The fourteenth episode of the seventh season of Garfield and Friends.
Post-Opening Sequence Line: "Today, a look into our writer's joke file. That's right, we examine both jokes."
Canned Laughter
After visiting a robot convention, Jon decides to build his own robot that tells jokes. When the robot goes haywire, Garfield builds his own heckling robot to combat it.
Deja Vu
Orson and Roy have a discussion about Deja Vu when they feel like they're experiencing the same events over an over again. Meanwhile, the Weasel tries to steal the chickens, but keeps running into Wade.
The Man Who Hated Cats
Garfield and Jon meet Mr. Block, a cranky new neighbor who hates cats. Garfield soon discovers that the reason why Mr. Block hates cats is because his childhood cat, Foo-Foo ran away from him when he was a kid, so he sets out to find a cat that looks like Foo-Foo to cheer him up.
"Canned Laughter" provides examples of:
- Bamboo Technology: Jon builds his own comedy robot using, among other things, his VCR, his refrigerator, and a bucket with light bulbs for eyes and a shower head for a nose/mouth.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Garfield builds his own heckling robot to take on Jon's comedy robot, he tells the viewers "Don't sit too close to the TV; this could be dangerous.
- Noodle Incident: When Jon finds out how much the Sheck-I-Tron 3000 costs, he decides to make his own robot in his garage for half the price. Garfield then says "Uh-oh! That's what he said when they told him he had to have his appendix out!"
- Paper-Thin Disguise: When Jon's comedy robot goes berserk and tries to attack Jon, Garfield, and Odie, Garfield wears a bucket on his head to disguise himself as a robot, which fools the robot nonetheless, at least until Garfield removes his disguise.
- Pie in the Face: When Jon tries to get his comedy robot to tell a joke, it instead hits him in the face with a pie. Garfield and Odie both find this funny, but Jon doesn't.
- Rimshot: Garfield's heckling robot plays these after hecking Jon's comedy robot.
- Shockingly Expensive Bill: Though the actual amount is never specified, when Jon asks the inventor of the Sheck-I-Tron 3000 how much it costs, Garfield tells Odie "Assume Jon-catching positions.." so they can catch Jon when he faints upon finding how much the Sheck-I-Tron 3000 costs.
- Tempting Fate:
- At the robot convention, Garfield tells Odie "Boy, they have machines now that do everything but dance the Can-can." They then pass by some robots doing the Can-can, and Gafield tells Odie, "Boy, they have machines now that do everything.
- After hearing the Sheck-I-Tron 3000's jokes, Garfield tells Odie "You'd have to be pretty dumb to find this stuff funny." Cue Jon laughing. Garfield then says "I rest my case."
- Turned Against Their Masters: When Jon accidentally destroys the remote control to his comedy robot, the robot turns against him and tries to attack him.
- Who's on First?: Garfield tricks Jon's comedy robot into telling this kind of joke to distract him while he escapes from him.
"Deja Vu" provides examples of:
- Déjà Vu: Both the title and premise of this episode. Orson, Roy, Wade, and the Weasel keep reliving the same scene over and over.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Wade struggles to tell Orson and Roy that he spotted the Weasel, the two try to guess what he's saying. Wade finally says that he spotted the Weasel, which gets the two to realize that the Weasel is stealing the chickens.
- Mobile Shrubbery: The Weasel hides in a bush as he overhears Orson and Roy talking about Deja Vu. He carries it with him on the way to the chicken coop to steal the chickens.
- Not in Front of the Kid: When Orson is about to explain the concept of Deja Vu, Roy tells him "You can't say that on a kid's show!" Orson tells Roy that Deja Vu is not a dirty word, but Roy retaliates by saying that if it isn't, it should be.
- Rule of Three: The Weasel steals the chickens three times. Lampshaded by the Weasel himself."Never again! I'm never coming back, but I keep coming back! But I stole those chickens three times!"
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After running into Wade a fourth time, the Weasel leaves the farm, as doing the same thing over and over is driving him crazy.
- Shout-Out: Wade struggles to announces the Weasel's appearance to Orson and Roy. When he finally does, Roy states that he was about to assume that Wade was trying to say "Woody Woodpecker".
- Take That!: When Orson explains to Roy that Deja Vu means you get the feeling that you're experiencing events that you've already experienced before, sometimes over and over, Roy tells him "Sounds like having Cable TV!"
- Wicked Weasel: The Weasel makes his final appearance in this episode, once again trying to steal the chickens.
"The Man Who Hated Cats" provides examples of:
- Elvis Lives: One of the controversial subjects the talk show host sings about is marrying Elvis.
- Freudian Excuse: The real reason why Mr. Block hates cats is because when he was a kid, he had a pet cat named Foo-Foo, whom he loved more than anything and did everything with. One day, Foo-Foo disappeared and never came back. He looked everywhere but never found him.
- Heel–Face Turn: When Garfield convinces a stray cat to pretend to be Foo-Foo, Mr. Block thinks that Foo-Foo has come to see him again after so many years and changes his attitude about cats.
- High-Dive Hijinks: One of the controversial subjects the talk show host sings about is diving in a swimming pool when the weather outside is 20 degrees below zero. Sure enough, when a man, clad only in his bathing suit, tries to jump in, he ends up landing headfirst on the frozen water.
- "I Hate" Song:
- Mr. Block gets a song about how much he despises cats.
Mr. Block: They're screeching and yelling, and always rebelling,
And that's why I hate a pussycat!
Their litter's aroma could bring on a coma,
And that's why I hate a pussycat!- This is inverted at the end of the episode, where Mr. Block changes his mind and decides that he loves cats, singing a song about how great they are.
- Identical Stranger: After overhearing the reason why Mr. Block hates cats, namely because his childhood cat, Foo-Foo, ran away. Because the real Foo-Foo died of old age (as humans live longer than cats), Garfield decides to look for a stray cat that looks like Foo-Foo, eventually finding one. He convinces the cat to pretend to be Foo-Foo by telling him the advantages of being a pet so that the cat will have a new home and Mr. Block won't hate cats anymore.
- Musical Episode: This episode features many musical numbers.
- Never Say "Die": When Garfield overhears Mr. Block singing about Foo-Foo, his childhood cat who had one day disappeared, Mr. Block sings "Foo-Foo had fled, wished I was..." but tears up before he can say "Dead."
- Rhymes on a Dime: The dialogue in the musical numbers are done in rhyme.
- Toilet Humor: One of the lines from Mr. Block on why he hates cats is "Their litter's aroma could bring on a coma!"
