With just one day left until America votes, people are really stressing right now.
They keep looking at all the polling data and then wondering “What happens if everything goes wrong and the wrong person gets elected?”
Well, I can’t tell you how to vote. But I can tell you what to do after the election, especially if your candidate doesn’t win. Which is: Be more like Milo Murphy.
You’ve heard about “Milo Murphy’s Law,” right? That new animated series for Disney XD series where the title character is supposed to be the great great great grandson of Edward Aloysius Murphy Jr. Who is the real-life aerospace engineer who gave us the world the adage: “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.”
You’d think – what with this show being built around a 13 year-old boy who deals with disaster every time he walks out his front door -- that “Milo Murphy’s Law” would be a pretty bleak viewing experience. Kind of like watching a Road Runner cartoon that was only made up of Wile E. Coyote scenes.
But that’s where you’d be wrong. Because “Milo Murphy’s Law” is this genuinely sweet, surprisingly optimistic TV series that’s loaded with big laughs. Largely because of the two men behind this new Disney XD show, Dan Povenmire & Jeff “Swampy” Marsh.
Dan Povenmire (L) and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, creators of Disney XD’s “Phineas & Ferb” and “Milo Murphy’s Law.”
Given that Povenmire & Marsh are the creators of the Emmy Award-winning “Phineas & Ferb,” they know a thing or two about crafting a clever cartoon. Which isn’t to say that they immediately got all of the elements right on “Milo Murphy’s Law.”
“You have to understand that – on ‘Phineas & Ferb’ – a lot of the humor on that show came out of everything always going right for those characters. Phineas & Ferb always had this Ferris-Bueller, everything-goes-right-for-them vibe going for them. Whereas on ‘Milo,’ a lot of the humor was supposed to come from everything always going wrong for this show’s title character. And we initially weren’t used to that. Which then made it really hard to write scripts for this show early on,” explained Dan during a recent phone interview. “It wasn’t until Al came on board as the voice of Milo that it then became that much easier for us to write for this character. Because then you knew exactly how he was going to say those lines.”
The “Al” that Povenmire is referring to is Weird Al Yankovic, the Grammy Award-winning singer / songwriter / parodist. Who – Dan insists – is surprisingly not weird in real life.
Weird Al Yankovic recording vocals for Disney XD’s new animated series, “Milo Murphy’s Law.”
“When people meet Al, they often say ‘He’s so much more normal than we thought. A nice, normal, sedate guy,’ “ Povenmire stated.
“Somebody said the weirdest thing about him is just how normal he is,” Marsh laughed.
“As to why we cast him in this role, it all came about from me listening to an online interview with Al. And after hearing his normal talking voice, I thought that -- if we could just keep him in the higher part of his register -- Al would be perfect for Milo,” Dan continued.
As for Yankovic, what appealed to him about ‘Milo Murphy’s Law” was (Well, besides Povenmire & Marsh’s track record) how positive this show’s title character was.
“I mean, Milo’s not a super broad character. He’s very positive and very energetic. Which I think that really plays to my strengths,” Al said. “As they say, the comedy’s in the writing. And what’s really great about the character that I get to voice on this show is that Milo’s this really positive kid who thrives on all of the unexpected things that keep happening in his life.”
Which brings us back to tomorrow’s election. Instead of stressing about who’s going to wind up as President, maybe it’s time to start embracing the unexpected. Try to get some joy & excitement out of the fact that – in today’s world – things rarely go the way that they’re supposed to.
Because – when you really think about it – wouldn’t we all really like a life like the one Weird Al sings about in this animated show’s theme song? Where our life was “ … never boring, not for a minute” ?
Mind you, it’s probably a lot easier to deal with life’s rude shocks when you’re carrying a backpack like one Milo has. One that’s loaded with items like galoshes that are hazmat-rated for a Level 4 biohazard. Which will then allow you to wade through any oil spills you might encounter.
So maybe that’s what you should do out ahead of Tuesday night. Load up a backpack with items that – you hope – will then help you get through watching the election returns. (In my own case, that backpack would need to contain a security blanket and a fifth of Gin).
On the other hand, if waiting to see whether Hillary or The Donald becomes our next Commander-in-chief sounds like an entirely too stressful way to spend Tuesday evening, you could always DVR tonight’s episode of “Milo Murphy’s Law” (which airs on Disney XD tonight at 8:00 / 7:00 c) and just watch that instead.
After all, as Milo says (and this is pretty good advice. Especially if you plan on spending Thanksgiving at any household that will contain still-battle-weary Clinton & Trump supporters) “Sticks & stones can break your bones, so always wear body armor.”