GARFIELD AND FRIENDS

Garfield and Friends is an award-winning children's television series which ran on the CBS television network from September 17, 1988 to October 7, 1995. The series starred Garfield, the big, orange cat of comic strip fame. Garfield is a wise-cracking, nap-taking, lasagna-loving, coffee-guzzling, Monday-hating, dog-punting fat cat.

Garfield is joined in the animated series by his brainless yet faithful sidekick, Odie, his hapless owner, Jon, his gal pal Arlene, and the self- proclaimed "World's Cutest Kitten," Nermal. Each episode features the amazing antics of Garfield's crazy cartoon crew!

Garfield has another set of "friends"; (this is where the "And Friends" portion of the show comes in) the characters who live in a place called U.S. Acres. Based on a short-lived Jim Davis comic strip, these lively farm animals are always up to mischief, but they almost always have an important message for kids about being a good friend and a good neighbor.

ORSON PIG

Orson Pig is the leader of the group, mainly because he has a lot of common sense most of the time. Orson is the 'mother' of Sheldon and Booker because he hatched them (Sheldon only hatched partly).

Orson loves to read. In fact, he often gets so involved with his books that he gets carried away into another world. He once read the telephone directory and the others were hit by an area code. Often things Orson reads about happen on the farm as he reads about it. He's just imagining these things, but everyone else seems to be affected by his imagination, too.

Occasionally, Orson dresses up as Power Pig, the Defender of the Defenseless, and tries to save the day. He looks so ridiculous, though, that the bad guys end up laughing at him. Of course, that usually is enough to stop them.

Orson's brothers are, from the left, Gort, Wart, and Mort. They like to pick on him on account of that he was the runt of the litter. They toss him around and are pretty mean to poor Orson. Here they are getting ready to toss around the pigskin (Orson's pig skin). Orson's brothers are the reason that he became Power Pig.

WADE DUCK

Wade is the cowardly, craven duck on the farm. He is afraid of his own shadow and anything larger than a gnat. He is so afraid of water (which is pretty cowardly for a duck) that he almost always wears a floatation device that bears his likeness. Beyond his cowardice and wacky reactions to all kinds of stuff, from a weasel to a mouse, from a cheese sandwich to the Klopman Diamond, Wade's wacky and wonderful--a well-intentioned duck who definitely waddles to the beat of a different drummer.

ROY ROOSTER

Roy Rooster is the practical joker on the show, and, while his jokes usually backfire on him, he gets a good laugh out of the ones that work. One time, he used poetry to pull a trick on Orson:

Violets are blue,
Roses are red,
Here comes creamed spinach
Right on your head!

When Orson asked Roy why he dropped 50 pounds of creamed spinach on him, Roy said, "Because I couldn't find any stewed tomatoes." Roy is supposed to wake everyone up at the crack of dawn (or 6:00 a.m., whichever comes first)with his cock-a-doodle-do, but he'd rather sleep in. Obviously, Jim Davis wanted Roy to be more Garfield-like.

LANOLIN SHEEP

Lanolin is the ill-tempered, big-mouthed, disagreeable sheep that does all the laundry. She yells at everyone, including Bo, her brother. Here are the three stages of her getting mad:

1. First she looks like she's about to give a lecture.
2. Then she waves her fist.
3. Then she yells really loud. Bo has to take this from her all the time.

BO SHEEP

Bo is the cool, agreeable and slow sheep. Everything he does is layed back, and he is able to get out of a lot of tough situations just by being cool. But his sister, Lanolin, can occasionally get him a little angry. He only gets angry when someone tries to pick on his friends.

BOOKER AND SHELDON

Booker and Sheldon Chick are the "kids" on the block, as well as Orson's "sons" because he hatched them. Booker is a bright little chick who loves to hunt worms, although he rarely catches them. His traps trap the silliest things. One time he tries to catch a worm using a cheeseburger, and catches Odie in the trap!

Sheldon is Booker's brother, but he decided not to hatch. Sheldon seems pretty smart (he reads the newspapers every day, so he knows what's going on around the world), but it's because of that he's so afraid of the outside world he won't come out. In my honest opinion, if Wade had been that smart, we would have had one less character on the show.

All images (c) PAWS, Inc.

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