Fun with Phineas and Ferb

October 23, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

Life is good for fans of “Phineas and Ferb.”

Not only is the popular Disney Channel show ending its third season, but “Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever!” makes its Youngstown debut Saturday at the Covelli Centre.

“It’s been on the air for three years and the show’s popularity just kept growing and growing,” said Feld Entertainment Producer Alana Feld, calling from New York City. “What’s really exciting is that it was growing for both boys and girls. There’s such great humor on the show and music that really lends itself to a live show.”

The live action show, which revolves around the last day of summer for Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Isabella, Baljeet, Buford, the Fireside Girls, Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz, features 15 production numbers, including brand-new track “Gonna Put on a Show” and “S.I.M.P (Squirrels in My Pants).”

Actually, the latter track defines the storyline involving ingenious kids creating a mash-up machine to help mash two ideas into one.

You know, a song about a squirrel and a song about pants are merged into this already popular “Phineas and Ferb” tune.

Speaking of popular, this show has quite the audience, with a storyline that Feld feels is not only appealing to kids of all ages but is quite apropos for our times.

“One thing that’s really modern, the boys — Phineas and Ferb — are stepbrothers,” Feld said. “It’s not necessarily something that’s the traditional family, and that’s something that’s very relevant today. The stuff that each character experiences is a little bit different too but I think the humor is very real and doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not. Nothing is dumbed down in the show, so it definitely reaches an older audience than some of the other Disney programs.”

With older audiences in mind, there is nothing more suspect than a children’s production boasting moms and dads laugh just as much as the kids. That said, any adult who has found themselves feeling kidnapped in their own living room with the kids hijacking the television remote know “Phineas and Ferb,” along with, say, “SpongeBob SquarePants,” can be a saving grace or maybe even a guilty pleasure.

The more mature, funny elements often revolve around the goofy Dr. Doofenshmirtz and his guffaw-inducing one-liners. The humorous material ranges from Doofenshmirtz talking into a tape recorder and saying, “Note to self: My evil deed for tomorrow, fire the maid” or just the simple “I have an intense, burning indifference.”

It’s safe to assume Doofenshmirtz’s quips are nearly adult humor without being blue.

“Exactly,” Feld said. “It’s over the kids’ heads.”

Something else notable in “Disney’s Phineas and Ferb: The Best LIVE Tour Ever!” is the fact the most often silent Ferb actually talks.

“Ferb does speak,” Feld said. “He doesn’t speak a lot – only when it’s really important – but in this show he sings and breaks it down pretty good. I think the audience will see Ferb in a whole new way.”