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Series Bible
September 21, 2006
(version 3a - 3/26/07)
Ken Scarborough
Series Summary
Martha Speaks is a series about a talking dog unleashed on an unwitting
world. Its based on the enormously popular series of childrens books by Susan
Meddaugh.
Being a talking dog, Martha naturally lives in a vocabulary-rich environment.
The educational goal of the series is to enrich kids vocabulary within the context
of great stories. Around and in between the half-hours two 11-minute stories a
variety of interstitials reinforce the vocabulary in engaging, comic ways.
The two stars of the series are: Martha, a dog who gains the power of speech
when she eats alphabet soup; and Helen, her ten-year-old owner.
Using her speaking abilities, Martha gets jobs, wears disguises, foils bad guys,
wins contests, runs for office, and orders a lot of steaks. Her ambitions are as big
as the world (and, not entirely coincidentally, bring her face-to-face with a wide
range of words in action).
The hopes, messes, and hilarious entanglements that ensue for Martha, her
put-upon owners, and the people of her town are the comic heart of the series.
Sit.
Stay.
Watch out world...here comes Martha.
Martha's fantastic stories are, at heart, the stories of a small being, who,
like a kid, has to fight to be heard. Despite the fact that she often isn't
taken seriously by adults (at least at first), Martha always saves the day.
As best friends, a problem for one is usually a problem for both of them.
Helen may have to put aside her homework, or miss that concert to rescue
Martha whos gotten herself into a mess.
Helen can also be the object of Marthas help. For instance, when Helen's
too shy to audition for the school play, it's Martha who calls and signs her up,
and helps her learn her lines. (And, in the end, having learned the other lines in
the process, Martha is the one who takes over for the kid who has lost his voice.)
And try explaining that you're tired because your dog was practicing for that
part in La Boheme. (Martha didn't know they had a bunch of animals come on
stage in Act II...she thought she was being hired to be the Diva.)
In the end, though, Helen and Martha are best friends who both challenge
and come through for each other, who combine their talents and skills to win the
day.
Curriculum
The specific curriculum the series aims to teach is vocabulary.
Each half-hour is comprised of two 11-minute stories which share a
vocabulary theme of related words.
Themes might include animals, jobs, communication, geography, and so on.
Each story will feature five target words that are explicitly defined either
within the episode or in the interstitial that follows. In addition, there will be five
simpler, incidental words that are also linked to the vocabulary theme.
See the Curriculum document for further specifics.
Show Format
Introduction
The shows introduction serves as a fun roadmap for what's to follow by
introducing the vocabulary theme of the half-hour. Its a quick introduction
either by one of the members of the cast or one of our interstitial characters (a
comic professor character, a robot, a caveman, etc.)
For instance, if the first story was based on the book Martha Speaks the
introducer lets us know that todays theme is communication.
Story 1
The story, and the interstitial that follows will have five target words drawn
from the vocabulary theme that will be explicitly defined.
For the episode based on the book Martha Speaks, target words could include:
comment, express, lecture, observation, and remark. The words might be
defined by Truman, the smart little kid from next door; by Helen, clarifying a
confusion for Martha; by Martha, showing off; by Helens know-it-all cousin; by
the somewhat dense Zoo Family Boy; or by comic drop-ins by the episodes
narrator.
Interstitials 1
Quick sketches that explicitly deal with the days vocabulary. They include
such segments as...
Game show. A segment with a host and characters who try to find the
meaning of words. These might feature scenes replayed from the episode
with commentary, tellustrator overlays, etc.
Music videos.
Inside the soup factory where words are put together out of the letters in
alphabet soup.
Caveman karaoke.
Story 2
The second of two 11-minute stories. This episode will reinforce the target
words from the first episode and have target words of its own that will be
explicitly defined in the story or the interstitial that follows.
For instance, an episode paired with Martha Speaks could feature Martha
selling a product. The communication vocabulary might be words such as:
encourage, persuade, communicate, and so forth.
The Rules
Martha is the only talking animal in the series.
Martha can speak because the alphabet soup goes to her brain, not her
stomach. Its a complicated medical process I cant explain to laymen like you, so
youll just have to trust me on this one.
Even though animals in the series don't speak "human"dogs can
understand what human beings are saying. When Martha speaks to other dogs,
she speaks in English.
