T.D. Gets the Scoop

**T.D. Gets the Scoop** is the second half of the 23rd episode of Season 1.

## Plot

Carolina is starting a newspaper, Carolina Town Crier, and she needs some crack reporters to track down the news. T.D. turns investigative reporter until he becomes the headline himself. Meanwhile, Martha and Skits thinks they've uncovered a real scoop, but Carolina disagrees, no bones about it.

## Summary

It begins with Truman, Alice, T.D., Helen, and Martha eagerly watching Carolina unveil a copy machine (with Martha jumping to get a better view). Everyone is impressed with it. Carolina says that her dad got a new model and gave her the old one. When it prints a piece of paper, Martha believes the machine is alive and becomes scared of it. She and Skits bark at it and threaten it as it prints more paper, scaring them. Helen chuckles awkwardly and states that dogs aren't big on technology. Alice then imagines all the neat things they could do with the machine, and then they set about making copies of dog biscuits, a teddy bear, their shoes, and their hands.

They then sit down on the floor to admire their prints. T.D. wonders what to do now, and Carolina has an idea: to make a newspaper and name it Carolina's Town Crier.

The group then walk down the street, T.D. trailing his bike and wearing a helmet and Skits with a chew toy in his mouth. Carolina says she will need reporters. Martha says that she and Skits could be reporters as they are good at sniffing, but Carolina doesn't believe dogs can be reporters (she throws away Skits' chew toy and he runs off to get it). Martha says that on their walk, she and Skits have sniffed out a half-eaten dinner roll, a piece of butterscotch candy that was covered in lint, and a large bone, buried in the Park. Carolina (as Skits returns his toy) says that that isn't news, but garbage and that she needs a scoop. Martha thinks this means a scoop of ice cream. Helen says that the word "scoop" has more than one meaning and that Carolina means she wants a story for the news that nobody knows about. Carolina agrees, stating that "Dog Bites Man" is not a scoop, but "Man Bites Dog" is. This scares Martha and Skits, the former thinks it sounds like an awful story. Carolina says that it will be followed by "Man Bites Man Who *Bit* Dog", which would be better.

At the cafe, Martha and Skits are drinking from a bowl, and Carolina is reading the news, saying they will print the first addition on Friday. She then asks who wants to do what. Helen, who is holding candy, says she will cover art and entertainment. She then offers one of Granny Flo's super suckers to T.D. Alice says she will cover sports, and Truman says he will make the crossword puzzles. Carolina suggests he make connect-the-dots puzzles as she personally likes them better. Truman doesn't like that idea as it doesn't have a challenge. Carolina, who does a connect-the-dots of a walrus, says that it doesn't matter if it doesn't have a challenge, as afterwards, you have a cute picture to hang on your fridge.

In the park, Martha digs through the trash, and Alice and Helen are on the swings, the latter asks T.D. what kind of news he will cover. T.D. replies that he will cover a kind of news that requires his "keen powers of observation". He then throws away his wrapper, while Martha digs and Helen asks if he will cover science. T.D. replies that he will be an "Investigative Reporter", which he declares is better than science. Alice asks what they do, and T.D. strikes a pose and says that they investigate things. Martha, digging, asks what "investigate" means, and T.D., striking several dramatic poses, defines "investigate" as "when you dig around to find out what's really going on". Martha says that she is always digging, which would make her a great reporter, and continues to dig. Helen, starting to swing on the swing, explains that it's an expression meaning to try and find out more. Martha, continuing to dig, with Skits also digging, says that she wants to investigate a smell. Carolina, grumpy, says that bones, garbage, and smells will not make good stories (now all four children are swinging). Martha, however, thinks they would. Alice jumps off the swing and lands next to T.D., asking him what he wants to investigate (both have candy). T.D. says that he needs a story that reveals a secret that a lot of people want to know. Helen says she always wants to know how Granny Flo gets the bubblegum into her super suckers. T.D. says that is his scoop. Truman asks T.D. how he would get Granny to tell, as corporations don't like to give out some info which they keep secret, and T.D. says that it's easy. He then imagines himself cycling up to the soup factory on a rainy day, and Granny Flo watching him like a secret agent and trying to escape like one. He then imagines himself chasing her, also in a secret-agent-like manner, on rollerskates, throughout the factory, with them doing things like knocking things over and jumping on and over things. Then, the imaginary Granny Flo escapes with a forklift, conveyor belt, and a helicopter. His imagining ends with him asking the bubblegum question while inside Granny's helicopter. Carolina tells him to go get the scoop, and he cycles off. Martha and Skits follow, and Helen asks why. Martha says that they are following because they are dogs and like to chase things with wheels.

At the soup factory, Granny Flo is unwilling to disclose any information other than that the factory which makes the super suckers is in Alaska and he might want to ask the workers there. T.D. says he can't. Martha asks if he can't ride his bike to Alaska, and T.D. says he can, but he's not allowed to because his mother would not let him miss that many days of school. He then says he will have to uncover another story. Martha says he can have the bone story she uncovered as she can't write it, dogs can't type, but T.D. says no, because like Carolina says a bone isn't really news. He then wonders if the police have uncovered a story fit to print. He asks if the dogs want to come, and Martha declines as they want to work on the bone, which, while not news, smells good.

At the police station, T.D. is talking to a police officer, who is explaining the meaning of "inspect" and talking about an officer who inspected checks to find out they were phoney and it was a money-making scheme, however, he was just making it up from a book he was reading, and he can't even finish the story as he hasn't finished the book. T.D. leaves, disgruntled, while dogs rush past. Martha asks if he uncovered a scoop. He says no, but he learned about a good book. He asks where the dogs are going, and Martha says they are going to the park to help dig up the bone and invites him to join in. T.D. declines because he still wants to find a story.

He sneaks around, looking at Truman, Alice and Helen. Alice says that she has found a news story about ice hockey. Truman doesn't think her story is news, then he asks what T.D. is doing. Helen asks if it's a question for his crossword puzzle, and Truman says no. He then points out T.D., who is spying on them from the bushes. Helen says hi to him, but he shushes her, asking if she wants to blow her cover. Alice asks if he's doing investigative reporting, and T.D. says he is, he then points out the mailman, declaring that he thinks the mailman is up to something, as he's seen him on the street before at the same time every day, stopping at all the doors, and always with a bag. Helen says that he is a mailman and has to walk that way as it's his route. Truman says that that mailman doesn't look like his mailman, who has a moustache. T.D. thinks that that means the one without the moustache is a fake mailman. Alice thinks someone stole his moustache, which T.D. thinks is another scoop. Helen says that it is not a scoop, as their hometown has more than one mailman. T.D. still thinks that mailman is a fake, and comes up with a zany plan to investigate his bag while putting a finger trap on him.

Carolina tells T.D. off because he'd gotten caught with the finger trap on his own hands and while that made a headline, he was supposed to *get* a headline, not *be* one. Martha and Skits enter, very dirty, and Martha asks if they printed the addition yet as they have a really big story. However, it is related to the bone they were digging up, and nobody thinks that was newsworthy. T.D. is unhappy, thinking he is a "lousy" reporter. Martha then shows him the bone to cheer him up.

When they find the bone, T.D, (and a whole lot of other people) think the bone *is* newsworthy. It ends up on the news, with Martha and T.D. giving it to Carolina as the bone belongs to a dinosaur.

## Characters

* Carolina

* Martha

* Skits

* T.D.

* Truman

* Helen

* Alice
* Jorge (mentioned)
* Granny Flo
* Janice Kennelly (mentioned)
* Mailman

## Vocabulary Words

inspect, information, investigate, scoop, uncover, news, story, headline, cover, print