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5[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/garfield_and_friends_3.png]]
6[[caption-width-right:350:Their only thought is to entertain you.[[note]]Left to right: [[ButtMonkey Jon]], [[MoralityPet Arlene]], [[DeadpanSnarker Garfield]], [[CompanionCube Pooky]], [[CuteKitten Nermal]], and [[DogsAreDumb Odie]].[[/note]]]]
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8''Garfield'' is a [[LongRunners long-running]] (since June 19, 1978) {{newspaper comic|s}}, written by Creator/JimDavis. It stars Garfield, a [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]] [[IntellectualAnimal cat]] famous for his [[HeavySleeper laziness]], [[BigEater gluttony]], occasional spurts of [[CatsAreMean evil]] and [[KarmaHoudini avoiding of karma]]; his owner, Jon Arbuckle, a cartoonist who dresses badly, [[LethalChef cooks badly]] and [[CasanovaWannabe was long a complete failure with women]] (until, 28 years later, the veterinarian Liz finally gave in); and Odie, a [[DogsAreDumb really dumb dog]] with a penchant for licking, and the only animal who doesn't have "thought speech."[[note]][[https://www.gocomics.com/garfield/1980/06/15 Except for that one time.]][[/note]]
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10The strip began in the Pendleton, Indiana ''Times'' in 1976 as ''ComicStrip/{{Jon}}'' (Davis' second strip after ''ComicStrip/GnormGnat''), which already featured the core cast: Jon, Garfield (looking quite different), Odie (then named "Spot") and his original owner, Jon's roommate Lyman (best known for disappearing with no explanation). Many if not most of the ''Jon'' strips were later redone when it was retooled into ''Garfield''. Upon being syndicated nationwide in June 1978, ''Garfield'' had a rough start, being slow to be picked up by newspapers, and many predicting it would be a ShortRunner. However, the first book collection, ''Garfield At Large'', shot to the top of the ''New York Times'' Bestseller List, held the spot for nearly two years, and turned the strip into one of the most successful ever, generating [[CashCowFranchise much merchandise]] and multi-media projects including:
11* Various [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldSpecials animated specials]]
12* Three AnimatedSeries
13** ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', which consists of ThreeShorts, two of Garfield and one of ''ComicStrip/{{US Acres}}'' (''Orson's Farm'' outside the U.S., based on another Jim Davis strip about farm animals)
14** ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldShow'', a [[AllCGICartoon CGI series]] which is basically the previous series without the U.S. Acres shorts - but with Arlene from the comic strips instead of Penelope from ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'')
15** ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldOriginals'', a series consisting of dialogue-free shorts, each episode consisting of five brief vignettes related to the same theme depicting Garfield and the other characters partaking in comedic antics.
16* Two {{live action|Adaptation}} ''Garfield'' movies (''Film/{{Garfield}}'' and ''Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties''), starring a computer-generated Garfield voiced by Creator/BillMurray and remaining animals in live action. Breckin Meyer played Jon and Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt played Liz.
17* A trilogy of [[WesternAnimation/GarfieldAnimatedMovieTrilogy CGI movies]] (''Garfield Gets Real'', ''Garfield's Fun Fest'', and ''Garfield's Pet Force'').
18* ''WesternAnimation/TheGarfieldMovie'', an upcoming CGI film from Alcon Entertainment, where Creator/ChrisPratt will voice Garfield.
19* Also spawned ''VideoGame/GarfieldCaughtInTheAct'', a [[PlatformGame platform video game]] released by Creator/{{Sega}} in 1995.
20* ''VideoGame/GarfieldSavingArlene'', a 3D platformer released in 2005, and its sequel, ''Garfield: Lasagna World Tour''.
21* Some [[EdutainmentGame edutainment computer games]].... the list goes on.
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23Jim Davis has stated that he created ''Garfield'' [[MoneyDearBoy with the sole intention of making money]]. He decided to create a strip that would be popular with the masses, in order to be commercially successful. The fact that he succeeded says one or two things, depending on how [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism cynical]] one is. On the other hand, at least he [[AtLeastIAdmitIt bothers to admit it]].
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25Garfield's speech is completely internal, even in his animated version. Although it made animation [[NoMouth much easier]], fans wondered exactly how much Jon understood Garfield considering they couldn't actually hold a conversation. With that in mind, they started the trend of [[http://www.silentgarfield.com removing Garfield's dialogue]]-- [[Webcomic/GarfieldMinusGarfield or even Garfield altogether]]-- from the comics. What results is a surreal trip into the mind of a very disturbed and lonely man, which quite a few people consider funnier than the original strip, ''[[ApprovalOfGod even by Jim Davis himself]]''. And going one step even further, Webcomic/SquareRootOfMinusGarfield proves that TrueArtIsIncomprehensible — and hilarious. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGbhJjXl9Rk It's also spawned]] WebVideo/{{Garfielf}}, an intentionally SoBadItsGood fanmade video. And last, but not least, there's WebVideo/LasagnaCat, a bizarre series of videos in which actors for Jon, Garfield, and Odie act out certain strips in the series' history, while also making music videos as "tributes" to Jim Davis.
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27Probably holds the distinction of being the comic strip that features the most tropes [[{{Aversion}} whilst not]] [[TropeNamer naming any]], except maybe HatingOnMonday.
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29The official website can be visited [[http://www.garfield.com here,]] which now (as of 2020) links to the Nickelodeon homepage. A complete archive of every strip from 1978 until now can be found at [[http://www.gocomics.com/garfield GoComics.com.]] The website was far more sophisticated back in the 2000s decade offering card games, eCards you can send to someone for a special occasion, animated videos, "Leave a message" ringtones, Italian food recipes, original music and a more extensive shopping market. However, around the mid-2010s all these features were discontinued implying budget cuts were made to the website.
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31On August 6, 2019, Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} parent Creator/{{Viacom}} announced that it had [[https://deadline.com/2019/08/viacom-to-acquire-garfield-1202662457/ acquired all global rights]] to the ''Garfield'' intellectual property (along with those of ''ComicStrip/USAcres'') and that it would begin development on a new animated series for Nickelodeon. Davis retains the rights to produce the daily comic strips for the foreseeable future, though his involvement in future ''Garfield'' media is unknown. The title character would also go on to be announced as a DLC fighter for ''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'' in December 2021.
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33Not to be confused with another orange cat from a comic strip, ComicStrip/{{Heathcliff}}.
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35-----
36!!"Garfield": Oh boy, let’s get this over with so I can eat my lasagna:
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38[[index]]
39* Garfield/TropesAToC
40* Garfield/TropesDToG
41* Garfield/TropesHToO
42* Garfield/TropesPToS
43* Garfield/TropesTToZ
44[[/index]]
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