It has been a long road from concept to greenlight, but Garfield is returning to television. Paramount+ has ordered a new original 2D-animated series featuring the iconic lasagna-loving orange cat, with Emmy-winning actor and comedian Lamorne Morris set to voice the title character. The series, produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios and inspired by Jim Davis’ original comic strip, is currently in production the conclusion of a development journey that began in 2019 and survived two Paramount mergers and multiple changes in studio leadership along the way.
The pickup was made under the streamer’s new post-Skydance-Paramount merger team led by Cindy Holland, Paramount’s Chair of Direct-to-Consumer, and Paramount+’s Head of Originals Jane Wiseman, signaling that the new leadership wasted little time putting their stamp on the platform’s content direction.
A casting choice with an unexpected personal connection
Morris brings considerable credibility to the role. He won an Emmy for his performance in Season 5 of FX’s Fargo and is widely recognized for his long-running role as Winston Bishop on Fox’s New Girl a character famously defined by his extraordinarily close bond with his cat, Ferguson. The casting, in other words, carries a layer of irony that is difficult to ignore and likely intentional.
Beyond the feline connection, Morris arrives at the project with significant momentum. He will next appear opposite Nicolas Cage in Prime Video’s Spider-Noir and is currently in production on Jumanji 4. He also co-hosts two podcasts, The Lamorning After with Kyle Shevrin and The Mess Around, a “New Girl” rewatch podcast with former castmate Hannah Simone.
Dave H. Johnson, known for Middlemost Post, and John Trabbic III, a producer associated with both SpongeBob SquarePants and Middlemost Post, serve as executive producers on the series.
What the show is and where it comes from
The series draws directly from Jim Davis’ original comic strip, which has chronicled the life of Garfield, his owner Jon Arbuckle and the dog Odie since its launch in 1978. The strip currently reaches more than 200 million daily readers and maintains a substantial social media following figures that underscore the enduring commercial and cultural weight of the IP.
The Garfield character entered the Paramount ecosystem in 2019 when Viacom, then the parent company of Nickelodeon, acquired the property from owners Paws. As part of that agreement, Paramount’s predecessor also took over managing global merchandising rights, integrating Garfield across categories spanning apparel, toys, publishing, food and pet products, as well as Nickelodeon game franchises including All-Star Brawl and Kart Racers. In those games, the character was voiced by Frank Welker, who also voiced Garfield in the original The Garfield Show the last animated series featuring the character, which ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network and Boomerang from 2009 to 2014.
This new Paramount+ series marks Garfield’s first return to television animation in more than 11 years.
Where the new series fits within Paramount+ expanding slate
The Garfield order is part of a broader and ambitious content push at Paramount+ across multiple categories. In the kids and family animation space, it joins two recently ordered series also produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios The Elephant & Piggie Show and The Pigeon Show Starring the Pigeon, both based on Mo Willems beloved children’s books. Additional animated projects in the pipeline include The Legend of Aang The Last Airbender, originally targeted for theatrical release, and Avatar Seven Havens, a 2D series ordered by Nickelodeon a year ago, both developed under the Avatar Studios banner.
On the live action side, Paramount+ has been equally active. Recent orders include legal drama Discretion starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, limited series 9/12 headlined by Jeremy Strong and Fear Not starring Anne Hathaway. The streamer also formalized the pickup of Frisco King, a Tulsa King spinoff led by Samuel L. Jackson. Rounding out the unscripted slate are dating show Making Love and a four-part docuseries titled Made for March, designed to complement CBS and Paramount+ 2026 March Madness basketball coverage.
The parallel Garfield film franchise continues separately
The new Paramount+ series exists alongside a separate big-screen franchise. Alcon and Sony’s 3D CGI Garfield feature film, with Chris Pratt voicing the character, was released in 2024, and a sequel with Pratt reprising his role has been announced and is moving forward. The two projects represent distinct creative directions for the same IP one leaning into the comic strip’s 2D origins for television, the other continuing the CGI theatrical approach.
For a character who has spent nearly five decades complaining about Mondays, Garfield is suddenly very busy.
