Helen and her dogs are trying to watch TV, but can't find anything satisfactory. Danny notices that Skits has chewed through his chewie, so he sends Helen to buy him another. They pick out a really tough one, then are run into by Mr. Hucky and Slappy. Martha helps Mr. Hucky pick a chewie for Slappy, then Mr. Hucky asks Martha if she knows much about puppies. Martha says yes, and Mr. Hucky reveals (outside so no one can copy his idea) that, noticing the popularity of puppies, he wants to make a "puppy show".
When Helen and Martha arrive back from the store, they find that T.D. and Carolina have come over, so Helen tells them what happened. The four of them try to brainstorm ideas for the show, and Carolina thinks of an idea of a show about a game of fetch, but everyone else finds that idea lame. Carolina points out that puppies will enjoy it, but Martha says that they want humans to watch it.
Helen then imagines a show called Puppy Doctor, about a doctor, who is a puppy. Most of her friends like this idea, but Martha wants more "drama", so T.D. thinks up a superhero show starring two superpowered puppies. Everyone likes this idea, but Helen and Martha remember that he wanted Martha's input, so maybe he's just after her memories.
Later, Martha tells Mr. Hucky about her puppyhood memories, but Mr. Hucky decides he doesn't need her help after all. Martha then makes hypothetical statements that involve puppies having the powers T.D. made up and Mr. Hucky likes that idea, but Martha has second thoughts when he actually believes it.
At home, Martha tells Helen what happened, but reveals that she didn't have the heart to tell him it wasn't true. Unfortunately, before they can explain, Mr. Hucky phones up and reveals that he already made the show and sold it in 103 countries, claiming it was true. Martha explains that it was a misunderstanding and dogs don't really have powers.
Six days later, Helen and Martha are buying Skits another chewie, and Mr. Hucky comes and claims that people actually like cows more than puppies.
This episode provides examples of
- Accidental Truth: Inverted — Martha tells an Accidental Lie. She hypothetically states that puppies might have superpowers, but Mr. Hucky thought that it meant they really did.
- Animal Jingoism: One of the puppies in T.D.'s imaginary show maroons some cats on an island.
- Buffy Speak: Mr. Hucky refers to his researchers as "research-doers".
- But You Were There, and You, and You:
- The doctor in Helen's Puppy Doctor show looks just like Skits did when he was a puppy (though it clearly isn't meant to be Skits as a puppy, since apparently the doctor is a female puppy).
- The dogs in T.D.'s imaginary show look just like Martha and Skits did when they were puppies, and the villains look just like Weaselgraft and Pablum.
- Continuity Nod:
- Martha brings up Book Bots, which is the made-up show from "The Martha Show" and "Return of the Book Bots: the Case of the Missing Words".
- Later, she says, "There goes my TV career... again". The last time she was on TV professionally was "Here's Martha!".
- Counting to Potato: Discussed when T.D. wonders if Helen's news is that they've invented a new number called "Vinnie", which goes between six and seven.
- Episode Tagline: Downplayed. Everyone keeps saying, "Aw, puppies!", but only around the beginning of the episode, then once more towards the end.
- Fantasy Sequence: When characters suggest ideas for shows, we see what they imagine.
- "Far Side" Island: In T.D.'s imaginary show, some cats get marooned on an itty-bitty desert island with one palm tree sticking out.
- Flying Brick: In T.D.'s superhero show, the puppies both have super strength, and the Skits lookalike wears a jetpack, but the Martha lookalike can fly on her own.
- Fuzz Therapy: In Helen's imaginary show, Puppy Doctor, the puppy cheers up patients by licking them and having them rub her belly.
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal:
- Discussed when Carolina wonders if Helen's news is that they've made pants for the bears at the zoo.
- The imaginary star of Puppy Doctor wears only a lab coat.
- The stars of T.D.'s imaginary show are two puppies wearing a shirt and sweater but no pants.
- Heroic Dog: T.D.'s imaginary show stars two puppies as crime-fighting superheroes.
- Hidden Depths: Mr. Hucky reveals that, despite his usual droopy demeanour, Slappy can be destructive to his chew toys.
- Imagine Spot: Carolina briefly imagines her hypothetical show about a puppy playing fetch.
- Improbable Age: In Helen's imaginary show, Puppy Doctor, the puppy is a doctor despite not being fully grown (and being a dog, but that's another matter).
- Incredibly Lame Fun: Carolina's imaginary show is just a puppy playing fetch, which she claims would be exciting to puppies.
- Is It Something You Eat?: Upon hearing the word "gist" for the first time, Martha asks if it means an unchewable part of a food, because it sounds similar to "gristle".
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
- The puppy in Puppy Doctor is usually friendly to the patients, but sometimes she nips them.
- One of the puppies in T.D.'s imaginary show performs acts of heroism, but also maroons some cats.
- Kid Hero: In T.D.'s imaginary show, the two puppies are superheroes who stop crime.
- Lab Coat Of Science And Medicine: The puppy doctor in Helen's imaginary show wears a lab coat.
- Loud Gulp: Martha gulps when she realises Mr. Hucky actually believes that puppies have superpowers.
- Manchild: Discussed when Martha thinks Skits is still a puppy at heart for being goofy with his toy.
- Shout-Out: When defining the word "gist", Helen and Martha try to find the gist of Goldilocks.
- Speak in Unison:
- Helen and Martha say, "No. No. No. No. No." in unison when channel-flipping.
- Upon learning the show is about puppies, Carolina and T.D. say, "Aw, puppies!" in unison, then they (and Helen) do it again while brainstorming ideas for the show. Then, when Martha berates them for "just thinking of fuzzy puppies", they say, "Aw, fuzzy puppies!".
- Superheroes Wear Capes: In T.D.'s imaginary show, the puppy who looks like Martha wears a cape.
- Unintentionally Sympathetic: In-Universe; Martha refers to the Three Bears as "those poor bears" for having Baby Bear's chair broken, even though they're the antagonists.
- Unintentionally Unsympathetic: In-Universe; Martha calls Goldilocks "bad" for breaking Baby Bear's chair.