Martha has to have her soup every so often to keep talking. But we shouldn't
make a big deal of it. Every episode shouldnt be will she get to her soup on
time?
People are initially surprised that a dog can talk. Its amazing for a few
minutes, but like most miracles of science (cars, computers, American Idol) its
something you can quickly go from admiring to complaining about.
It goes without saying that neither Martha nor any of the other characters will
be depicted in a manner inconsistent with family programming. They will not
depicted as cruel or engaged in any serious illegal activity.
The Characters
Main Cast List
Helen's Family
Mom (Mariela)
Dad (Daniel/Danny)
Helen
Baby (Jake)
Martha
Skits
Other Kids
Truman
TD
Carolina
Alice Boxwood
Ronald Boxwood
Other Adults/Families
Mrs. Clusky (Drama teacher)
The Boxwoods
The Parkingtons
Grannie Flo
Older person who owns a wise manx cat.
Lucille (Dads Mom)
Bernie (Dads Dad)
Martha
The personality characteristics of Martha are comprised of the following elements:
When Martha eats alphabet soup, the letters go to her brain instead of her stomach, and
when she has all 26 letters she can speak. She is very talkative and takes the gift of gab to
new heights. She is out-spoken, opinionated, honest, smart, very confident (no selfesteem issues), interesting, and loves to eat. Martha is kind, and she is easily outraged by
injustice, especially to dogs. She is bi-lingual; she speaks people and dog. Martha
definitely sees the world from a dog's point of view.
(Designerssee design notes at end.)
Though sometimes wrong, Martha is seldom in doubt.
Martha sees the world through the eyes of a dog, but she can't imagine that
anyone would treat her as less than an intelligent person. It's the ability to speak,
having words that empowers Martha and makes her assume that she has all the
rights of any other "person".
Now she can speak for herself and everyone else. ("Pugs! Pitbulls! Labradors!
Lend me your dinners!" )
Martha is a dog who wont be treated either as an animal or a youngster.
Shes enthusiastic and a go-getter who is willing to do what needs to be done, to
pose as a ghost or a grandmother when a being a dog won't do the trick.
Marthas one heroine who won't roll over and play dead. (Or heel, or fetch,
for that matter.)
Martha came from the pound. Like most dogs, Martha is trusting and true.
She has a deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong. She is a kind dog.
Sometimes, though, she doesnt consider the effects her words or actions can
have.
She has the characteristics of the classic trickster charactershe can
disguise herself as a person to get what she wants (see Martha Calling), or pose as
the ghostly voice of a painting (see Martha Blah Blah)but like most classic
trickster-heroes (Anansi, Arlecchino, Figaro, Chaplin, Lucy, you name it) she
Helen
Helen is our human eyes and ears into the series. Where the other human
characters are more certain about whats important and what isnt, Helen is less
decided, more willing to explore different ways of dealing with issues. For Helen,
dealing with her friends is a matter of dealing with issues. They provide options
for dealing with the problems she faces. Values and life-choices come into
Helens life in an intriguing way not top-down.
Helen's life is already as complicated as any kids is without having a talking
dog thrown into the mix.
She's shyer than Martha (but then, who isnt?). She provides a balance to
Martha which is natural for anyone who has to deal with a character like
Martha.
Helen is quiet, but not a pushover. Shes willing to try all sorts of things,
especially with her friends, but when it comes to throwing herself into public
situations, shes hesitant. Just the prospect of giving an oral report in class is
enough to keep her awake all night.
Helen is the voice of reason for Marthas schemes. But somehow it seems no
matter how much she might argue, Martha ends up coming along on their
vacation disguised as a human, or Helen gets stuck holding up that spear in the
background of the opera.
Helen is always a little surprised that in the end she, well, kind of enjoys the
adventure.
(But lets go home now, okay? Please?)
Helen loves to draw and is a keen observer of people. Shes intuitive and
sensitiveshe understands what people are feeling. Shes a detective of feelings.
She cant quite articulate it, but she senses when somethings up.
Helen doesn't feel the need to be in the forefront. She's highly embarrass-able
and can be a little shy about asking for the things she needs.
Her dog, Martha, doesn't know the meaning of the word embarrassed. (It's
part of the word list for episode after episode, yet somehow it just never sticks.)
Where Martha would have no problem going up to anyone and talking to
them, just the idea of selling band candy door-to-door is a nightmare for Helen.
