Funny / Mutts

General

• Anytime McDonnell forgets to add the "sh" in Mooch's speech (for example, Mooch would say "snow" instead of "shnow").

Strips

• In order to lure out a mouse, Earl gets out a piece of provolone cheese (the "good" stuff), claiming that no one can resist the smell. They wait... and in the fourth panel:
  Mooch: (brawling with Earl) GIMME DAT CHEESE!
  Earl: IT'S MINE!
• Frank's always being woken up by the birds.
• Frank is fed up with the squirrels hitting him on the head with acorns.
• An extremely hungry bird mistakes Mooch's tail for a worm.
• Frank suggests that Butchie get "some pretty young thing wiggling behind that counter". The problem? No kid wants to work for five bucks an hour. And... well, to say anything else would spoil it.
• Mooch punching a rooster.
• What would it be like if every day were Thanksgiving?
• "Pancakes?"
• "Duh."
  Millie: Have you seen my "teeth"?
  Frank: And how.
• Mooch is feeling a little tense today.
• Frank and Millie see Mooch in a tree, grinning at them... or at least, they THINK it's Mooch. Millie sends Frank up to get him down, and Frank discovers the hard way that it's not Mooch in that tree. It's a raccoon.
• Mussels Marinara faces off against a wave.
• Earl hears that black cats can be magical and fly on brooms.
• "WHEN DO I GET TO BE FINICKY!?!"
• Frank attempts to catch a snowflake on his tongue.
• "Animals have NO sense of humor."
• Frank and Mooch perform their "Cats Are Better Than Dogs" Rain Dance.
  • And here they are performing their "Cats Are Better Than Dogs" Winter Dance.
• "HOW does he get UP THERE?!"
• Guard Dog gives Mooch the "Royal" Treatment.
• "Someone's getting a little big for his bowl."
• Earl and Mooch decide that maybe they've been laying around too much in the summer.
  • After doing some whale-watching...
  Mooch: (to Sid the goldfish) HA! You call yourself a FISH?! You should see a whale - now that's a FISH!
  Sid: (annoyed) A whale is a mammal.
  Mooch: WHOSE idea was THAT!?!
• Looks like ducks.
• What Mooch thinks of Millie's "Supper Surprise".
• "There's ONE in every crowd."
• This delightful Frankenstein parody starring Frank, Millie and Mooch.
  "AUGH! He's shedding!"
• Ozzie buys Earl a video made especially for dogs.
• "TooLoose", the great artiste, attempts to paint Mooch's portrait.
• This is Mooch's "I Haven't the Faintest Idea What You're Talking About" face. The secret is to keep from laughing.
• This strip that ran on March 4th.
• A duck sees a "Do Not Feed the Ducks" sign.
• Mooch attempts to communicate with a cuttlefish.
• This strip.
  Earl: I'm a dog. He's a cat. Yet, we understand each other completely!
  (Beat)
  Mooch: WHAT are you talking about?!
• Frank channels his inner Tarzan.
• Frank has some imagination.
• "Punk." The image in the third panel of Mooch with the leaf on his nose is what makes it.
• Mooch is enraged by a snowflake arriving early.
  • And the next day...
  Mooch: (to the snowflake) HA! MELT, BABY, MELT!
• "I must have dozed off."
• Earl and Mooch meet a frog.
  Frog: Yes, boys, I was once a handsome prince.
  (Beat)
  Mooch: (turns to Earl) That's got to be a bullfrog.
• Mooch learns how worms travel.
  Frank: (to Millie) Is that cat due for some shots?
• Frank is having second thoughts about that pet door.
• "Did you know there's a legend that says animals receive the power to speak on Christmas Morning?"
  Mooch: No kidding?
• "Happy NOW!"
• "Puss in Boots", starring Mooch.
• Mooch is making faces at the new neighbors' dog... only for Earl to inform him that the new neighbors don't HAVE a dog. But they're sure thinking about getting one.
• Earl and Mooch play fetch.
  "Beginner's luck."
• Mooch sees a delicate vase with tempting flowers perched dangerously close to the edge of a reaching table. His reaction is to shout, "HELLO! IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED - THERE'S A CAT LIVING HERE!"
• "AAUGH! I'M COVERED IN CAT FUR!"
• Mooch goes bird-watching.
• "If you don't behave I'll smack around this paper and shmake a lot of noise!"
• "This could be a LONG shtory."
• "Do you need any tape?"
• "Never insult the chef."
  Mooch: It NEEDED ketchup!
• Earl and Mooch meet a pig...
  Mooch: You know, Earl - pigs are smarter than dogs!
  Pig: And cats.
