History WesternAnimation / GarfieldAndFriends

* AbsenteeActor: Jon does not appear in "Flat Tired", despite the episode being set entirely in the Arbuckle household.

* AbsenteeActor: Becomes especially JustForFun/{{egregious}} in situations where villains are stated to have captured all of the cast when they've really just captured all of that episode's cast.

While the show was very successful for all of its seven season run, it was cancelled after the last episode was compeleted due to CBS choosing to scale back its Saturday morning block. The only indication of the series finale was in one of the Garfield quips at the start of the show [[note]]'''Garfield''': After 7 Seasons, we've pretty much said anything you can say at this spot[[/note]]. After the show ended production, it also ran in reruns in the United States on Cartoon Network (with the U.S. Acres segments cut out and more Garfield segments added) and later Toon Disney before disappearing from television entirely. The show was released to DVD in its entirety in the mid 2000s, though the sets have now gone out of print. More recently another media company named Creator/NineStoryMediaGroup licensed both ''Garfield and Friends'' and the specials and began re-releasing them in 2018 using an "HD" remaster... for a budget DVD release (and international broadcasts) which cropped the image to fit modern 16:9 televisions, along with the opening having to be completely redone in Flash due to the footage having been lost. Boomerang (which holds exclusive US rights to this show as of 2021) streamed 60 of these remastered episodes, while Tubi has remastered episodes beginning with season four (the Garfield Specials are included as "season 8"). Most recently, Creator/PlutoTV -- owned by Creator/ViacomCBS, which acquired the ''Garfield'' and ''U.S. Acres'' [=IPs=] some time ago -- has launched a 24/7 channel devoted to the show, albeit using the HD prints (and half of the seasons cut due to the first three seasons still being at Boomerang)

* YouCanPanicNow: In both "Wade, You're Afraid" and "The Bunny Rabbits Is Coming!", Wade is panicking over something and [[NoFourthWall directly asks the viewer]] why he's sitting there watching TV and not panicking.

* PantyShot: This happens in "[[Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew Much Ado About Lanolin]]", when Lanolina first falls down the stairs.
** This also happens more than once to Orson in "Hogcules II".
** This also happens at the beginning of "Fine Feathered Funnyman", but Roy's underwear was fully visible.

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent:
** "Ode to Odie" has no dialogue, only narration in the form of a rap song.
** Some episodes, like "All About Odie", "It Must Be True", "Secrets of the Animated Cartoon", and "How to Be Funny", take the form of academic lectures.

* AdultFear: Not necessarily involving children, but "Housebreak Hotel" depicts a very real fear of pet owners - that the pet hotel promising luxurious pampering is actually a pet abusing scam ran more like the city pound than a pet hotel.

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: One segement had a witch turn into a pretty young woman to snag a husband, since her male companion spurned her proposal. After revealing her true form, she took Jon to her house, where she locked him in a cage. Garfield and Odie arrived just in time as a priest was performing the ceremony.

** Mr. Fluster is arguably the dumbest and most incompetent person on the whole show, he installs a high-tech (though ultimately useless) security system on Jon's house and acts as a security guard demanding Jon give him a password to come in... Even though he clearly has met Jon and should not have to force to answer password. Also not only did he not tell Jon the password, but he himself doesn't know it and has the gall to ask Jon what the password is. [[HilarityEnsues Needless to say, It's very funny to watch]].

* AdultsAreUseless: Normally played straight, Jon's is naturally quite stupid and some of the adults Garfield and Jon met just as if not more stupid. However this is sometimes Subverted, Jon can be surprisingly clever on occasion and there are some other adults who are quite competent, Liz being the most notable.

-->'''Garfield''': New rule of the show, Pup: Every 9 weeks we do a happy ending. Come on let's go steal their pizza.

