Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together
Encyclopedia
"Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" is the 22nd aired episode of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb
. The episode aired originally on the United States
Disney Channel
on March 8, 2008. The plot concerns an attempt by Phineas Flynn
and Ferb Fletcher
to reform the band Love Händel for their parents' wedding anniversary
.
The story was written by Bobby Gaylor
and Martin Olson
, and storyboarded by Chris Headrick and Chong Lee. It was directed by series co-creator Dan Povenmire
. The episode's central characters, the members of Love Händel, are parodies
of three of the production staff, Gaylor, Povenmire, and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Jaret Reddick
, Carlos Alazraqui
, and Steve Zahn
guest starred
as the band members themselves.
"Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was well received and is considered a "fan favorite." It has been referred to by the Phineas and Ferb co-creators as one of their favorite episodes in several different interviews. The episode garnered a Primetime Emmy Award
nomination for the song "I Ain't Got Rhythm" in the category "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics."
Meanwhile, the boys' pet secret-agent platypus, Perry
, breaks into the hideout of his foe, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, only to discover that he is throwing a birthday party for his daughter Vanessa. Perry agrees to set aside their rivalry and help Doofenshmirtz prepare for the party.
Phineas and Ferb set out to convince the members of Love Händel - lead singer Danny, bassist
Bobbi Fabulous, and drummer
Swampy - to reform. Danny alone agrees immediately, with a song; the other two need convincing, through song as well. At the same time, Isabella and the Fireside Girls are starting the stage building. Lawrence, at the same time, tries to cater a small dinner and hires a singing telegram
; unfortunately, the dinner catches fire, and Lawrence's hastily planned evening goes up in smoke. Phineas and Ferb arrive and assure Lawrence that all is well, explaining that the band has agreed to reform. Meanwhile, Candace continues keeping Linda away from the house by taking her to the mall to try on some dresses.
Doofenshmirtz, back at his lair, ties Perry to a giant firecracker
, explaining that he will end the party with fireworks and kill Perry at the same time. When Vanessa arrives, however, she hates the "girly" theme Doofenshmirtz has chosen and sits down to mope at a table. At Phineas and Ferb's house, Love Händel's rehearsal descends into infighting; sure that no one will want to hear them any more, the band are again on the verging of breaking up when they hear the roar of the crowd. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz is about to ignite Perry's rocket to cheer himself up, but Perry frees himself in a fight and ties Doofenshmirtz to the rocket instead. At the same moment the band begins to play; Candace and Linda arrive home. Linda reunites with her husband, and eventually kiss, thanks to some motivation from Ferb, who yells to Lawrence to kiss her.
The explosion as Doofenshmirtz's firecracker ignites leaves the lair filthy and partly destroyed; the creepy look thrills Vanessa's arriving goth
friends and she thanks Perry for saving her party, inverting her father's familiar refrain of, "Curse You, Perry the Platypus!" As the rocket ascends, Doofenshmirtz is himself cursing Perry, as usual, but pauses to notice Love Handel singing below. The band finish their song just as Doofenshmirtz's rocket explodes with a heart-shaped flare. The episode ends with Love Handel singing "Music Makes Us Better" and with everyone dancing.
Looney Tunes
short entitled Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas
.
It is implied during the Episode that Linda and her husband fell in love while they were teenagers, though on many other occasions it is implied that both Linda and Lawrence were married before, as Phineas and Ferb are often called stepbrothers.
Each member of Love Händel was inspired by a member of the production team, who had previously been musicians themselves. Danny was named after and based on Povenmire, Bobbi Fabulous on Gaylor, and Swampy on co-creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Povenmire and Marsh each played in different bands in Los Angeles
for over a decade. Gaylor was a spoken word
performer who played pop
and rock music
; he recorded an album titled Fuzzatronic Dreams.
As well as the show's regular voice actor cast members, "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" featured guest stars in the roles of the three band members. Jaret Reddick
(the leader of the Grammy-nominated band Bowling for Soup
, who also perform the show's regular, Emmy-nominated theme song), Carlos Alazraqui
, and Steve Zahn
portrayed each of the bandmates.
reporter Steve Fritz called the episode a fan favorite. Fritz praised it for demonstrating "incredible ways to play within the walls of[the show's] formula, constantly coming up with refreshingly different plot lines."
