Seen on: May 13, 2008

Edition: Standard Edition

The players: Director: Various, Writer: Jim Davis,Mark Evanier, Sharman Divono, Cast (voices): Thom Huge, Gregg Berger, Lorenzo Music, Neil Ross

Facts of interest: "Garfield and Friends" ran from 1988 to 1995.

The plot: Garfield may do everything to upset Jon on a daily basis, but he's also the one coming up with the smartest ideas to get out of trouble.

Our quick thoughts: If you hated the awful “Garfield: the Movie” and its pathetic sequel as much as I did, “Garfield: A Cat and His Nerd” comes in quite handy. This hilarious DVD features 15 short episodes from several seasons of the original “Garfield and Friends” TV series, which aired between 1988 and 1995. Each episode runs about seven minutes, which is just enough time to fully enjoy watching the fat, lazy cat stirring up trouble wherever he goes.

As the title suggests, most of these episodes focus solely on the relationship between Garfield and Jon, or more specifically on how easily Garfield can either ruin or save his master’s day. One of my favorite episodes on this disc is “Jumping Jon,” in which Garfield showcases the stupidest things Jon has ever done. Other highlights include “Wedding Bell Blues” and “Jailbird Jon.”

Although a few episodes on this disc lack the pace and humor of the majority, I couldn’t find any I really didn’t like. “Model Behaviour” and “Jon the Barbarian” didn’t provoke as much laughter as the rest of them, but I would still rate them above average. Twentieth Century Fox really did a good job picking 15 top-notch Garfield adventures.   

From a technical point of view, the disc offers clean audio and picture transfers for a show that started airing in 1988. Extras are not provided.

Freaky quote: "Sleep’s not as good as food, but it’s a close second.” – Garfield

The final word: Kids and parents alike will love watching Garfield eat, sleep, cause a big mess and drop catchy lines in these short but creatively brilliant episodes. This DVD is also a great way to start off exploring Garfield’s world if you’ve have seen the original TV show. It’s definitely worth the investment. Watch a FULL episode from the DVD below!