Mrs. Clusky asks her students what they've chosen for their history reports, and T.D. chooses the Pony Express. However, when Mrs. Clusky says that she'd love to hear how mail was delivered in the early days, he changes his mind and it's revealed that he thought the Pony Express was a train for ponies. When he, Helen, and Alice leave (and meet up with Martha and Skits outside the school), he's discouraged, but the girls say that he just needs to find a new subject. However, T.D. is more interested in his gum.
At the corner store, the five of them hang out, but while the girls talk about their reports, T.D. and the dogs are more interested in finding something to chew instead of gum. When the girls ask if he thought of something for his report, he says he hasn't because he'd already written his other one (the one assuming the Pony Express was a train for ponies).
On the sidewalk, Helen encourages T.D. to find another report topic. They all go to the Lorraine house, where Helen shows him various train-related topics he could do. She starts with the Trans-Continental Railway, but then T.D. gets it wrong by saying his report could be about how the tracks "looked" for each other. Helen suggests a president, but he finds the idea boring because no presidents were undead.
Outside the pet supplies shop, the girls and Martha wonder how to get T.D. more interested in his report. Martha remembers how initially she thought walking on a leash was just a "weird game" and didn't get that the point was to go places, until she saw Rinty being walked. So, she decides that they need to show T.D. how to properly do research.
Helen takes T.D. to the library to show him how to research, and demonstrates searching things online, reading non-fiction, and note-taking. Then, T.D. walks off, claiming it's to "do research". The girls talk about this on the phone, suspecting that he's more focused on his chewing project than his assignment.
The next day at school, T.D. meets the girls and tells them his report is about a man named Tom Adams. The girls think the report will be terrible, wondering if he's gotten confused with John Adams. Then, T.D. gives his report, complete with puppets. However, it turns out that Tom Adams was a real person, and he invented chewing gum (by accident in an attempt to make tires).
Outside the school, Alice compliments T.D., who decides to make a website called T Dreports.org.
This episode provides examples of
- Accidental Misnaming: Discussed when the girls think T.D. got John Adams's name wrong when he mentions "Tom Adams".
- Animate Inanimate Object: Discussed when T.D. thinks the Trans-Continental Railway involved the tracks themselves searching for each other.
- Black Comedy: At one point, T.D. wonders if vampires have blood-flavoured gum.
- Buffy Speak: T.D. in Alice's imagination calls a rope toy "ropey".
- Comically Missing the Point:
- When T.D. is more interested in finding something besides gum to chew, Alice says, "What about your report?". T.D. says that you should never chew on a report.
- When Martha talks about how she learned to walk on a leash from watching Rinty, Alice thinks that Martha wants T.D. to be leashed.
- Continuity Nod: The girls talk about how Truman is indifferent about ice cream, which he discovered in "Ice Scream".
- Eating Shoes: Downplayed in Alice's imagination, where T.D. chews on shoes.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Played for Laughs — when Alice and Helen tell T.D. that he needs to "think of something else" (for his homework assignment), he says, "Something else! That's it!". He then reveals that he got the idea of thinking of something else to chew besides gum.
- Facepalm: Alice does a double-facepalm when she thinks T.D. got John Adams's name wrong.
- Fantasy Sequence: Alice has an imagining of T.D. giving a report on chewing.
- Flashback:
- One scene shows Martha learning to walk on a leash for the first time.
- As T.D. explains how he researched gum, we see it.
- Funny Animal: The ponies in T.D.'s "report" can walk on two legs and build.
- Furry Reminder: In T.D.'s first "report", the ponies are mainly anthropomorphic, but they're first seen walking on all fours.
- Gratuitous Spanish: A rare example on this show that isn't from Mariella, Carolina, or Jorge — T.D. greets the girls with "Hola".
- Idea Bulb: One of the ponies T.D. drew is thinking of a lightbulb when coming up with the idea of building train tracks.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: T.D. says that he has everything under control... and then immediately walks away from school instead of to school by mistake.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: When Helen says to eliminate something, T.D. says, "That's just what I was gonna say!", then immediately looks up "eliminate" in the dictionary.
- Loophole Abuse: T.D. gets scolded for chewing gum in class, so he tries looking for something else to chew instead.
- Lost My Appetite: Alice declares she'll never eat again after T.D. wonders if vampires have blood-flavoured gum.
- Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: When leaving the school, Alice says, "That... was... great actually!".
- Running Gag: T.D. keeps trying to find things to chew on in this episode.
- Shout-Out: T.D. mentions a "little-kids' story" called Goodbye, Moon, which references Goodnight Moon.
- Split-Screen Phone Call: The girls are shown on a split screen when talking on the phone.
- Stock Animal Diet: Several bone-shaped dog toys are seen, along with Martha and Skits offering real bones.
- Tastes Like Feet: In Alice's imagination, T.D. claims that shoes taste of "dried foot".
- Thirsty Desert: T.D.'s first "report" involves ponies being "tired of walking" in a desert.
- The Undead: Discussed when T.D. complains that no presidents were vampires, mummies, or zombies.
