June 18, 10:40 PM
If you are searching for something for your children to watch that is both kid friendly and tolerable to the adult palate, check out “Phineas and Ferb” on the Disney Channel and Disney XD.
Phineas (Vincent Martella) and Ferb (Thomas Sangster) Flynn are two technically and imaginatively gifted stepbrothers, who spend their perpetual summer vacation utilizing their extraordinary intellects to brainstorm a wide variety of unique ideas and inventions. They implement these plans without the knowledge of their parents, while their older sister Candace (Ashley Tisdale), being aware of their exploits, continuously seeks to expose the pair's endeavors without success.
There is an ongoing subplot in which the boys normally listless pet platypus, Perry, leads a secondary confidential life as Agent 'P', a secret agent employed by the 'Organization Without a Cool Acronym' (O.W.C.A.). It is Agent P's ongoing mission to foil the sinister schemes of the evil Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. These encounters consistently include the elements of Dr. Doofenshmirtz capturing Perry, as well as the Doctor's malevolent plots being foiled, which directly contributes to Phineas and Ferb's exoneration from their sister's accusations.
The episodes always include a musical number that is related to the storyline. The songs are cute and funny, and draw inspiration from an array of different musical genres. The catchy, rocking theme song from the show is performed by the band, “Bowling for Soup”.
The individual story segments are less than fifteen minutes in length, so they cater to the restless youth demographic that might possess a lower than average attention span.
“Phineas and Ferb” may not be one of the highly touted, upper tier educational programs that are available for viewing, but it is creative, polite and enjoyable. Not unlike Nickelodeon's “Jimmy Neutron”, “Phineas and Ferb” supports the idea that being smart is cool, and throws in some universally enjoyable humor and music to boot.