* JokerJury: "Wanted: Wade", where Wade the duck actually starts thinking that he was a criminal after [[MattressTagGag removing a tag on Orson Pig's chair]]. He then starts to have a nightmare where he is actually put on trial where Orson is the judge presiding over said trial and sentencing him to 9,999 years in prison after declaring him guilty... after which Wade's ''relieved'', because...

* YouMakeMeSic:
** "The bunny rabbits is coming!", a phrase repeated constantly in the titular episode. Lampshaded multiple times with several characters pointing out [[GrammarNazi "Shouldn't that be the bunny rabbits ''are'' coming"?]], rather than questioning what the message actually means.
** A blooper in "Weatherman Wade" had Roy say the line "None of us wears any!" when asking Lanolin why she appears on the show (to do laundry).

* HeelFaceTurn: The female dogs who hang out with Butch in "Ode to Odie". At first, they join in making fun of Odie, but when Butch continues bullying Odie, they find that he's being too mean and leave. Odie seems to accept this, as he plays with them in the yard and they become friends.

-->'''First criminal:''' I've robbed 50 banks and 60 gas stations.
-->'''Second criminal:''' Yeah? well, I robbed 70 banks, see, and 90 gas stations. And I stole [[RunningGag the Klopman Diamond]]. WhatAreYouInFor
-->'''Wade:''' Uh, I tore a tag off a pillow.
-->''(the criminals run for the bars and scream for help)''
* EverythingsBetterWithRainbows: Not if you ask Roy. In "Over the Rainbow", [[spoiler: Roy looks for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and ended up in a gameshow similar to ''Series/LetsMakeADeal''. He ends up with a smelly sock.]]

--> '''Roy:''' If I say my line, will you promise not to drop a 16-ton safe on me?
--> '''Buddy Bears:''' ''(in succession)'' We promise not to drop a 16-ton safe on you.
--> '''Roy:''' Okay, I want to ride the roller coaster!
--> '''Buddy Bears:''' ''(After two safes drop)'' We did not drop a 16-ton safe on you. We dropped ''two'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_4ZRtqfuR8#t=6m20s 16-ton safes on you!]]
** In another episode, Roy rejoins the Buddy Bears and is told [[FalseReassurance they no longer drop 16-ton safes]]. Other heavy objects are dropped on him and the last one is a ''27''-ton safe.
** In "Fortune Kooky," Wade and Orson plan a picnic, and Roy observes. He [[NoFourthWall tells the viewers]] that he would never stoop so low as to do something really nasty like stealing Wade's picnic basket...and then explains that the food ''inside'' the basket is another story.

** Wade sees a police car on the farm and gets him into his panic. When Orson tries to convince Wade he won't go to jail for it, a voice tells them and Roy "We know you're in there, come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!" The three adults run for it. [[spoiler: It was all Booker playing a joke. Sheldon asks if it was very nice, and Booker, in an IronicEcho asks "What harm can it do?"]]

** In another episode, there is "Hit a Duck in the Face with a Lemon Meringue Pie" Day. When, unlike other characters, Roy won't settle for hitting Wade just once, Wade writes a letter to Congress asking for a Holiday to hit roosters with mud and it gets passed the same day the pie one. Roy and Wade go so far that [[YouAreGrounded Orson decides to punish them.]] Roy and Wade then get the Congress to pass a Holiday to paint pigs purple.

* FluffyTamer: In "Show Stoppers", [[spoiler: Wade Duck (of all people) has a fearsome bull who he calls Fido. We don't know what Fido is until he chases Orson's mean brothers away.]]

** Another episode, "Kiddie Korner," [[InvertedTrope inverts]] the trope--the group is originally going to do a take on ''Literature/DoctorZhivago'', but [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Aloysius Pig]] shows up from the network to demand that they perform family-friendly nursery rhymes instead. Unfortunately, since the gang plays them straight, they inadvertently reveal all of the violence, starvation, and death that the rhymes contain, and Aloysius won't stop griping about it. [[spoiler: They eventually turn to Roy to write a ''new'' rhyme that allows them to throw Aloysius out in the cold.]]

