He's Back, and He's Furrier Than Ever!

The Garfield Show is the most recent Garfield TV series, which premiered on Cartoon Network on November 22, 2009. Of Garfield's TV incarnations, this one, interestingly enough, stays closest to the spirit of the comic strip. The series chronicles the daily escapades of the famous fat cat, his bumbling owner Jon, his dopey dog pal Odie, his girlfriend Arlene, his mouse buddy Squeak, the troublemaking Nermal, and Jon's girlfriend Dr.Liz Wilson. A particular point of interest is that the series featured a vast number of characters exclusive to the show, such as Vito the pizza guy, whose restaurant Jon and his crew would often frequent, his girlfriend Angelica(no relation, fortunately), resident tough guy Harry the alley cat, crazy inventor Dr. Thaddeus Bonkers, eccentric TV food critic Eddie Gourmand, inept dogcatchers Al*and Pete, Nathan, the seemingly friendly neighbor boy who's secretly an evil scientist, feisty neighborhood chihuahua Hercules, Jon's hyper twin cousins Drusilla and Minerva, who are forever trying to play dress up with Garfield and Odie(much to their chagrin), and Jon's overbearing Aunt Ivy, among others.

Episodes would usually center around a problem or situation of some sort, which it would then be up to Garfield to solve, as only Garfield can!

Overall, The Garfield Show is a very funny, entertaining show. The CGI artwork is excellent(very comic-strip grade!), the episode plots are very enjoyable, and the show's vast entourage of characters are good, likeable, and very charismatic. Garfield aficionados, especially former fans of Garfield and Friends(such as myself) are sure to love this.(One episode I particularly would like to reccommend BTW, is "Long Lost Lyman", a four-parter in which the mystery of Lyman's disappearance is finally solved.)

The theme song's pretty sweet, too!

Several DVDs were made from the series, which are available at the links below:

 

Pizza Dreams

 

Summertime Adventures

 

All You Need is Love and Pasta

 

Spring Fun Collection

 

Dinosaur and Animal Adventures

 

Private Eye-Ventures

 

Holiday Collection

 

Spooky Tails

 

Odie Oh!

 

 

A series of graphic novels based off of various episodes of the show were also made:

 

Catzilla

 

Fish to Fry

 

Secret Agent X

 

Home for the Holidays

 

Curse of the Cat People

 

Caroling Capers

 

A Game of Cat and Mouse

 

Mother Garfield

 

 

"Simple, that's me."



 

 



*Or "Big Al", as I've affectionately nicknamed him.

Come on in, Come to the Place Where Fun Never Ends...

...Come on in, It's Time to Party With Garfield and Friends!

Garfield and Friends was the first TV show to star that famous fat cat we all know and love. It was very popular in its heyday(and still is!), and ran for a whopping seven years. 

The show consisted of two(or occasionally four) Garfield segments, starring the lasagna-loving cat himself, as well as his well-meaning but inept owner Jon and dopey but friendly doggie pal Odie, as well as occasional appearances by guest pest Nermal, the unbearably loud Binky the Clown(he even had his own mini-segments within the show entitled, "Screaming with Binky"), Garfield's on-again-off-again girlfriend Penelope(Not Arlene?), and his mouse buddy Floyd. Shown between Garfield segments were U.S. Acres segments, based off of Jim Davis' lesser-known strip.(Which I'll be covering in my next post!)

 

 

Overall, Garfield and Friends was a very cool, funny, well-made show. The storylines are humorous, with jokes borrowing heavily from the comic strips, and the characters are, as always, good, funny, and likeable. Personally, I've always loved this show.(And still do!) A high-quality masterpiece that any Garfield aficionado will surely enjoy.

 

 

The show's theme songs are mighty catchy as well!

Also, all seven seasons of the show are now on DVD, which are available at the links below:

Volume One

Volume Two

Volume Three

Volume Four

Volume Five

 

 

"Show me a good mouser, and I'll show you a cat with bad breath."

In the Lemon-Limelight:Chalkzone

Chalkzone was first introduced in 1998 as a segment of Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons; it was made into a series in 2002.

The show stars 10-year-old artist Rudy Tabootie who one day finds a piece of magical White Lightnin' chalk which allows him access to Chalkzone, a place where everything written or drawn on chalkboards(and the occasional sidewalk) goes after it's erased(Ahh..so that's where it goes! :-D). Said drawings come to life once in Chalkzone, often making for some rather crazy situations! (Much of which also owing to the fact that people draw all sorts of bizzare things on chalkboards and sidewalks.)

