User Reviews

'Phineas and Ferb' was so good in helping me through my tough periods during its run, which were many. Still do get a lot of pleasure out of watching re-runs of what was, when airing, one of the few shows on the Disney Channel regularly worth bothering with. Admittedly the later episodes are not quite on the same level as the more creative earlier seasons, but 'Phineas and Ferb' at its weakest still managed generally to be better than a lot of animated shows recently at their best.

Watching "Boyfriend From 27, 000 BC" and "Voyage to the Bottom of Buford" back to back was something of a mixed experience. It was very like my consecutive re-watches of "Get That Bigfoot Outta My Face" and "Tree to Get Ready", in that one is much better than the other. One being terrific and the other being one of the few early season 'Phineas and Ferb' episodes to not do much for me in primarily the main subplot for relatively similar reasoning.

The Perry and Doofenschmirtz subplot in "Boyfriend from 27, 000 BC" had its moments, thanks to their great chemistry and Doofenschmirtz himself (the best character in the episode, with Perry close behind). Do think that other subplots of theirs have been a lot more imaginative and not as silly. The main plot, like that in "Get That Bigfoot Outta My Face", didn't work. The humour is more tasteful and not as juvenile or mean-spirited, but it is not original or that amusing or smart. The premise is not an unfamiliar one and the story here does nothing new with it and is neither interesting or particularly appealing.

"Voyage to the Bottom of Buford" however is terrific and infinitely better than the potentially thin (and also immature-sounding) premise. The premise does sound too thin and faced the possibility of being over-stretched or too silly. Actually found it enormous fun, a lot smarter than it could have been and more creative than expected. It was also interesting to see a different side to Buford (missing pets are difficult situations for those with pets so it was easy to identify without feeling forced to) and Phineas and Ferb being willing to help him. The Perry and Doofenschmirtz subplot is silly again, but is also endearingly strange and is more imaginative.

Can't fault the colourful animation or catchy music in either episode. The writing is well balanced, funny and intelligent in "Voyage to the Bottom of Buford" yet sadly somewhat stale in "Boyfriend From 27, 000 BC". The voice acting is extremely good.

All in all, one episode is terrific and somewhere around a 9. The other is very uneven and only about a 5. An overall low-ish 7/10

"Boyfriend From 27,000 B. C."

It's okay. Probably my least favorite episode in Season one. It is funny especially with John Dimaggio voicing the caveman but not funny enough to be on par with the series'standards.

"Voyage to the Bottom of Buford"

FRIENDSHIP GOALS! I love the gang in this episode. They did what they could to help Buford even though he's a bully. This is the episode where I started to like Buford as a character. He's funny and has a reason for being a bully.

The crew of Phineas and Ferb obviously love their characters, even the bad guys. I've already pointed out that Dr. Doofenshmirtz is a goof-ball villain, and compared to him Buford Von Stom is much more of a threat. If I were in such a position as the kids of Danville(and I certainly have been), I wouldn't tolerate a guy like that. Yet as we've seen in other episodes, Phineas and Ferb let him hang around. This is why I have mixed emotions about it. Here, the writers show us a side to him we've never seen before. And since Bobby Gaylor not only wrote this episode, but also voices the character, it would seem like you should expect such an attitude.

The first episode is "Boyfriend from 27,000 B.C." where the two boys unfreeze a caveman from a local glacier, just as Candace prepares for a costume party as a cave-girl, thinking Jeremy is going to meet her there dressed the same way. He does, but when a hungry, horny caveman sees a pretty girl with food dressed in the same attire before Jeremy gets there, it's a safe bet there's going to be some trouble.

However, like the second act of the Warner Bros. classic cartoon "A Corny Concerto," the second episode proves to be the superior tale. Phineas and Ferb are on the beach, when out of nowhere they see Buford doing something they never saw him do before -- bawling like a baby, and all over a lost pet goldfish. Buford explains how having the pet goldfish turned him from a victim of bullies into a bully himself. Instead of a montage for the main characters, we see one for Buford, punctuated, and dare I say exploited by a 1970's style "soft rock" tune.

From then on, Phineas decides he and Ferb are going to spend the day finding that fish, and Isabella and Baljeet join them. On a lighter note, Dr. Doofenshmirtz is caught on the local Danville TV News accidentally saving a kitten from a tree, and is assumed to be turning good by whatever agency Perry works for. Fearing that this incident might soil his reputation with other evil scientists, he wants to eliminate all media so they don't see it. Never mind the fact that the way the media works, it would've gone beyond Danville in less than an hour. And then of course, there's the routine attempt by Candace to bust her brother and step-brother, which fails as usual. Does she succeed? Of course not. Does Agent P defeat Dr. Doofenshmirtz? Naturally. Do Phineas and Ferb's elaborate activities prove to be worthwhile, obviously. Does that make it a routine tale? Not necessarily.