Nerds of a Feather

Phineas and Ferb head to the Tri-State Area's annual sci-fi/comic book convention to meet their hero, special effects guru Clive Addison. Their plan gets sidetracked when they’re swept into a duel between the fantasy fans and the sci-fi geeks. While, Candace tries to keep a secret that she's a fan of Ducky Mo-Mo, another convention staple. Meanwhile, Across the convention hall Dr. Doofenshmirtz has taken television executive Jeff McGarland hostage so he can pitch him a show he's developed, "Doof 'N' Puss."

Episode Summary
Candace opens her eyes to find herself in a trippy land which seems to be a dream that she can control. The Talking Zebra flies up and past her and, believing she can fly as well, Candace jumps off her bed, only to fall to the ground. The land around her begins to crack and crumble and she worries she has broken her own mind. Phineas and Ferb walk up to her, assuring her that she’s fine and that it’s all just special effects, they’re warming up to meet Clive Addison at the science fiction and fantasy convention. Candace realizes that’s why they’re all dressed up, Phineas as a captain from Space Adventure, and Ferb as an elf from Stumbleberry Finkbat. Both movies which had their special effects done by Clive Addison. Candace tells them to get out of her room, but it turns out they were already at the convention. What Candace was seeing was just more special effects.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz narrates as Perry pulls down a flyer that reads, “Where’s Perry? Wanted.” The music kicks in “Chicka chicka chow, chicka chow chow, chicka chicka chow” and the opening credits start “like one of the 80’s TV shows with a voiceover“. It stars Perry the Platypus, an amateur stage magician framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Doofenshmirtz as a rouge, trillionaire inventor extreme fighting champion from the future. The two of them, along with Rick, played by Major Monogram, bring hope and justice to the Tri-State Area in peril. Together, they are Doof 'n' Puss. Today’s episode, ‘’Ham On Rye, Hold the Mayor’’. Doofenshmirtz is reading the paper and Perry is playing with cards when Rick shows them the mayor’s out of character behavior. The two have to find out what’s going on.



Back at the Flynn-Fletcher Household, Candace attempts to sneak past Linda outside, carrying a large bag on her back. Without even looking, her mom asks where she’s going and what is inside the large bag. Candace replies that she is going to Stacy’s house and that the bag is holding smaller bags. Linda believes her and tells her to have fun. Phineas and Ferb, meanwhile, are walking around the convention, passing by Albert and Irving who are arguing with each other. Phineas excitedly spots Clive Addison and the two walk over to him. Unfortunately, Irving steps in front of them and asks Phineas to tell Albert that the Space Adventure movies are superior to the Stumbleberry Finkbat movies in every way. Phineas is disappointed when Clive Addison walks away, but Irving thinks he is in mourning that he didn’t have a brother anymore. Phineas is confused, but then Irving and Albert begin to argue about which is better, sci-fi or fantasy. It brings a whole crowd of fans over, separating Phineas and Ferb since they are dressed as characters from the two different genres.

900 Hours, City Hall Mayor House. The mayor thanks Doofenshmirtz and Perry for auditioning with a magic act, but they want something more dazzling. Doofenshmirtz says they can dazzle and proceeds to cut Perry in half with a saw as an assistant shows the mayor a photo of the two trying on their costumes. Roger realizes they are Doof ‘N’ Puss, and immediately has his ninja vampires fight them. They are cornered and Doofenshmirtz states that he picked the wrong day to stop carrying garlic scented throwing stars...

At the convention, Jeremy answers his phone. It’s Stacy who is wondering if he has heard from Candace lately. He replies that he hasn’t, and that he thought she was with her, this confuses Stacy as Candace said she would be hanging out with Jeremy for the day. Jeremy tells her that he’s at the sci-fi fantasy convention with his little sister, Suzy since she was into the little kid stuff like Seahorsie hospital, or lame things like Ducky Mo-Mo. He hangs up quickly when he realizes someone in a Ducky Mo-Mo costume heard him. Suzy whirls around when she sees the costumed character and chases it. Ducky Mo-Mo manages to hide from her and after Jeremy takes her away, it is revealed that Ducky Mo-Mo is actually Candace. She wonders why it must be so hard for a Ducky Mo-Mo fan to find collectables in a convention without anyone finding out.

