A Real Boy

If only I were a real boy.

When Heinz thinks Vanessa overhears him say he would rather have a son to do his evil bidding, he feels terrible so he intends to zap her with the "Forget-about-it-Inator." Meanwhile, Norm shares his feelings of wanting to be a real boy with Doofenshmirtz and decides to play up the "son" role. Back at the Flynn-Fletcher household, Candace has Stacy hypnotize her into ignoring the need to bust her brothers so that she can spend the entire afternoon relaxing with Jeremy, but unfortunately the hypnosis trigger words end up playing right into her date with Jeremy.

Episode Summary
Norm wakes up, while playing Sunshine and Bubble Gum on the radio, and accidentally punches a hole in the wall when he stretches, so, he pushes his bed to another place and puts a picture of Heinz Doofenshmirtz in the wall. After walking by a wall full of more copies of the same picture, he paints his regular clothes in the bathroom and changes his "sleepy" head to an identical "happy" head. He goes into the living room to make eggs, but Doofenshmirtz doesn't like it since Norm always cooks them with the shells on. Doofenshmirtz gets a video chat with Rodney as he shows his super zappinizer that he built with the help of his son, Orville von Roddenstein, that he's glad to have a son instead of a daughter that goes shopping. Doofenshmirtz complains to Rodney about what he said that daughters are useless and he should have a son that would make his life easier. Unknown to Doofenshmirtz, Vanessa was standing next to him and (supposedly) heard everything. As Doofenshmirtz sees her, Vanessa quickly leaves him and he tries to apologize to her, in addition Norm tries to cheer him up by telling that he's like a father to him but Doofenshmirtz cuts him off before Norm can comment.

Isabella comes by the Flynn-Fletcher backyard, where she asks what Phineas is doing. He tells her about a toy which has a spring suction cup that pops in the air, and that he and Ferb had built a big one for them to ride in. As Candace watches them from a window, Phineas and Ferb, along with their friends, ride in the spring suction cup, wonders when it's gonna pop and wonders where Perry is, as the ride suddenly pops in the air.

In Perry's lair, Major Monogram discuss that the cafeteria officially stinks since they removed that Mexican stand with tacos. Carl says that he's being unfair since it still has the chili sauce. As Perry arrives, Monogram briefs him of his mission about Doofenshmirtz chatting online with the other members of the evil organization L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. and that he should investigate immediately. After Perry has left, Major Monogram suggests that they go off the lot to eat lunch. Carl, however, disapproves, for it is against the rules to do so.

Back in the Flynn-Fletcher backyard, Phineas and Ferb, along with their friends, decide to have another go with the spring suction cup ride. As Candace watches over the window commenting that it's mocking her, she makes a puppet hand version of her and Phineas about taking a submarine inside her esophagus. Stacy comes to her room with a pocket watch that she uses for hypnotism which is why Candace needs it and she explains she needs to get rid of her urge to bust Phineas and Ferb to hang out with Jeremy. Stacy explains about the origin of hypnosis which she saw in Candace's poster, and Candace wonders why she had one.

At Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Doofenshmirtz tells Perry that Vanessa has given him the cold shoulder since she heard what he said earlier. To help him be a good father to her Doofenshmirtz decided to use his new invention, the Forget-About-It-Inator, to make Vanessa forget what had happened.

Stacy successfully hypnotized Candace to forget about trying to bust Phineas and Ferb by giving her trigger words, that "Holy Guacamole" will forget Phineas and Ferb and "Leaping Lizards" will turn her back to her original self. However, in the middle of her date with Jeremy after seeing a lizard, Balthazar accidentally says "Leaping Lizards!", causing Candace to go and try to bust Phineas and Ferb.

Back at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Doofenshmirtz is trying to "take a picture" of his daughter, but discovers she was wearing headphones and did not hear a thing he said the whole time. He tries to blast Perry, but blasts himself instead as Perry switches the position when Doofenshmirtz was distracted by Norm. Norm fools him into thinking that he is his son and Perry escapes. Doofenshmirtz then finds fun in pushing the fire button on his Forget-About-It-Inator, which by coincidence hits Linda just as Candace finally was able to bust Phineas and Ferb. After a few repeats hit by Linda who says "Holy Guacamole", making Candace hurriedly get back on her date with Jeremy and forgetting Phineas and Ferb. Linda gets hits by the ray one last time and sees Perry, not able to notice Phineas and Ferb.

