With 40+ years of comics, Garfield is sure to repeat jokes now and again.
- Many of the early Garfield gags, including the first strip from June 19, 1978, were recycled from Jon, a strip that Davis did in the Pendleton Times in 1976 which included early versions of Jon and Garfield. However, Jon was more prone to cultural reference and topical humor. Some of those gags were previously used in Davis' earlier strip, Gnorm Gnat.
- December 10, 2003
and December 5, 2009 both use the same scenario of Jon sharing his Christmas memories of the farm, complete with nearly identical dialogue from Garfield. - December 3, 2001 was recycled into December 7, 2002. That's right, only a full year later. Both comics are exactly the same in composition, dialogue, and facial expressions, even having the huge sound effect splash panel. The only real change is the coloring.
- Both the strip for April 18, 1984 and the strip for March 21, 1995 have the punch line of Garfield "packing" the refrigerator for vacation.
- August 16, 1985 (a daily strip), where Garfield walks across the room to see Odie's tongue lead into another copy of himself, was recycled into July 19, 1998 (a Sunday strip), with a secondary punchline added. It was also used as a U.S. Acres strip here◊, but with Orson looking at Booker and Sheldon's hat.
- November 30, 1983 and December 15, 1981 have the same punchline of Garfield saying "I hate to see a doctor cry" in regards to one of Jon's stupid flirting attempts.
- Take June 23, 1993, subtract the neighbor's mail, add Garfield looking into the wallet, and you'll get January 1, 2001. Happy New Year.
- Not as big as the above examples, but it seems rather odd that the strips published on June 7 and June 29 of 1991 (barely three weeks apart) would both have the same basic gag involving Garfield eating Jon's food while blindfolded.
- The May 19, 1981 and June 3, 1996 strips have got pretty much the same punchline of Garfield packing extension cord for vacation.
- Garfield watches Pooky fall, and takes after him in lying down, commenting "what an idea man!" This could mean either July 21, 1987 or March 11, 1995.
- Garfield has stuffed Odie's nose into his mouth on both August 16, 1979 and February 21, 1983.
- March 31st, 2005 has pretty much the same idea as October 10th, 1997. Garfield eats food while saying that while you can't always get what you want, he can.
- July 25, 2011 has the same gag of Irma confusing Garfield as Jon's girlfriend as November 9, 2009, right down to the dialogue. That one is so blatant that it provides the trope's page image. The only change is that Irma's Pose of Silence gets slightly modified in the second iteration.
- June 27, 1983, July 4, 1983, July 16, 1983, July 18, 1983, July 25, 1983 and August 1, 1983 all contain the exact same premise and first two panels. The punchline differs each time, though.
- May 7, 1993 and May 11, 2010 have the same gag of Garfield using spaghetti as a ball of yarn.
- November 26, 1995 and March 10, 1996 both end with the same joke: Jon opening up a paper to see a spider inside.
- August 14, 1978 was recycled into January 23, 1980, both featuring a Literal Metaphor of Garfield being "rubbed the wrong way."
- December 7, 2001 was recycled into December 21, 2003, featuring Garfield paging Santa.
- June 18, 2002 was recycled into June 11, 2003, as birthday comics where Jon asks Garfield what he attributes to his longevity.
- September 6, 2011 was recycled (word-for word) into April 18, 2012◊. Paws soon realized the recycling and issued a replacement strip.
- July 3, 2012 is similar to May 15, 2007: a loud burp from Garfield startles Jon and makes him spill his drink.
- Take August 20, 2006, replace the box of packaging pellets with a pile of leaves, and you've got November 14, 2010.
- November 28, 1996 was recycled into April 20, 2011: Garfield, on the fence, asks for a volunteer from the audience, and then asks for an audience in the first place.
- February 7, 2012 and November 10, 2013 have the exact same punchline, only the latter is stretched out to a Sunday strip length and adds the two of them drinking pop.
- Garfield responds to a shout of "FIRE!" with a sausage on a stick. This describes both September 1, 1987 and September 8, 1998.
- Garfield has had his thoughts stuffed up from a cold on both November 27, 1978 and January 14, 1980.
- July 8, 1997 and April 12, 1999 both have Garfield replacing the water in a birdbath with a cooking material, then being dismayed that he can't make a bird-related dish when the bird flies off.
- Garfield laughing at Jon's driver's license happens on August 31, 2006. Add Odie, and you get February 26, 2014.
- A cross-media example: The Garfield Show episode "Fame Fatale" and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties have the same basic plot of Garfield switching lives with a British doppelganger.
- The December 1984 arc of Garfield re-meeting his family was recycled from the 1983 special Garfield on the Town.
- September 29, 2008 and August 6, 2023 share the same basic concept of Garfield having a nightmare in which he acts the opposite of his usual self. Both strips even end with Garfield remarking he had his worst nightmare. The week of February 12-17, 2024 also uses this concept (with the first two panels being different but the punchline remaining the same), but in a daily format.
- An Animated Adaptation example: The Garfield and Friends episode The Legend Of The Lake has a throwaway gag where Garfield says "This is a statue honoring Buttons, who set the world record for horse swallowing when he swallowed one horse. Tied for second place is everybody else in the entire world." Decades later, in the The Garfield Show episode Up A Tree, a Kent Brockman News reporter makes the exact same joke, but with "hippopotamus biting" instead of "horse swallowing".
- A number of plots from Garfield and Friends were recycled into episodes of The Garfield Show, likely as a result of them sharing writers. For just one example, "Turkey Trouble" from The Garfield Show follows a similar "Jon gets an animal for food that turns out to be alive" plot to "Maine Course" from Garfield and Friends, except with a turkey instead of a lobster.