** Aloysius Pig says two of Kevin Meaney's catchphrases: "That's not right!" and "I don't care!", although the latter was only said once (twice if you count the line "I don't care what it says!").

** Binky the Clown only appeared in a single week of strips in the mid-1980s (on-panel, at least; Garfield would regularly watch his show on television, with the reader only seeing his dialog. His on panel appearance wasn't nearly as wacky as his cartoon counterpart).

''(Odie buries his face in his hands in exasperation.)''
*** The Quickie for [[http://strips.garfield.com/bwiimages1200/1991/ga910923.gif this strip]] has Garfield deciding, "Two." Jon then pours two spoonfuls of sugar into the cereal in Garfield's mouth and leaves.

** "Binky Gets Canceled...Again!" [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title implies,]] Binky's popular kids' show is canceled after parents complain that the program isn't educational. Binky points out that his show does teach educational stuff: "I make children laugh! I entertain!" The station manager then declares that entertaining simply isn't enough for children's shows anymore -- they need to have "social content" to get airtime. This seems to be a reaction against programs that treat kids like idiots while hammering home countless Aesops. It's not subtle, but it does make the legitimate claim that it's OK for children to simply have fun and enjoy themselves while watching television, rather than constantly having to learn something from it.
** Thanks to show writer Creator/MarkEvanier, every time the Buddy Bears show up, we get a message about groupthink and TheComplainerIsAlwaysWrong, namely that blindly following the group and being unable to form your own opinions is not the way to be. This is particularly effective in "Big Bad Buddy Bird," because it frames the Buddy Bears as a ShowWithinAShow. Roy leaves the farm and looks for a new job in showbiz; he's placed on the Buddy Bears Show as their new friend "Big Bad Buddy Bird," who, in his own words, "never agrees with the group and sets a bad example for impressionable children everywhere." Towards the end of the episode, which features one member of the Bears constantly giving up what they want to do to go with the group and outright telling children "NEVER have an opinion of your own!', Roy--who's been punished with sixteen-ton safes being dropped on his head whenever he disagrees--delivers a speech that summarizes exactly what's wrong with the groupthink; it helps that he's literally pressed up against a television screen while the Bears try to pull him off, which makes it seem like he's [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall actually speaking directly to children watching]] ''Garfield and Friends''.
--->''"NO! No more examples! Kids, don't listen to any of this--these Bears are dangerous. You should have opinions of your own! You should think and decide and not listen to what everyone else says! Use your own mind--don't do everything your friends do just because they do it, ''have a brain of your own!'' LET GO OF ME! THE GROUP ISN'T ALWAYS RIGHT!"''

* AnimatedAdaptation: Unlike the actual episodes, the Garfield "Quickies" were directly adapted from the original Jim Davis strips. Also, some of the first episodes were minor arcs from the original comic padded out to fill a 7-minute cartoon.

--> '''Roy:''' Wade's confessing his crimes.\\

** In the episode "Feline Felon", a dream sequence with an Series/AmericasMostWanted parody shows one of the criminals is wanted for burglary, [[RunningGag stealing the Klopman Diamond]], and using a small child as a bookmark. Then another is wanted for robbery, extortion, and doing the Pennsylvania Polka in Rhode Island. Garfield's own list of crimes is more like "Arson, jaywalking and murder", as it starts with stealing baked goods and moves on to him stealing "a kiss", "third base" (during an actual baseball game), "the spotlight", and even "a fleeting glance" before showing him stealing peoples' pants.