Helen is much more comfortable around pets than people. A lot of weekends
she volunteers to go to the pound and walk the dogs there.
Shes a sprout in a girl scout-like troup called the Super Troupers (as are
Alice and Carolina who, being older, is a stalk)
Truman
Truman is a seven-year-old African-American kid who lives near Helen, and
is often hanging around Helen and Marthas house in a sort of makeshift babysitting way.
Truman is a smart kid. In fact he's a budding genius who's always carrying
around a book that's several times his weight. He's also sometimes a little fussy.
He's liable to grow up to be Frasier or Felix Unger.
At the same time, he's curious Trumans the kid who will eat dog food to see
if it will let him speak dog.
Truman will pop out with facts and (quoted) wisdom that help save the day.
But he can also be a pest.
Thats mostly because Truman is so excited about knowledge, so bursting to
share the information he's picked up that he cant keep anything inside, even
secrets. In certain situations, that can make him a bit of a tattletale.
He's a kid who Helen can give advice to hes like a younger brother.
Truman's mom runs the home day care center. (During the day its
full of babies, so Truman comes to Helen's to get away from the
youngsters like Helens toddler brother, Jake.) His father is a highschool teacher.
Skits
A large goofy puppy and an adopted younger brother and sidekick to
Martha. Eager and active, Skits looks up to Martha and always wants to help her
out.
At the same time Skits is sensitive. Way too sensitive. He's the one who tunes
into his owner's feelingsespecially when Martha doesn't. And his own feelings
can get hurt easily. Whenever he hears anyone, anywhere, even on TV, get angry,
hes sure its something he did wrong. Hes the one whos afraid of thunder.
But being a puppy, hurt feelings only last until something flies by (Skits loves
chasing anything that flies) or until someone says "dinner" or "walk" or, best of
all, "cookie."
T.D.
T.D. is a good friend to Helen. Slightly dreamy and gullible, TD is the one
wholl come up with bizarre theories and unlikely scenarios. Another artist, hell
sometimes draw out his theories and we see them come to life (see: Codename
Martha.) He thinks Martha is amazing.
T.D.'s good-hearted but not very analytical, and tends to follow his passions.
He's outgoing and friendly, willing to try most things. Whatever T.D.'s involved
in he gives it giving it 110 percent. He has huge goals. For about a week. The
next week it's something else.
T.D.'s the one Helen turns to when she needs help finding or rescuing
Martha, since he's the best one around at thinking the way a dog thinks (or a
teacher thinks, or a robot, or a missing bike.)
At times, TDs attitude is so accepting and Zen-like that it's difficult to
differentiate from sheer laziness. Hes the guy who will tell Helen that she could
use some of Martha's do-it-yourself attitudethen asks her to do his homework.
No one is quite sure what T.D. really stands for. T.D. tells people different
things every week. Touch Down. Top Dog. Terrific Dancer. Ted Danson. It's an
ongoing mystery.
T.D.s father works as a repairman in Granny Flo's factory. He's kindly and a
little dreamy. He makes inventions in his spare time. Some of these affect
Martha in strange ways. From time to time, Martha enlists T.D. and his father in
some of her schemes.
The Grandparents
The grandparents are energetic characters in their own rightthey arent just
there to pass down the wisdom of the ages.
Bernie (Dads Dad), is a funny guy who thinks Martha is tops. When
Marthas suddenly on TV in that Talent Show she wasnt supposed to enter, or in
the center of the local traffic jamcam, Bernie always turns out to be the one who
let her out. He thinks people should lighten up on her. He does magic tricks,
pulls pranks and pretends to be deaf when it suits him.
Lucille (Dads Mom), is the woman that made the fruitcake in Martha
Speaks (Martha: Mom said that fruitcake you sent wasnt fit for a dog. But I
thought it was delicious.) If her husband is Marthas secret helper, Dads mom
is still trying to adjust to a talking dog. In her day dogs didnt speak. Anything
her granddaughter thinks is great, she thinks is great, too.
She enters every contest in the world and frequently goes on free trips or gets
a free blender or toaster she drops by to give the family.
Guillermo (Moms Dad) is a chef in a restaurant he owns. Hes a widower
who thinks that most problems spring from not eating the right food. You get
enough a nice piece of pie, a ripe ear of corn, a big juicy tomato, everything else
falls into place. Big problems of history were due to bad eating habits.