Phineas and Ferb are still caught in the middle of the argument of which genre is better. Phineas tells them they’re blowing it way out of proportion, something that they all agree isn’t true. Irving tells Phineas to come with him and speak with their sc-fi leader. Phineas doesn’t want to leave Ferb behind but is pushed away by Irving who tells him Ferb is nothing to him anymore. Albert tells Ferb he is his new brother now and asks him to carry his action figures. Irving and Phineas arrive at the men’s bathroom and Irving knocks. The door opens and they enter to meet with the one, who actually turns out to be Baljeet. Phineas sees Clive Adison again, but Irving hits him on the helmet and makes him pay attention. Irving tells Baljeet the unfortunate news that Ferb is dressed as an elf. Though Phineas thinks Ferb’s costume is cool and says that he is enjoying another genre, Baljeet claims that Ferb is lost. Phineas says they should consider the fact the fans of Space Adventure (Speckies) and fans of Stumbleberry Finkbat (Finkies) have more in common than they do differences and that they should just talk with each other. Baljeet doesn’t think this is possible, as the Finkie leader is Buford. Phineas manages to convince him to prepare a peace treaty and has him read it to Buford. The Speckies vow to live in peace and harmony with the Finkies. All they ask is for the Finkies to admit that Space Adventure is better than Stumbleberry Finkbat and that they had brought a total shame to their families forever for believing otherwise. It wasn’t at all what Phineas meant for Baljeet to write, and it causes the two genres to declare war on one another.

We now return to Doof ‘N’ Puss. Perry the Platypus and Dr. Doofenshmirtz are tied up in a storage closet, Perry struggling to get out of his binds and Doofenshmirtz talking about their battle before. They both turn their attention to some grunting and see the mayor in the struggling to untie himself as well. Doofenshmirtz tackles him and the mayors tells him he is the ‘’real’’ mayor and that the one they met before was a shape-shifter posing as him. That makes sense to Doofenshmirtz as it would be a weird plan for the mayor to tie himself up with them in a dark closet. Perry chatters and shows he managed to free himself with some scissors

Phineas and Ferb have brought the entire convention center to the brink of an inter genre geek war. It’s up to them to extend the olive branch of diplomacy. Phineas will go talk to Buford, and Ferb will go talk to Baljeet. Candace, in the meantime, is admiring all of the Ducky Mo-Mo merchandise. She is forced to stop however, when Suzy spots her and chases after her. Jeremy calls out after her but she doesn’t listen and chases Candace into the “Alien Nest”. Suzy gets scared and runs away, allowing Candace to escape and find a piece of Ducky Mo-Mo merchandise she doesn’t already have.

Phineas is alone, wondering how he can get to Buford. Irving finds him and asks if he’s working on a battle strategy. At first, he denies it, but then realizes that Irving could help him and says he is. Irving is glad to help, but a bit worried since Phineas wants to modify his costume so he can get behind “enemy lines“. Not long afterwards, Irving meets up with Buford disguised as a stump and displays a holographic message from Phineas. Phineas wants Buford to hear him out, Finkies and Speckies are all outcasts, they should be friends. Buford doesn’t agree, and refuses to change his mind.

Ferb goes to the bathroom where Baljeet is, but is stopped by two guards since Finkies aren’t welcomed there. To get past, he covers himself with a sheet and walks straight past the guards who think he disappeared using a cloaking device. When he’s inside, Baljeet tells him to speak, but before he could, Baljeet interrupts him, thinking he is going to attempt to charm with his “silver tongue” and use “magic rune signs“. The “conversation” is over and Baljeet commands others to transport him away. While they are shining a flashlight on him and making sound effects, Ferb walks away to go and meet Phineas. Phineas is disappointed that the day didn’t turn out the way they wanted, and Clive Addison tells them he knows how they feel. Phineas looks up in surprise and sees him, immediately telling him they are his biggest fans. Clive Addison wishes there were more fans, as they are the only ones there, but Phineas tells him there are a lot more, it was just that everyone was busy getting ready to have a war over his two movies. Phineas gets and idea of how to resolve the fight, he knows what he and Ferb are going to do from this point of the day on.

Phineas and Ferb better resolve it fast, because the Speckies and Finkies have already begun their march to war singing, Our Movie's Better Than Yours. Candace has spotted a rare piece of Ducky Mo-Mo merchandise, a plate where they printed the wrong saying, “I hate people!”, all she has to do is walk over without drawing too much attention to herself. She doesn’t accomplish this though, as she walks right through the middle of the war as they are about to charge, forcing everyone to stop and stare at her as they wait for her to walk past. A moment after she has past, the fans of the two different genres charge again, and fighting breaks out.

