The Garfield Show

The Garfield Show is a CGI animated television series produced by Dargaud Media and Paws, Inc. It is based on the American Garfield comic strip created by Jim Davis. The animated series focuses on a new series of adventures for the characters of Garfield, Odie, and their owner Jon Arbuckle, alongside staple characters from the strip and a number of unique additions for the program. Both Davis and producer Mark Evanier, who previously wrote episodes for the 1988 animated series Garfield and Friends, co-wrote stories for the program, with the cast including Frank Welker, Wally Wingert, Julie Payne, Jason Marsden and Gregg Berger. Welker and Berger had previously voiced various characters in Garfield and Friends.
The animated series premiered on 22 December 2008 in France as Garfield & Cie and on 2 November 2009 in the United States. It ran for five seasons, with its last episode airing in America on October 24 2016; Evanier stated shortly afterward that it was on hiatus. On August 6 2019, an untitled Nickelodeon series based on the Garfield comic strip was announced, seemingly ending any chances of The Garfield Show coming back.
Plot
The show features loose continuity and is set in a different universe to the previous Garfield cartoon series Garfield and Friends, which is occasionally referenced. Unlike the previous show, Liz is now considered a main character and has an official relationship with Jon to reflect their current status in the comic strip. The Garfield Show also reestablishes Arlene as Garfield's potential love interest, as in the comic strip, replacing Penelope from the previous show (despite being advertised as a main character, her actual role in the series is minor). In addition, unlike the previous series and animated specials, where Garfield thought instead of vocalized his dialogue, Garfield is now a talking character. Nevertheless, only other animals are usually able to understand him; Jon and other humans sometimes can.
The Garfield Show also features many new characters that are part of the regular cast, such as Vito, an Italian chef whose cooking Garfield enjoys, and Harry, a stray cat who acts as both a friend and a nemesis to Garfield. Squeak, Garfield's mouse friend that lives in Jon's house, appeared in the comic strip; he replaces Floyd from the previous show. Unlike Garfield and Friends, the U.S. Acres cast do not feature.
Episodes
Characters
Main characters
Garfield
Odie
Jon Arbuckle
Nermal
Arlene
Dr. Liz Wilson
Squeak
Recurring
Eddie Gourmand - A famous overweight food critic. His opinions on restaurants have a major impact on their success. He often crosses paths with Garfield, as they both enjoy Vito's cooking.
Dr. Whipple - A recurring antagonist who, while helping others, is usually out for his own gain. Garfield often foils his plans. He is a parody of Dr. Phil McGraw.
Professor Thaddeus Bonkers - A mad scientist who is really intelligent and yet really foolish as his inventions/discoveries always lead to disaster. He dismisses such circumstances, claiming the world is "not ready for his genius".
Doc "Doc Boy" Arbuckle - Jon's younger brother who owns a farm. Jon always teases him by calling him "Doc Boy" much to his irritation.
Aunt Ivy - Jon and Doc Boy's bossy aunt that often harasses Jon whenever she comes to visit. She doesn't like anything and likewise it is hard to find anything that likes her.
Vito Cappelletti - An Italian chef who owns his own restaurant, Vito's Pizzeria. Vito is a very ambiguous character either highly appreciating Garfield for saving his business often or determined to prevent Garfield from stealing his lasagnas or pizzas.
Harry - A stray cat that lives in Garfield's neighborhood. Harry is another ambiguous character that sometimes acts as a friend of Garfield and sometimes antagonizes him.
Drusilla and Minerva - Two annoying twins that like to dress up any animal they come across, which Garfield usually falls victim to. They are hinted to be either Jon's cousins or nieces; even they do not seem to know and claim that he is "some relative" of theirs.
Herman Post - The mailman that works in Garfield's neighborhood. Garfield often plays pranks on him for "delivering nothing but bills", much to his dismay. He continues to get a higher salary for doing his job as other mailmen are too scared of Garfield to permanently replace him.
Al the Dog Catcher - A clumsy dog catcher who is often fired for his incompetence only to be rehired as seemingly no one else can do the job any better. His associate is Pete.
Bruno - A sadistic hairy alley cat that bullies Garfield.
The Evil Space Lasagnas - An alien race of living Lasagnas that try to conquer Earth.
Hercules - A mean chihuahua "with a bad attitude" who is actually a troubled loner deep on the inside. He sometimes hangs out with Mademoiselle Fifi, the chihuahua belonging to Jon's boss.
Mr. Barker - Jon's former boss who commissions Jon's comics. He is a nice, yet often demanding, person.
Anthony Allwork - A lawyer & businessman who acts as an antagonist. He usually tries to come up with schemes to make himself richer. He has a soft spot for his son Jack.
Esmeralda Brubaker - A museum curator who prioritizes science over any person's individual life. She'll stop at nothing to get what she wants and usually finds a way to do so legally.
Neferkitty - The leader of an ancient tribe of cats that once tried to take over the world and were banished to another dimension. Garfield tricks her into entering the human world alone where she is forcibly adopted by Liz's annoying niece Heather who renames her "Fuzzbutton" much to her chagrin. Since then, she swore vengeance on Garfield and Odie.
