A long, long time ago, within a mystical forest, on a magical pond, there lived a frog named Freddy. Freddy was no ordinary frog...okay, he was sort of ordinary. But Freddy was the first funny frog. Yes, even before Kermit, since I know somebody was gonna ask. Not only was he the first funny frog, but he was the first funny anything! Not even clowns were funny back then! They were teachers... and lawyers... and used car salesmen. Just regular folks, like you and me!
Garfield was shown to be reading a storybook to Odie which had the story of Freddy the Frog. "Soon, Freddy was playing to packed houses. The creatures loved Freddy, and they wanted to be funny like him, but, alas, they didn't know what made him so funny. One brave bear cub stepped forward, conjecturing that the pond water made Freddy funny. He took a sip, and he became funny. Soon, creatures came from far and wide to drink from this magical pond. They loved the good feeling they had after they laughed. Life seemed so much more manageable when they approached it with humor. Thus was the story of the creation of humor."
"Garfield! Odie! Breakfast!" Jon's voice soon called out from downstairs.
"And they all lived happily ever after. The End," Garfield then told Odie as he dropped the book. "Let's eat."
Odie looked at the book for a moment before tossing it away.
"I gotta tell ya, that family from those Committed comic strips could probably use a visit to the funny pond themselves." Garfield said to Odie on the way to the dining room.
Odie barked in agreement as he followed his furry pal. But as they came to the kitchen entrance, they saw the lights were completely off.
"Why is it so dark in here?" asked Garfield, before the lights gradually turned on, but this time, they were multicolored lights.
An arm reached out of the dark and pressed PLAY on a boombox, which started playing funky music. Sitting at the table was Jon, but he was dressed in a disco outfit with puffy sleeves and a necklace. Garfield groaned and rolled his eyes slightly as he sat down at the table while Odie joined him.
Jon was busting some moves while getting breakfast ready for his two animal companions. "Good morning, boys!" he then told them, sliding them a couple of plates of toast with sunny side-up eggs on top before squirting ketchup on the eggs to make faces in the breakfast.
"Am I supposed to eat those?" Garfield complained.
"Come on! Cheer up." Jon told his cat.
"Jon, it's morning," Garfield reminded as he picked up the newspaper. "Winning the lottery wouldn't cheer me up."
"Get with the program, big guy! Tomorrow night's the big talent show!" Jon declared.
"I know." Garfield said, not looking up from his paper.
"It's Fun Fest!" Jon exclaimed.
"I know!" Garfield said as he rolled his paper up and threw it at the window, making the blinds roll up before the paper bounced off the boombox, shutting it off.
"All right, Mr. Grumpy," Jon told his cat. "I mean, at least we're not running a halfway house for troubled youth or anything."
"Oh, I thought I smelled eggs and toast," Rodney Bitterman said as he suddenly came into the house and decided to join them for breakfast. "I mean, the MacPhersons at least had pancakes when Bizzy got in a fight with her mom's boyfriend."
"Anyway... Bet you can't guess what I'm going to do for Fun Fest this year." Jon soon prompted.
"That same dance routine you've been doing since 1978?" Garfield predicted in a deadpan voice.
"The same dance routine I've been doing since 1978!" Jon announced in excitement. "But this year, I feel it, Garfield, this is my year."
"Sure, this could be your year, Mr. Arbuckle." Rodney replied.
"See? At least the kids are encouraging me this year." Jon smiled innocently.
"If disco wasn't already dead!" Rodney then added before laughing at his own joke.
Garfield and Odie snickered in agreement.
"Kid's got a point," shrugged Garfield. "Not like it got us anywhere on 'Pet Search'."
"Okay, laugh, you guys," scoffed Jon. "At least I'm putting some effort into it, as opposed to SOMEONE I know."
"Relax. Who wins every year?" asked Garfield, before pretending to ponder. "Let's see... oh. I do."
"What's your deal anyway, Garfield?" Rodney asked. "You have no reason to hate Mondays... You're a cat, you don't have a job."
"Everybody's a critic," Garfield rolled his eyes at that. "Besides, Arlene and I will knock 'em dead with our stand-up routine."
"Not unless people hear what I have to say," Rodney smirked before he took a fork like a microphone. "Everybody knows I'm the funny guy around my stories, especially around Zoe~"
"Zoe MacPherson? Oh, yeah... Your girlfriend~" Garfield smirked back.
