Garfield and Friends - "Basket Brawl"

Have you ever wondered what would happen if cartoon characters used food for sports equipment instead of a baseball or basketball. Well, this episode of Garfield and Friends is for you! The story is that the last eight times Jon and his friends went on a picnic, Garfield ate everything before they could get the picnic going. So, what to do? Do a sports competition to see if they can get all of the food into the basket before Garfield can get it.

What I admire about this episode is the fact that they brought in L.A. Lakers announcer, the late Chick Hearn as the voice of Chick Mouse commentating on the food-related sport event. Also, interesting thing to note is that unlike Floyd Mouse where he only speaks with his mouth closed, these mice communicate properly rather than speaking through thought. Another interesting thing is that Chick Hearn would later guest star in a Season 1 episode of Rugrats a few years later as himself in the episode, "Touchdown Tommy." I also noticed that Garfield's #1 fan looks like a mix between Jack Nicholson and Jerry from Tom and Jerry. But, what I really admire is Jon Arbuckle's fight song, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" where even when they give up, they can hurl the hot dogs, jam the jerky, and chuck the cheese. Sometimes, this episode kind of reminds me of The Donut Man video from 1995, "The Donut All-Stars." Near the end, I like how Garfield states it was the dumbest episode they've pulled all second season. It's a good episode, and I recommend this episode to anyone who loves sports and picnics as much as I do.

My only real complaint is the fact that Nermal doesn't speak in this episode. I mean, she is part of Jon's team, but she doesn't speak a single word. You would think Nermal would just at least be interviewed in this episode, or say a few lines here and there during the game, like maybe when Garfield does win at the end, she would complain along with Odie that Garfield cheated, since Odie did technically speak despite the fact that he only barks. It is noticeable that Nermal doesn't say anything here, but, it's nowhere near enough to ruin the episode in any capacity.