Good Mousekeeping

Good Mousekeeping is an episode of Garfield and Friends. It originally aired on October 15, 1988.

Episode recap

While Garfield is taking a nap, Jon and Odie are in the kitchen where Jon is cooking. Jon tells Odie to close the refrigerator door, but just as he is AbOUT to do so, a block of cheese that is sitting in the fridge appears to jump out and run away. It runs out of the kitchen and past Garfield, who goes after it. He picks up the cheese and discovers that a mouse had been carrying it. The mouse pleads for his life, but Garfield doesn’t understand why the mouse thinks he would ever want to eat a mouse. The mouse explains that cats always eat mice on television, but Garfield refuses to do so.

After the mouse realizes that Garfield won’t eat mice, he tells all his mouse buddies about it, and they soon invade the house. Jon tells Garfield about the mouse problem, and Garfield is about to call an exterminator until Jon stops him and tells him that he has to catch the mice himself.

After a few unsuccessful attempts to catch the mice, Jon angrily points out that the mice had eaten everything in the house except for his avocado-peanut butter stew with French dressing. Garfield then takes the stew and feeds it to the mice. After eating it, they are so revolted that they run out of the house. Garfield then decides to have to something to eat, but Jon reminds him that the mice had eaten everything -- except for his stew.

As the mice are sitting in a trashcan alley, Garfield and Odie walk up dressed like mice. Garfield informs them that they want to stay there because they’re eating better than he and Odie are.

Notes

• A prototypical mouse that would later be known as Floyd makes his first appearance in this episode.
• Odie dines on a box of Bow Wow brand dog food.
• Garfield orders his mouse suit from Acme Corporation.
• An ultra-violent Tom and Jerry parody was briefly shown.
• The title is based on the expression Good Housekeeping.

Goofs

• Garfield puts on the mouse suit and then walks outside to attract the mice, even though the mice are inside the house and he acts like all the mice are outside!
• The front room appears to change places throughout the episode.
• The front cover of Jon’s cookbook is treated as the back cover.
• When Garfield is flipping through the Yellow Pages, he lists subjects in alphabetical order, yet he is turning the pages backwards.
• Jon throws Garfield in great harm into the kitchen but there is no crash, but only a throw sound.
• It is impossible to have Odie and Jon under the chair.
• When Garfield opens the vacuum cleaner, no dust cloud is seen.

External links

• Good Mousekeeping at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Good Mousekeeping at TV.com