In Doof ‘N’ Puss, the mayor imposter appears in front of everyone to establish his various new pro-ninja vampire laws. Doofenshmirtz and Perry appear, prompting him to transform into a large monster. The scene freezes there and Jeff McGarland (tied next to Perry) tells Doofenshmirtz, who was pitching him a show he developed the whole time, that throwing a monster into a story is lazy writing. He changes his mind and likes the idea of the show when an apparently real monsters storms past them, making everyone run around screaming in panic. Doofenshmirtz is excited that soon fans of his show will like him so much they would do his bidding. However, when Jeff suggests giving Perry a girlfriend, Doofenshmirtz decides he doesn’t want that and is out.

The monster is still storming around the convention and Baljeet stops Buford from running away and the two decide to join forces and fight the monster. Candace has just bought the plate, but when she sees the monster, she drops it and it crashes to the floor. Phineas and Ferb, along with Clive Addison, are up on a deck overseeing the convention. It is revealed that the monster isn’t real and that it’s just special effects used to make the sci-fi and fantasy fans work together. Candace is the only one who notices them and tries to get the other to see as well, she takes one of their wands and chants a fake spell to show them how fake it is, but as she does so, the monster disappears. Everyone lifts her up in the air since ''“Ducky Mo-Mo defeated the Monster”. ''Confident that everyone will like her for what she’s a fan of, Candace reveals who she is and tells everyone she loves Ducky Mo-Mo. They all laugh at her and put her down, leaving her alone. Jeremy comes to her, not at all embarrassed that he’s talking to Ducky Mo-Mo and tells her she was cool, and that Ducky Mo-Mo wasn’t so lame after all since Suzy seemed to like him very much. Suzy runs up to Candace and gives her a hug, exclaiming, ''“I love you Ducky Mo-Mo!”. Candace smiles and hugs her back. “Ducky Mo-Mo loves you too, Suzy“.''

Back with Phineas and Ferb, Clive Addison tells them that they showed him the best special effects show ever. It’s clear that the two of them are going to have amazing careers in special effects, and if they wanted that, they could give him a call in ten years and he would hire them. Ferb says what he would love to do is direct, to which Clive Addison replies, “You and me both”

Doofenshmirtz is back at his home, watching a new show called, "The Platypus and his Girlfriend". Realizing it was better than the original idea he had pitched, he tells himself he should've sold out.

Songs

 * Ducky Mo-Mo Is My Friend
 * Our Movie's Better Than Yours
 * Ducky Mo-Mo Theme Song

End Credits
Ducky Mo-Mo Theme Song

Whatcha doin'?
None.

Perry's entrance to his lair
None.

Background Information

 * http://www.disneyxdmedianet.com/assets/pr/html/pf_071410.html
 * This episode shows that Ferb wants to be a directer when he's older.
 * On a video of Vincent Martella recording for the show on Youtube, he is saying lines from this episode.
 * Listed on the Disney Channel TV Schedule
 * http://www.toonzone.net/forums/showthread.php?t=270816
 * Roger sees Perry and knows him by name by unknown reasons.
 * This is the second time where a school was shown in the series, but was in a flashback. The first time was in the song "My Undead Mummy".
 * This is the first full length episode where Irving makes a non-cameo appearance. (Phineas and Ferb's Cliptastic Countdown, Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation!, Phineas and Ferb Summer Belongs To You!)
 * Isabella is the only one of Phineas and Ferb's friends not to appear in the episode.
 * List of the fans in the Space Adventure:
 * Phineas
 * Irving
 * Django Brown
 * Baljeet
 * List of fans in the Stumbleberry Finkbat:
 * Ferb
 * Albert
 * Buford
 * Unnamed Recurring Background Girl

