‘Shark Tank’ preview: The shrinkinator, and ‘Phineas and Ferb’s’ Professor Doofenshmirtz

We’re back with one more preview for Friday night’s “Shark Tank” finale, and it is fair to say that this one is not even remotely serious. As a matter of fact, we’re not even entirely sure why it is here save for some desperate cross-promotion from the Disney Channel’s hit “Phineas and Ferb.”

The video below lays it all out for you: The “person” pitching a product is none other than the cartoon character Professor Doofenshmirtz, and he is trying to peddle something called the Shrinkinator. Producers obviously found a way to convince the sharks to indulge in this madness, and they go along with it for a little while before reaching a conclusion.

Now, we must consider that one of the reasons why ABC went ahead with this bit is because “Shark Tank” has a large family audience, and any parent out there will surely know “Phineas and Ferb” on a certain level. As for those of us who aren’t parents, it feels like we are seeing the show cheapened with something that has zero application to the real world. While there are products that we don’t want on the show, we like to at least watch with the understanding that someone out there would want them, and at least would be given that opportunity.

For someone who has never watched the cartoon, the best thing we can say about this clip is that it’s short. People who love “Phineas and Ferb” should be able to watch it over on the Disney Channel, but depending on how much of this makes it onto the actual show, this is valuable time we could have focused on a real product and a real story rather than a really long advertisement.

With that in mind, we do have a preview for an actual product featured on tonight’s two-hour extravaganza. You can check that out here.

Photo: ABC