Televison Reviews : Garfield Salute Is One Long Commercial

“Happy Birthday, Garfield” airing at 8 tonight on CBS, ranks as this season’s longest commercial. Ostensibly a celebration of the 10th anniversary of the comic strip, this meandering hodgepodge of interviews, recycled animation and blatant plugs will defeat all but the most rabid fans of America’s most heavily merchandised cat.

Cartoonist Jim Davis appears on camera as the chuckling, avuncular host, talking about how he works, his boyhood in Indiana and how Garfield’s appearance has changed over the last decade (his eyes, ears and head gave grown larger as his body has gotten smaller).

Davis doesn’t mention some potentially more interesting topics: How other cartoonists--notably Charles Schulz--have influenced his work; how the national craze for cats helped to make his strip so popular (it appears in more than 2,000 newspapers); how the growth of a commercial empire has affected his attitude toward his character.

In addition to Davis’ narration, the hourlong “Happy Birthday, Garfield” features clips from five previous animated specials, actors clowning in Garfield and Odie suits, a stilted explanation of the animation process and some pointless chitchat with cartoonists Dik Browne (“Hagar the Horrible”), Lynn Johnston (“For Better or For Worse”) and Mike Peters (“Mother Goose and Grimm”).

In one singularly unflattering sequence, songwriters Desiree Goyette and Ed Bogas knock out “Bullets and Babes,” the title tune for an upcoming special, in 13 minutes. (From the way it sounds, they may have written it in less.)

No writer or director is listed in the credits for the program. In response to a telephone inquiry from The Times, a spokesman for CBS said that Davis should be credited--if anyone had to be--as he “just sort of ad-libbed it,” which is easy to believe. There’s no discernible order to the show, and the viewer gets the impression that the various segments were shuffled like a deck of cards and dealt onto the screen.

Despite the chaotic format, Davis manages to plug two upcoming specials, the Saturday morning series slated for next fall (“Right here on CBS!”), an animated feature that’s in production and some of the Garfield books and toys.

Three of the earlier Garfield programs won Emmys for best animated special of their respective season. It seems unlikely that “Happy Birthday, Garfield” will garner a fourth, but it just might earn Davis a Clio--the annual award given to outstanding commercials.