"W-We're just friends, shut up, ya stupid cat." Rodney glared and blushed a little.
"You know what? You should forget the stand-up and do a dance with Arlene," Jon advised Garfield. "She's wanted to do that for years."
"Jon... read my lips," replied Garfield. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it, okay?"
"Okay," Jon then said before looking at his dog. "What are you doing this year, Odie?"
Odie got off his chair, left the room, returned in a black suit, then put flour on his entire face before using the ketchup to put marks on his face, and got out of the dining room before looking like a mime and dancing like Michael Jackson, and then did The Robot.
"Alright! Very good, Odie!" Jon smiled and applauded the dog's talent. "What do you think, Garfield?" he then asked.
"I think it's embarrassing enough that I live with a dog. Now I'm living with a mime dog." Garfield groaned in response.
SHORTLY AFTERWARDS...
Garfield, Jon and Odie climbed into their car, and drove off to work. As they did, everyone else was also on their way to work, especially Dilbert and his friends.
"What friends?" Dogbert deadpanned to the fourth wall.
"With friends like us, who needs enemies, am I right?" Ratbert replied.
"Exhibit A." Dogbert snarked.
Eventually, Jon stopped the car to pick up a certain gray kitten and pink female cat. "Good morning, guys." he then greeted.
"Good morning." The two replied on their way into the car.
"Big day tomorrow." Jon told them.
"Oh, yeah! Fun Fest!" Nermal cheered as he looked really excited.
"So, what are you doing for your act this year, Nermal?" Jon inquired.
"Air guitar solo!" Nermal responded as he started windmilling. "De-ne-nee-ne-nee-nee-ne-FUN FEST! De-ne-nee-ne-nee-nee-ne-FUN FEST! De-ne-nee-ne-nee-nee-ne-NERMAL'S THE BEST!~"
Garfield angrily pressed his face against the car door window, and Jon just looked mildly irritated.
"Nermal's #1!" The kitten continued gleefully.
"Are we there yet?" Garfield groaned.
A cartoon superhero flew by, rocking out to Nermal's air guitar solo.
"Fun Fest! Fun Fest!" Nermal continued. "I'm gonna be #1 best! #1!~"
The superhero then suddenly hit a pole due to being distracted by the kitten, then walked away on the sidewalk before the pole suddenly fell on top of them.
"You gotta get by Arlene and me first, pal," Garfield smirked before looking hopefully at the pink cat in the backseat. "Right, Arlene?"
"Yeah, which reminds me, I was thinking that maybe..." Arlene began to say nervously.
"Not to worry. I have our routine all figured out," Garfield reassured. "We'll do better than that Calvin kid and his tiger friend. "I'll run you through it when we get to the studio."
"Heyyyy!" Nermal griped. "Why can't I get to be in a routine with you guys?"
"Well, Nermal, how do I put this nicely?" asked Garfield, scratching his chin. "Uh... you suck."
"I do not suck!" Nermal protested.
"Like a vaccuum cleaner." remarked Garfield.
"Hey!" Nermal snapped.
"You're too young and too short to perform with professionals like us." stated Garfield.
"Am not!" Nermal retorted.
"You're so short, you could pose for trophies." Garfield smirked at the kitten.
Nermal groaned and sulked in the backseat at that.
"Boys..." Jon said, almost like a father to get them to stop.
"Garfield, I'd really like to do that dance number this year." Arlene soon spoke up hopefully.
"Come on, Arlene, why mess with a good thing?" Garfield told her. "Comedy kills."
"For once, why can't we do something I wanna do?" Arlene asked with a frown. "I mean, it's not like I'm asking you to bring me a bouquet of roses."
"Now that would be pushing it." Garfield then said.
"You totally take me for granted." Arlene sulke.
"That's what the marble statue said to the art dealer. 'Don't take me for granite'." Garfield replied with a joke.
"That's your killer comedy?" Nermal complained. "You are so going down this year, Fatso."
"Pipsqueak." Garfield retorted as the two went back and forth for a while.
"Fatso."
"Pipsqueak."
"Fatso."
Soon, they made it to the studio where a trio of girls seemed to be sitting outside, looking sad and glum. One of them had her hair in pigtails and bows in a short-sleeved blue dress with white socks and black dress shoes, a girl who wore her dark hair down with a red ribbon with black dots on it, matching her dress that was also red with black dots, white socks, and black dress shoes, and the third and final girl appeared to be a heavy set girl with short hair with a big green bow on her head and a long-sleeved green dress with white fringe and golden buttons as well as a frilly white skirt, white socks, and black dress shoes.
