'Phineas and Ferb' creators explain why there are '104' days of summer vacation

LOS ANGELES -- With "Phineas and Ferb" returning to Disney Channel after a decade, On The Red Carpet caught up with creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh at the premiere of the upcoming fifth season, where we discussed how it all began.

Starting as a sketch by Povenmire on a piece of butcher paper, Phineas Flynn was the first character from "Phineas and Ferb" to be developed, with the other characters following soon after.

The concept was something both he, and his longtime creative partner, Marsh, would shop around for years. But their hard work paid off, when, after years of pitching, Disney Channel picked up the series.

Marsh told us, "We're glad somebody bought it, because otherwise all of our years of continuing to pitch the same show..."

"Would've just been sad and pathetic," Povenmire finished. "This way it's like, 'perseverance,' instead of just like, being a sad person."

"We can say, 'we told you,'" Marsh joked.

After the 10 years since season four of "Phineas and Ferb" wrapped, Povenmire feels that "it's so great that it even found an audience at all, and then to have it still have that audience 10 years after we stopped making the show, it really just hits us right there."

Marsh added his sentiments. "What I love is how many people who've said, 'I watch this with my kids, and I'm excited about seeing the new one.' It's that family connection that's just so cool."

And it wouldn't be "Phineas and Ferb" without that iconic Bowling for Soup theme song. Have you ever wondered why there are 104 days of summer vacation?

Well, Povenmire said, "It's really silly 'cause when we decided to make the show all in summer, I was like, 'Hey, does anybody know how many days there are in summer vacation?' And one of the executives, she said, 'Oh yeah. He just had to look that up. There's 104.'"

"We didn't fact check," added Marsh.

The two noted that while it's not a "true" statement, "it is in their neighborhood, in their little universe it is," said Povenmire.

104 days works out perfectly in the world of TV. Povenmire gave us the rundown, "At the time, a full order (of a series) was often 52 episodes, and two for each half-hour. 'Oh that's perfect, we'll just use that.' And we wrote that song..."

Marsh noted, "it sings well."

Although the statement may be incorrect, Marsh still hasn't "looked up how many days it actually is, 'cause I don't want to know! For me it's 104."

Join Phineas and Ferb for 104 more days of summer vacation, when the series returns Thursday, June 5, on Disney Channel and streams the next day on Disney+.

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