Ladies and Gentlemen, Meet Max Modem!

You know, Dad may be a little geeky for the new century, but in the 80's, the rise of the synthesizer allowed even hopeless nerds to rock the charts.

When Linda is asked to do a Lindana reunion concert, Lawrence worries that she might be missing the excitement of her old life, so he asks the boys to help turn him into a pop star so that he can perform at the concert and show mom he too is an exciting guy. Across town, Dr. Doofenshmirtz plans a faux alien invasion in order to take over the Tri-State Area.

Episode Summary
Phineas, Ferb, and Candace are watching TV when a television show called 'Where are They Now?' stars Lindana. Candace is thinks that she looks familiar and is surprised when the narrator says that she lives in the Tri-state area and rushes into the kitchen and asks why her mom didn't tell her. She responds by saying that was before she was born, and that she'd rather have a family. When Candace says that Lindana spread happiness, Linda replies by saying that she's Linda, and she's making soup. Phineas and Ferb appear in the kitchen and say that Linda has a call from an agent asking her to appear as Lindana in a 80's reunion concert. Linda isn't so sure, but Candace begs her to go so that she can go because it'll be fun and cool because she's with Lindana. Phineas supports Linda, but Lawrence reluctantly agrees.

Linda tells Lawrence from her limo that dinner is "in the oven, just heat it up." Candace appears out of the sunroof and excitedly shouts. Lawrence admits that the moment he's feared the most has happened. When Phineas asks what he means, Lawrence replies by saying that Linda will meet a lot of fun and cool people, and that he may not appear cool enough. Besides, he laments, he can't sing. Then Phineas wonders if Lawrence's failure can be turned into success. Ferb says he knows what they're going to do today.

Perry (Agent P) enters the lair through the middle sofa cushion and slides through a tube followed by money. Major Monogram says that they've monitored Doofenshmirtz constantly playing with a hula-hoop. After Agent P is shot out of the lair via a spring, he activates his hang glider and glides towards Doofenshirmtz Evil Incorporated. When he arrives, Doofenshmirtz is already hula-hooping. He asks Agent P to do the hula-hoop. Then he asks if he can do it with his hands on down. Agent P obliges and is trapped by Doofenshmirtz's constricting hula hoop. Doofenshmirtz stops as well, saying that his hips were nearly hula-hooped off. He unveils his Alien-inator. He demonstrates it by firing a laser that causes alien holograms to appear to scare the public into thinking an invasion is happening and that he's the alien leader so the public will give him power.

Lawrence with the help of Phineas and Ferb transform Lawrence into "Max Modem" an unknown 80's singer. When they enter the concert many people don't know him but quickly like him.Then after Lindana and Candace sing Max Modem comes and sings.

Then the Alien-inator projects the hologram and defends itself by knowing Agent P's every move so Perry makes the hat go away and the Alien-inator doesn't know where Agent P went so the inator is confused. Perry knocks over the inator and turns the hologram away from Doofenshmirtz and to Max Modem.

So the song ends and Max confronts Linda asking for a cup of tea some time but Linda states that she has Lawrence. So Linda asks Lawrence why he did all this and Lawrence states that he did it since Linda was around cool people and he wanted to be cool. Then Phineas says that a manager wants a tour of Max and Lindana but Linda refuses because she states that you don't need to be cool to be happy. Much to Candace's disappointment (she wanted to go to the tour) she states that she would like to go on a tour and then Perry comes back.

Songs

 * I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun!
 * Alien Heart

End Credits
Last verse of Alien Heart.

Whatcha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
He stands at middle of the sofa as it flips over.

Evil Jingle
None.

Background Information

 * This is the first episode when Ferb says the "I know what we're gonna do today" line and Phineas' name.
 * This episode reveals that by this point in time, Phineas and Ferb know Lindana is Linda, but Candace does not.
 * Doofenshmirtz builds a robot that can't recognize Perry without his hat.
 * This is the first episode where Lawrence is shown singing alone.
 * This episode reveals that Lawrence knows how to play the keytar and the keyboard.
 * This episode reveals that Linda was just lip syncs I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun! and before with her one-hit wonder day. This could be an inside joke about the fact that Olivia Olson actually sings the song. It could also be a reference to 80s pop group Milli Vanilli, who won a Grammy but returned it after it was revealed they just lip synched to pre-recorded voices.
 * The Charity Girl from "Finding Mary McGuffin" makes an appearance in this episode. Her name was also revealed as Sally.
 * This is the first time Ferb has ever said Phineas' name in the series.

