Do you want to celebrate Christmas with detective duo Sam & Max? The Steve Purcell creations have appeared in numerous mediums over the years, and they have more holiday adventures than you’d expect. Whether it’s playing one of the duo’s video games or watching The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, fans have plenty of ways to get festive through the characters’ adventures.
Below you’ll find information on all the Sam & Max Christmas specials in video, gaming and comic formats. We also look at how you can watch, play, or read them.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police: “Christmas Bloody Christmas” (Season 1, Episode 7)
The first Sam & Max Christmas special comes from the TV series adaptation The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, which aired on Fox’s Fox Kids programming block from 1997 to 1998. Season 1, Episode 7’s first segment is “Christmas Bloody Christmas.” This holiday-themed episode is a wacky caper that sees the detective duo team up with Sam’s grandma in a prison-set investigation.
How to Stream: Tubi
“Sam & Max Nearly Save Christmas”
The next Sam & Max special you can watch actually wasn’t part of the TV show. The short film “Sam & Max Nearly Save Christmas” was freely released on YouTube by TellTale Games in 2007. The 20-minute special sees our anamorphic investigators head to the North Pole as Santa has mysteriously gone hostile. It uses footage and plot details from the video game Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space, specifically the episode “Ice Station Santa.”
How to Stream: YouTube
Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: “Ice Station Santa” (Episode 1)
Speaking of “Ice Station Santa,” if you want to play through a holiday-themed Sam & Max installment, you can. The first chapter of TellTale’s Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space (also known as Sam & Max: Season 2) gives you the full experience of solving the case of what went wrong at the North Pole. Your best way to play is in the remastered collection, recently released by Skunkape Games.
How to Play: GOG, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Steam, Xbox (Used physical copies of the original version on Windows and Wii can be found at used game retailers.)
“The Damned Don’t Dance” by Steve Purcell
The most obscure Sam & Max holiday adventure actually stems from the characters’ original medium. This brief yuletide story from Purcell sees our favorite dog and rabbit waking up on Christmas morning to see what Santa left under their tree. It originally appeared in issue 50 of the comic book Critters and was collected in the compilation Sam and Max: Surfin’ the Highway.
How to Read: Sam and Max: Surfin’ the Highway is out of print, so you’ll have to find a copy at a used book retailer. Critters No. 50 is an obscure comic, but checking back issues at your comic retailer of choice doesn’t hurt.