Oh, Martha. She talks too much. She's something of a budinsky. She gossips. She complains. But like any other dog -- and, yes, Martha's a dog -- all she really wants is to love and be loved. And for Martha, this can take some work.
See, unlike other cartoon talking dogs, Martha breaks the species barrier by actually being able to form words! Sentences! Whole, unending paragraphs! All of which are understandable to humans. This means that while she can express herself clearly, she's not always taken seriously (not altogether unlike a kid), which can be frustrating for Martha (and a kid, of course) and backfire on those who are doing the underestimating.
I sat down with my two daughters -- Beatrice, 7, and Frances, 3 -- to preview the first episode of "Martha Speaks," which premieres on PBS this fall.
The two are well familiar with the book "Martha Speaks," which is the first in a series by Susan Meddaugh featuring Martha the talking dog. It's one of the few kids books that their grandmother owns which doesn't smell like 30 years of musty basement and we've read it together maybe a million times. Watching it on TV, I could now learn the truth: was it a lack of mold spores or a good story that had made Martha such a central part of our literary lives?
Background:
One day, Martha was accidentally given a bowl of alphabet soup instead of regular ol' dog chow. Rather than filling up her stomach, the letters traveled to her brain. An articulate, quippy, verrrrry chatty dog is formed. To keep up her speech, Martha needs periodic doses of alphabet soup. Her people know this and keep her in the letters, despite their growing agony over Martha sharing their secrets, Martha talking over their favorite TV shows, Martha ordering up steaks and ribs from the local carry out, among other abuses of the tongue.
Then, Martha overhears her person wishing she never had a dog who could speak. Naturally, this shuts Martha up. She cuts the soup cold turkey. She goes silent. And then the burglars arrive.
I won't give away the ending of this first episode, except to say the underdog wins! So do the young viewers. The producers of the show are sneaky and part of their goal, according to the press packet, is to broaden kids' vocabularies by introducing big words in context. Also, unlike the books, they've mixed up character ethnicities a bit and sprinkled some Spanish throughout. There's also a Web site where all the learning is reinforced.
The show is aimed at children from 4 to 7 years old, so my girls are brain development bookends in terms of viewership. We followed up the premiere with this discussion:
The Review
Me: Close call with the burglars, huh? Why did Martha stop talking?
Frances: She didn't eat soup!
Me: Why not?
Beatrice: She was sad because the little girl said she didn't want Martha to talk anymore. Why did you watch the show with us? You never watch TV with us?
Me: I love Martha! I wanted to watch. Hey, could you ever do what Martha did? Stop talking on purpose?
Beatrice: Noooooo.
Me: Who'd you guys like in the show?
Frances: I liked the girl with the orange hair and skirt.
Me: She was fun! Why did you like her?
Frances: She's cute. I liked her pink shirt.
Me: What about Martha?
Frances: Yes. She got sad because she couldn't speak.
Me: Why couldn't she speak?
Frances: [shrugs shoulders]
Beatrice: Are you always going to watch Martha with us?
Me: Maybe? Hey, you know how we've read those other Martha books, which ones do you want to see on TV?
Beatrice and Frances: Sir Lancelot! [Sir Lancelot's a pushover pug that gets caught up in a fraudulent dog-training ring.]
Me: Oooooh, Sir Lancelot. I'll definitely watch that one with you.
Beatrice: Can we watch it again now?
Me: Sure.
Frances: Can we have a snack?
Image: Martha Speaks
