Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends was an animated television series, based on the popular comic strip Garfield by Jim Davis. This show was originally produced by Film Roman, and ran on CBS Saturday mornings from 1988 to 1994. In the United States, it is currently syndicated on Toon Disney, while in the United Kingdom, it is on Boomerang.
Regular segments featured both Garfield and U.S. Acres, a lesser-known comic strip created by Davis. The latter was retitled Orson's Farm in all countries except the United States.
242 Garfield episodes and 121 U.S. Acres episodes were produced. There were two "Garfield" segments on each show, and in between was a "U.S. Acres" segment. A total of 121 half-hours were produced, and as of April 2005, the first 72 have been released on three DVD sets by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; the remaining seasons are planned for release during 2005.
For a complete listing of episodes, see List of episodes of Garfield and Friends.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Voice actors and their characters
* 2 The cast
o 2.1 "Garfield"
o 2.2 "U.S. Acres"
* 3 Trivia
* 4 External links
Voice actors and their characters
* Lorenzo Music: Garfield
* Gregg Berger: Odie, Orson Pig, Mailman, The Weasel, Floyd Mouse
* Thom Huge: Jon Arbuckle, Roy Rooster, Binky the Clown
* Julie Payne: Dr. Liz Wilson, Lanolin Lamb
* Desiree Goyette: Nermal
* Victoria Jackson: Penelope
* Howard Morris: Wade Duck, Wart
* Frank Welker: Bo Lamb, Booker, Fred Duck, Mort, Sheldon
The cast
"Garfield"
* Garfield the Cat: A fat, lazy cat (once described in the comic strip by his owner Jon as "an orange meatball with stripes") who wants nothing more out of life than to eat and sleep. Enjoys tormenting Odie and likes trying to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi.
* Odie the Dog: A beagle who used to belong to Jon's former roomate Lyman (who never appeared on the show, but was a character who appeared in the earliest comic strips). Is often kicked off the kitchen table by Garfield. Looks incredibly stupid and gullible, but is actually much more cunning and smart than he lets on.
* Jon Arbuckle: A bachelor cartoonist who has poor luck with women and a somewhat nerdy demeanor. Often annoyed by some of Garfield's antics.
* Binky the Clown: A loud, obnoxious clown who appeared a few times in the strip before becoming a regular on the show. Within the series, Binky has his own TV show that Garfield and Jon try to avoid watching. Binky once had his own segment on the series called "Screaming With Binky" that was the length of a Quickie. (Most of these segments were removed in syndication.)
* Nermal the Kitten: A cute gray kitten who's the self-proclaimed "World's Cutest Kitten". Nermal seems kind and playful, but likes to annoy Garfield and brag about how much cuter than him he is. Garfield often attempts (usually unsuccessfully) to mail him to Abu Dhabi as a result. His high pitched voice and long eye-lashes led many viewers to assume that he was female.
* Herman Post: A mailman who loves delivering the mail. Is constantly the victim of booby traps set by Garfield.
* Dr. Liz Wilson: Garfield's veterinarian and long-time crush of Jon Arbuckle. She occasionally dates him, but these outings always become disasters (often thanks to Garfield tagging along for the ride).
* Cactus Jake: The foreman of the Polecat Flats dude ranch; behaves in the manner of an old-fashioned cowboy.
* Al G. Swindler: As his name suggests, he is a businessman and con artist who constantly swindles Jon, but is eventually outwitted by Garfield.
* The Buddy Bears (Bobby, Billy, Bertie): Three talking bears who spew various propaganda in the form of song and dance. Their messages include "never have an opinion of your own" and "if you ever disagree, it means that you are wrong". Their television show once replaced Binky's, and Roy Rooster of U.S. Acres once appeared on their show as the "Big Bad Buddy Bird".
* Penelope the Cat: Penelope is Garfield's girlfriend who takes the place of his love interest Arlene from the comics. The reasons why Arlene does not appear in Garfield and Friends are unknown.
"U.S. Acres"
* Orson Pig: A friendly pig whose favorite pastime is reading books and imagining himself into many scenarios, a la Walter Mitty.
* Roy Rooster: A self-centered rooster who prides himself on his practical jokes.
* Wade Duck: A duck who wears a rubber flotation tube, and is admittedly afraid of everything, no matter how trivial.
