It is kind of hard to talk about modern Garfield-stuff. Not only because the property has slowly devolved into a shapeless nothing for Davis to mold into whatever he pleases (knowing full well he will make tons of money no matter what), but also because it serves as a painful reminder that we can never truly go back to what made Garfield such an enjoyable property because of it.
Case and point, while the comics are still somewhat fun and enjoyable (even if a lot of the jokes fall flat), there will most likely never be a show, movie or special that is on par with Garfield & Friends. Is it an unfair comparison? Probably, but rest assured that this show, The Garfield Show, doesn't suck because Garfield & Friends set the benchmark so unattainably high.
No, it sucks completely by its own merits; the fact that it is a much worse show than its vastly superior predecessor is just salt in the wound. In fact, one could make the argument that both of these shows act as a representation of the standards and quality of the property as a whole. In other words, if Garfield & Friends represents everything that was good about Garfield, The Garfield Show represents everything that is currently bad about Garfield.
It is one of those shows where the problems become evident right from second one of the intro sequence. Besides having a theme song that doesn't at all match the tone of the rest of the show, the animation manages the impossible task of being too fast and too slow at the same time. In other words, it moves so fast that it looks as though everything is having problem catching up. The one positive is that this animation speed is not an indication of what the show will be like, but the point still stands; the animation isn't very good.
Sure, the animation and character movement are decent at best, but the one thing the CGI proves is that these characters just weren't meant to be portrayed in 3D. A lot of the time the character models and facial expressions look stiff (for instance, Nermal often looks as if he has a constant smile on his face, even though he isn't smiling), and the fact that this was originally made in France means that the lip-synching is almost always off in the American dub.
The voice acting is fairly decent (even if Frank Welker is a poor man's Lorenzo Music), but the things these poor actors get to say range from unfunny to mind-numbing. While Garfield isn't all that deep in the comedy department, he could, at the very least, make you snicker. In The Garfield Show, I didn't laugh even once; even at the stuff that was properly set up and delivered. I would mostly blame the fact that the comedic timing is way off, but I would also like to make the argument that they just limit Garfield to the things he's best known for: eating, sleeping, being mean to those around him. Those are three very prominent traits in Garfield's character, but come on; Garfield & Friends gave him lots more to work with.
As for what the episodes themselves are about... hoo boy. Talk about generic. Besides the large number of 'alien' episodes (there's like nine), and besides the few retreads of episodes from Garfield & Friends (but a lot worse), there really aren't any standout or noteworthy episodes of this show. A lot of the episodes could very well appear in any other below average cartoon show. In other words, it doesn't even feel like the show is specifically about Garfield most of the time, which is odd, given how the title is 'The GARFIELD Show'.
I'm not gonna sit here and act like Garfield & Friends is a masterpiece, but a lot of what it set out to do worked incredibly well; it had an identity, it had charm, and it had a lot of things going on besides the bare minimum. The Garfield Show has none of that; it has something, but it isn't anything I would consider good. Plus, a Garfield-show without U.S. Acres feels out of place to me.
In other words, this show is just another Monday.
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