The episode was also popular among the production staff: Povenmire named it as his and Marsh's favorite, citing the quality of the songs, the "sort of touching" ending, and the "really good feel" of the story. In April 2009, Marsh cited "Rollercoaster" as his favorite, tying "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" in second place with "The Chronicles of Meap."
One of the episode's songs, "Ain't Got Rhythm," was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics" later in 2008. The nomination credited Danny Jacob, Marsh, Povenmire, Olson, and Robert Hughes for the song. This was the series' second Emmy nomination for songwriting.
in the season two episode "Thaddeus and Thor." In this episode, Doofenshmirtz sings about his childhood to the tune of the song "Snuck Your Way into My Heart", then introduces the band to finish the song. He then gloats to Perry about having the band appear in his "back story". Three songs featured in the episode ("Ain't Got Rhythm," "Fabulous," and "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart") are available on the self-entitled Phineas and Ferb soundtrack
. "Danny's Story" and "Music Make Us Better" are not included. "Ain't Got Rhythm" was voted #8 on Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown, a viewer-voted countdown of the best songs from the first season of the show. The band also was seen in "Just Passing Through" as well as and "Hip Hip Parade", and also sung two songs for Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs To You!: "Bouncin' Around the World" and "The Ballad of Klimpaloon", the latter only available on the soundtrack. They also made an appearance in the "Carpe Diem" song in "Rollercoaster: The Musical!"
Phineas and Ferb
Phineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
. The episode aired originally on the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
on March 8, 2008. The plot concerns an attempt by Phineas Flynn
Phineas Flynn
Phineas Flynn is the main protagonist of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. Voiced by Vincent Martella and created and designed by Dan Povenmire, Phineas first appeared along with the rest of the series' main characters in the pilot episode "Rollercoaster." Phineas, along with his...
and Ferb Fletcher
Ferb Fletcher
Ferb Fletcher is the deuteragonist from the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. The character, voiced by British actor Thomas Sangster, was created by Phineas and Ferb co-founders Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and first appeared in the show's pilot episode, "Rollercoaster."Ferb and...
to reform the band Love Händel for their parents' wedding anniversary
Wedding anniversary
-Official recognition:In the Commonwealth realms, one can receive a message from the monarch for 60th, 65th, and 70th wedding anniversaries, and any wedding anniversary after that...
.
The story was written by Bobby Gaylor
Bobby Gaylor
Robert "Bobby" Gaylor is a writer, actor, voice actor, producer, director, spoken word artist & former stand-up comic. He was raised in Boston and moved to L.A.to write for Roseanne Barr's television show "Roseanne"...
and Martin Olson
Martin Olson
Martin Olson is a comedy writer, television producer, stage director and composer. He is also a playwright and poet known for comedic and unusual subject matter and known as an original member of the notorious "Boston Comedy Scene."...
, and storyboarded by Chris Headrick and Chong Lee. It was directed by series co-creator Dan Povenmire
Dan Povenmire
Daniel Kingsley "Dan" Povenmire is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series, best known as the co-creator of the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb in which he also voices the show's villain, Heinz...
. The episode's central characters, the members of Love Händel, are parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of three of the production staff, Gaylor, Povenmire, and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Jaret Reddick
Jaret Reddick
Jaret Ray Reddick is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and lead songwriter for the Grammy Award-nominated pop punk band Bowling for Soup. He plays a Music Man Axis that has a flag of Texas design on...
, Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Jaime Alazraqui is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. His voice-over work includes the role of Bobbi Fabulous on Phineas and Ferb, the Taco Bell chihuahua, Denzel Q...
, and Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
guest starred
Guest appearance
In show business , a guest appearance is a participation of an outsider performer , usually called guest artist , in an event , i.e., the participation of a performer which does not belong to the regular crew In performance...
as the band members themselves.
"Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was well received and is considered a "fan favorite." It has been referred to by the Phineas and Ferb co-creators as one of their favorite episodes in several different interviews. The episode garnered a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
nomination for the song "I Ain't Got Rhythm" in the category "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics."
Episode summary
Phineas and Ferb's parents, Linda and Lawrence, are arguing over something Lawrence has forgotten. Linda goes out alone for the afternoon, leaving Lawrence confused; their daughter Candace informs him that today is his wedding anniversary. Lawrence goes to the garage to search for a gift and discovers an old album by Love Händel: he explains to the children that he and Linda shared their first kiss at the band's farewell concert. Lawrence despairs of recapturing the moment, but Candace, Phineas, and Ferb watch a Where Are They Now?-type special about Love Händel, and decide to reform the band. Candace tries to keep Linda away from the house while Phineas and Ferb are looking for the members of the band.Meanwhile, the boys' pet secret-agent platypus, Perry
Perry the Platypus
Perry the Platypus, also known as Agent P or simply Perry is an anthropomorphic platypus from the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. Perry is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and created by the series' co-founders, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh...
, breaks into the hideout of his foe, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz, only to discover that he is throwing a birthday party for his daughter Vanessa. Perry agrees to set aside their rivalry and help Doofenshmirtz prepare for the party.
Phineas and Ferb set out to convince the members of Love Händel - lead singer Danny, bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Bobbi Fabulous, and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Swampy - to reform. Danny alone agrees immediately, with a song; the other two need convincing, through song as well. At the same time, Isabella and the Fireside Girls are starting the stage building. Lawrence, at the same time, tries to cater a small dinner and hires a singing telegram
Singing telegram
A singing telegram is a message that is delivered by an artist in a musical form. Singing telegrams are historically linked to normal telegrams, but tend to be humorous. Sometimes the artist is in costume or formal clothing. Singing telegrams are often given as a gift.Western Union, the American...
; unfortunately, the dinner catches fire, and Lawrence's hastily planned evening goes up in smoke. Phineas and Ferb arrive and assure Lawrence that all is well, explaining that the band has agreed to reform. Meanwhile, Candace continues keeping Linda away from the house by taking her to the mall to try on some dresses.
Doofenshmirtz, back at his lair, ties Perry to a giant firecracker
Firecracker
A firecracker is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses, and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing to contain the explosive compound...
, explaining that he will end the party with fireworks and kill Perry at the same time. When Vanessa arrives, however, she hates the "girly" theme Doofenshmirtz has chosen and sits down to mope at a table. At Phineas and Ferb's house, Love Händel's rehearsal descends into infighting; sure that no one will want to hear them any more, the band are again on the verging of breaking up when they hear the roar of the crowd. Meanwhile, Doofenshmirtz is about to ignite Perry's rocket to cheer himself up, but Perry frees himself in a fight and ties Doofenshmirtz to the rocket instead. At the same moment the band begins to play; Candace and Linda arrive home. Linda reunites with her husband, and eventually kiss, thanks to some motivation from Ferb, who yells to Lawrence to kiss her.
The explosion as Doofenshmirtz's firecracker ignites leaves the lair filthy and partly destroyed; the creepy look thrills Vanessa's arriving goth
Goth subculture
The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in England during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify...
friends and she thanks Perry for saving her party, inverting her father's familiar refrain of, "Curse You, Perry the Platypus!" As the rocket ascends, Doofenshmirtz is himself cursing Perry, as usual, but pauses to notice Love Handel singing below. The band finish their song just as Doofenshmirtz's rocket explodes with a heart-shaped flare. The episode ends with Love Handel singing "Music Makes Us Better" and with everyone dancing.
Production
"Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" was written by Bobby Gaylor and Martin Olson, with storyboards by Chris Headrick and Chong Lee. Series co-creator Dan Povenmire directed the episode. Povenmire and Headrick had previously collaborated on a direct-to-videoDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
short entitled Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas
Hare and Loathing in Las Vegas is a Bugs Bunny cartoon from 2004, which co-starred Yosemite Sam. It was directed by Peter Shin and Bill Kopp and produced by Warner Bros. Animation....
