Being Jim Davis

I do not accept the idea that the present over-all programming is aimed accurately at the public taste. The ratings tell us only that some people have their television sets turned on and of that number, so many are tuned to one channel and so many to another. They don't tell us what the public might watch if they were offered half-a-dozen additional choices. A rating, at best, is an indication of...

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly, commercials -- many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be ver...

Like everybody, I wear more than one hat. I am the chairman of the FCC. But I am also a television viewer and the husband and father of other television viewers. I have seen a great many television programs that seemed to me eminently worthwhile and I am not talking about the much bemoaned good old days of "Playhouse 90" and "Studio One." I'm talking about this past season. Some were wonderfully e...

It probably says something that Jon and Chris are clearly more interested in "Steve Hansen of Cincinnati," a nonexistent listener they made up, than in any of this week's Garfield strips. Today's strip

In today's episode, we crack this thing wide open. We expose a conspiracy that goes back generations and spans continents. And it all -- as so often it does -- comes down to one very special orange cat. And Drew Barrymore. And listener Steve. Of course. <img class="thumb-image" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/58e2fcbe414fb535a41548ef/1491270886699/"...

Here's a thing we talked about: <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hermeneutics/#HermCirc" target="_blank"> <img class="thumb-image" data-image="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b273931b631b852a251d7e/t/58e17e173e00be0ae50ca624/1491172969197/" data-image-dimensions="1000x600" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" data-load="false" data-image-id="58e17e173e00be0ae50ca624" data-...

There's a lot I could say about today's episode, but in the end, I think history will remember it as the first time we mentioned (and almost immediately begin insulting) fan-favorite hypothetical listener "Steve". Also, here's this: Today's strip

Uh oh, A PODCAST! The nice thing about today's podcast is that if you get bored, you can always turn on the Super Bowl instead, which is of course a thing that's happening today in 1979 (the year that it is right now). Will the Cowboys beat the spread? Will Chris find something to shout about unnecessarily? What article of furniture will disappear in today's Garfield strip? Tune in to find out the...

For April Fool's Day, I forgot to write a description for this episode. Today's strip

Ok, so the use of the word 'but' here STRONGLY implies that Jon believes that his owning a cat means that he is NOT a bachelor, doesn't it? Which means, ipso facto, precisely one of two things must necessarily be the case: Either Jon Arbuckle is a man who does not understand what words mean, or Jon Arbuckle is a man who is in a romantic and/or sexual relationship with his cat. Oh wait, did I say "...

This is another Garfield strip. Today's strip

1. You won't actually hear it in this episode because I cut it out, but in the pre-roll to today's podcast Chris tells us an anecdote about buying tupperware at IKEA in which he refers to the plural of same as 'tupperwares'. 2. Since you mention it, yes, I totally  grant that that anecdote sounds more entertaining than anything that actually made it in. Today's strip

For more info regarding the use of isometric projection in video games, check out this delightful wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isometric_graphics_in_video_games_and_pixel_art When you're done, how about playing a little Zaxxon? That's totally a thing you could do.  http://www.classic-retro-games.com/games/shooters/zaxxon-70 Today's strip

Today we delve once again into the ever-deepening mystery that is Jon's friend Lyman, and the question of whether or not he appears in this comic strip. In the event that your podcast app doesn't display pictures in episode summaries, I know you'll want to click through to our blog so you can follow along as we go through the evidence. We also FINALLY address the controversy of the inconsistency o...

In today's episode of Being Jim Davis , we earn that "explicit content" tag as early as the strip synopsis, and it's pretty much downhill from there. Anyhow, here's some Art Tatum: Today's strip

Legend has it that there was a time -- before you were born, in the long long ago, before the darkening, before the great scorching, before the rise of the night creatures -- legend has it that there was a time when Jim Davis produced Garfield strips wholly unrelated to sweaters. That's the legend, anyway, but frankly, I don't believe it. Today's strip

Yet more sweater humor today. Embarrassingly, in today's episode we erroneously refer to John Cage's "Preludes" for prepared piano, when we clearly mean his "Sonatas and Interludes." What a couple of maroons! Here's the specific one we're talking about: Today's strip

More animals-wearing-inappropriate-clothing humor today. Enjoy! Today's strip

Today's episode opens with Jon asking the very pertinent question "What are we doing?" Then after the theme music, we say some other stuff. Also, more sweater humor. Today's strip

More sweater humor today. Today's strip

Hey, you guys like sweater-related humor, right? Like, jokes about sweaters? You'd be into that? Well I sure as fuck hope so, because that's all you're going to get this week. Today's strip

Garfield:  Oh, what ho, Sir Arbuckle! Sir Jon Arbuckle:  Kindly do not address me in that familiar way, Garfield. I happen to know that once again you've yielded to the awful temptation to steal a muffin! ..... Garfield:  Oh, rot! [Garfield tries to steal the muffin from Sir Arbuckle's string] Sir Jon Arbuckle:  What are you doing? Garfield: Er ... dinner! Sir Arbuckle: Dinner?...

For your consideration: https://www.pooky.com/ Today's strip

Today we brainstorm ideas for things we should have done yesterday in celebration of our 200th episode, which we basically totally forgot about. The discussion includes several minutes of us trying to decide which 20th-century avant-garde composer best represents our podcast. Insofar as we almost don't even mention today's Garfield strip, it's a pretty strong episode. At one point somebody referen...

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