* Bo Sheep: An affable sheep with a positive, laid-back attitude, whose mannerisms and vernacular are like a California beach bum.
* Lanolin Sheep: A loud-mouthed sheep who spends most of her time disagreeing with her brother, Bo.
* Booker Chick: A small chick who is constantly in pursuit of an unnamed worm.
* Sheldon Chick: Booker's brother, who is still an egg, though his feet have popped out.
* Mort, Gort, and Wart Pig: Orson's older brothers, who are constantly trying to steal vegetables from the farm and torment Orson.
* The Weasel: One of many predators who attempts to steal the chickens.
* The Worm: A cunning worm who occasionally talks. Constantly pursuited by the hapless Booker.
Trivia
* When the show was originally broadcast on CBS, the episodes usually had three Quickies (30-second gags), usually two "Garfield Quickies" and one "US Acres Quickie". Midway through the second season, "Screaming with Binky" Quickies were added. However, in the syndicated reruns, only one Quickie is shown per episode, and it's always at the end rather than around the shorts.
* The first season aired in a half-hour format. In the second season, it switched to an hour-length format, showing two episodes each week. However, in the show's last season, the second half-hour of the show featured either an episode from the previous season or one of Garfield's TV specials.
* The U.S. Acres episode "Much Ado About Orson" is mentioned several times in the second season, but never actually appears. An episode titled "Much Ado About Lanolin" does appear in the third season, however.
* The show has had three different theme songs. The first one was used during the first two seasons, and was also occasionally hummed or sung by the characters within the show. The second theme song first appeared in the third season and was used through the sixth season. This theme song is the only one used in the syndicated reruns. During the seventh and last season, a rap-based theme song was used.
* For reasons unknown, the last two seasons are never shown in the syndicated reruns.
* The show often broke the fourth wall and made references to the idea that it was a live-action sitcom, which, of course, it wasn't.
* The show makes frequent references to the Klopman Diamond, a fictional diamond which was originally an old Johnny Carson joke.
* Mark Evanier, co-creator of Groo the Wanderer and other comic books, has often spoken highly of his time as a writer and director on the show.
* The show has aired in syndication on TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Fox Family (later named ABC Family).
External links
* Garfield and Friends at the Internet Movie Database
* POV Online: Garfield and Friends (Mark Evanier)
Regular segments featured both Garfield and U.S. Acres, a lesser-known comic strip created by Davis. The latter was retitled Orson's Farm in all countries except the United States.
242 Garfield episodes and 121 U.S. Acres episodes were produced. There were two "Garfield" segments on each show, and in between was a "U.S. Acres" segment. A total of 121 half-hours were produced, and as of April 2005, the first 72 have been released on three DVD sets by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment; the remaining seasons are planned for release during 2005.
For a complete listing of episodes, see List of episodes of Garfield and Friends.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Voice actors and their characters
* 2 The cast
o 2.1 "Garfield"
o 2.2 "U.S. Acres"
* 3 Trivia
* 4 External links
Voice actors and their characters
* Lorenzo Music: Garfield
* Gregg Berger: Odie, Orson Pig, Mailman, The Weasel, Floyd Mouse
* Thom Huge: Jon Arbuckle, Roy Rooster, Binky the Clown
* Julie Payne: Dr. Liz Wilson, Lanolin Lamb
* Desiree Goyette: Nermal
* Victoria Jackson: Penelope
* Howard Morris: Wade Duck, Wart
* Frank Welker: Bo Lamb, Booker, Fred Duck, Mort, Sheldon
The cast
"Garfield"
* Garfield the Cat: A fat, lazy cat (once described in the comic strip by his owner Jon as "an orange meatball with stripes") who wants nothing more out of life than to eat and sleep. Enjoys tormenting Odie and likes trying to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi.
* Odie the Dog: A beagle who used to belong to Jon's former roomate Lyman (who never appeared on the show, but was a character who appeared in the earliest comic strips). Is often kicked off the kitchen table by Garfield. Looks incredibly stupid and gullible, but is actually much more cunning and smart than he lets on.
* Jon Arbuckle: A bachelor cartoonist who has poor luck with women and a somewhat nerdy demeanor. Often annoyed by some of Garfield's antics.
