The second episode of the first season of Garfield and Friends.
Post-opening Sequence Line: "I just checked the TV listings; I'm the only thing on right now!"
Box O' Fun
Garfield plays in Jon's empty cardboard box and lets his imagination go wild.
Unidentified Flying Orson
Inspired by Orson's science fiction book, Roy plays a trick on Orson, where he convinces him that the Earth is being invaded by martians disguised as cheese danishes.
School Daze
Jon sends Garfield to the Stonewall obedience school for cats run by an ex-Marine after he catches Garfield trying to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi.
"Box O' Fun" provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch Comparison: In Garfield's second fantasy, where he pretends Jon's empty box is an airplane, he says "Uh-oh, I think I have someone on my tail.", then he checks his tail and says "I was wrong; no one there." Then he says "Uh-oh, looks like I've got company" when he sees enemy planes.
- Drive-Thru Antics: In Garfield's first fantasy, where he pretends Jon's box is a race car, he goes through the drive-thru of Vince's restaurant to get a soda.
- Here We Go Again!: After Jon takes his box back, Garfield decides to play in the trash can, pretending it's a rocket ship.
- Meat-O-Vision: When Garfield imagines Jon's box is a lifeboat adrift on the ocean, he imagines Odie as a club sandwich. He briefly imagines a side order of onion rings, too, until he changes his mind.
- Mr. Imagination: Garfield pretends that Jon's empty box is a race car, an airplane, and a lifeboat.
- Not So Above It All: At the end of the episode, when Jon catches Garfield and Odie playing in his box, he takes them outside, finding the concept of playing with a cardboard box ridiculous. Almost immediately afterwards, he puts the box on his head, pretending it's a knight's helmet.
- Rule of Three: Garfield pretends Jon's box is three things; a race car, an airplane, and a lifeboat.
"Unidentified Flying Orson" provides examples of:
- An Aesop: While there's nothing wrong with reading science-fiction stories, it's important to distinguish fiction from reality, so as not to let your imagination get the better of you.
- Box-and-Stick Trap: This episode begins with Booker setting this kind of trap for the Worm, using a peanut as bait. Sheldon doesn't think that worms like peanuts. Booker does catch something, but when he lifts the box to check, it's an elephant.
- Crazy-Prepared: It is revealed that Roy has a box of cheese danishes in case he needs them. He uses them to pull a prank on Orson, who believes them to be disguised martians after reading his science-fiction novel, Attack of the Awesome Space Zombies.
- Exploding Closet: Roy tries to invoke this trope on Orson by disguising the grain silo as a rocket and tricking Orson into evacuating the Earth once the martians take over so that an avalanche of grain will fall on him when he opens the door. Thanks to Lanolin's trickery, Roy's the one who opens the door and gets buried in grain.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Near the end of the episode, Lanolin finds out about Roy's trick and plays along, tricking Roy into opening the door instead. Roy falls for Lanolin's trick and gets buried by the grain, which he has to put back into the silo by himself.
- Real After All: At the end of the episode, it is revealed that the cheese danish martians are real, as Booker finds what looks like the Worm, only to find out that it's really the nose of one of the martians. The martians then retreat back to their home planet.
"School Daze" provides examples of:
- Bait-and-Switch: At the end of the episode, when Jon sees Garfield wrapping a box with a ribbon, he thinks Garfield is still trying to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi, only for Garfield to reveal that Nermal isn't in the box at all. Jon apologizes to Garfield, who says that he should be sorry for thinking he'd try to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi again. It is then revealed that Odie is in the box, and Garfield is trying to mail him to the Yukon.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Jon asks Garfield if he knows how wrong it is to try to mail Nermal to Abu Dhabi, Garfield tells him "You're right; Egypt's further."
- Don't Try This at Home: Garfield is surprised by Nermal. He finds himself on the ceiling thanks to his claws and climbs down. On the way, he informs the viewers that it takes sharp claws and he's a pro... so don't try it at home.
- Drill Sergeant Nasty: The obedience school trainer acts like one, and her obedience school is designed like a concentration camp. Garfield finds out from Clyde that she was thrown out of the Marines for unnecessary roughness.
- Help, I'm Stuck!: The obedience school trainer gets stuck in a pipe while chasing Garfield, who has to pull her out.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Garfield wears a red baseball cap and a green and white striped shirt to disguise himself as a human to get out of Stonewall obedience school. His ruse is exposed when the obedience school trainer sees his tail.
- Pun-Based Title: This episode's title is a pun on the saying, "School Days".
