Garfield and Friends
Series, 1988, The '80s, Set in Jon's house and U.S. Acres
Garfield and Friends is #12 of 18 in release order and #12 of 18 in chronological order in the CBS Saturday Morning Cartoons.
The story
The animated stories of Garfield the cat, Odie the dog, their owner Jon and the trouble they get into. And also Orson the Pig and his adventures on a farm with his fellow farm animals.
Garfield and Friends recap
Garfield, a fat, lazy orange cat who loves lasagne and hates Mondays, lives with his hapless owner Jon Arbuckle and Odie, a cheerful, dim dog. Each half hour has two Garfield cartoons and, in between, a segment based on Jim Davis's other comic strip, U.S. Acres, set on a farm run by Orson, a book-loving pig. Orson's friends include Roy, a rooster who plays pranks; Wade, a nervous duck who wears an inflatable inner tube; Booker, a chick, and his brother Sheldon, who has not hatched yet; and the sheep Bo and Lanolin. Short gags called Garfield Quickies fill the gaps. The Garfield stories range from everyday fights over food and the TV to parodies of films, game shows and fairy tales, with Nermal, the cute kitten Garfield cannot stand, Binky the Clown and Jon's vet Liz as regulars. The humour often breaks the fourth wall, with Garfield talking to the audience and the cartoons joking about TV itself. Mark Evanier was head writer, and Lorenzo Music voiced Garfield. It aired on CBS Saturday mornings from 1988 to 1994, for 121 episodes over seven seasons.
Garfield and Friends ending explained
Garfield and Friends ended without a story finale. The last episode, "Arbuckle the Invincible", aired on December 10, 1994, and its closing segment, "The Ocean Blue", sends Garfield, Jon and Odie on a beach holiday told entirely in song. CBS offered to renew the show with a smaller budget, and the producers chose to end it instead. Garfield returned in live-action films in 2004 and 2006, The Garfield Show (2008), with much of the same team, and The Garfield Movie (2024).
Where to watch Garfield and Friends
Garfield and Friends is streaming on Paramount+, Peacock, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Google Play, and Fandango At Home.
Ratings
IMDb 7.2/10
Where it fits
- Release order: after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, before Back to the Future: The Animated Series.
- Chronological order: after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, before Back to the Future: The Animated Series.
Cast
- Lorenzo Music as Garfield (voice)
- Gregg Berger as Odie / Orson (voice)
- Thom Huge as Jon Arbuckle / Roy / Binky the Clown (voice)
- Howard Morris as Wade (voice)
- Frank Welker as Bo / Booker / Sheldon (voice)
- Julie Payne as Dr. Liz / Lanolin (voice)
- Desiree Goyette as Nermal (voice)
- Pat Buttram as Voice
- Larry Storch
- Lennie Weinrib
- Gary Owens
- Stan Freberg
Created by Jim Davis.