly realized I wasn't laughing. The show seemed to be more about wierdness and deus-ex-machina solutions to problems than about actual jokes. Even with the relative unlikelihood of someone hearing a particular line, I think more attention to humor was made in the games, where often I curse myself for not turning on Fraps before playing the episode. (there are so many great lines I need to record from the recent episodes)
Comments? Rebuttals?

Comments

  • marsanmarsan
    edited April 2007
    Personally, I think the animated series is a bit too macaber for my taste. If I had watched the animated series before playing Hit the road, I would probably have never picked up the game. Anyway, I loved the humor in hit the road the most, and I feel they have hit some middle ground which was the perfect combination for me.

    Sam & Max: Season 1 is in my eyes more similar to hit the road than the animated series. They have toned down some of the more nasty(and I mean that in a good way) aspects of hit the road, though, which makes it more easily accessible for more people. I remember Hit the road was the kind of game you either loved or hated. I never met a person who said "It's ok", but I've met plenty who either hated it or loved it. I have to say the humor in hit the road stroke me as funnier, but that just because I love those nasty jokes, as long as they don't turn macaber.

    Macaber in my eyes, is such as
    when Max wears Sam's body as a piece of clothing
    . Nasty on the other hand is such as when
    when max attacks the 'doctor' and holds up his head afterwards"
    . Hit the road was really absurd, Season one is not that absurd, but seems to go home better with the mainstream gamers - so it was a good move.

    So yeah, I prefer the games... lol, but I enjoy the animated episodes too, as long as I ain't eating... and stay clear of the most nasty ones... the cartoons seems to me to be more similar to the animated series, but I haven't read so many of them.
  • BadwolfBadwolf
    edited April 2007
    Yeah, the comic and game definitely trump the cartoon in the humour stakes.

    That said, the cartoon was made for kids though, so it had to be watered down. The part in Bad Day on the Moon where Max steps on the cockroach and it says something which basically tells the kids watching "I'm in humorous pain but I'm still alive!" really made me wince. In the comic, Max just wipes it up with a tissue, which I thought was a bit more funny.
  • AdamGAdamG
    edited April 2007
    The cartoon is less serious and less funny as a result, but it's still enjoyable in it's own right. :) You just kinda have to pretend you're a kid again.
  • umaikiumaiki
    edited April 2007
    Am I the only one who LOVED the animated series to death?
  • NatsFanNatsFan
    edited April 2007
    I think that in order to appreciate the animated show, you have to watch it with the expectations you would have for a kid's show (which it is), and not with the great expectations that we have for the games and comics. I think the reason that some of us don't like the animated show is because it's directed towards kids, and Sam & Max just isn't as funny when it doesn't have more edgy humor.
  • NatsFanNatsFan
    edited April 2007
    marsan wrote: »
    Macaber in my eyes, is such as
    when Max wears Sam's body as a piece of clothing

    If you're refering to
    when Sam & Max were in a bigfoot costume to enter the bigfoot party, I don't think you realize that Max was just standing on top of Sam.
  • Harald BHarald B
    edited April 2007
    I agree. The animated series sings a different tune from the other Sam & Max incarnations, but it's enjoyable and well-made in its own right. It's dynamic and action-packed, deliciously absurd and willing to parody absolutely everything: the hallmarks of a cartoon classic. The combination of uniquely absurd and occasionally edgy humor with plenty of gratuitous violence reminds me most of Eek! the cat, a show which I absolutely loved back in the day.
  • fajerkaosfajerkaos
    edited April 2007
    NatsFan wrote: »
    If you're refering to
    when Sam & Max were in a bigfoot costume to enter the bigfoot party, I don't think you realize that Max was just standing on top of Sam.

    He might be refering to then a couple of beavers made a shirt of Sam and gave it to Max in one episode of the cartoon(Max's Big Day), but I can't really remember if he actually wore it.
  • marsanmarsan
    edited April 2007
    oh, right. It was one of the the beavers he wore :)
  • KatanaKatana
    edited April 2007
    Yeah, in some ways the animated series just didn't make any sense - I mean crushing your internal organs into your head to avoid death? Imagine spiderman dodging a bullet by opening a hole in his chest to let it through.
  • xChri5xxChri5x
    edited April 2007
    I believe you can't fully appreciate the show unless you've played hit The Road and/or season one and/or the comics.
  • fajerkaosfajerkaos
    edited April 2007
    ... And if you have, you will spend all of the time wining to yourself (or even better; the closest victim) about the voices, and that the story isn't "realistic" enough. It's a win - win! :rolleyes:

    I think that the cartoon was great. It somehow made fun of the things that they wasn't alowed to show. And some of the dialogs was really gold.
  • marsanmarsan
    edited April 2007
    I enjoyed the cartoon, if I look away from the macaber parts :) I had the bad habbit of watching those episodes while I was eating my breakfast... why will I never learn :confused:
  • AdamGAdamG
    edited April 2007
    I thought the voice overs for the cartoon series were great! And I thought it was very funny too, I must've laughed 30 times an episode. But, like I said, it's less serious then the comic or games. I still thought it was relatively mature for a cartoon though. You're missing out on a load of Sam & Max goodness if you don't watch the cartoons. :p
  • KatanaKatana
    edited April 2007
    AdamG wrote: »
    I still thought it was relatively mature for a cartoon though.
    Sam wrote:
    Wanna pet my unicorn?
    Yeah, and the games DIDN'T have some pretty mature humor?
  • AdamGAdamG
    edited April 2007
    Of course the games had mature humor. :I
  • ShaggEShaggE
    edited April 2007
    I was surprised to see the huge leap in risque humor from episodes 1-5 to 6

    (Ep. 6 minor spoilers)
    Abe Lincoln vaguely referencing oral sex
    The unicorn jokes

    Those were the most blatant, plus an increase in cursing (including my favorite, Lincoln's
    "DAAAAAAAAAMN"
    )

    Much more reminiscent of the comics, imo.
  • KatanaKatana
    edited April 2007
    I just loved when it's like...
    "Hey, A.L. Wanna pet my unicorn?"
    "............."
    "............."
    "............."
    "...maybe later."
  • KaldireKaldire
    edited May 2007
    Im still dying for a few lost episodes of sam and max aired on holidays.. if anyone has em ill give my right leg. I first found sam and max via comics then the cartoon then the game... I think the cartoon while good is a watered down kids version of the comics and not the real sam and max, but a valiant effort for Saturday morning it think.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.