tell me why Phineas and Ferb is an ok/ good?? show for 8 yos??
i know a child that watches it contastly and that is all they talk about and i tune her out honestly. We haven't watched it since the little bit i've seen at my SIL seems like two immature gross little boys teasing their sister. but likle i said i have never sat and watched it.
Are there wholesome messages i'm missing. I like Arthur and DW if that helps you with my definition of wholesome.
Maybe Phineas and Ferb is just a neutral show that isn't awful but isn't that great either???
Thanks moms
I've heard people say before that is it soo much better than preschool tv which Is "boring" and that sort of ticked me off. I don't expect an 8 yo to still love Dora but I think it would be possible to have a good show that wasn't obnoxious and tweeny either. Maybe P and F is that show for some, but i can't get past the obnoxious graphics and if --not boring--- and funny to parents --- and better than I carly is all it has going for it. I guess we'll just stick with reading books.
THanks for the explanations. When i have nothing better to do....... I'll take a look for myself.
Sorry I was in a hurry earlier and i think this ended up sounding pretty snarky. I do appreciate your time and reveiws, i don't know yet that this is the show for us. But if it works for your family then that's ok, There are times i really wish i would just get rid of the tv all together.
This show is all about teaching kids to have imaginations, something that is seriously missing in most shows.
100% worth them watching it.
Perhaps you get "teasing their sister" from the opening credits where they are paining a mustache on a picture of their sister and the lyrics say, "or driving your sister insane." It is misleading as that is not what the show is about at all. Marsh (one of the show's creators) is quoted as saying the characters are cool, smart and edgy without ever being mean-spirited. The characters are also part of a successful blended family, where it is just a matter-of-fact. The show's pop-culture references give access to the humor for the adults who may be watching the show with their children, yet the story lines are absolutely accessible to children. The music is catchy and the whole thing is just fun.
The parallel plot involving a secret agent Perry the Platypus and Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. is the epitome of the Moral Cautionary Tale. Whatever "evil" Doofenshmirtz attempts is thwarted by Agent P, yet even the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz is a doting father who will put his enmity with his arch-nemisis aside to follow his daughter half-way across the world and sooth her wounded feelings.
There is a bully in the town (Buford) who is even seen "sweating from his eyes" when reunited with his pet goldfish.
I could go on and on recounting wonderful tales of just pure goodheartedness that this show displays beautifully, but I would encourage you to watch for yourself. Previous seasons are available on Netflix. I recommend the following episodes to give you a good understanding of the show....
"Flop Starz"
"Mom's Birthday"
"Dude, We're Getting The Band Back Together"
"Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation"
If you watch those four episodes and are not moved, then I give up. :-) I have to say, the feature-length "Across the 2nd Dimension" still makes me cry, but you may need to work up to that one. :-)
My kids love Phineas and Ferb and my husband and we routinely watch it with my girls. It really isn't a show about two little boys teasing their sister. In reality most of the time they try to involve their sister in their fun. All in all I think the characters are creative, fun, and actually quite mature for their apparent age. If you are looking for a show that has a huge moral to go along with the story I don't think Phineas and Ferb will get you what you want but I can see where it teaches kids to be imaginative and resourceful. I also watch Arthur but have to admit because of the way the show is outlined I can see where it wouldn't appeal to an 8 year old. We have a channel here called Qubo - they also have The Magic School Bus - maybe try something like that to get a happy median.
I personally find P & F to be pretty darn hilarious and clever and a welcome break from all the educational preschooler shows. Because Dora and Diego and Blue's Clues and all the rest may have their pluses, but they also get old and annoying real quick. Even on Thomas the Tank Engine, the trains don't display good behavior - then supposedly they learn their lesson, then next episode is the same thing all over again.
At least with P & F there is some humor there that I can appreciate. The boys don't tease their sister and they are not doing anything gross - they spend their summer vacation building crazy inventions and projects and their older sister wants to get them in trouble with Mom, so she keeps trying to bust them, but always fails. And meanwhile they have a pet platypus who is actually a secret agent working against "evil genius" Dr. Doofenschmirtz.
Not every show has to have a message, or have educational value - it is just entertaining and funny. Sometimes WHOLESOME = BORING. And it's way better and more appropriate than Spongebob and other shows that use more gross potty humor and idiotic characters. I like it a WHOLE lot better than some of the "tween" shows out there like Hannah Montana and iCarly (which I would NEVER let my 4 year old watch but I know people who do!). So maybe it isn't Arthur or Sesame Street, but it isn't total garbage either. My stepsons are 17 and 18 and once when they were visiting us and happened to be watching P & F with DD, they said they wished it was on when THEY were younger!
Besides, I did learn what an "aglet" is from watching P & F - so it's not a total waste! :)
You should probably watch it. The boys do not reallh pick on their sister. They are 2 little boys with huge imaginations and a "we can do it and make it work" attitude. They havs fabulous attitudes and mean no harm to anyone. JMO my 10 year old watches it and a lot of times I watch it with her. Check it out before you judge it...you might like it :-)
My 9 year-old daughter likes it a lot. I think it is imaginative, entertaining, and much better than anything I watched as a kid.
There is usually a good moral to end the story line. There is alot about thinking things over rather than making snap judgements. There are also what I call lecture leaders, the boys do lots of ridiculous stuff that is not plausible scientifically but their approach is very "math and science and good" oriented. So my girls and I discuss what science they are doing that is real, what is plausible and what is defying the laws of physics. We sort of have fun with it. (We have also had LOTS of chats about where the money for all of this stuff comes from! And just how much of what you are up to you should keep from your parents! But, they have also told me a thing or two about believing your kids when you don't see evidence....)
It beats the daylights out of spongebob!!! Most TV is about what you and your kids make of the opportunity to discuss. We watch stuff that is not child friendly and then talk about it. Phineas and Ferb I let them watch without me.
Honestly I really like Phineas and Ferb. The boys have great imaginations & accomplish all sorts of unreal things, all the while thinking of what to do next. Their sister is the pain in the butt IMO - always out to catch them, whining on the phone, and in constant pursuit of "Jeremy" the cute guy at school. Your children will no doubt want to be the inventive Phineas and Ferb, and not the obnoxious Candice.
Also I like Perry the Platypus quite a bit :-)
Watch everything that is out there and you will love Phineas and Ferb.
It is silly and it teaches nothing that I can see but at least I don't feel dummer for watching it which is how some of the shows for kids today do.
Not sure where you got two boys teasing their sister. The brother's just use their imagination to build things, things the sister feels they shouldn't be building so she calls her mom to "bust them". Then their platypus is off fighting Dr (can't remember his name) and at the point where mom is about to catch them the platypus wins, the destruction of the device causes what ever Phineas and Ferb created to disappear making the sister look crazy.
Psst! Laura, it is Perry the Platypus!
P&F can be funny, but we limit it when they are at friend's homes.
Sorry, I hate Aruthur....soooooo much whining.
Our kids don't watch TV. They get a choice of media time and pick video games, which at least help with hand-eye coordination, problem solving and planning rather than watching things play out on a TV show.
"A-G-L-E-T! Don't forget it!"
My boys love the show. They don't tease their sister so much as build and make fabulous things and then their sister tries to show their mom. She never does, their inventions always go away, quickly.
It shows a blended family, the brother's are step brothers, getting along and working together.
Their pet is a platypus,Harry, is some kind of crime fighter. I haven't quite figured out what he has to do with anything! lol. The boys don't know that he is a crime fighter.
I like them WAY better than spongebob. My boys gave up on Arthur a long time ago, too boring for them.
I don't think there is a "lesson" in the show, unless it's "use your imagination".
L.
as a mom whose kids watched PBS till well past preschool, I like Phineas and Ferb. Give it a watch and keep in mind that shows like Author, aren't what an 8 year old wants to watch.
