Phil of the Future

Last updated

Phil of the Future
PhilOfTheFuturelogo.png
Genre Comedy
Science fiction
Created by Douglas Tuber
Tim Maile
Starring Ricky Ullman
Amy Bruckner
Craig Anton
Lise Simms
Alyson Michalka
Theme music composerJohn Adair
Steve Hampton
Opening theme"Phil of the Future", performed by Drew Davis Band
Ending theme"Phil of the Future (instrumental)"
ComposersChristopher Brady (Season 1)
Kenneth Burgomaster (Season 2)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes43 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersDouglas Tuber
Tim Maile
(both; entire run)
Tom Burkhard
Matt Dearborn
Tim O'Donnell
(all; Season 1)
Michael Curtis
Roger S.H. Schulman
(both; Season 2)
Production locationsOccidental Studios
Los Angeles, California
Camera setup Film; Single-camera
Running time22 minutes
Production company2121 Productions
Original release
Network Disney Channel
ReleaseJune 18, 2004 (2004-06-18) 
August 19, 2006 (2006-08-19)

Phil of the Future is an American science fiction comedy television series that originally aired on Disney Channel from June 18, 2004, to August 19, 2006, for two seasons. The series was created by Douglas Tuber and Tim Maile and produced by 2121 Productions. It follows a family from the future that gets stranded in the 21st century when their time machine breaks down.

Contents

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 21June 18, 2004 (2004-06-18)October 28, 2005 (2005-10-28)
2 22June 25, 2005 (2005-06-25)August 19, 2006 (2006-08-19)

Characters

Main

Recurring

Season 1

  • Deborah Hortence "Debbie" Berwick (Kay Panabaker) (born 1990) is the complete opposite of Pim and she has a very happy attitude towards life. She hardly ever gets mad and is very nice. Debbie also considers Pim to be her best friend. Because of this, Pim likes to take advantage of Debbie's good-natured personality. She lives with her grandma and teaches a yoga class. Her other friends are Neckbrace Lana and Silent Judy. Debbie used to date Bradley until Pim broke them up by changing Debbie's personality but Debbie went back to normal. Debbie enjoys singing and is in the school band. She was written out of the show after Season 1. It was revealed in the Halloween special that she was a "happy" cyborg made by a cyborg-making company. She was intended to only do good and be always happy, until finally having a malfunction and turning evil and attempting to "nicely" enslave the world (starting from her schoolmates) into baking cupcakes for charity. At the episode's conclusion, Phil was forced to melt her. She appeared afterwards in the episode "Neander-Phil".
  • Bradley Benjamin Farmer (Rory Thost) is Pim's rival in Season 1. He is made fun of his short height (constantly being called a munchkin by Pim). He dated Debbie but Pim broke them up and he became infatuated with Pim.
  • Neckbrace Lana (Carlie Westerman) is a girl who did the school news and was in Pim's grade. She and Pim hated each other. She always wears a neckbrace, as she had pinched a nerve at some time in the past.
  • Tia Deanna Fedichelli (Brenda Song) is Keely's best friend. She is popular and friendly. She also seems to be rich. Though she can be spoiled and snobby sometimes, she is friendly and described as the girl next door by Phil; replaced by Via in Season 2, due to Brenda Song leaving the show to star in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody .
  • Seth Wosmer (Evan Peters) is the nerdy friend of Phil, Keely, and Tia. He is a member of the H.G. Wells billiards team, and the first student at the school to befriend Phil. His role was replaced by the more suave Owen in Season 2.
  • Ms. Guinevere Winston (Suzanne Krull) is a second-grade teacher in Season 1 (whose writing class Phil had to attend in the episode "Tanner"), as well as Pim's teacher.
  • Tanner Kirkpatrick (Chris Hunter) is a crush of Keely's in the episode "Your Cheatin' Heart" and was in the show most of the season. Phil seems to dislike him and sometimes cracks jokes about him and vice-versa, especially after Phil caught him cheating on Keely.