  Mooch: (as he and Earl walk off) What a dope.
• Mooch wants some syrup.
  Earl: The maple sap runs in the SPRING, Mooch.
  Mooch: Hmm... my pancakes could be a li'l cold by then.
• Mooch is fattening up for hibernation.
  Earl: When do you start sleeping?
  Mooch: SHLEEP?! Who has time for THAT?!
• Speaking of sleep, this strip has Mooch having some fun with Earl while he's taking a nap.
• Mooch tells Earl that he plans on staying in and watching TV all day. Earl then asks if he's going to turn the TV on.
  Mooch: Would THAT help?
• Admit it, you totally relate to Mooch in regards to winter in this strip.
  Mooch: Is winter over yet?!
  Earl: Spring is still officially a month away, Mooch.
  Mooch: There are too many rules.
• A squirrel finds Earl's stick.
  "May I walk on 'YOUR' grass? May I climb 'YOUR' trees? May I breathe 'YOUR' air?"
• This strip. Mooch's over-the-top reaction to Earl having a "tick" is hilarious enough, but then it turns out that the "tick" is actually just a chocolate sprinkle. Mooch's response is to run away screaming again... because cats and dogs are not supposed to have chocolate.
• Mooch is annoyed by Earl's constantly squeaking his squeaky bone.
• Mooch goes out on a cold day.
  Frank: I told you it was cold out.
• Earl and Mooch meet a bear who complains that, as a result of people destroying his forest, he doesn't know where to live. Mooch's response? "Earl has a shpare bedroom!"
• "Everybody loves a shurprise party!"
• Mooch brought in an expert to teach him and Earl how to hibernate.
• This strip is a parody of "Sleeping Beauty", with Mooch being put under a spell that'll make him sleep for one hundred years unless awakened by a prince. Earl has a dog named Prince lick him, waking Mooch up - and he's very disappointed to find out that he won't be sleeping for one hundred years.
• "Do you think it will stop raining soon, Mooch?"
• Earl invites Mooch to come in his kiddie pool.
• "It was HIS idea."
• Mooch has a "Sounds of Nature" CD to help him and Earl sleep. He and Earl are promptly subjected to the sounds of the trumpeter swan, the screech owl, the howler monkey, ocean waves - with Crabby, and hyenas laughing, culminating in ducks loudly singing lullabies.
• Earl and Mooch find a geyser while in Yellowstone.
• "I don't think he liked it."
• Mooch meets the weatherman, who he thinks has the ability to control the weather.
• Mooch uses an arm extender for those hard to reach things.
  Mooch: Very convenient.
• Earl tells Mooch that spring is here. And then it promptly starts snowing.
  Mooch: (to the snow) GET WITH THE PROGRAM!
• One of the squirrels who likes bonking people on the head with nuts gets a taste of his own medicine.
• Earl and Mooch meet a raccoon...
  Mooch: WHO feeds you out here?!
  Raccoon: Nobody 'feeds me'! I fend for myself!
  Mooch: Wow - I'm impressed! (to Earl) HE knows how to use a can opener!
• "And how was YOUR Thanksgiving?"
• Mooch gives Butchie his Thanksgiving food list.
• It's January 1st, 2010...
  Earl: Hey, Mooch - it's a new year!
  (Beat)
  Mooch: What was wrong with the old one?
• Mooch has found two identical snowflakes.
• Earl and Mooch aren't very good at hibernating. Thus, Mooch hired a consultant.
• "It's time to shtart the day!"
• Mooch is quite the Fearless Fool...
• Mooch wants to know what the date is.
• "Look out! The whole thing shmight blow!"
• "Yesh! I believe we have a winner!"
• "Fill 'er up."
• "You didn't eat THAT much, Mooch."
• "You're drooling."
• After pigging out at Thanksgiving, Mooch announces that from now on he's only eating salads. Earl tells him that cats don't eat salads. Mooch's reply is, "They do now."
• The squirrels throw a YULE LOG at Butchie.
• Mooch once again wakes up a hibernating bear. Why? He wants the bear to settle a bet between him and Earl - Earl says that bears sleep all winter, whereas Mooch says that they get out and about once in a while. Long story short, Earl and Mooch wind up being chased by the bear.
  Mooch: (as he and Earl run) You owe me.
• Earl and Mooch see a reindeer while walking, which makes Mooch believe that they've walked to the North Pole.
• Mooch plays an April Fool's joke on Earl… on April 2nd.
• Mooch decides to start a leaf collection - and finds out that it's much easier than he thinks.