.
It is implied during the Episode that Linda and her husband fell in love while they were teenagers, though on many other occasions it is implied that both Linda and Lawrence were married before, as Phineas and Ferb are often called stepbrothers.
Each member of Love Händel was inspired by a member of the production team, who had previously been musicians themselves. Danny was named after and based on Povenmire, Bobbi Fabulous on Gaylor, and Swampy on co-creator Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Povenmire and Marsh each played in different bands in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for over a decade. Gaylor was a spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
performer who played pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
; he recorded an album titled Fuzzatronic Dreams.
As well as the show's regular voice actor cast members, "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" featured guest stars in the roles of the three band members. Jaret Reddick
Jaret Reddick
Jaret Ray Reddick is an American singer-songwriter, musician, composer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and lead songwriter for the Grammy Award-nominated pop punk band Bowling for Soup. He plays a Music Man Axis that has a flag of Texas design on...
(the leader of the Grammy-nominated band Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
, who also perform the show's regular, Emmy-nominated theme song), Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Alazraqui
Carlos Jaime Alazraqui is an American actor, comedian, impressionist and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Deputy James Garcia on the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. His voice-over work includes the role of Bobbi Fabulous on Phineas and Ferb, the Taco Bell chihuahua, Denzel Q...
, and Steve Zahn
Steve Zahn
-Early life:Zahn was born in Marshall, Minnesota, the son of Zelda, who worked for the YMCA, and Carleton E. Zahn, a retired Missouri Synod Lutheran pastor. Zahn spent part of his childhood in Mankato, Minnesota, attending Kennedy Elementary School...
portrayed each of the bandmates.
Reception
NewsaramaNewsarama
Newsarama is an American website that publishes news, interviews and essays about the American comic book industry.-History:Newsarama began in Summer 1995 as a series of Internet forum postings on the Prodigy comic-book message boards by fan Mike Doran. In these short messages. Doran shared...
reporter Steve Fritz called the episode a fan favorite. Fritz praised it for demonstrating "incredible ways to play within the walls of
The episode was also popular among the production staff: Povenmire named it as his and Marsh's favorite, citing the quality of the songs, the "sort of touching" ending, and the "really good feel" of the story. In April 2009, Marsh cited "Rollercoaster" as his favorite, tying "Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together" in second place with "The Chronicles of Meap."
One of the episode's songs, "Ain't Got Rhythm," was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics" later in 2008. The nomination credited Danny Jacob, Marsh, Povenmire, Olson, and Robert Hughes for the song. This was the series' second Emmy nomination for songwriting.
Legacy
Love Händel made a cameo appearanceCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
in the season two episode "Thaddeus and Thor." In this episode, Doofenshmirtz sings about his childhood to the tune of the song "Snuck Your Way into My Heart", then introduces the band to finish the song. He then gloats to Perry about having the band appear in his "back story". Three songs featured in the episode ("Ain't Got Rhythm," "Fabulous," and "You Snuck Your Way Right Into My Heart") are available on the self-entitled Phineas and Ferb soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
. "Danny's Story" and "Music Make Us Better" are not included. "Ain't Got Rhythm" was voted #8 on Phineas and Ferb's Musical Cliptastic Countdown, a viewer-voted countdown of the best songs from the first season of the show. The band also was seen in "Just Passing Through" as well as and "Hip Hip Parade", and also sung two songs for Phineas and Ferb: Summer Belongs To You!: "Bouncin' Around the World" and "The Ballad of Klimpaloon", the latter only available on the soundtrack. They also made an appearance in the "Carpe Diem" song in "Rollercoaster: The Musical!"
External links
- Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together on Phineas and FerbPhineas and FerbPhineas and Ferb is an American animated television comedy series. Originally broadcast as a preview on August 17, 2007, on Disney Channel, the series follows Phineas Flynn and his English stepbrother Ferb Fletcher on summer vacation. Every day the boys embark on some grand new project, which...
WikiWikiA wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
, an external wiki - Official Phineas and Ferb website