Doofenshmirtz is still pressing the button, but the machine explodes due to an overload, bringing Doofenshmirtz's memory back. Doofenshmirtz says that Norm is not his son, and Vanessa gives him her headphones, saying "Thank you, sis" and Vanessa replying "No problem, bro." Later, Norm is sitting in the closet with Vanessa's headphones in his ears when Doofenshmirtz walks in, saying that he discovered someone who he considers family and that is "Perry the Platypus, see ya around, junkpile!" The episode ends with Norm sitting in the dark, happily saying, "Apology accepted, dad".

Songs

 * Sunshine and Bubble Gum
 * A Real Boy

End Credits
Second verse of A Real Boy

The "Too Young" Line
None.

Ferb's Line
None

Perry's entrance to his lair
Unknown, but he entered while Major Monogram and Carl are discussing about the cafeteria food.

Evil Jingle
Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!

Background Information

 * Rodney makes a reappearance.
 * Another time Linda sees what the boys had done, but something erases it out of her memory.
 * This is the first episode, where Candace busts her brothers more than once. (Because her mother forgot it several times.)
 * Perry and Dr. Doofenshmirtz break the fourth wall by looking directly in the camera when Dr. Doofenshmirtz says that he is not in a sitcom.
 * Phineas and Ferb's invention doesn't disappear in this episode.
 * Doofenshmirtz has come to think of Perry the Platypus as family.
 * This is the first episode to focus on Norm.
 * This episode reveals that Doofenshmirtz may have halitosis (bad breath).
 * It is revealed that Rodney builds "-inizers," rather than "-inators."
 * Third time the Doof and Perry subplot is the main plot, leaving the Phineas and Ferb plot as the subplot. ("Hail Doofania!", "Brain Drain")
 * Following "Finding Mary McGuffin", this is the second time Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated is seen, but does not have the evil jingle play until later in the episode.
 * One of the female singers in the song is also seen in "Comet Kermillian" and "Candace Gets Busted" but with blonde hair. The other female singer is also seen in Comet Kermillian, as well as in the Mix and Mingle Machine from Cheer Up Candace
 * The music Norm listens to on the player sounds as if it could be the heavy-metal instrumental piece heard after the song, I'm Me from "Vanessassary Roughness."; Vanessa also listened it in her computer in "Finding Mary McGuffin"
 * Norm ends his rap inside what appears to be a huge blimp hangar. Phineas and Ferb use this same hangar in "Run, Candace, Run" to see if they can outrun light in their high-speed shoes.
 * After Doofenshmirtz tells Norm that he isn't his father, Norm says "Bu-bu-bu-bu-but..." like Candace did during the song There is No Candy in Me from "Picture This".
 * This is the third time that someone says "I am not your father". The first was Major Monogram's "daddy" in "Get That Bigfoot Outa My Face!" and the second time was Mitch in "The Chronicles of Meap".
 * 9th time Ferb doesn't talk.
 * This is the second episode to begin at Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, the first being "Hail Doofania!".
 * Third episode when Phineas and Ferb are "Busted" ("Phineas And Ferb Get Busted","She's the Mayor")
 * One of the backup singers during A Real Boy first appeared at Candace's "intimate get-together" during "Candace Gets Busted," although with blond hair instead of brown.

Production Information

 * This episode appeared on Disney Channel in the morning of July 15, 2011.
 * In production order, this is the last episode to air with the Disney Channel Original logo at the end and will not be seen again until "Doof Dynasty".

International Premieres

 * August 18, 2011 (Disney Channel Latin America)
 * August 24, 2011 (Family Channel)
 * November 13, 2011 (Disney XD Spain)
 * November 19, 2011 (Disney Channel Asia)
 * December 3, 2011 (Disney Channel Spain)
 * December 4, 2011 (Disney Channel Portugal)
 * December 12, 2011 (Disney Channel Scandinavia)
 * January 20, 2012 (Disney XD Poland)