• Today, the Mutts Book Club is reading The Neverending Story.
  Chipmunk: (to Mooch) Don't you dare!
• It's Saturday Night, and Mooch discovers the Christmas tree that Frank and Millie have put up…
  Mooch: (talking to the tree) WHAT are YOU doing here?! Trees don't belong INSIDE! When I get up tomorrow, you better be gone! Foo.
  (Sunday Morning. Mooch sees that the tree has been decorated)
  Mooch: That disguise is NOT fooling anyone!
• On a snowy morning, Mooch decides that...
  Mooch: (peering outside) This is a good day for tea and butter toast.
  (Mooch has a seat at the kitchen table)
  Mooch: I'm waiting.
• Earl tells Mooch that it's snowing. Mooch's response is to run up the stairs and get back in bed, then watch the snow fall through the window.
  Mooch: Ahh. So it is.
• "Life is filled with little surprises. The shecret is to be shomewhere else when they're found."
• "It's a good day to stay in."
• "There's cat fur over everything!"
• Mooch helps a baby bird get back to its nest. And wouldn't you know it, the mother bird (a bird of prey) shows up just as Mooch is placing her baby back and assumes that Mooch means harm. Uh-oh...
• Turns out that the early bird doesn't actually catch the worm.
• Frank tells Mooch that they need to go shopping because there's nothing to eat in the house but bread crumbs. Immediately after he says this, he and Mooch notice some birds staring at them through the window.
• Earl and Mooch are trying to encourage people to adopt pets from a shelter…
  Mooch: If a person is thinking of adopting a new best friend - now is the right time.
  (Beat)
  Mooch: (to the fourth wall) I SAID NOW!!!
• Mooch learns about spiderwebs - and gets an idea...
• Earl tells Mooch that he's going to go for a swim.
  Mooch: Where?
  Earl: In the ocean.
  Mooch: Try not to get wet.
  (Earl gives an Aside Glance)
  • Thus begins a series in which Mooch decides to be a lifeguard…
    Mooch: As your lifeguard, I must constantly search for sharks. They're very trickshy.
    Earl: (pointing in the opposite direction that Mooch is facing) But, Mooch - the ocean's over THERE!
    Mooch: (turning to face him) HA! That's exactly where they'd expect you to look!
• How Mooch gets around the fact that there's four feet of snow outside.
• Earl tells Mooch that he can have "only one bite" of his food. Mooch's face in the third panel is what makes the strip.
• Each snowflake is unique. Earl and Mooch see one that's trying too hard.
• What really makes this strip is the fact that Earl and Mooch just walk away in the third panel.
• This is Mooch's "I have to run around like a lunatic and wreak havoc for a few minutes" face.
• Earl and Mooch encounter a wild goose.
• Since it's Autumn, Earl and Mooch decide to make like the leaves and change color - with the help of some paint. Upon seeing the now-yellow Mooch, Millie changes color herself... specifically, she turns red.
• After the squirrels throw yet another acorn at Mooch, the cat demands to know if they can think of anything better to do.
• "I'm all out of nuts! And I HAVE to throw SOMETHING!"
• Earl tells Mooch that jumping in a pile of leaves is fun. Mooch tries it... and doesn't find it all that fun.
• Literal-Minded Mooch hears that Old Man Winter is on his way.
  Mooch: (to Frank) DON'T answer the door!
• Mooch has made some New Year's Resolutions… for Earl.
  Earl: You're supposed to make them for YOURSELF!
  Mooch: What fun is THAT!?!
  • The next day, Mooch decides to indeed make some New Year's Resolutions for himself. However...
  Mooch: I can't think of ONE New Year's Resolution! I'm PERFECT.
  Earl: HA!
  (Mooch writes "Make new friends" on his list of New Year's Resolutions)
  • And the next day, he's thought of another one - to stop barking. Earl points out that Mooch doesn't bark.
  Mooch: Yesh. I wanted to shtart with an easy one.
• Mooch's enormous eyes in this strip.
• "I don't think he liked it."
• Crabby's cousin, Jolly Roger, is a happy crab. Mussels calls this an oxymoron. Then an OX shows up and demands, "WHAT did you call me!?!"

Other:

• In The Mutts Little Big Book, the dust jacket features humorous mock praise courtesy of Earl and Mooch:
  Earl: Something to chew on.
  Mooch: Like a chicky shnoodle soup for the soul.
  Henny: Hey!