# Remove Garfield's dialogue, and "Garfield" is almost funny **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 15, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599 "2006-02-15T05:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/1 "2006-02-15T05:13:09Z")
Long burned-out on Garfield©? The “Random Garfield©” generators losing their charm? Here’s the latest thing to do to make “Garfield©” more interesting, if not almost amusing: [Remove all of Garfield’s dialogue.](http://www.websnark.com/archives/2006/02/would_the_nerma.html) Some surprising results in there. Jon becomes the protagonist, and it’s a strip about his kind of pathetic life. Give it a look before the syndicate blows it away… ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/2 "2006-02-15T08:36:23Z")
That is brilliant! First time in my life that I ever laughed at a Garfield strip. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/3 "2006-02-15T08:55:45Z")
Holy crap. Just holy crap. You know, I used to _adore_ Garfield. And to people who told me the strip had peaked and run out of steam, I said, heresy! Blasphemy! But gradually I began to realize that strips like Dilbert and Foxtrot had far outpaced Garfield. The Far Side and C&H had both become what Garfield never would, never could … Until now. This, this is just astounding. I was skeptical at first, but damn. It really works. Jim Davis needs to take a hint. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/4 "2006-02-15T09:00:07Z")
That was excellence. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/5 "2006-02-15T12:51:38Z")
He’s right. It does improve Garfield 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/6 "2006-02-15T12:56:55Z")
Good, and at times quite creepy. Certainly better. I saw the randomiser link a while back at memepool, along with a link to [this piece](http://www.slate.com/id/2102299). > [@](#): > > This was not accidental: Davis meticulously plotted Garfield’s success. And part of his calculation was to make the strip so inoffensive that it’s hard to hate it even for being anodyne. Smart. Maybe this is a part of the plan. Miffy on the other hand, is real modernist art, painted by hand and inspired by Matisse. [Making Miffy sad can take days.](http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1709864,00.html) ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/7 "2006-02-15T13:48:03Z")
It’s even better if they remove the art, too. And then replace everything with porn. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/8 "2006-02-15T14:28:09Z")
When asked about Garfield Bill Waterson once said that “Jim Davis is … consistent.” I was highly entertained. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/9 "2006-02-15T18:17:19Z")
I remember reading a interview with Jim Davis in he commented that he originally wanted to make Jon the focus of the strip, but Garfeld kept getting all the good lines, so he decided to make Garfield the focus instead. Interestingly, for the first ten years or so of _Peanuts_, Snoopy didn’t think- would the strip had been as popular if we could never read Snoopy’s thoughts, presumably getting rid of his alter egos as well? I’m surprised how well this works. It is funny. (Although it must be said that the Garfield TV shows and specials, which were well-written for the most part, would not have been the same without the late Lorenzo Music’s laid-back, sarcastic voice for the cat.) ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/10 "2006-02-15T18:19:48Z")
Heck, I’m trying it out, and it works. Even [yesterday’s strip](http://garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?2006-ga060214) becomes funnier if you take out Garfield’s comment and leave his grin. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/11 "2006-02-15T18:30:35Z")
Although this doesn’t really count, I thought this one with the now-defunct Randomizer was funny: [The Death of Garfield](http://stereotypist.livejournal.com/33230.html) ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/12 "2006-02-15T19:55:50Z")
Whoda’ thunk it! I was suppressing laughter by the half-way point. It is indeed brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/13 "2006-02-15T22:42:49Z")
I love the line in the thread: “Sadly, this experiment does not make The Family Circus any funnier.” LOL ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/14 "2006-02-15T23:19:57Z")
I liked the “Cathy” experiment in that thread quite a lot, too. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/15 "2006-02-15T23:34:05Z")
I had two experiments I liked- removing Fred Bassett’s thoughts, and replacing Jon with Conan the Barbarian. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2006, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remove-garfields-dialogue-and-garfield-is-almost-funny/344599/16 "2006-02-16T06:57:43Z")
I just spilled tears over those.