Errors

 * When Phineas, Ferb and friends enter the "thing" that they built, Buford is seen climbing up the ladder, but in subsequent shots he is clearly not present inside the invention, while Phineas, Ferb, Isabella and Baljeet are.
 * While Norm was changing the picture of Doofenshmirtz his eyebrows was transparent.
 * Norm changes his CD, it looks in front, but his table is at the side of his bed.
 * When Norm puts in the CD, there is a CD drive. Later, it is not there.
 * When Norm paints his clothes on, the only color paint he has is blue-gray, even though his clothes are also red and white.
 * When Norm puts on his other head, first his freckles are darker, but then they become normal on the same scene.
 * When Heinz learns about Vanessa's headphones, Vanessa's hair goes down to her shoulders instead of mid-back.
 * When Heinz says "treat her with dignity" to Perry, his head is drawn outside of his hair.
 * When Norm wakes up and moves his bed a little to the right since he accidentally poked a hole while he was stretching, he then puts a picture of Doofenshmirtz on his wall. The picture looked evil, but after he put it there, Doofenshmirtz's picture looks like he is smiling.
 * Major Monogram says they aren't allowed to leave O.W.C.A. for lunch, but in Does This Duckbill Make Me Look Fat?, he says they eat lunch at Slushy Burger every day. Although since his exact words were "going off the lot," this could imply that there is a Slushy Burger within the O.W.C.A. compound. However, in this episode, Monogram decided to break the rules, which he might do every day.
 * The headphones Vanessa wears are black, but when she gives it to Norm they are white, although she may have gave him another set of headphones.
 * When Candace runs from Jeremy she has nothing on her wrists, but when she enters the backyard she has a watch on.
 * When Candace went back to the backyard, the collar on her shirt overlaps her neck.
 * When Norm said "I have squirrel on a treadmill" in the song, he was incorrect since the squirrel was on a hamster wheel.
 * In one scene Doofenshmirtz loses a little of hair, then it reappears.
 * When Doofenshmirtz says "Someone I've begun to think of as family," when talking to Norm near the end of the episode, his eyebrows move up and down rapidly.
 * When Candace tells Jeremy she doesn't feel like busting her brothers, her mouth briefly goes in front of her right eye.
 * Doofenshmirtz claims that Vanessa was wearing her headphones all day. However, she was not wearing them when Doofenshmirtz was talking with Rodney about having a son instead of a daughter.
 * When the "Forget-About-It-inator" explodes, Dr. Doofenshmirtz remembers everything from before he was shot with it. However, this effect did not happen on Linda.

Continuity

 * Candace mentions Phineas and Ferb traveling inside her using a submarine in "Journey to the Center of Candace".
 * During the song, A Real Boy, Norm says that he runs on squirrel-power, a fact first revealed in "Phineas and Ferb-Busters!".
 * Monogram mentions that he likes Mexican food. In "Got Game?", he went home early to enjoy taco night.

Allusions

 * The Adventures of Pinocchio - Becoming a real boy is a theme popularized through the story of Pinocchio, specifically the Disney movie.
 * Three's Company - Doofenshmirtz rambles about this situation being like a sitcom in which a misheard remark causes hilarious misunderstandings and situations. This was a stock plot of Three's Company, the eighties sitcom starring John Ritter and Joyce DeWitt.
 * Boyz II Men - There is an another poster beside Candace's James Brade poster with a band called Mimez 2 Men.
 * The Alamo - Doofenshmirtz made his Forget About It-Inator to commemorate the 170th anniversary of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo Mission, where the Mexican army decimated a small force of Texians (later Texans) who had captured the mission and tried to defend it. The Texians' subsequent battle cry, "Remember the Alamo!" is still used today and would be a formidable challenge to the Forget-about-it-inator. The 170th anniversary would have been in 2006.
 * Little Orphan Annie - The phrase "Leaping Lizards" was popularized by Annie as her catchphrase.

Cast

 * Vincent Martella as Phineas
 * Ashley Tisdale as Candace
 * Thomas Sangster as Ferb
 * Caroline Rhea as Mom
 * Mitchel Musso as Jeremy
 * Dan Povenmire as Dr. Doofenshmirtz, Additional Voices
 * Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as Major Monogram, Additional Voices
 * Dee Bradley Baker as Perry
 * John Viener as Norm
 * Alyson Stoner as Isabella
 * Maulik Pancholy as Baljeet
 * Bobby Gaylor as Buford
 * Kelly Hu as Stacy
 * Olivia Olson as Vanessa
 * Django Marsh as the Balthazar, Additional Voices
 * Joe Orrantia as Rodney, Additional Voices