Rudy is joined on his adventures by his brainy pal and erstwhile girlfriend Penny Sanchez, and their zany, lovable friend Snap, who was one of Rudy's chalk drawings. Appearances are also made by Rudy and Penny's(mostly) sensible parents, as well as their various chalk-drawing buddies, such as Biclops, the(slightly loopy) guardian of the Magic Chalk Mines (An interesting fact regarding him is that he was previously a rather cranky Cyclops, until Rudy drew him a second eye, thus improving not only his vision but his mood.), Blocky, an odd, ditzy, square creature who was Rudy's first drawing ever(His personality has been likened to that of the star of Cartoon Network's ever-popular series Chowder), Queen Rapsheeba, Chalkzone's resident music sensation(who mostly sings rap music) and love interest of Snap's(and his crush, fortunately, is reciprocated), and Bathtub Granny, an early comedy drawing made by Rudy. Our heroes were often antagonized by the likes of Reggie Bulnerd(gotta love that name!), the school bully, Mr. Horace Wilter, the comedy-hating teacher(Hmm, could he be related to The Man Who Hated Laughter?), and primarily Skrawl, a large, bizarre, bug-like chalk villain, and his henchmen, the Beanie Boys.

Episode plots often revolved around situations occuring in Chalkzone(and occasionally the real world) which Rudy, with the help of his friends(and his magic chalk), would need to remedy. Also, almost every episode would end with a catchy(and appropriately surreal) musical number. There was also a made-for-TV movie in 2004 entitled The Big Blow-Up.

Chalkzone ran for about 3 years before going on hiatus; in 2008 previously unaired episodes were shown on Nickelodeon. Reruns are occasionaly shown on Nickelodeon's sister network Nicktoons(Check local listings for time and channel).

Overall, this is a fun, interesting show; if it isn't Nickelodeon's most surreal series it most certainly ranks! The bizzare situations are always entertaining, Rudy, Penny, and(especially) Snap are good, likeable characters, the supporting characters are also a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is absolutely great. Honestly, it's a shame that this show didn't have quite as big a following as some of Nickelodeon's more notable franchises, such as SpongeBob Squarepants and The Fairly Oddparents, because it's every bit as enjoyable as they are. An underrated show that's definetly worth a peek.

The theme song is pretty sweet, too!

Although the complete series regrettably hasn't been released on DVD as of yet, a few episodes of the show are available on DVD at the links below:

Nickelodeon Nickstravaganza 

Nickelodeon Nickstravaganza 2

Nickelodeon Nick Picks Holiday

Another episode is available on this VideoNow disc:

 VideoNow Nickelodeon 3-Disc

Also available is an album of the show's soundtrack(not to be confused with the Britney Spears album of the same name, which has fewer chalk drawings :-D):

Rudy and the Chalkzone Gang:In the Zone

"We're in the zone!"

In the Lemon-Limelight:Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch

This is the first of my series of articles of underappreciated cartoons that, despite their low fanbase, are still more than worth a peek.

Help! It's the Hair Bear Bunch is a cartoon series made by Hanna-Barbera in 1971. The show concerns three wacky bears living at the Wonderland zoo. The trio consists of the scheming, afro-adorned group leader Hair, the sloppy, doleful Square, and the short, gibberish-speaking Bubi. The bears would often try to flee the zoo in search of adventure, and end up being pursued by the zookeeper, Eustace P. Peevley and his(rather inept) assistant, Lionel J. Botch(The latter of whom is known for his pet phrase, "Ooh! Ooh!" not unlike Welcome Back, Kotter's Arnold Horshack; unsurprisingly, this was Botch's voice actor Joe E. Ross' pet phrase.). The bears, however, usually outwit them in the end, often with the help of their zoo animal friends, such as Bananas the Gorilla (who bears a striking resemblance to Magilla Gorilla), Furface the Lion (gotta love that name!), Bumpo the Elephant, Slicks the Fox, and Pipsqueak the Mouse, among others. One particular point of interest is that the bears owned, among other things, an invisible motorcycle. (Hmm, do you suppose they got it from Mermaidman?)

The show had a very short run, with only 16 episodes made. Reruns can be seen on Boomerang. (Check local listings for the time and channel.)

UPDATE 7/7/12:I recently discovered this DVD which contains, among other(very nifty!) things, a Hair Bear Bunch episode!:

Saturday Morning Cartoons:1970s Vol. 2

 

Overall, this was a humorous, well-made show that truly deserved more attention. (I may be a little biased because I love Hanna-Barbera stuff!) Despite the show being made in the '70's, it doesn't seem particularly dated, even by today's standards, and the characters are interesting, funny, and likeable. (Even Peevley and Botch!) A rather underrated(Even Joe Barbera disliked it; when even the producer doesn't like the show, that's the definition of underappreciated!) show that's definetly worth a peek.

The theme song is also mighty catchy!

For those interested also, there are some Hair Bear Bunch items available at the site below(including, of all things, a tissue box cover); some are a little expensive, but well worth it for any Hair Bear Bunch fan :

A few Hair Bear Bunch goodies

Square Bear mug

Many more such nifty items are available on ebay, many of such being comics(which I highly recommend.) :)

"Let's split!"



Fanart of Botch saying his signature phrase.

Another fanart I just had to add. (This one's just silly.)