We’re all familiar with the character Garfield from the Sunday comics. These comics are sometimes called “Funnies” and they’re what my grandma would wrap Christmas gifts in. That’s how you know something is truly a piece of humor, when older women think their only value is covering crappy jars of jelly she got while on vacation. Why couldn’t she wrap my presents in George Carlin CDs?
Garfield is a fat lazy cat who enjoys lasagna. He’s very mellow and I always thought he was a bit of a dick. He lives with his owner John Arbuckle. John is really wimpy and women never want to sleep with him. My guess is women even in the cartoon world think it’s strange for a single man to own a cat and a dog.
(How is this stud single?)
John’s dog is Odie, a simple and sometimes idiotic pup who never speaks. Garfield has a love/hate relationship with Odie. He’s always putting Odie in a box then mailing him to the Middle East. Keep in mind this show started in 1988 when the Russians were our biggest enemies. Sending Odie to the Middle East wasn’t the most terrible thing he could have done. I always liked Odie more than I liked Garfield. Maybe this was a case of Odie never did anything to piss me off.
Of course there was more to this show than Garfield’s adventures. The show was divided into three segments, a Garfield segment followed by a U.S. Acres segment (I had no clue that’s what it was called until now, what a crappy name) followed by another Garfield segment. Somewhere out there I like to think this influenced the way Tarantino told the stories in Pulp Fiction.
(The cast of U.S. Acres. I know it’s cruel, but this picture makes me really hungry)
U.S. Acres sometimes called Orson’s Farm was a lot better in my I don’t really mind Abba opinion. This segment was about farm animals doing farm animal things like eating, pooping, and having Madcow Disease. They all had names people never name kids anymore. There was Orson the pig, Roy the rooster, Wade the duck, Bo the sheep, Lanolin another sheep, Booker a small chicken, and Sheldon who is Booker’s brother and refuses to leave his shell. Sheldon was the creator’s way of introducing to the world how some people hate to leave their homes and comfort zones. I think it helped me accept how much more comfortable lying on the couch inside is than ever finding a girlfriend.
The show lasted 121 episodes in total which is amazing considering the show was just a comic strip that lasted too long. The only episode I remember I specifically was one where John tries to learn how to stop biting his nails. He buys a tape and listens to it constantly, even in his sleep. Garfield switches the tape to one that teaches a person Spanish and John begins speaking in tongues or whatever it is Spanish people speak.
(What is with Jim Davis drawing his characters in such suggestive poses?)
For those who are a fan of the comic strip I guess you’d like this cartoon. The only reason I ever looked at the comics was because the mom in Family Circus had a pert rack.
Kidz Showz 
“One only hates those whom he sees a part of himself.”
Gee, maybe you’re part cat, Tim? And I loved Garfield. He’s so perfectly adorable in the I want to skin you and put you in the blender way. Next to Simpsons, this is the greatest cartoon series of all time. Ever.
Wow that’s pretty high praise. I understand what you say about seeing a cat so cute you want to kill it. Didn’t his mouth never move when he talked? That bugged me a bit.
Was Garfield actually friends with the animals that lived on the farm? I was never clear on that one.
I think when John couldn’t afford to put him to sleep he brought him to the farm and they became friends. You have to watch the finale to know this though. It was pretty sad. It opens with John shooting Odie because he has rabies.
I love “Garfield and Friends”. And it’s great that they used Jim Davis’ old comic strip, “U.S. Acres” in the show!
Was that an old comic strip he did? I probably should have researched this better…
Yeah it was a comic strip that he did as well. I think you can still find it on gocomics.com
Thanks!
I used to watch this show sometimes. I don’t remember it that much, but I remember liking Odie a lot more than Garfield. And I usually like snarky pets. I just don’t like the idea of him mailing sweet, innocent Odie to somewhere far away.
And yeah, what’s up with John being so lame. And why can’t he control his cat?
Garfield didn’t feel enough guilt. We feel a lot of guilt about everything. I think that’s where he lost us.
Why did John even need a cat, and a dog for that matter? He should be out at the bar pinching the waitresses.
Oh my god U.S. Acres was so yummy. They could have added a horse, those are on farms, but no, they picked the most delectable animals on the food chain and juxtaposed it with a cartoon about a cat who ate everything. Subliminalicious!
Are you saying you wouldn’t eat a horse?