Lemon Aid

Garfield builds to what to him is a "medium-sized sandwich," although he accidentally puts in Jon's shoes, the telephone, and Odie. Jon gets a phone call from Al J. Swindler that he won a new car. So, he, Garfield and Odie go to Swindler Motors. But some guy greets him and states that he wants to buy Jon's car, because Jon won a new one. They go to Swindler Motors, as they are quickly and rudely dropped off by the man. Then Mr. Swindler (who is also the man who bought Jon's old vehicle) gives him his new car, essentially just new to him since it's nothing more than a bucket of bolts. Jon has no choice but to take it, since Swindler states that Jon will be fined for leaving it there. So they take it. The broken down car they "won" falls apart, and Swindler is back, as a mechanic! He charges a huge price for Jon to fix the car, so they take it back and Jon wants his old car back, since its better than the one he got from Swindler. Swindler has the best of Jon, until Garfield and Odie disguise themselves as a cop and help Jon get his old car back.

Garfield, Jon, Odie, Al J. Swindler

Beginning with season two, the Garfield and Friends show was expanded to an hour-length format, allowing six episodes to air each week.

Following in the footsteps of Peanuts, Jim Davis' Garfield began as a syndicated newspaper comic strip (1978) before moving on to primetime TV specials and then to a Saturday morning series.

Garfield was an overweight, exceedingly lazy tabby cat who usually became enthusiastic only over the promise of lasagna. He also took great pleasure in irking his dopey owner Jon, vacant-minded dog Odie, and Nermal, the impossibly cute kitten.

Garfield's sarcastic commentary, expressed through thought bubbles in the paper, were here done via voiceover. Lorenzo Music, previously Carlton the Doorman on the sitcom Rhoda, supplied the cat's superbly deadpan voice.

The "And Friends" portion of the show centered on the characters from another Davis comic strip, the underrated U.S. Acres. Taking place on a farm, the segments featured a menagerie of highly colorful personalities: the leader, Orson, a kindly pig who was often the brunt of the jokes; Sheldon, a baby chicken who refused to hatch all the way, and so remained with all but his legs in the shell; Booker, his brother, who did make it out; Wade, a nervous duck who persistently wore an inflatable tube around his waist; and Roy, the wisecracking rooster.

The show enjoyed a successful seven-year run on CBS, and Garfield continues to be one of the most popular strips in the funny pages.