Pet Matchers (
Téléréalité) is the 19thUS/EU episode from the first season of The Garfield Show.
Synopsis[]
Due to their constant bickering, Garfield and Jon Arbuckle go on a gameshow that measures the compatibility between master and pet. After the show finds the two incompatible, Garfield receives a new owner, and Jon, a new pet.
Plot[]
The Arbuckle household is filled with chaos as Jon and Garfield are constantly clashing with one another over what they each want. Squeak airs his concerns to Odie about the breaking down of Jon and Garfield's relationship, and suggests that he has a solution. Later, while Jon and Garfield are distracted in fighting over the television remote, Odie changes the channel using the television's knob to "Pet Matchers", a game show that claims to measure the compatibility between pets and their owners. Interested, Jon and Garfield consider going on the show, as Squeak reasons that the show will find the two compatible, thereby ending their spats.
Later on "Pet Matchers", the host, Chuck Yenta, announces that a computer has analyzed Jon and Garfield's interests, comparing Jon's lack of personality and more outgoing attitude to Garfield's lazy self-centeredness, and ultimately, the two are deemed incompatible. Though Jon and Garfield are unsure of the outcome, as per the rules of the show, the two are to receive each a new owner and a new pet. Garfield receives Freddy Applegate, a hyperactive, obnoxious nine year-old, and Jon receives a frog.
Back at the Arbuckle home, Jon and Odie find that the frog does nothing other than occasionally croak, and Jon dubs it the most boring pet in the world. Meanwhile, Garfield finds that in addition to distasteful food, Freddie is extremely clingy and is constantly looking to play games that puts Garfield in danger, such as "Rocket to Mars", where Garfield is catapulted into trash, and "Cops and Robbers", where Garfield is sent travelling in a go-kart that only stops when it crashes.
Desperate, Garfield and Jon go looking for one another, soon reuniting and declaring that they want to repair their relationship. Later, on "Pet Matchers", Chuck Yenta reveals that in addition to Jon and Garfield's fixed relationship, Applegate has received the frog as a pet. As part of the show, Yenta also announces that all contestants will receive an all-expenses paid vacation to the computer's pre-determined "ideal vacation spot", soon revealed to be frozen wasteland. As Applegate's frog is frozen in a block of ice, Jon wonders why the computer sent them here if it does not make mistakes. Garfield complains that computers do not make mistakes, but pets can make mistakes.
Characters[]
Main Characters[]
Major Characters[]
Minor Characters[]
- Chuck Yenta
- Webster (as cameraman)
- Second cameraman
- Penguins
Trivia[]
The Gnorm Gnat reference.
- The "Pet Matchers" show also appeared briefly in "Virtualodeon".
- This episode shows Jon's favorite sport is golf.
- The show's theme song, GARFIELD Générique, plays when Garfield drives the getaway car and again when he and Jon run to find each other.
- When showing Jon’s favorite hobby, Jon is shown drawing Gnorm Gnat.