Disney's 'Ferb' bows to magic numbers

Animated series' premiere nets 4 million viewers

By JOHN DEMPSEY

The premiere of the Disney Channel's animated primetime series "Phineas & Ferb" on Friday harvested 4 million total viewers, making it the second highest-rated animated-series kickoff in the net's 25-year history, behind the September 2006 bow of "Replacements."

In Disney Channel's target demo of tweens (9- to 14-year-olds), "Phineas & Ferb" was the No. 1 animated-series debut of all time on the network.

Friday's episode was a gentle lampoon of "American Idol," as the three leading characters competed in an audition for a big-deal TV show.

Leading out of "Phineas" was a run of "The Incredibles" movie, which drew 5.7 million total viewers, the highest-rated program in all of basic cable for the night.