* AscendedExtra: Binky the clown. While Garfield would regularly watch his show on TV (with the reader only seeing Binky's dialog), the clown himself only appeared on panel in a single week long story arc in the strip. Binky in the cartoon however becomes a major recurring character in the cartoon series, continuing an ascension he began in the earlier tv specials, where we first saw his face on Garfield's TV in ''Garfield's Halloween Adventure''
* AssholeVictim: Happens a fair few times through the series, the usual victims being Roy, Nermal, and Garfield himself. Perhaps the biggest example though is Mr. Burnside, he is a very frequent target of Garfield’s mischief but is himself essentially all of Garfield’s vices without any of his [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold good qualities]]. Best exemplified in his last major appearance where he is put through absolute Hell for the whole episode, but remains such a big bully it’s hard to feel sorry for him.

* BadCopIncompetentCop: In "Jailbird Jon" where Garfield is replaced by an inmate wearing a cat suit. The police doesn't even bother to take a glance at what's going on.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in "Mistakes Will Happen" - the Buddy Bears' cameo appears to be a parody of this trope. They appear out of nowhere, sing their theme song, and then disappear.
* BitingTheHandHumor: Much jokes are made in reference to "the network", a.k.a. Creator/{{CBS}}.
** An example which predicted the reason the show ended was seen in "The Discount of Monte Cristo" which is all about Aloysius cutting the show's budget (CBS wanted budget cuts for the show, and the show's creators refused to let the show suffer the budget cuts. In the episode, Orson hated Aloysius ruining the story by firing people who made the show in order to keep the show's budget low).

* CinderellaPlot: In the ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' segment, "Bedtime Story Blues", Orson attempts to read the story of ''Cinderella'' to Booker and Sheldon (as it's the only book he hasn't read to them yet), but the twins [[FracturedFairyTale make numerous changes to the story]], much to Orson's ire. These changes include [[GenderBender making Cinderella and her stepsisters boys]] (and the latter ninjas), having Cinderella work at a pet store, making the king's messenger a rap master, making the fairy godmother the richest guy in the world, and having the characters get attacked by dinosaurs. Orson eventually becomes so annoyed with the twins' changes that he reads the story the right way [[MotorMouth very fast]].
* CommonMeter: The verses to the song in "Picnic Panic".

** When they replaced Binky the Clown's show with their own in one episode, Garfield tries to find a way to switch them back. Using a disguise, he manages to get them to disagree on something, when he asks them to choose pizza toppings (something which, he claims, ''no'' two people "in the history of Italian cooking" have ''ever'' been able to agree on). This leads to an argument within the trio while it was broadcast, and they were cancelled as a result.

*** Creator/MarkEvanier worked on several cartoons in the early 1980s that played this trope straight (including ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983''), and has stated that the Buddy Bears were his way of getting back at his employers on those shows.
* ConMan: [[MeaningfulName A.J. Swindler (A.G. Swindler after season 3)]]. This guy with the long nose loves to target Jon Arbuckle for his naivete even going as far as to force him to sell him his house and cheat a carnival owner that leads to ruins. And he STILL doesn't learn his lesson.

-->'''Garfield''':You notice how every week I say something different here?

* CryingWolf: Orson the Pig tells the story of "The Wolf Who Cried Boy" about a wolf who cries "boy" too often until finally none of his pack believe him when a young hunter comes up the hill. In the middle of telling the story, [[ExplainExplainOhCrap Orson realizes that Roy the Rooster's constant cries of "Wolf!" throughout out the episode may not be another prank.]]
* CulturallySensitiveAdaptation: In one strip from the [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} original comic]], Garfield is telling jokes on the fence, one being that his car is so old it's insured against "Indian raids." In the show, it was changed to "dinosaurs", both removing the potentially offensive content and enhancing the joke by making the car even older.
* DamnedByAFoolsPraise: In the episode "Rolling Romance", Jon is the only one at an HonestJohnsDealership who's interested in a particular car that even the dealer is initially hesitant to sell him--it turns out the car is possessed and [[Literature/{{Christine}} madly in love with Jon]] (whereupon Garfield is quick to question the car's tastes).
* DerailedFairyTale: There are quite a few U.S. Acres episodes where someone attempts to tell the chicks a bedtime story and the plot goes off the rails.
** "The Name Game" messes up Rumpelstiltskin.
** "Hare Force" parodies The Tortoise and the Hare as a science-fiction story.
** "Jack II: The Rest of the Story" has the farm animals writing a sequel to Jack and the Beanstalk that answers questions such as how Jack dealt with the dead giant in his yard.

