Phineas and Ferb (TV Series) One Good Scare Ought To Do It! (2008) User Reviews

Scaring away hiccups

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 16 October 2020]

'Phineas and Ferb' was so good in helping me through many tough periods during its run. Still do get a lot of pleasure out of watching re-runs of what was, when airing, one of the few shows on the Disney Channel regularly worth watching. Admittedly the later episodes are not quite on the same level as the more creative earlier seasons, but 'Phineas and Ferb' at its weakest still managed generally to be better than a lot of animated shows recently at their best.

Really liked the concept for "One Good Scare Ought to Do It" and it sounded like a very inventive way to get rid of hiccups (have been known to have them bad after having too much alcohol so would have benefitted myself from this method). While not one of the best episodes of 'Phineas and Ferb', "One Good Scare Ought to Do It" was still great and has everything that is great about the show present. If anybody ever has trouble with hiccups, watching "One Good Scare Ought to Do It" may be a good antidote.

"One Good Scare Ought to Do It" occasionally is a little manic, not uncommon at times for 'Phineas and Ferb'. Other episodes of 'Phineas and Ferb' have more inspired and wonderfully nutty Perry and Doofenschmirtz subplots, though this is just a preference and has no reflection on the two characters or the rapport between them.

However, there is so much great here. The animation is still wonderfully vibrant with very rich attention to detail, especially the wonderfully eerie visuals for the inside of the haunted house. The music is dynamic with the action and the theme song is insanely catchy with very clever and quotable lyrics that anybody still in school fishing for how to spend their vacation will relate to. The Perry the Platypus theme song is also unforgettable and to me "One Good Scare" is an incredibly cleverly written song, with a melody that is very haunted house and lyrics that would appropriately give one the creeps.

Writing is witty, remarkably intelligent and is accessible for children and adults alike, nothing is simplistic here while still being easy to understand. Plenty of gags, none miss. The pace is lively and the formula still has freshness thanks to the imagination of what the boys get up to. When first getting into the show the boys' haunted house to cure Isabella's hiccups plan was one of their ventures that stuck in my brain the most, namely for the inside of the haunted house and the song but to this day everything about it works.

Although there were better Perry and Doofenschmirtz subplots in the show, this one still entertains and the two characters and their dynamic don't disappoint. Candace's subplot is oddly relatable and is not near as cheesy as feared. All the characters are very well written throughout and the voice acting is great.

Overall, great. 9/10

The Pathos of Isabella Garcia-Shapiro

[Ddey65 · 7/10 · 24 July 2009]

***SPOILER ALERT***

Part of the problem with a TV show that's supposed to take place during summer vacation, and yet runs during other times of the year, is that it uses the opportunity to make non-summer themed episodes. In the case of Phineas and Ferb, there were actually two Halloween-themed episodes, which would make you wonder why they'd have this in the summer. The first of these two episodes was the half-hour "One Good Scare Ought to Do It!"

Isabella has a severe case of the hiccups, and Phineas and Ferb think they can scare them out of her, by getting all their friends to make a haunted house ride filled with everything that scares each kid. The question is, will they scare Isabella. While not all hiccups are psychosomatic, we find that hers are. We also find out about some of the things that scare Baljeet and Buford, the first of which is more absurd than the second. Meanwhile, Perry has to stop Dr. Doofenshmirtz's latest evil plot, which involves retrieving goods of a mentor of his and hatching a plot to set fire to the sun, something even he knows is idiotic and pointless. So rather than doing something as ridiculous as setting fire to the sun, he opts to take his mentor's stuff and blow up his lair.

I put a spoiler tag on this commentary, but I really wish I didn't have to. Because our hero ends up succeeding in a way that he wasn't planning. Let's just say that it involves the battle between Perry & Dr. Doofenshmirtz and a near-death experience for Phineas, and not divulge too much beyond that point, other than the fact that it clearly indicates that the thought of Phineas either dying or not being part of her life is what scares her the most. And this is an indication of the quality of the writing of this show, which is a lot better than you might expect from Disney.

"One Good Scare Ought to Do It"

[alcantaraj-16594 · 10/10 · 14 April 2021]

It isn't as fun as the series' first half hour episode It's About Time" but this episode still has hilarious jokes, Phinabella moments, really good songs including Perry's theme that's very good and catchy, some good scares and the very first appearance of the giant floating baby head.