Friday PluggedIn TV Review

 

Phineas and Ferb

Animated (in more ways than one) stepbrothers Phineas and Ferb are whiling away what may be the longest summer vacation ever. But their elaborate, reality-twisting plans are constantly under assault by their tattling older sister, Candace—who goes so far as to snitch on the boys for "making a title sequence" at the beginning of every show.

While the boys enjoy their seemingly endless summer break, their pet platypus, Perry, never takes a day off: Serving as a secret agent for the OWCA ("Organization Without a Cool Acronym"), Perry sneaks off to wage war against his nemesis, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. The resourceful platypus knows that eeeeviill never takes a coffee break, so neither can he.

Co-creators Dan Povenmire (formerly a writer for Fox's Family Guy) and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, unsuccessfully pitched the concept of Phineas and Ferb for 16 years before Disney finally took a chance on the show in 2007. Povenmire has described it as a cross between SpongeBob SquarePants and Family Guy—a kids' show that adults can enjoy, too, with a slew of hip cultural references and a catchy song each episode to keep things interesting.

"I think it's great that the characters are cool, edgy and clever without the humor being mean-spirited," Marsh told Animation World Network. "It was important to us that they never did anything with any animosity."