** "Bedtime Story Blues" is about Orson telling the story of Cinderella, only for Booker and Sheldon to change it.
* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: Several episodes begin with a character humming along from where the title music left off; in "Short Story", Bo Sheep remarks that he's had the tune in his head all day, and wonders where he heard it.

** The plot of "The Discount of Monte Cristo" is about Aloysius cutting the show's budget, which is why Garfield and Friends ended.
** At the end of Kiddie Korner, we find out [[spoiler:that the name of "The Network" is called "[=SUUS=] The Network". If you say it out loud, it sounds like "Sue Us, The Network!", likely a TakeThat at CBS cancelling Garfield and Friends.]]

-->'''Garfield''': Some things are more important than money, bad tasting lasagna for one!

* ExplodingCloset: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMELnad_HRE&t=36s In the first theme song sequence]] where Garfield constantly tries to get the characters of U.S. Acres off screen, he emotes shoving them into a proverbial closet at one point, only for them to slam down on him.

* FantasyKeepsake: "The Lasagna Zone", a sendup of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'', Garfield gets TrappedInTVLand and, during the escapade, Garfield acquires a scarf and Odie accidentally drops the remote, breaking it. When Garfield wakes up, he's convinced that it was all a dream, but he notices the broken remote on the floor and then sees the scarf still on him.

** In the episode "Nighty Nightmare", near the end of Garfield's DreamSequence, it is revealed that the reason Garfield was eating every scrap of food in the world and growing to gigantic proportions was because an alien was using a mind-control ray on him to fatten him up for Thanksgiving dinner for [[RunningGag the planet Clarion]].
** In the episode "Pest of a Guest", Garfield exploits this trope and makes a freeloading cat who's been faking being sick think this is what his going to happen to him. He makes a recipe card that has one kitty cat as the main ingredient to Jon's casserole. Later Jon (who doesn't know what Garfield did) casually mentions to the cat "we've got to fatten you up" and that the casserole is Odie's favorite dish. Odie licks him and that cat thinks Odie is tasting him, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere causing him to flee from the house]].

* HeelFaceTurn: The female dogs who hang out with Butch in "Ode to Odie." At first, they join in on making fun of Odie, but when Butch continues bullying Odie, they find that he's being too mean and leave him. Odie seems to accept this, as he plays with them in the yard and they become friends.
* HellHotel: Setting for "The Sludge Monster". "Housebreak Hotel" exploits this trope, as the advertiser makes it look like a luxury resort for pets to lure unsuspecting and gullible owners, figuring the pets can't talk and likewise register a complaint anyway. [[spoiler:That is, [[TheDogBitesBack until Garfield steps into the picture]].]]

** While not being actual hypnosis, Garfield's Hawaiian cat flu in "Garfield Goes Hawaiian" causes him to dance the hula or do something Hawaiian whenever someone mentions something Hawaiian.

* InCaseYouForgotWhoWroteIt: In "The Cartoon Cat Conspiracy", Garfield created a ShowWithinAShow titled "Sam the Cat", which was actually a SelfParody, Garfield overpromoted himself in the opening credits and apologized for not having space to give Odie due credit for animating the story. (Garfield got Odie to do it because he was cheaper than any Korean staff)
* InkSuitActor: A large number of guest stars during later seasons, including but not limited to Rip Taylor, Ray Jay Johnson, George Foreman, and Eddie Lawrence doing his "Old Philosopher" routine in cat form. Most notable was adding Aloysius, a pastiche of stand-up comedian Kevin Meaney (right down to his catchphrase, "That's not right!"), as a recurring character on ''U.S. Acres''.
* InvisibleWriting: This was also used in the episode "The Legend Of Long Jon". Garfield and Odie were reading from the journal of Jon's pirate ancestor Long Jon Arbuckle, when Odie started drooling on an apparently blank page, which causes writing to appear on the page. It turned out that Long Jon Arbuckle had written on the blank pages in invisible ink, telling about how he was able to arrest some bandits that were carrying phony documents.