* Binky the Clown: A loud, obnoxious clown who appeared a few times in the strip before becoming a regular on the show. Within the series, Binky has his own TV show that Garfield and Jon try to avoid watching. Binky once had his own segment on the series called "Screaming With Binky" that was the length of a Quickie. (Most of these segments were removed in syndication.)
* Nermal the Kitten: A cute gray kitten who's the self-proclaimed "World's Cutest Kitten". Nermal seems kind and playful, but likes to annoy Garfield and brag about how much cuter than him he is. Garfield often attempts (usually unsuccessfully) to mail him to Abu Dhabi as a result. His high pitched voice and long eye-lashes led many viewers to assume that he was female.
* Herman Post: A mailman who loves delivering the mail. Is constantly the victim of booby traps set by Garfield.
* Dr. Liz Wilson: Garfield's veterinarian and long-time crush of Jon Arbuckle. She occasionally dates him, but these outings always become disasters (often thanks to Garfield tagging along for the ride).
* Cactus Jake: The foreman of the Polecat Flats dude ranch; behaves in the manner of an old-fashioned cowboy.
* Al G. Swindler: As his name suggests, he is a businessman and con artist who constantly swindles Jon, but is eventually outwitted by Garfield.
* The Buddy Bears (Bobby, Billy, Bertie): Three talking bears who spew various propaganda in the form of song and dance. Their messages include "never have an opinion of your own" and "if you ever disagree, it means that you are wrong". Their television show once replaced Binky's, and Roy Rooster of U.S. Acres once appeared on their show as the "Big Bad Buddy Bird".
* Penelope the Cat: Penelope is Garfield's girlfriend who takes the place of his love interest Arlene from the comics. The reasons why Arlene does not appear in Garfield and Friends are unknown.
"U.S. Acres"
* Orson Pig: A friendly pig whose favorite pastime is reading books and imagining himself into many scenarios, a la Walter Mitty.
* Roy Rooster: A self-centered rooster who prides himself on his practical jokes.
* Wade Duck: A duck who wears a rubber flotation tube, and is admittedly afraid of everything, no matter how trivial.
* Bo Sheep: An affable sheep with a positive, laid-back attitude, whose mannerisms and vernacular are like a California beach bum.
* Lanolin Sheep: A loud-mouthed sheep who spends most of her time disagreeing with her brother, Bo.
* Booker Chick: A small chick who is constantly in pursuit of an unnamed worm.
* Sheldon Chick: Booker's brother, who is still an egg, though his feet have popped out.
* Mort, Gort, and Wart Pig: Orson's older brothers, who are constantly trying to steal vegetables from the farm and torment Orson.
* The Weasel: One of many predators who attempts to steal the chickens.
* The Worm: A cunning worm who occasionally talks. Constantly pursuited by the hapless Booker.
Trivia
* When the show was originally broadcast on CBS, the episodes usually had three Quickies (30-second gags), usually two "Garfield Quickies" and one "US Acres Quickie". Midway through the second season, "Screaming with Binky" Quickies were added. However, in the syndicated reruns, only one Quickie is shown per episode, and it's always at the end rather than around the shorts.
* The first season aired in a half-hour format. In the second season, it switched to an hour-length format, showing two episodes each week. However, in the show's last season, the second half-hour of the show featured either an episode from the previous season or one of Garfield's TV specials.
* The U.S. Acres episode "Much Ado About Orson" is mentioned several times in the second season, but never actually appears. An episode titled "Much Ado About Lanolin" does appear in the third season, however.
* The show has had three different theme songs. The first one was used during the first two seasons, and was also occasionally hummed or sung by the characters within the show. The second theme song first appeared in the third season and was used through the sixth season. This theme song is the only one used in the syndicated reruns. During the seventh and last season, a rap-based theme song was used.
* For reasons unknown, the last two seasons are never shown in the syndicated reruns.
* The show often broke the fourth wall and made references to the idea that it was a live-action sitcom, which, of course, it wasn't.
* The show makes frequent references to the Klopman Diamond, a fictional diamond which was originally an old Johnny Carson joke.
* Mark Evanier, co-creator of Groo the Wanderer and other comic books, has often spoken highly of his time as a writer and director on the show.
* The show has aired in syndication on TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Fox Family (later named ABC Family).
External links
* Garfield and Friends at the Internet Movie Database
* POV Online: Garfield and Friends (Mark Evanier)
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