The Garfield Show

The Garfield Show is a French/American CGI animated television series produced by Paws, Inc. and Dargaud Media. It is based on the American Garfield comic strip.[1] created by Jim Davis, also created by 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.[2] 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 Garfield Show
Also known asGarfield & Cie
GenreComedy
Adventure
Based onGarfield
by Jim Davis
Developed byPhilippe Vidal
Robert Rea
Steve Balissat
Written byMark Evanier
Directed byPhilippe Vidal
Voices of
ComposersLaurent Bertaud
Jean-Christophe Prudhomme
Country of originFrance
United States
Original languagesFrench
English
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes107 (213 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersJim Davis
Robert Rea
ProducersKim Campbell
Marie-Pierre Moulinjeune
Mark Evanier (supervising)
Running time44 minutes (special episodes only)
24 minutes (two segments)
12 minutes (one segment)
Production companiesDargaud Media
Paws, Inc.
DistributorMediatoon Distribution
Release
Original networkFrance 3 (France)
Cartoon Network (U.S.; 2009–12)
Boomerang (U.S.; 2015–16)
Picture formatHDTV 1080i
First shown inFrance
Original releaseNovember 2, 2009 (2009-11-02)[nb 1] –
October 24, 2016 (2016-10-24)
Chronology
Preceded byGarfield and Friends
External links
Website
Production website

The animated series premiered on December 22, 2008 in France and on November 2, 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.[3][4] On August 6, 2019, an untitled Nickelodeon series based on the Garfield comic strip was announced,[5] seemingly ending any chances of The Garfield Show coming back.

Plot

Everyone's favorite fat cat Garfield returns to television in this new CGI animated cartoon. To celebrate his 30th anniversary, every one of your favorite characters return too. Jon, Odie, Arlene, Nermal, and more return in the new series as well.[6]

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 touted as a main character, her actual role in the series is relatively minor). In addition, unlike the previous series and animated specials, where Garfield thought instead of spoke his dialogue, Garfield is now a fully-fledged talking character.

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 Squeak, Garfield's mouse friend that lives in Jon's house (replacing Floyd from the previous show). Unlike Garfield and Friends, the U.S. Acres cast does not appear.

Episodes
Main article: List of The Garfield Show episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast airedNetwork
126November 2, 2009 (2009-11-02)December 23, 2009 (2009-12-23)Cartoon Network
226December 13, 2010 (2010-12-13)June 28, 2011 (2011-06-28)
326September 4, 2012 (2012-09-04)October 5, 2012 (2012-10-05)
427October 6, 2015 (2015-10-06)September 2, 2016 (2016-09-02)Boomerang
54October 24, 2016 (2016-10-24)

Characters
Further information: List of Garfield characters

Main characters

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 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.
  • Bruno - A sadistic hairy alley cat that bullies Garfield.
  • Pete the Dog Catcher - Another dog catcher that sometimes acts as Al's associate. Usually they are hired together to catch Garfield and Odie.
  • 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

Original French voices
  • Gérard Surugue - Garfield, additional voices
  • Bruno Choël - Jon, additional voices
  • Gilbert Levy - Squeak, additional voices
  • Véronique Soufflet - Arlène, Dr. Liz Wilson, additional voices
  • Marc Saez - Nermal, additional voices
  • Philippe Bozo - Harry, additional voices
  • Eric Missoffe - Eddie Gourmand, additional voices

Main voices
Main cast members
N/A N/A
Frank Welker Gregg Berger Wally Wingert Jason Marsden Julie Payne Audrey Wasilewski
Garfield, additional voices Odie, Squeak, Harry, Herman Post, additional voices Jon Arbuckle, Al the Dog Catcher, additional voices Nermal, Vito, Liz's Father, Pete the Dog Catcher, Professor Bonkers, Humphrey, additional voices Dr. Liz Wilson, Liz's Mother, Mom Arbuckle, additional voices Arlene, Gloria, Newscaster, additional voices

Additional voices

Development

The Garfield Show is a CGI series that started development in 2007 to coincide with the strip's 30th anniversary the following year premiering in France the following year.[8]

Following the previous animated series of 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 September 24, 2007.

