Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!

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"Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!"
Phineas and Ferb episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 45
Directed by Dan Povenmire
Written byBobby Gaylor (story)
Martin Olson (story)
Jon Colton Barry (storyboards)
Piero Piluso (storyboards)
Robert F. Hughes
Zac Moncrief
Featured music"The Good Life"
"Little Brothers"
"Chains on Me"
Production code116
Original air dateFebruary 16, 2009 (2009-02-16)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Out to Launch"
Next 
"Unfair Science Fair"
Phineas and Ferb (season 1)
List of episodes

"Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!" (broadcast outside the United States and Canada as "At Last") is the 45th broadcast episode of the first season of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb . The episode aired on Disney XD in the United States on February 16, 2009. The episode follows Phineas and Ferb finally being caught by Phineas' mother (and Ferb's father) and sent to a reform school, where a harsh and cruel sergeant attempts to destroy their imagination by sitting them down to a commercial about good boys that mind-controlled them into the obedient drones. Candace goes to save them after she sees a news report about their horrible condition.

Contents

The episode's story was written by the writing team Martin Olson and Bobby Gaylor and constructed into storyboard by Jon Colton Barry and Piero Piluso. Dan Povenmire, co-creator of Phineas and Ferb, directed it. Talk show personality Geraldo Rivera and veteran actor Clancy Brown guest star as television reporter Morty Williams and the school sergeant, respectively.

Voice cast

Plot

Phineas and Ferb rebuild their mother's station wagon into a flying car, called the "Flying Car of the Future, Today", and build a giant tower. Candace shows Linda (this time successful), who is furious, and Phineas confesses that they've been doing similar things all summer, as Linda apologizes to Candace for not believing her. Lawrence goes outside and sees the tower and Linda asks Lawrence if he knows about what the boys did as he denies about it. Candace suggests several different punishments to the boys and Lawrence reluctantly agrees. The tower collapses, destroying part of the house. Linda and Lawrence send the boys to the "Smile Away Reformatory School" run by a drill sergeant, unaware that it is a prison where kids are brainwashed to remove their creativity.

Candace enjoys fun activities with Stacy and Jeremy, but after a few days is bored and haunted by the sad consequences of busting Phineas and Ferb, realizing that she loves her brothers for their genius skills. She and Jeremy take the flying car to save her brothers, disguised as reporter Morty Williams and his cameraman. Linda and Lawrence at the same time, conclude that the severity of their punishment was worse than it should've been, and they make the decision to have the boys taken out of the reform school. They choose to get to the school by means of the flying car, but are impeded when they discover that it's gone. Once Jeremy and Candace get into the school, she secretly tells Phineas and Ferb to escape with them.

At the flying car, they see Linda and Lawrence, but the sergeant arrives to put Candace and Jeremy in the school as well. With a giant robot spider, Dr. Doofenshmirtz and Perry the Platypus knock the sergeant off the cliff to his death. Phineas and Ferb are juggling corn dogs, Linda and Lawrence turn into marionettes controlled by a giant Baljeet, who turns into one as well, controlled by a talking zebra, and Jeremy proposes to Candace.

It turns out it was all Candace's dream all along and that the events of the episode never happened, which she tells her family at breakfast, even revealing Perry's secret identity. However, Major Monogram bursts in with an army of O.W.C.A. (Organization Without a Cool Acronym) agents to relocate Perry and mind-erase the Fletchers and Flynns.

A whimpering Perry wakes up in Phineas's bed, the events of the entire episode having all been just a bad dream and didn't really happen at all. Phineas reassures him, telling him to go back to sleep, which they both do.

Production

Series co-creator Dan Povenmire directed "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted". Dan Povenmire Comic-Con 2009.jpg
Series co-creator Dan Povenmire directed "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted".

"Phineas and Ferb Get Busted!" was written by Bobby Gaylor and Martin Olson as a story, but the storyboards were adapted and constructed by Jon Colton Barry and Piero Piluso. [1] Robert F. Hughes and Zac Moncrief as well are apple credited for additionally writing for the episode. [2] Dan Povenmire, the show's co-creator and executive producer, directed the episode. [3]

The episode is titled "At Last" when broadcast outside the United States and Canada. [4] Latin America labels the episode name in its end credits for the episode, despite entitling it "Al Fin"; [2] however, "Al Fin" literally translates to "At Last." [5]

Geraldo Rivera guest starred as the voice of investigative talk show host Morty Williams. Clancy Brown, known for his work in The Shawshank Redemption , and SpongeBob SquarePants provided the voice of the drill sergeant. [6] "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted" was originally broadcast in America as the premiere of season two on Presidents' Day, February 16, 2009, on Disney XD, [7] at 4:30 PM Eastern/Pacific Time. [6] It was followed by first season reruns aired in a marathon. [7]

The YouTube channel WatchMojo ranked it at number 10 in their video “The Top 20 Unexpectedly Dark Episodes in Kids Cartoons”, saying “Imagination is a wonderful thing to have, though not everyone would agree, as seen in Disney’s hit cartoon, “Phineas and Ferb”. In this episode, Candace finally catches the titular pair in performing their usual dangerous antics, leading them to get sent to reform school. The story takes a dark turn when the pair have their imaginations forcibly removed from their brains through intense brainwashing, a concept that gets even darker considering it serves as a disturbing metaphor for growing up. Though the whole thing turned out to be a dream, that didn’t save the episode from being incredibly dark.”

