In the beginning, there was Family Guy.
Family Guy was a raucous show, full of pop-culture references and humor barely fit for TV. It was novel for its time, and quite edgy in its presentation, but the edge soon wore off (as it usually does in such shows) and its creators had to push the envelope further and further in order to keep the show topical. It was during this time that a hero emerged, and decided to break from the show to form a more family-friendly show that maintained some of the same humor styles as his original project.
His name was Dan Provenmire, and he with a host of cohorts called this new show “Phineas and Ferb.”
Fast forward to the past year. My children, as we surfed through Netflix, spy the unique character designs of Phineas and Ferb, and decide that this is a show they want to watch. The show had already been recommended to me and I’d watched an episode or two of my own accord, and being that I hadn’t seen anything objectionable in the show, I allowed them to watch.
3 seasons later, we eagerly await the arrival of each new episode on Netflix, dreading the day that the powers-that-be decide that the license has expired and pull the show. Imagine, if you will, a show with the humor style and musical numbers of Family Guy, but all-age appropriate. It is a show with a veritable bargeload of pop-culture references and sci-fi / fantasy / spy movie in-jokes, a soundtrack that would make the best Broadway shows green with envy…
…and the best Christmas specials EVER.
If you have kids. If you don’t yet have kids. If you never plan on having kids but love life and all things funny.
Phineas and Ferb is made for YOU.
Plus, in what other show could you hear the line “Why would marathoners be following anyone?… except, you know, 3 guys from Kenya.”