Carolina
Carolina is Helen's cousinthe daughter of Mom's brother Jorge. She's a year
older than Martha.
Carolina is someone who, unlike Helen, is confident and socially adept. Helen
is fascinated with her cousin and her effortless control of every situation. She
makes those values very attractive
Carolina is the polar opposite of Martha, though in some ways, like all
opposites, the two are somewhat alike. They're both excellent bluffers, willing to
go at things without thinking too hard about what might go wrong, confident
that they'll figure it all out along the way.
Carolina's father, Jorge is a single parent who's got a busy advertising career
that keeps him at work late hours.
The Boxwoods
The BoxwoodsRonald, Alice and their parentsown Nelson the cat, and a
parrot.
They are a richer, wired familythey've got the internet on their watches,
Bluetooth headphones, and a variety of media-savvy appliances that tend to
blow up. They play tennis and are always multi-tasking.
Ronald and his parents are a bit snooty.
Ronald is a Junior in high school who sometimes babysits for Helen. Hes
extremely protective of Nelson the cat. Despite all the computers and gadgets,
Ronald can be a little bonehead.
Alice Boxwood is different from the rest of her family. Shes a good friend to
Helen. Shes a tomboy whos as unsnooty as can be. (See her description above.)
Their cat, Nelson is the archenemy of all dogs. A scheming, cool cat with a
talent for treachery, Nelsons is a night world, a noir-ish place of rain-slicked
streets and alleyways where trouble lies around every corner.
Cold, cunning, plotting, Nelson takes his time. Where Martha is all in the
moment, Nelson is like an expert chess player, always three moves ahead.
Nelson's plans tend to backfire.
The Parkingtons
Older couple who have inherited John, a Dalmatian. Mr. Parkington was very
enthusiastic about getting him and dotes on him.
But John has turned out to be an emotional mess. He has his own therapist,
blankie and security toy that he cant be without.
The Parkingtons are always running around trying to keep John happy.
Martha would love to get John out to relax and have a little fun.
Grannie Flo
A businesswoman who owns the soup factory that makes "Granny's" brand
soups, including alphabet soup. (The founder was granny Elsie.)
Under Grannie Flo's apron beats a capitalist heart that would make Milton
Friedman sit up and begshe's not above firing half the staff to generate more
profits.
Shes slightly superstitious since the portrait of the founder, Granny Elsie,
spoke to her (see "Martha Blah Blah")
Martha frequently talks her into moneymaking schemes.
Neighborhood Dogs
The neighborhood dogs roam pretty freely through the neighborhood. None
of them speak, but they understand what humans and other animals say to them.
Martha sometimes serves as a spokesdog between a dog to tell it's owner
what the dog wants.
Cisco, a MANLY Poodle. A frequent fall guy for Nelson's plots, Ciscos
macho instincts often get him into trouble.
Bob, a mean dog that Martha reforms in "Martha Walks the Dog." Bob
still has anger-management issues, though. (As does his owner). They
continue to try hard to control their tempers.
Pearl, a black Labrador. Shes a 3-legged dog she lost a leg to cancer.
Though its a mystery to other dogs, who have rumors of how it
happened.
Other Characters
Disguise Shop Owner is a fellow that often comes to Martha's aid. Nico likes
Martha and has let her run up an enormous tab. At the same time Martha
usually has a hard time convincing him to give her what she wants. He always
has some fabulous new design that he thinks is much trendier than what she
needs, which he invariably thinks is old hat. (Old Hat? Get it, Martha?)
Inevitably he comes around to her way of thinking.
Other Bus Drivers theres a nice one, Dorie, who knows Martha well and
helps her get where she's going. Shes always about to warn Martha about what
shes getting herself into just as Martha has reached her stop and is jumping off.
Theres a grumpy one, Ned, who is suspicious of Martha. Marthas always trying
to reform him.
Alf Abbot A worker in Granny's Soup Factory, Al is the guy in charge of
hand-making the "A's" in Granny's Alphabet Soup. He loves things that start
with the letter A. He has a map of Africa on the wall, an ant farm and an aunt
who lives on a farm.
Locations
Marthas adventures are going to take her to a number of locations. The main
ones in her town are...
The transit barn where the buses are parked. This is where Helens
Dad comes to work.
A note on casting
Martha is voiced by an adult.