English-language episodes started airing on Boomerang UK on May 5, 2009, and later also on Pop, and was set to air on Nicktoons UK.

English-Language episodes started airing on Boomerang (Middle East and Africa) and on Boomerang (Central and Eastern Europe) on November 7, 2009.

It aired on YTV in Canada from September 13, 2009 to December 30, 2011.

In the United States, it aired on Cartoon Network from November 2, 2009 to May 30, 2014. It also aired on Boomerang from February 4, 2013 to December 30, 2016.[9] It was also set to air on Nickelodeon.

Home media
The Garfield Show home video releases
SeasonTitleEpisode countRelease datesEpisodes
Region 1
Vivendi releases
1Odie Oh!6October 5, 20109, 20a, 21a, 22a, 25a
All You Need is Love (and Pasta)January 18, 20111b, 6b, 10a, 11b, 14b, 26a
Private-Eye VenturesApril 12, 20111a, 2b, 4b, 11a, 13a, 15a
Spooky TailsAugust 23, 20112a, 3b, 15b, 17b, 18a, 24b
Dinosaurs & Other Animal AdventuresJanuary 10, 20123a, 12, 14a, 16a, 21b
Summer Adventures7May 29, 20125b, 10b, 17a, 18b, 19a, 22b, 24a
It's Showtime!6February 18, 20148a, 4a, 6a, 7, 13b
Best Friends ForeverJuly 29, 20145a, 16b, 23, 25a, 26b
Holiday Extravaganza5September 4, 20128b, 20b, 27, 32
2
Spring Fun Collection6February 19, 201330b, 24a, 36a, 47a, 50b, 51b
Pizza DreamsJune 25, 201328b, 31a, 37a, 40b, 41a, 48a
A Purr-Fect Life!October 22, 201329a, 31b, 38b, 39, 50a
Techno Cat7November 4, 201433a, 38a, 42, 43a, 48b, 49a

Reception

Despite receiving more episodes than usual for an animated series, The Garfield Show has received mixed reviews. Common Sense Media gave the show 3 stars out of 5, saying "Infamous cat's antics are fun, if not exactly message laden."[10]

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".[11]

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."[12]

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." [13]

The series has a 6.0 user score on Metacritic indicating mixed reviews.[14]

Video game

A party video game titled The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna, was released in July 2010 for the Wii. 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.[15]

See also

Notes
  1. The show originally premiered in France on France 3 on 22 December 2008.

References
  1. "The Garfield Show – Studios". The Garfield Show Diary.
  2. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 228–230. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  3. Evanier, Mark. "ASK me". NewsFromMe.com. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  4. Evanier, Mark. "ASK me". NewsFromMe.com. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  5. Steinberg, Brian (August 6, 2019). "Viacom Acquires Comic-Strip Cat Garfield". Variety. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  6. "The Garfield Show". TV.com. CBS Interactive.
  7. Evanier, Mark. "Why I Haven't Been Sleeping Lately…". NewsFromMe.com. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  8. "AWN Headline News". Animation World Network.
  9. "Boomerang Schedule - Cartoon Network". Cartoon Network. Time Warner. December 19, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19.
  10. "The Garfield Show". commonsensemedia.org.
  11. "7M Pictures - 'The Garfield Show: Pizza Dreams' DVD Review". 7M Pictures.
  12. "Garfield Show: Odie Oh!". DVD Talk.
  13. "DVD Review "The Garfield Show: Holiday Extravaganza"". mediamikes.com.
  14. "The Garfield Show". Metacritic.
  15. "The Garfield Show: Threat of the Space Lasagna". IGN.
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