Martha Bible

Martha Speaks

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.

A Series About a Dog...

Even though people think shes "just a dog," Martha is not going to be stopped by the fact that she's furry, walks on four legs and doesn't have opposable thumbs.

She has a voice and she's going to use it.

A voice you say?

Yes. That's what we say. A voice.

What spinach is to Popeye, what booze is to Bukowski, alphabet soup is to Martha. When Martha eats alphabet soup, the letters go to her brain and unlock her ability to speak.

Where most dogs are happy to simply laze about, bark at passing garbage trucks, slobber, and drink from the toilet, Martha is a dog with bigger plans...and bigger problems.

But that's only half the story.

...and Normal Kids.

In counterpoint to Martha is her 10-year-old owner, Helen.

While Martha is involved in getting jobs, defeating evil dog trainers, and being framed by scheming cats, Helen is dealing with the "growing-up" issues of friends, popularity, finding out what you're good at and what you suck at, and most of all, keeping yourself from being embarrassed.

Helen is the down-to-earth part of the team, the one pulls Martha back from her outlandish schemes...or tries to.

Helen's a quiet girl who'd prefer to fade into the background, but that's hard to do when, in effect, you're holding tight to a leash, flapping like a flag in the wind, being sucked into adventure.

When Worlds Collide

Our heroes have two different ways at going at the same world, and yet they overlap.

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.

In Helen's world, facing a "mean girl" or fighting with a friend is as dramatic a situation as any bad guy or superhero faces. With Martha's help, Helen often finds strengths she didn't know she had.

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.

The World of Martha

Community, Neighbors and Friends

Helen and her family live in a community of small houses and yards and neighbors who know each other. Even though its an older town built near some factories, their town is a vibrant mix of people of various incomes, ages and races.

Downtown, there are a lot of little shops, perpetually threatened by the possibility of big stores moving in.

On the edge of town stand the factoriesincluding the all-important soup factory.

All in all, a normal, middle-sized, realistic town...

With a talking dog in it.

A Place Where a Dog Can Speak

Martha can go wherever imagination and circumstance can lead her.

Because she's learning vocabulary in action, there is a broad range of settings. Martha might find herself in a farm or factory, as a firehouse mascot or stowing away on a space flight. She enters contests and signs up for poetry slams. And if she doesn't like the way something's being run, Martha isn't afraid to speak up.

It goes without saying...

Stories will be engaging and energetic, with characters who learn a little something along the way as a result of their own actions, not top-down lessons.

That means that the characters arent perfect. Where Martha may deal with the occasional villain, for Helen and her friends the issues that the series deals with come up naturallybecause of a conflict between values where there arent necessarily right or wrong answers.

Vocabulary and the curriculum will come up naturallyMartha and others use the words to get what they want. Often the meaning is vital to their goals.

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...

Segments with the professor. A fellow thats always doing experimentsmaking hulking monsters who have a startlingly rich vocabulary, robots that arent as smart as you might expect, and so on.

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.

Helen's drawings which come to life to illustrating vocabulary.

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.

Interstitials 2 and Closing

The second set of interstitials would deal with the vocabulary targeted in the second episode.

The half-hour ends with a quick goodbye from the character who introduced the show.

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)

Uncle Jorge (Moms Brother)

Cousin Carolina (Jorges daughter)

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 self-esteem 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 always comes down on the side of right.

Even though she mostly believes what people tell her, ultimately Martha goes on her gut.

Marthas loyal as a dog. She loves her owner Helen and would do anything for her. She would push her out of the way of a car, if need be. Mostly though, Helen faces smaller crises, and in general, when Helens dug herself into a hole, Marthas solution is to get a bigger shovel.

Helens having trouble with homework deadlines? Martha takes it upon herself to eat it. (Along, unfortunately, with all her research, notes and part of her textbook.)

Inevitably, however, Marthas loyalty pays off...even if it isnt in ways that she, or Helen, expects.

When Martha talks, she's straightforwarda little too straightforward at times...she doesn't always know the right time to say certain things ("Why is that man so fat?"). But she's never deliberately unkind. In fact, with characters who aren't as confident as she is, like her younger sibling, Skits, Martha can be considerate, supportive...and even tactful. Most of the time.