Cast
Frank Welker - Garfield, Eddie Gourmand, Mr. Arbuckle, Nimbus, Spumomi, Ricotta
Gregg Berger - Odie, Squeak, Harry, Herman Post, Mama Meanie, General Gorgonzola, Jim Davis, Buckley, Mr. Barker
Wally Wingert - Jon Arbuckle, Al the Dog Catcher, Irv, The Lasagna King, Hercules, Charley
Jason Marsden - Nermal, Vito Cappelletti, Mr. Wilson, Pete the Dog Catcher, Professor Bonkers, Humphrey, Gnarley
Audrey Wasilewski - Arlene, Gloria, Newscaster
Julie Payne - Dr. Liz Wilson, Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Arbuckle
Additional
Joe Alaskey - Farley, The Sandman
Bob Bergen - Health Inspector
Corey Burton - Cousin Ratzo
Frank Buxton
Grey DeLisle - Jack Allwork, Sandra
Melissa Disney - Nathan
Bill Farmer - McCuckoo
Frank Ferrante - Lyman
June Foray - Mrs. Cauldron
Stan Freberg - Dr. Whipple, Fluffykins, Mole, Spencer Spendington, Hippo
Brooks Gardner
Hank Garrett
Mark Hamill - Master Control
Laraine Newman - Aunt Ivy, News Anchorwoman, Winona, Angelica, Bella Bellissima, Tyham, Aunt Esther, Queen Tania, Abigail
Maurice LaMarche - Samuel W. Underburger
Phil LaMarr - Armstrong
David Lander - Doc Boy Arbuckle
Misty Lee - Angie, Scheherazade
Tress MacNeille - Esmeralda Brubaker, Hostess, Squirrel #1
Rose Marie - Varicella
Diane Michelle
Candi Milo - Lester, Chester, Reporter, Squirrel #2, Celeste, Mary Margaret
Chuck McCann - Mayor Graffton
Marvin Kaplan - Hiram “Hi” Pressure
Jack Riley - Anthony Allwork, Ghost Cat
Neil Ross - King Glorm, Tyler Edge, Brandon Scoop
Jewel Shepard - Officer Reed
Susan Silo - Neferkitty, Metalla
Laura Summer - Drusilla & Minerva, Lucerita & Tabitha
Fred Tatasciore - Biff, Dirk Dinkum
Scott Whyte
April Winchell - Ms. Gourmand
Development
The Garfield Show is a CGI series that started development in 2007 to coincide with the strip's 30th anniversary, premiering in France the following year.
Following the previous animated series based on Garfield that debuted in 1988, many of the crew members would return to work on The Garfield Show.
Broadcast
The series premiered in France on France 3 on 22 December 2008.
English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on 5 May 2009.
English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang (Middle East and Africa) and on Boomerang (Central and Eastern Europe) on 7 November 2009.
It aired on YTV in Canada from 13 September 2009 to 30 December 2011.
In the United States, it aired on Cartoon Network from 2 November 2009 to 23 May 2014. It also aired on Boomerang from 4 February 2013 to 30 December 2016.
In Bangladesh, the series aired on Duronto TV from 12 January 2020.
Home media
Reception
The Garfield Show received mixed-to-negative reviews. The series has a 6.0 user score on Metacritic indicating "mixed or average reviews".
Common Sense Media gave the show 3 stars out of 5, saying "Infamous cat's antics are fun, if not exactly message laden."
Kevin Carr of 7M pictures gave the show 2 stars out of 5 stating that the animation felt unpolished compared to the direct-to-video movies and that the show was full of "throwaway stories" because it "aims for a more kid-friendly presentation of the fat feline." He concluded his review stating he preferred "old-school cell animation as the week-to-week series CGI looks too much like cheap video game emulations, but I’m not the target market of these things".
Justin Felix of DVD talk gave the show 2.5 out of 5 stating that "The Garfield Show isn't some great work of art, but it efficiently delivers cartoon animal fun that little kids would probably enjoy. The animation is a tad rudimentary and clunky at times, but it's good enough to pass muster for cartoon fare of this type."
Mike Gencarelli of Media Mikes gave the show 3.5 out of 5 stating "it doesn’t compare to the classic Jim Davis cartoon but it is all we have right now."
Video game
The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna, a party video game, was released in July 2010 for the Wii. A PC port was released in 2011 exclusively in Russia. It includes over 12 minigames and supports the Wii Balance Board and Wii Motion Plus. The game was critically panned for its short length, lack of interactivity and monotonous gameplay.
See also
List of French animated television series
List of French television series
Garfield and Friends
Garfield Originals
References
External links
2008 French television series debuts
2000s French animated television series
2010s French animated television series
2009 American television series debuts
2016 American television series endings
2000s American animated television series
2010s American animated television series
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated comedy television series
American computer-animated television series
Animated television series about cats
Animated television series about dogs
Animated television series reboots
English-language television shows
French-language television shows
France–United States relations
French children's animated adventure television series
French children's animated comedy television series
French computer-animated television series
Television shows based on comic strips
Television shows set in Indiana
France Télévisions children's television series
France Télévisions television comedy
Garfield