August 17th, 2007 was a big day. I was at a friend’s house as 5 of us tuned into to watch the premiere of the much anticipated High School Musical 2. We sang all the songs (because we already had memorized the soundtrack by that point, DUH!), danced around the living room, and had a ball. We were 5 of the 17 million viewers for that initial showing of the film. However, we were the first viewers of another Disney staple, Phineas and Ferb. It had a prime slot to show a 15 minute preview, especially since the series wouldn’t premiere until February of 2008.
“Roller Coaster” had me hooked from the first viewing. The humor was so smart, so fresh and so hilarious. The concept was simple enough, with two brothers doing outlandish activities to fight boredom every day of summer. Their sister, on the other hand, “don’t play that,” as she tries to bust them with her mom. All while this is going on, a subplot of the brothers’ pet platypus, who is actually a secret agent, is trying to stop the Evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz’ evil plan.
After a while, the show became synonymous with musical numbers. Every half hour episode has at least one original song that fits in with the show. “Busted,” “Little Brothers” and “Fabulous” are three of my favorites, but they also showcase some of the show’s best puns, jokes, and adult-centric humor.
That was the best part of the show. It is the definition of family entertainment. Half of the jokes are there for kids to pick up on and love, while the other half are absolutely for the adults in the room. They are tremendous, and there are too many good ones to give you a list of favorites. However, the Christmas special brought an AMAZING joke revolving around figgy pudding that continues to hold up.
This seems like a ton of fluff, but I do have a point to make. This evening, June 12, 2015, Phineas and Ferb aired its series finale. The Last Day of Summer finally arrived for the group, and their trials and tribulations are shown in a Groundhog Day-esque 1 hour finale. The episode was good as a whole, with Ashley Tisdale continuing to be the stand out of the show, as her voice work as Candace deserves her an Emmy nomination (In the first episode, her delivery of “Will you hold it down? I am trying to use the phone!” is genius). The final moments were incredibly sentimental, self-referential (a quality the show has always stood by), and a beautiful send-off. A sweet reminiscing song turned into a fun, full cast backed, rock number about the 104 days of summer vacation they’ve spent together.
As the longest running Disney Channel animated show of all time, beating out another personal favorite Kim Possible, I wonder if the show will have the staying power of the former. The P&F creative team are getting a new show on Disney XD next year, Mikey Murphy’s Law, and we have a new special coming this fall dedicated to Perry’s workplace, the O.W.C.A. Yet, this chapter in the Disney Channel book is finished.
I was an avid watcher at the beginning, but as I started to move into high school, I stopped watching as frequently. I did catch all the movies, specials, or two-part episodes to enjoy the humor I had missed so regularly. Oh, I also watched the one with Chaka Khan because CHAKA KHAN. I’ll miss being in the tri-state area frequently, listening to Caroline Rhea play a hilarious mom, wondering what they were going to do that day. We’ll miss you Phineas and Ferb, but you will definitely not be forgotten.
I leave you with the gem of the program: “Squirrels in my Pants”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nKG_O0Ei_o