She doesn't get sarcasm, and she has trouble with figures of speech. Metaphor, metonymy, syndoche, irony, metalepsis, anthimeria, are all just so much flea dip to her. Like that Manchurian Candidate guy she might go jump in a lake if you tell her. (She might even if you don't. She's a good swimmer and loves any kind of water...except bathwater.)

Martha is confident. Act like a top dog, Martha believes, and everything else will fall into place.

If Martha were a world leader, things would be a lot different.

(But its probably for the better that Martha isnt a world leader.)

It bears repeating: Martha is sometimes wrong, but seldom in doubt.

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 baby-sitting 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 high-school 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.

Mom & Dad

Helens father, Daniel (Danny to his friends), works as a bus driver. Family discussions often take place during business hours and tend to be interrupted with dad yelling out street names, ticket-taking, and interjections from busybodies sitting near the front.

Dad is honest, and despite the fact that they're sometimes in tight places for money, he isn't tempted to cheat. Both he and mom are avid readers. (He likes poetry, she likes history.)

He's a helpful father, though still capable of doing embarrassing parental things...he acts in community theater and likes to sing at home.

Mariela, Helens mother, works part time in a garden shop.

She's a busy person, active in community politics, and she tries to inspire a sense of responsibility in Helen getting her to do artwork for flyers, or, most embarrassing, go door-to-door collecting signatures.

She's bilingual and brings the perspective of a Spanish-speaker to vocabulary Martha is dealing with.

Mom is very connected to her family. Her brother Jorge lives in the same town with his daughter Carolina.

The Toddler - Jake

Jake is two. Jake gets really excited when he sees Martha. He loves her and he's not quite certain that he himself is not a dog...or might grow up to become one.

Martha is always trying to teach Jake to speak, but as with Skits, the baby never seems to learn no matter how much time Martha spends trying to teach him.

While Mom is working, Jake stays at the home day care center run by Trumans mom.

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.

Other Families and Adults

Alice Boxwood

Alice Boxwood is a klutz but shes cool with that. Shes an outgoing girl whos always ready with a joke. Shes one of Helens best friends.

Alice is the kind of girl wholl decide on her Halloween costume the day of...pulling a black plastic bag over herself and saying: Hey, look, Im a giant raisin.

Alice, who doesnt think much about what other people think of her, is the opposite of Carolina. Helen often finds herself torn between the advice of the two.

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.

Rinty, a German Shepard.

John, a neurotic Dalmatian that belongs to the Parkingtons.

Burt, a pug. A hyperactive snorter who runs in and out of scenes.

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...

Martha and her family's home, 33 Fairfield Street

The transit barn where the buses are parked. This is where Helens Dad comes to work.

There is a street of small shops in town the kind of places where people still live above the store.

Grocery.

Nicos Disguise shop

The Butcher Shop (Martha's favorite)

Pound (a no-kill shelter)

A fast-food joint

A pizza delivery outfit

A restaurant that delivers steak

A Chinese restaurant

The garden shop where mom works

On a hill at the edge of town is Granny's soup factory, where Martha's alphabet soup is made. There are other factories nearby.

The Acme Meat Company also near the edge of town.

A note for designers

( NB: to be incorporated in the design guide)

The depiction of "Martha," the Brain Design, and additional characters and designs created by the Author, shall be consistent with their appearance and characteristics in the Books. For further clarification, the appearance and characteristics of Martha are as set forth below:

The appearance of Martha incorporates the following elements:

General Appearance: Martha is a medium-sized, short-haired dog of indefinite breed but distinctive appearance. Body: Slightly chunky, nicely rounded, with a broad chest, and with legs and tail slightly short in proportion to her body. Head: Proportionate to body, with small expressive ears set back on the head. Eyes, muzzle and mouth: Alert round eyes with a prominent dark pupil and a proportionate muzzle with a very expressive mouth.

Characteristics: 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 self-esteem 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.

A note on casting

Martha is voiced by an adult.