T.D. and Helen are staring at the sky on their school break with the Lorraine dogs, when Truman approaches and reveals that an astrophysicist named Neil De Grasse Tyson is coming to the library in ten minutes. He claims that they signed up for his week-long seminar, but T.D. isn't keen since all he wants to do is look at the sky. However, when Truman reveals that astrophysicists study the sky, T.D. changes his mind.
At the library, Truman geeks out, then Neil De Grasse Tyson recognises him as the boy who sends him long, daily emails. Then, he starts his seminar, then assigns everyone to pick a buddy to observe the sky with, then tell him their observations the next day.
Exiting the library, T.D. asks Neil De Grasse Tyson about UFOs and learns what one is, then Neil De Grasse Tyson says that if you've identified it as a spaceship then it's no longer a UFO, and he has to bring proof of it back. T.D. then asks Helen to be his buddy, but he picks Alice instead. Martha asks Helen why she doesn't want to be T.D.'s partner, and Helen says that he'd be unproductive due to his goofy personality. T.D. tries to partner up with Ronald, but he chooses Carolina instead, so T.D. goes to Truman, who promises to be his partner as long as T.D. works hard.
That night, the two boys study the sky together, along with Helen and Alice, with Martha tagging along. Helen is surprised that T.D. isn't causing problems, then T.D. goes to bed and looks over his sketch of a constellation. The next day, Helen and Alice report their findings, then T.D. and Truman try to do the same. However, to Truman's displeasure, T.D. has added extra stars to his sketch and tried unsuccessfully to connect them into constellations.
That night, the kids go to the park to study again, but Truman is salty about the incident and T.D. is sad. Truman shows his telescope, and T.D. shows Martha how to use it. Then, Truman shows his friends Mars and talks about Mars rovers, which makes T.D. want one for his own.
The next day, Truman tells everyone about his findings, then T.D. shows up. He claims to be showing footage from Mars, and at first everyone's impressed, but then it's revealed that he faked it and the footage is of the Lorraines' yard. Truman runs out of the library, and later, T.D. asks Helen and Martha why. They explain that Truman was embarrassed because T.D. makes it appear as though Truman doesn't take the assignments seriously. T.D. claims he does take it seriously and was just "trying [his] best" since he doesn't have a Mars rover.
Helen tells him to prove how serious he is, so that night at the park, he apologises to Truman. Truman accepts the apology and reveals that the assignment is to identify "pieces of outer space". However, he then gets angry again when T.D. throws a rock which, unbeknown to him, Truman thought was a meteorite fragment. T.D. says he plans to bring a "piece of the universe", which Truman dislikes the sound of.
The next day, T.D. claims that he's brought himself and Truman as his "piece of the universe", since the whole universe is made of atoms. Everyone is impressed except for Truman, who points out that he only learnt that the universe was made of atoms and thus isn't being a "scientist". However, Neil De Grasse Tyson defends T.D. and says he was being scientific since learning is essentially doing research.
Later, Truman sulks on the steps of the library, believing that Neil De Grasse Tyson sees him as just "that goofy kid who was T.D.'s partner". However, Neil De Grasse Tyson appears (having been told Truman was unhappy by Martha) and says that T.D. was laudable for seeing T.D.'s potential, and that even though he made things up, this proves he has an imagination, which is important.
This episode provides examples of
- Astonishingly Inappropriate Interruption: Neil De Grasse Tyson says, "I'm N—", only for Truman to interrupt with "Neil De Grasse Tyson, whoo!".
- Buffy Speak: Helen fears that if T.D. were her partner, he'd distract her by doing "goofy T.D. stuff".
- Compliment Backfire: When T.D. reveals that he drew more stars on his constellation sketch and tried (but failed) to make constellations from them, Neil De Grasse Tyson says, "Interesting experiment, guys!". However, Truman hates this as he doesn't like how it implies he had any part in it.
- Embarrassment Plot: The plot of this episode is Truman being embarrassed at T.D.'s goofy antics during an astronomy seminar.
- Green-Eyed Monster: When Neil De Grasse Tyson says T.D. thinks like a scientist, Truman fears that he sees him as just "the goofy kid who was T.D.'s partner".
- Innocently Insensitive: T.D. was just trying to do the assignment with his goofy "reports", but accidentally ends up embarrassing Truman.
- I've Heard of That — What Is It?: T.D. denies ever signing up for a seminar, then asks what one is.
- Pluto Is Expendable: Truman claims he was initially angry at the scientists when they reclassified Pluto, but then decided that change is a part of growing up.
- Rhyming Title: The episode's title rhymes.
- You Can Talk?: Discussed when Neil De Grasse Tyson mentions that it was "a surprise" that Martha spoke to him.