Cultural references

Reception

When the episode broadcast on Disney Channel on March 13, 2009, it garnered a total of 3.7 million viewers, 1.4 million of them ages 9–14. It was the series second most watched telecast, behind only "Flop Starz," and was the top-rated for Kids 6-11 in almost 6 months, ranking in Phineas and Ferb's top four most watched in the category. Moreover, it was the day's most watched in Tweens 9-14 and Kids 6-11 and the most watched for cable television in total viewers. [9]

Matt Blum of Wired wrote about the episode, "if it’s any indication, the second season will be even more brilliant than the first season was." Blum as well praised the appearance of Clancy Brown as a guest actor. [7] One of the songs in the episode, "Little Brothers" was voted #4 on Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phineas Flynn</span> Fictional character from Phineas and Ferb

Phineas Flynn is one of the two main protagonists from the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. He is voiced by Vincent Martella. Phineas, along with his stepbrother Ferb Fletcher, stars in the A-Plot of most episodes.

Ferbs "Ferb" Fletcher is one of the main characters in the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. He is voiced by British actor Thomas Sangster on the first four seasons of Phineas and Ferb and American actor David Errigo Jr. in future seasons as well as on Milo Murphy's Law and Candace Against the Universe. His singing voice is provided by series music composer Danny Jacob. Ferb was born on February 29.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry the Platypus</span> Fictional character from Phineas and Ferb

Perry the Platypus is a fictional bipedal platypus from the American animated series Phineas and Ferb and Milo Murphy's Law. Perry was created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Perry is featured as the star of the B-plot for every episode of the series, alongside his nemesis Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. A mostly silent character, his lone vocal characteristic is provided by Dee Bradley Baker.

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The second season of Phineas and Ferb premiered on Disney XD on February 19, 2009. A preview of the season was shown on Toon Disney on January 23, 2009, with the episode "Tip of the Day". The season features two step-brothers on summer vacation trying to make every day the best day ever, while their sister tries to bust them. The five main characters are: brothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, their older sister Candace Flynn, Candace's best friend Stacy Hirano, secret agent Perry the Platypus, and the evil Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz.

The fourth season of Phineas and Ferb first aired on Disney Channel on December 7, 2012, and December 31, 2012, on Disney XD. The series centers on step-brothers Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher trying to make every summer day the best day ever, while their older sister Candace Flynn tries to bust them. Other main characters include secret agent Perry the Platypus and the evil scientist Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. While the fourth season was intended to be the series' last, in January 2023, Disney revived the series and ordered two additional seasons. The fifth season is set to premiere in 2024.

"Wizard of Odd" is the 56th broadcast episode of the second season of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb and the 103rd broadcast episode overall. It was originally broadcast on Disney Channel on September 24, 2010. In this episode, Mom says that Phineas and Ferb have to clean the house and she asks Candace to help, but she refuses and instead reads the book Mom gives her, The Wizard of Oz. Phineas and Ferb spin the house and spray it with a hose, but they spin the house too fast and accidentally knock Candace out, sending her into a Wizard of Oz-esque dream world. She journeys to "Bustopolis" under the impression the world is a simulation created by her brothers, but soon discovers that evil forces are attempting to get the boots that have grown on her feet.

References

  1. "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted". Phineas and Ferb . Season 1. Episode 1. 2009-02-06. Disney XD.
  2. 1 2 Spanish episode ending credits - "Al Fin". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  3. "Phineas and Ferb: Phineas and Ferb Get Busted (Part 1 & 2) Episode Cast Members". TV.com. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  4. "Phineas & Ferb at TVGuide.co.UK TV Listings Guide" . Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  5. "Al fin - Spanish to English Translation". Babylon. Archived from the original on 2009-08-23. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  6. 1 2 Yoo, Jean (2009-02-02). "DISNEY'S EMMY-NOMINATED SERIES "PHINEAS AND FERB" CONTINUES THE COMEDIC ADVENTURE; PREMIERES NEW EPISODES MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16 ON DISNEY XD". Disney XD MediaNet. Archived from the original on August 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  7. 1 2 3 Blum, Matt (2009-02-09). "A Phineas and Ferb Extravaganza, Special Podcast Included!". Wired. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
  8. 1 2 "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted! (Parts 1 & 2) Episode Allusions". TV.com. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  9. Seidman, Robert (2009-03-16). "Disney Channel's "Phineas & Ferb" is Friday's #1 TV telecast in Key Kids". TV By the Numbers. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  10. Jon Barry (writer) & Dan Povenmire (director) (2009-10-12). "Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown". Phineas and Ferb . Season 2. Episode 17. Disney Channel.