"What's the matter?" Arlene asked the girls.
"Whatya think?" Audrey pouted firmly.
"Audrey, be nice." Dot advised her rambunctious friend.
"Can you blame me? We've been out of work since forever," Audrey sulked and reminded. "What's the point of even being here if no one remembers or cares about us?"
"I'm not exactly an expert on image, but maybe all you need is a new look." suggested Arlene.
"A new look?" Lotta asked as she looked up and down at her and her friends' outfits. "What's wrong with our outfits?"
"Oh, they're not bad or 1941, but maybe you should update yourselves a little," Arlene advised. "Stop living in the past, this is the 21st century after all."
"That does make quite a bit of sense," admitted Dot. "Would you be able to lend us a hand in picking new clothes to wear?"
"Hmm... Maybe after we go to work today, we could meet up and we could see about changing your image?" Arlene suggested.
"Well, I guess this dress is a bit old school." Audrey admitted as she looked down at her current outfit.
"I'm game too... But on one condition." Dot added.
"It has to have dots?" Lotta guessed.
"It has to have-" Dot started to say until she looked over. "Oh, am I that obvious?" she then asked.
"You pretty much have the opposite of tripophobia, Dotster." Audrey nodded with a smirk.
"I suppose I do." Dot responded.
"Come on, let's go inside, maybe I can help you girls out." Arlene smiled.
Audrey, Dot, and Lotta smiled back hopefully at that.
"I can just see my name in lights!~" Jeff the security guard began to sing.
"Hey, Jeff." Jon greeted him.
"Morning, Jon," Jeff replied as he opened the gate for them as they came into the studio while he kept singing to himself. "Jeff, the entertainer of the year!~"
Inside the studio, everyone was hard at work preparing for Fun Fest with whatever crazy tricks they could come up with. The three girls sighed to themselves, feeling left out a little while everyone else did their own thing. Shelby was shown to be beating the wall with his trademark bat while Megan seemed to be trying to sing a song. Zoe, Hammie, and Wren were soon shown as well before looking over to see Garfield, Jon, Nermal, Odie, and Arlene coming by.
"Good morning, Billy Bear!" Jon greeted.
"That's my name," Billy replied. "Don't wear it out."
"Hey, don't look so sad," Megan smiled at Audrey, Dot, and Lotta. "Tomorrow's gonna be lots of fun."
"Yeah... For you maybe." Audrey frowned bitterly.
"Why are you so unhappy today, Li'l Audrey?" Megan asked out of concern.
"She's just sore cuz she's a has-been like her friends." Rodney smirked at his sister.
"Who asked you, you little creep?" Audrey hissed. "Maybe I oughta give you a knuckle sandwich for free!"
"Bring it on, Grandma." Rodney glared and challenged.
"Let's go then!" Audrey glared back, about to lunge out at Rodney until Lotta grabbed her and picked her up before she could do anything. "Lemme at him! Lemme at him!"
"Audrey, this won't help anything." Lotta frowned cautiously.
"He deserves it though!" Audrey glared as she tried to fight Lotta's grip. "He's a butt sandwich!"
"Loser!" Rodney sneered as he stuck his tongue out and ran off, laughing.
"Ugh... That Rodney Bitterman is worse than Melvin, I swear." Audrey growled.
"I know, but you shouldn't let him get to you." Lotta advised.
"Hmph... He shouldn't cross me." Audrey firmly pouted and crossed her arms.
Lotta hugged Audrey a bit more to calm her rambunctious friend down before setting her back down on the floor next to Dot.
"Oh, good morning, Randy Rabbit," Dot greeted the bunny beside them with a small smile. "How are you today?"
"Fantastic and amazing! Watch this," Randy replied before he grabbed his magic hat and pulled a rabbit puppet out of it and began to throw his voice to the puppet to do a ventriloquist trick. "Hi, Dot. How are you doing?"
Dot chuckled a bit. "Nice try, Randy, but I think we've seen that one before." she then commented.
"I guess I'll have to work up another trick." Randy remarked to himself.
Just then, Prop Boy emerged from inside the hat; turns out he was holding the puppet! "Uh, what if we used a groundhog instead of a rabbit?" he asked.
