The first season of the American animated musical-comedy Phineas and Ferb premiered from August 17, 2007, to February 18, 2009. The twenty-six episode season was broadcast in the United States on the Disney Channel. The five main characters include stepbrothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, their neurotic older sister Candace Flynn, secret agent Perry the Platypus (who is also Phineas and Ferb's pet), and the "evil" scientist Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.
Phineas and Ferb was created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. The characters were conceived by the duo while working together on The Simpsons and Rocko's Modern Life in the 1990s, and were inspired by the summers of their own childhoods. Povenmire and Marsh spent 16 years attempting to get it pitched to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. They ultimately passed on the show, and Disney Television Animation signed on to produce the series.
Phineas and Ferb debuted on August 17, 2007. It was originally broadcast as a one-episode preview. Following the premiere of High School Musical 2, it was previewed again on September 28, 2007, before making its premiere in February 2008. The series was a success, with the premiere episode, "Rollercoaster", attracting over 10 million viewers during its first airing. The season had high viewership among viewers aged 6-10 and 9-14. By May 2008, the series had become a top-rated program amongst young children.
Contents
Production
Development
Series co-creator Dan Povenmire cited the origins for the show to his childhood in Mobile, Alabama. Povenmire recalled that his mother told him "never to waste a day of summer". Meanwhile, the show's other co-creator, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh grew up in a large, blended family. Similar to Povenmire, Marsh spent his summers exploring and taking part in several different activities in order to have fun. The two met while working as layout artists on The Simpsons in the 1990s. Povenmire commented that "We were always laughing at the same jokes". The two became a writing team on the Nickelodeon animated series Rocko's Modern Life. They began working on Phineas and Ferb around 1992, while still working together at Nickelodeon. The two had become friends due to their mutual tastes and interests. Citing their childhood, they wanted to incorporate summer vacations, a time when the two would go out and do something constructive. They spent fourteen years pitching it to four different networks, including Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, all of which kept shooting it down due to its complexity.
Povenmire eventually landed the pitched with Disney. The network did not immediately accept the show but told Povenmire that it would keep the packet. Povenmire assumed that this had meant an end to negotiations, aware that the phrase usually means they "throw it in the trash later." To his complete surprise, however, Disney accepted it. After being given a chance, Povenmire and Marsh turned their attention to the company's overseas executives. Instead of penning a normal script, the two drew out storyboards and played them in a reel. Povenmire voiced over the reel with his dialogue and added sound effects. After securing the executives' support, production on the show began in the summer of 2006. The duo invited colleagues who also worked on Rocko's Modern Life to exert the same function.
Writing style
The show uses four major writers to devise story ideas according to "strict guidelines", such as that the boys' schemes never appear to be "magical". Stories are reviewed at weekly sessions on Monday, then simultaneously scripted and storyboarded. A very rough design is built before the storyboard, featuring little more than suggested scenes and dialogue, is drafted; the writers then gather for a "play-by-play" walk-through of the storyboard in front of the whole crew, whose reactions to the jokes are assessed before rewrites are made. The writers also include running gags in every episode, which are generally lines spoken by characters. Almost every episode is set into two eleven-minute segments.
Cast
Phineas and Ferb are voiced by Vincent Martella and Thomas Sangster, respectively. Sangster was one of many British actors cast; Marsh lived in the United Kingdom for seven years, and developed a fondness for its people. The rest of the cast includes Ashley Tisdale as their sister Candace, Dee Bradley Baker as the secret agent platypus Perry, Caroline Rhea as Phineas and Ferb's mother Linda Flynn-Fletcher, Richard O'Brien as Phineas and Ferb's father Lawrence Fletcher, Kelly Hu as Candace's best friend Stacy, and Alyson Stoner as Phineas and Ferb's next-door neighbor and best friend Isabella. Series creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh provide the voices of Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram, respectively.
Release
Announcements
The series was officially announced as part of the annual upfront presentation to advertisers on February 8, 2007, with a premiere date slated for winter of 2008. The main voice cast was revealed to include Vincent Martella and Thomas Sangster as the titular characters, and then-Disney Channel stars Ashley Tisdale and Mitchel Musso as Candace and Jeremy. Recurring actors and a number of guest stars for the season were unveiled on September 13, along with the premiere date, which was set to January 2008. Following the popularity of the first 2 previews, Disney Channel released a press release on November 8, stating that the series would officially premiere in February 2008, with new episodes being shown every night in a month-long marathon dubbed "Ferb-ruary." In that same interview, series creators Povenmire and Marsh were added to the cast in the roles of Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Major Monogram respectively.
Ratings
The first episode, "Rollercoaster", garnered a total of 10.8 million viewers when aired as a one-episode preview on August 17, 2007. When Phineas and Ferb officially debuted in February the next year, it proved cable's number one watched animated series premiere by "tweens". Throughout the first quarter that followed, it peaked as the top-rated animated series for ages 6–10 and 9–14, also becoming number three animated series for all of cable television for viewers age 6–10. By the time the commissioning of the second season was announced in May 2008, the series had become a top-rated program in the 6–11 and 9–14 age groups. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes calculated an approval rating of 100%, based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10.