Season 2

  • Candida (Spencer Locke) is the "mean" girl that excludes Pim and insults her by frequently referring to her as "Pim-ple." She is referred to as one of the "fashion zombies" by Pim.
  • Li'l Danny Dawkins (Brandon Smith) has a crush on Pim and always gets involved with her antics. Pim does not seem to show affection for him, with the exception of when they danced at the dance in the episode "Get Ready to Go-Go."
  • Joel Messerschmitt (Joel Brooks) is Phil and Keely's teacher who takes pleasure in giving extremely difficult assignments that most of his students will fail. He has a sister named Bettina (also played by Brooks) and a nephew, Nathan (Josh Flitter), who both shockingly carry the same family trait of having a mustache. He reveals in the episode "The Gile" that his parents were acrobats.
  • Owen (Michael Mitchell) is Phil's friend who replaced Seth. He is not that smart and is laid-back, also constantly trying to hit on girls (though he never succeeds).
  • Olivia ("Via") (Juliet Holland-Rose) is a girl from England who transferred because her father is in the military. She became friends with Keely after Tia moved. In the episode "Get Ready to Go-Go," Phil went to a Sadie Hawkins dance with her, after a near-miss in returning to the future ruined his plans to go with Keely.

Production

Phil of the Future's working title was The Out of Timers. The theme song for Phil of the Future was written and composed by John Adair and Steve Hampton. The theme song was performed by Drew Davis Band who also performed the theme song of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody .

Awards and nominations

2007 - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs - Fred Savage for episode "Not So Great Great Great Grandpa" (Nominated)
2007 - Children's Episodic & Specials - David Steven Cohen for episode "Broadcast Blues" (Nominated)
2006 - Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama): Leading Young Actress - Amy Bruckner (Nominated)
2005 - Best Performance in a TV Series (Comedy or Drama): Leading Young Actress - Alyson Michalka (Nominated)
2005 - Best Performance in a Television Series: Recurring Young Actor - Rory Thost (Nominated)
2005 - Best Performance in a Television Series: Recurring Young Actress - Kay Panabaker (Nominated)

A DVD of the series titled Gadgets & Gizmos was released on August 16, 2005. [1] It contains four episodes: "Double Trouble", "Age Before Beauty", "My Way" and the then-unaired episode "Team Diffy". The episode "Christmas Break" was released as a bonus feature on the Disney Channel Holiday DVD compilation, released November 1, 2005. [2]

A video game based on Phil of the Future was released for the Game Boy Advance on August 22, 2006. In the game, Pim uses a cloning machine to create clones of a pet from the future called "Blahs" and it is up to Phil to stop them. [3]

Book series

Disney Publishing released a variety of Phil of the Future-related books throughout the 2000s, including:

No.TitleBased on
1Stuck In TimePart One: Future Tutor
Part Two: Future Jock

Part One: The Diffy family are stranded in the 21st century; Lloyd and Barbara decides for Phil (9th grade) and Pim (7th grade) to attend H.G. Wells Junior/Senior High School. Phil tutors Keely on Algebra; Pim competes with Debbie for chalk-monitor.

Part Two: Phil cheats so he can try out for the Gymnastics team to impress Keely, but Pim figures it out.
2The Great Fake-outPart One: You Say Toe-Mato
Part Two: Corner Pocket

Part One: Four-toed Phil uses fake fifth toes to fit into tomato-stomping, but Keely finds one - and the Diffy secret; Pim and Debbie help Mr. Hackett pay for an operation, until they learn it's for a hairpiece.

Part Two: Phil helps Keely convince her mom she's a cheerleader; Pim learns that Debbie's allergic to raisins.
3Blast from the PastPart One: Meet the Curtis
Part Two: Pheremonally Yours

Part One: The Diffys meet a time-machine stowaway who later saves Mr. Diffy's life; Pim reluctantly attends a sleepover.

Part Two: A 9th-grade southern belle takes Phil's politeness the wrong way; Pim worms her way into the junior-high Orchestra.
4Far-out PhilPart One: Unification Day
Part Two: We'll Fix it In Editing

Part One: Phil must decide between the school's party-of-the-year and his family's Unification Day, for which Pim makes a giant meatloaf.

Part Two: Phil is too much the perfectionist in directing a short film that leaves his friends short with him; Pim enters a fast-walk competition - and wins!

Home media

The series became available to stream on Disney+ in the United States when it launched on November 12, 2019. [4]

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References

  1. "Phil of the Future - Gadgets & Gizmos". Amazon. August 16, 2005. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  2. "Disney Channel Holiday" via movies.disney.com.
  3. "Phil of the Future - Game Boy Advance". Amazon. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
  4. Disney+ (October 14, 2019). "Phil of the Future (2004)". @disneyplus. Retrieved October 14, 2019.