"Hmm..." they both pondered.
"This is very annoy-itating." Audrey complained to herself.
"Cheer up, Audrey! We can still have a chance." Lotta smiled hopefully.
"Pfft... Yeah, right..." Audrey rolled her eyes before she looked depressed. "Our stories are just left behind and a pile of broken dreams compared to everyone else... Even that Lulu Moppet girl is gonna rub it in with her cartoon show from the early 2000s. We lost relevance and she did too, but she and Tubby Tompkins got a second chance at the big life while we're just forgotten with the likes of Casper and Wendy."
Lotta and Dot frowned, worried about their friend, but they didn't want to agree with her being right as they still tried to stay hopeful.
"Besides, it's not like what we do will even make a difference," Audrey then said to them. "Garfield wins the Fun Fest every year, even if we do something different, we'll still be lost and forgotten about because of him."
"Well, nobody wins every year," Dot informed her friend. "Besides, Garfield hasn't exactly updated his act."
At that moment, LJ, Zofia, Jenny, Martin, Ambrose, Chrissy, and Kimberly entered the main room.
"So... A new adventure with Garfield the Cat?" Ambrose asked.
"Sure looks like it," Zofia nodded. "I'm sure LJ's excited about that, he seems to get his love of Garfield from our father."
"You bet I'm excited!" LJ grinned. "This reminds me so much of that old special, 'Garfield Goes Hollywood'!"
"I'm glad to see you happy." Zofia said with a small smirk.
"Thanks, Sis; that means a lot to hear from you." LJ nodded.
"No problem, LJ." Zofia nodded at her brother.
"Zelda, Zelda, Zelda. I swear," Garfield greeted the woman at work as he came to get his lunch. "Are those stars I see in your eyes?" he then asked.
"What are you talking about?" Zelda asked as she poured coffee into the cat's cup.
"Why, about Fun Fest, of course," Garfield reminded her. "You're entertaining us tomorrow, aren't you?" he then asked.
"I'll think about it." Zelda replied as she served him his lunch.
"Well, don't disappoint your fans, okay?" Garfield advised as he soon left with his lunch.
As soon as he was gone, Zelda pulled out a purse-sized chainsaw and revved it up. She tossed it into the air, along with two fruits and a plate, and began to juggle them all.
"Hey, Zelda!" called the Delivery Gnome as he entered the cafeteria. "What're ya–WHOA!" he yelped as Zelda picked him up and started juggling him as well.
Everyone was still talking amongst themselves as Charles and Betty came into the cafeteria.
"Attencione! Attencione, people!" called Charles, but nobody was really listening. "...Betty?" he asked his assistant.
Betty cleared her throat. "SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUP!" she bellowed, getting everyone's attention simultaneously and making everyone else bring their conversations to a halt.
"Good morning, people," said Charles. "Before we do our comic strips today, we're all going to rehearse for tomorrow's Fun Fest."
Everyone soon began to cheer from that, though Audrey looked firm while Lotta and Dot looked concerned about their friend.
"Now, if you would please proceed to the auditorium in a quiet and orderly-" Charles began to say... only for everyone to run over at the door at once, trampling and stampeding over the director before he could finish his sentence.
"Oh, Charles." Betty sighed at that.
"Excuse me, Mr. Director?" Lotta spoke up as she came to his side. "Me, Audrey, and Dot were hoping maybe this year that we could-"
"Yes, yes, we'll get into that later," Charles told her with a groan as he got up with Betty's help as he dusted himself clean. "Now we have too much to do in so little time, we can't afford to stop for anything."
"But... We want to-" Lotta tried to tell him.
"We'll deal with it later, Lulu." Charles replied on the way into the auditorium.
Lotta firmly pouted as she narrowed her eyes. "My name is Lotta..." she then muttered in a dark and throaty voice.
LJ glanced over. "...call it a hunch, but I think we oughta do something to lend those kids a hand." he stated.
"What do you think we can do?" Chrissy asked LJ curiously.
"Well, figure out what problem they're dealing with, first," said LJ. "Maybe ask about it... and then we try to help them solve it!"
"All right, let's see what we can do to help." Chrissy nodded.
"Now you're sounding like a good friend, Chrissy," Kimberly smiled. "Come on, vamonos, let's go."
"Just no singing, please." Jenny smirked.
"Yes, of course." Kimberly rolled her eyes before smirking back at the brunette girl.