** "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Mouse" revolves around Garfield telling a version of the story, in which Jekyll is trying to make a diet cola without any aftertaste and tests it on a mouse (an exterminator's cat also gets hold of some later) to the audience while waiting for his food to finish microwaving.

The show's YouTube channel which contains clips from the show (some not viewable in the US for existing reasons) is [[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmgiPm4j50Z9zNTsUmb9Xw here]].

The show's YouTube channel which contains clips from the show (some not viewable in the US for existing reasons) is [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmgiPm4j50Z9zNTsUmb9Xw here].

While the show was very successful for all of its seven season run, it was cancelled after the last episode was compeleted due to CBS choosing to scale back its Saturday morning block. The only indication of the series finale was in one of the Garfield quips at the start of the show [[note]]'''Garfield''': After 7 Seasons, we've pretty much said anything you can say at this spot[[/note]]. After the show ended production, it also ran in reruns in the United States on Cartoon Network (with the U.S. Acres segments cut out and more Garfield segments added) and later Toon Disney before disappearing from television entirely. The show was released to DVD in its entirety in the mid 2000s, though the sets have now gone out of print. More recently another media company named Creator/NineStoryMediaGroup licensed both ''Garfield and Friends'' and the specials and began re-releasing them in 2019 using an "HD" remaster... for a budget DVD release which cropped the image to fit modern 16:9 televisions, along with the opening having to be completely redone in Flash due to the footage having been lost. Walmart has also started to sell their own line of ''Garfield and Friends'' [=DVDs=]. Boomerang streamed 60 of these remastered episodes, while Tubi has remastered episodes beginning with season four (the Garfield Specials are included as "season 8"). Most recently, Creator/PlutoTV -- owned by Creator/ViacomCBS, which acquired the ''Garfield'' and ''U.S. Acres'' [=IPs=] some time ago -- has launched a 24/7 channel devoted to the show, albeit using the HD prints (and half of the seasons cut due to the first three seasons still being at Boomerang)

The show is also available on multiple streaming services in its original SD version, though not all of them stream every episode. Currently the Creator/{{Boomerang}} app are the only services with every episode.

While the show was very successful for all of its seven season run, it was cancelled after the last episode was compeleted due to CBS choosing to scale back its Saturday morning block. The only indication of the series finale was in one of the Garfield quips at the start of the show [[note]]'''Garfield''': After 7 Seasons, we've pretty much said anything you can say at this spot[[/note]]. After the show ended production, it also ran in reruns in the United States on Cartoon Network (with the U.S. Acres segments cut out and more Garfield segments added) and later Toon Disney before disappearing from television entirely. The show was released to DVD in its entirety in the mid 2000s, though the sets have now gone out of print. More recently another media company named ''Creator/NineStoryMediaGroup'' licensed both ''Garfield and Friends'' and the specials and began re-releasing them in 2019 using an "HD" remaster... for a budget DVD release which cropped the image to fit modern 16:9 televisions, along with the opening having to be completely redone in Flash due to the footage having been lost. Walmart has also started to sell their own line of ''Garfield and Friends'' [=DVDs=]. Boomerang streamed 60 of these remastered episodes, while Tubi has remastered episodes beginning with season four (the Garfield Specials are included as "season 8"). Most recently, Creator/PlutoTV -- owned by Creator/ViacomCBS, which acquired the ''Garfield'' and ''U.S. Acres'' [=IPs=] some time ago -- has launched a 24/7 channel devoted to the show, albeit using the HD prints (and half of the seasons cut due to the first three seasons still being at Boomerang)