Continuity

 * Space Adventure was originally mentioned in "Not Phineas and Ferb" and posters for it were seen in "Are You My Mummy?."
 * During Candace's fantasy, the zebra holds up a Candace-based parody of the Barack Obama poster Hope, which also appeared during the rewind in "She's the Mayor."
 * Stacy has a Paisley Sideburn Brothers poster on her wall again ("Fireside Girl Jamboree"). This would later appear in "The Secret of Success".
 * During Ducky Mo-Mo Is My Friend, Candace is seen younger again, wearing a red shirt and white overalls ("Phineas and Ferb Get Busted").
 * Dr. Doofenshmirtz says "Out, Peace!" ("Unfair Science Fair Redux (Another Story)", "Invasion of the Ferb Snatchers", "She's the Mayor", "The Beak", "Phineas and Ferb Hawaiian Vacation").
 * The 70's-style music from "Isabella and the Temple of Sap" is heard 3 times.
 * Baljeet feels a disturbance, similar to Dr. Doofenshmirtz in "Thaddeus and Thor" and Isabella in "Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation!"
 * The Talking Zebra who calls Candace "Kevin" appears ("The Ballad of Badbeard", "Phineas and Ferb Get Busted").
 * The Fireside Girls' clubhouse and Nosebud were blown up in the fight scene with the vampire ninjas in Doof 'n' Puss ("The Lake Nose Monster", "Isabella and the Temple of Sap").

Allusions

 * The title of this episode is an obvious reference to the common saying, "Birds of a Feather".
 * Space Adventure is a general parody of the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, while Stumbleberry Finkbat parodies the popular Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchises. Both Star Wars and Harry Potter featured special effects by Industrial Light and Magic, one of California's most famous special effects studios.
 * Jeff McGarland, a television executive, is an obvious parody of Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy. Seth is portraying the character and is a television executive himself. Coincidentally, Dan Povenmire worked with Seth on Family Guy before moving to create Phineas and Ferb.
 * The Tri-State Area's annual sci-fi/comic book convention is a parody of various fan conventions which are held in various locales, the largest and most famous of which is Comic-Con International, an annual convention that used to only apply to comic book fans but now applies to more fans of other obsessions, including Phineas and Ferb (and where footage from this episode was first shown to the public).
 * Doof 'n' Puss parodies various crime/action series from the '70s and '80s, in particular The A-Team (an escaped fugitive "framed for a crime they didn't commit"), Kung Fu (a martial arts master), and Knight Rider (a talking vehicle).
 * "What I really want to do is direct" is a common expression among people in Hollywood, trying to get their big break.
 * Burning Man is an annual alternative event in Nevada, so named for its culmination in the burning of a giant human-shaped effigy.
 * Albert makes a reference to the quality of the even-numbered Space Adventure films, referring to an old adage that the even-numbered Star Trek films are usually better than the odd-numbered ones.
 * Rolling non-traditionally-sided dice and points advantages are aspects of the well-known (and generally considered nerdy) tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.
 * Doof 'n' Puss announced as being "in sound" is a parody of various television shows which announced they were "in stereo" or "in color" during their opening credits.
 * The opening theme of Doof 'n' Puss, including the announcement format, has a similarity of the opening theme of Police Squad.
 * When Candace had a dream and saw a Talking Zebra, the Talking Zebra is holding a poster of Candace, similar to Shepard Fairey's "Hope" poster with the face of Barack Obama.
 * Star Wars; There were many references to the Star Wars series throughout the episode;
 * Similar to R2D2, the character that Irving dressed up as can project video messages.
 * The disturbance in the universe that Baljeet senses is a reference to the Force.
 * Phineas says: "Let the luck of slufbom be with you", a parody of the line "Let the Force be with you."
 * The music that plays when there is the battle in between the two genres sounds much like the music in the battle between Qui-Gon Jinn and Darth Maul in Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace.
 * One Space Adventure fan says that Ferb is wearing a cape of invisiblity, like what Harry Potter owns.
 * The conflict between genre reflects the one between Star Wars and Star Trek fans. This was a subplot in the movie "Fanboy". There is little basis for such a conflict and fans of both get along well.
 * During the song Our Movie's Better than Yours, one of the kids seen on the sci-fi side can be seen wearing a suit similar to Mega Man's.
 * Speckies is a pardoy of Trekkies, whom are fans of Star Trek.
 * When Candace is walking through the Ducky Momo merchandice a hat that looks like Sorcerror Mickey's hat can be seen in the background.

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 (as Rick)
 * John O'Hurley as Roger Doofenshmirtz
 * Tyler Mann as Karl
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Mitchel Musso as Jeremy
 * Kelly Hu as Stacy
 * Kari Wahlgren as Suzy
 * Diedrich Bader as Albert
 * Jack McBrayer as Irving
 * Kevin Smith as Clive Addison
 * Seth MacFarlane as TV Executive
 * Additional Voices: Bobby Gaylor, Dee Bradley Baker, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, Maulik Pancholy
 *  designates a character that did not appear in this episode