Production Information

 * The first information about this episode was revealed in an April 17, 2009 article in the St. Petersburg Times .
 * This episode was first aired on Disney Channel Latin America on July 23, 2010, also in Disney Channel Taiwan and in English on Disney Channel Hong Kong on August 8, 2010 and also in English Disney Channel Asia on August 22, 2010.
 * Premiered on Verzion on Demand on September 17, 2010.

International Premieres

 * July 23, 2010 (Disney Channel Latin America)
 * August 8, 2010 (Disney Channel Taiwan)
 * August 22, 2010 (Disney Channel Asia)
 * August 31, 2010 (Disney Channel Brazil)
 * September 6, 2010 (Disney XD Poland)
 * November, 14, 2010 (Disney XD France)
 * December 11, 2010 (Disney XD Spain)
 * February 8, 2011 (Disney XD UK)
 * February 11, 2011 (Disney Channel Scandinavia)

Errors

 * FerbsInvisibleBlink.jpg When Phineas and Ferb appear in the kitchen and say that Linda has a call from an agent, Ferb blinks and you can see right through his right eye.
 * Before Max Modem sings Alien Heart, the crowd have the shoelaces around their finger. This does not seem fitting to the theme of the song ("Tip of the Day").

Continuity

 * I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun! is played again, but not in full. For first time, the first verse is heard.
 * This is the second episode when Phineas and Ferb don't make something.They just help Lawrence to create a non-existent famous singer of the '80's. ("Tip of the Day")
 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz stands on a soap crate, like Phineas in "Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs to You!".
 * During the song "She's Got An Alien Heart!", the front row chanters are the same people from the Aglet Awareness concert, and are wearing aglets. ("Tip of the Day")
 * When Max, Phineas, and Ferb enter the Danville arena together, the rhythm for the What Do It Do? (song) is played.
 * When Max, Ferb, and Phineas walk into the arena, one of the dancers from S.I.M.P. (Squirrels In My Pants) makes an appearance.
 * This is the second time when money falls along with Perry as he enters his headquarters ("Atlantis").
 * When Max Modem walks in the convention center, one of the bystanders resembles Clive Addison. ("Nerds of a Feather")
 * The Alien-inator picture of Agent P is the same pose as in "Phineas and Ferb Musical Cliptastic Countdown".
 * The line "Thank you, Tri-State Area!" is a nod to the line "Good night, Tri-State Area!" and "Good night, Gimmelshtump!" ("Dude, We're Getting the Band Back Together", "Thaddeus and Thor").

Allusions

 * The Jetsons - Lawrence's suit and the ring on the top of his hair is similar to this cartoon.
 * Space Invaders - The holographic aliens descend from the sky in rows, just like they do in the game Space Invaders. This is also alluded to by Doofenshmirtz shouting "Your being invaded! From Space! By invaders! From space!"
 * Playback rate - There are a lot of allusions to the urban legend about performers on stage only miming in the performance while a recorder plays back their song.
 * Max Headroom - The name and looks of Max Modem is obviously a parody of the famous Max Headroom from the famous Coke ads and TV show of the 80s.
 * Daft Punk - The robot musicians behind Lawrence may be an allusion to the duo Daft Punk, who dress as robots when performing.
 * Hidden Mickey - The hidden mickey is seen in a green inverted mickey style logo in her left collar of her jacket during at the end of the episode.
 * The Rocky Horror Picture Show - Lawrence's "Max Modem" suit design and hairstyle are similar to Riff Raff's Space Commander suit in the climactic scenes of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Richard O'Brien actually created the play, helped write the screenplay and played Riff Raff in the film. Lawrence's line "You know, I feel strangely comfortable like this" may be an allusion to his earlier role.
 * When Max Modem first enters the convention center, one of the crowd mentions having his 45. This refers to a format of vinyl records popular before cassette tapes were used. The number refers to the number or rotations per minute.
 * During the song Alien Heart, a woman throws her legwarmers on stage. This alludes to the practice of people throwing various garments, commonly underwear, on stage of famous performers.
 * The Narrator for Where Are They Now sounds like Don Pardo, a well known announcer for shows like Saturday Night Live.
 * Lindana's lyrics ("I'm not Roxanne, I'm not Eileen, I'm not Sharona") reference three songs from the late 70s/early 80s: "Roxanne" by The Police, "Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners, and "My Sharona" by The Knack.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Richard O'Brien as Dad
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford


 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode