04x17 - Return of the Bookbots: The Case of the Missing Words (Pts. 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

MAN:
♪ Martha was an average dog ♪

♪ She went... and... and... ♪
(barking, growls)

♪ When she ate
some alphabet soup ♪

♪ Then what happened
was bizarre... ♪

On the way to Martha's stomach,
the letters lost their way.

They traveled to her brain,
and now...

♪ She's got a lot to say ♪

♪ Now she speaks... ♪

How now, brown cow?

♪ Martha speaks ♪

♪ Yeah, she speaks
and speaks and speaks ♪

♪ And speaks and speaks... ♪

What's a caboose?

When are we eating again?

♪ Martha speaks... ♪

Hey, Joe, what do you know?

My name's not Joe.

♪ She's not always right, but
still that Martha speaks... ♪

Hi, there.

♪ She's got the voice,
she's ready to shout ♪

♪ Martha will tell you
what it's all about ♪

♪ Sometimes wrong,
but seldom in doubt ♪

♪ Martha will tell you
what it's all about ♪

♪ That dog's unique... ♪

Testing, one, two.

♪ Hear her speak ♪

♪ Martha speaks and speaks
and speaks and speaks and... ♪

♪ Communicates, enumerates,
elucidates, exaggerates ♪

♪ Indicates and explicates ♪

♪ Bloviates and overstates
and... ♪

(panting)

♪ Hyperventilates. ♪

♪ Martha-- to reiterate--
Martha speaks. ♪

ANNOUNCER:
Stand by for adventure!

Is he talking about us?

When did we get
an announcer?

ANNOUNCER:
Prepare yourself for
the excitement of... nouns.

Nouns?

This doesn't sound as easy
as our normal show.

ANNOUNCER:
Hang on for action
that can only be told

with nouns and adjectives.

Adjectives?

Count me out...

Ooh, costumes!

I'm in!

ANNOUNCER:
You'll hear words like
"term, "define," and "modify."

Oh, look!

I get to wear a helmet!

Let's do it!

♪ Book Bots ♪

♪ Doctor Dewey Decimal
created them one night ♪

♪ Upstairs
in the library stacks ♪

♪ By combining robot kids
that he'd built in his lab ♪

♪ With his favorite books
and smart snacks ♪

♪ These amazing robot friends
combine to form a team ♪

♪ They prepare with push-ups
and squats ♪

♪ So they're ready any time
a book's involved in a crime ♪

♪ Defenders of books,
the Book Bots ♪

♪ Book Bots go,
Book Bots know ♪

♪ Book Bots ♪

♪ It's a show within a show ♪

♪ Go, Book Bots, go ♪

♪ Chomp on one atomic chew ♪

♪ Your dog can be
a Book Bot, too ♪

♪ Book Bots! ♪

Nouns are words for persons,
places, or things.

TD, name a noun in the room.

Shoe.

If I say,
"My shoe is over my desk,"

"shoe" and "desk" are nouns.

Correct.

What are the nouns
in this sentence?

"I bought my shoes
from a man in Vilnius,

the capital of Lithuania."

Shoes are things.

Noun.

Man is a person.

Noun.

Capital, Vilnius,
and Lithuania are places.

All nouns.

Very good, TD.

(beeping)

TD?

(beeping)

(beeping)

(barking happily)

(beeping)

Sorry g*ng, gotta go.

MARTHA:
When trouble strikes,

four ordinary kids
and one extraordinary dog

shed their everyday guises
to become the Book Bots.

We're here, chief!

You're just in time, Book Bots.

Baffling mystery?

You're serving lunch?

Baffling mystery.

Oh.

Then lunch, right?

We just got this
security camera video

from a bookstore downtown.

This science book I bought
not ten minutes ago

has a word missing.

Look, there's an empty space
in this sentence.

How can I understand the
sentence without all the words?

Well, this copy is complete;
the missing word is "asteroid."

Why would asteroid be missing
from this copy but not that one?

A guy's robbing the bank,
and he's got an asteroid!

What a coincidence.

CAROLINA:
But is it a coincidence?

Important words have been
removed from other books, too.

Removed?

You mean the words
were taken out?

Sí, removidas.

Removed, leaving nothing
but a blank space.

This is The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer.

Port, port...

Now, men, with a will...

Steady.

Steady it is, sir.

CAROLINA:
In Chapter , the word "raft"
has been removed.

ALL:
Whoa!

It's just not the same if they
swim down the Mississippi.

In King Arthur,

the word "table" was removed.

It's now King Arthur and the
Knights of the Round nothing!

In Goldilocks
and the Three Bears?

The word "bears" is removed.

Now it's just
Goldilocks and the Three.

What's going on here?

Only the Book Bots
can solve this crime.

Hmm...

I've got it!

All the missing words
have something in common.

What is it?

Do you know?

Can you figure it out

before the Official Book Bots
Mystery Timer runs out?

You have ten seconds.

Go!

Ten seconds isn't
a very long time.

Think fast.

Don't get distracted.

Hey, what's that?

Don't look at us.

Think!

Time is almost up.

So do you know what all those
missing words have in common?

All of the missing words
are nouns.

A noun is a person, place,
or thing, so he's right:

all the missing words
are nouns.

But what does that have to do

with robbing a bank
with an asteroid?

Oh.

I don't know.

But they are all nouns.

Look!

Someone just robbed a bank

and escaped by sliding down
a raft to a round table.

Another bank is being robbed
right now.

The people are trapped
by three bears.

Raft, table, bears.

Those are the things missing
from these books.

Someone is removing nouns from
books and using them in crimes.

Is that what you guessed?

HELEN:
Stop that!

We have to save
those people.

This is a job for...

ALL:
Book Bots!

We'll need disguises.

ALL:
Pirate!

You don't need disguises.

(all grumbling)

So if we're not disguised
as pirates, what's our plan?

The plan is to use
the one tool

that can undo
this startling situation.

We'll send those bears
back where they belong

with the help of...

The Textinator!

We'll need something to distract
the bears long enough to use it.

I'm on it.

Papaya... no.

Pickles...

Porridge.

(mumbling nervously)

Who wants porridge?

Ooh!

Yummy porridge!

Send them home, Helen.

Oh, we're home!

But where's
the yummy porridge?

And who's been sleeping
in my bed?

(screaming)

We've got to get an alarm.

(sighs of relief)

Remember, don't anyone move and
those scary bears won't hurt...

Where'd my bears go?

The Textinator re-inserted
the three bears

back into the book
they were removed from.

Really.

Is there a term for that?

Term?

What's a term, a w*apon?

TD:
I think it's a type
of bird, like a seagull.

No, a term is a special word
for something.

The term for someone with powers
who fights crime is "superhero."

And the term
for you is "crook."

Please, allow me to do the
talking, for I am The Announcer.

An announcer tells people
what is important to know.

Like an announcer at a ballgame,

or at a shopping mall,
or on TV or radio.

"The train leaving
on track three

for Anaheim, Azusa,
and Cucamonga."

"Stay tuned
for more adventures."

"It's a long fly ball!"

"Attention shoppers, bluelight
special in aisle ,."

"Goal...!"

You must recognize me.

Don't you kids watch TV?

KIDS:
Nope.

We read.

But you've heard of the famous
game show Insert-a-Word.

KIDS:
Nope.

I knew you looked familiar!

That's the show where
contestants insert words

into sentences.

It's my favorite game show ever.

So I watch a lot of TV.

It's not a crime.

I can't read, remember?

Dog?

I've been on that show
for years,

saying the same things
every day.

Welcome to Insert-a-Word.

Insert means "to put something
into something else."

Here's how the game works.

In our top-secret
Insert-a-Word laboratory,

our team of cr*ck scientists
remove a word from a sentence.

Then they carefully insert
a blank.

Insert is the opposite
of remove.

Then we give our contestants
a choice of words

to insert into the blank.

The better the sentence
our contestants create,

the more points they get.

All right,
let's play the game!

And your secret sentence is,

"It's always polite to remove
your blank from your head."

Contestant one,
insert your word.

"It's always polite to remove
your pants from your head."

(buzzer)
AUDIENCE:
Oh...

The noun you should have
inserted was "hat."

I disagree.

I think I'm right.

(laughing)

It was fun for the first
, episodes.

Then, all of a sudden,
in the middle of show ,,

it felt repetitive.

"You get three wishes when you
rub Aladdin's magic... chicken."

(buzzer)

It's a lamp!

You don't rub a chicken!

This isn't funny anymore!

I quit!

At that very moment,
a voo-nuclear Zeta-Microphone

from the Nenninger Nebula
fell from outer space.

Oops.

ANNOUNCER:
Touching that alien mic
gave me the power

to remove and insert nouns,
like the game, except for real!

And that's the end
of my story.

Hey! Stop!

ALICE:
It's not open yet.

No one here.

He must have gone out the back.

ANNOUNCER:
You're trapped,
Book Bots.

The door's locked.

We're not afraid.

You have no books
to remove nouns from.

Uh-oh.

TD, look at this.

Without books,
you're powerless.

You don't scare us,
no way.

Nouns aren't
just in books.

They're everywhere
you use words.

"Spaghetti and" blank?

They all say
spaghetti and blank.

That's a lot of blank.

And I know what that blank is.

Meatballs!

ALL:
Meatballs!

Meatballs!

Meatballs!

Can't... move...

Too... many... meatballs!

ANNOUNCER:
Is there no escape from nouns
like meatballs?

I don't think so.

But why take the word
of a crook?

Stay tuned and see!

A noun is a person,
like a librarian;

a place, like the library;

or a thing, like a door.

Why are you announcing
the location of my door?

This is a secret door,
and no one should look at it.

I'm defining nouns.

The word "secret"
is an adjective.

But this is more than a door.

How do I tell people
more about it?

I add an adjective.

Adjectives are words
that describe nouns.

"Secret" describes my door,
which is a secret door!

¿Comprendes?

I'll come back when we
talk about adjectives.

No, you can't!

This door is secret!

This is a secret door with
a grouchy girl behind it.

ANNOUNCER:
In part one, we saw
the Book Bots discover

a man who removes nouns
from sentences

and uses them for badness.

Removing just one noun
can ruin a good book.

This handsome villain is
unafraid of our heroes.

Nouns are everywhere,
and now so are meatballs.

If you think what I did
before was bad,

pick a word to describe
my next rotten deed.

I mean... deed.

You pick the adjective
to describe it.

Let's go!

Surrender, Book Bots,

and become my little
happy Hench-bots.

We'll never help you!

You pull nouns out of books
and wreck them.

They're not wrecked,
just changed.

No one has the right
to change someone else's book.

We took an oath
to respect and defend books.

An oath is when you say
you promise to do something.

And Book Bots
never break promises.

I'd like to hear your oath.

"I pledge allegiance
to books and words

"because books and words
express ideas,

"and without ideas, our brains
wouldn't do anything

"except keep the wind
from whistling

"through our empty robot heads.

"With liberty and
justice for all.

Rights reserved."

Now I understand.

I'm going to free you
and become a good guy.

Really?

No!

Fooled you!

I took my own oath:
"I promise to be bad

all day, every day,
and blah, blah, blah-blah."

Hey, I just noticed
the meatballs stopped.

They stopped because
I stopped saying "meatball"

into my microphone.

Aren't my powers obvious?

Um, no.

I choose a good noun
from a book-- or, say, a menu.

Then, when I say it into my mic,
it's removed from the book--

or, again, from a menu--
and inserted into reality.

Like so...

Meatballs!

Meatballs!

Meatballs!

I should have said yes.

You couldn't.

Book Bots never lie.

What's our plan?

We're heroes.

We can't just stand
in meat all day.

Well, what's the best way
to get rid of meatballs?

(chomping loudly)

Follow me!

I'll eat us free!

I never thought
I'd be so happy

Martha's stomach
is a bottomless pit.

(electronic beeps)

What's happening?

Gorge-atomic feedback from rapid
digestion in her nuclear core.

I think the term
is "robot burp."

Ew, Book Bots never emit
gorge-atomic feedback in public.

Part B of our oath
says it's permitted

when you save your friends by
eating a tunnel of meatballs.

We have to find
The Announcer!

(honks loudly)

Excuse me.

I couldn't say it
while that was happening,

but I saw the bad guy
go into the park.

Book Bots, go!

I always celebrate victories

with a relaxing ride
through the par...

(gasps)

Surrender, wordy villain!

One of them escaped.

I'll pay double if your horse
can outrace a desk.

MARTHA:
He has no books.

He's powerless.

Two of them!

And she's right.

Must find nouns!

Three?

Surrender!

There's no escape from...

ALL:
Book Bots!

Five! All of them!

No escape except that one.

No sign of him anywhere.

Maybe he went in the zoo.

I hope not.

The map has the word
"elephants" on it.

The last thing we need is
to be buried in elephants.

I don't think I could eat
more than one elephant.

Hey, kids, want to be
part of a show?

What show is it?

The Goose That Laid
the Golden... blank.

Oh, no!

A noun's been removed!

Yes, a noun's removed
from every leaflet in the park.

That noun is...

Eggs!

Eggs! Eggs!

And then he escaped.

It's the Book Bots'
darkest hour.

There is no way
to b*at nouns.

I'm grateful they
were regular eggs

and not hard, golden eggs.

Hey, why didn't he throw
hard, golden eggs at us?

"Golden Eggs" was written
on every paper.

Because he only has
the power to remove nouns.

Egg is the noun.

Golden is the adjective.

He couldn't use it.

Hmm... wait.

Adjectives are what again?

Adjectives are words that
describe or tell about nouns,

you know, a person,
place, or thing.

Like rubber ball.

Ball is the noun,

and rubber tells us
what kind of ball it is.

That's the adjective.

So he couldn't throw golden eggs

because he has no power
over adjectives.

If we had power over adjectives,

we could have turned them
into tiny fish eggs

and not been bothered.

Martha's got it!

We could change all
his nouns with adjectives

and make them useless!

ALL:
Adjectives, go!

But we don't have the power
to use adjectives that way.

(Helen sighs)

Martha's right again.

Maybe my genius friend
Dr. Exacty can help us.

Is that
Dr. Exacty's dog?

Excuse me?

That's Dr. Exacty,

a brilliant genius

who never rolls in dirt
or gets mud on the couch.

(barking)

He's heard about our problem and
thinks he can create a device

that will modify The Announcer's
nouns with adjectives.

Modify?

Modify means to change
something a little.

Is a little enough?

(barking)

If we modify them

with carefully chosen
adjectives, yes.

(wining in consideration)

So is he going to do it?

He is doing it.

His brain is hard
at work right now.

(woofing softly)

I could scratch that for you.

Don't!

That's what he does
when he thinks hard.

It's okay, it's okay.

That's what he does

when he performs
complex math problems.

(barking happily)

MARTHA:
And that's what he does

when he thinks he hears
a cat in his yard.

(barking)

He's got the answer!

He says it'll be ready

in the amount of time it takes
you to cook him a steak.

(barks)

Just in time.

The Announcer's been spotted
heading for another bank.

We're ready.

Dr. Exacty built
our secret w*apon,

which we can't even think of
a single adjective to describe.

Unfortunately,
he made it

so it only fits
a dog's head.

Makes sense to me.

Perfect day for a large
withdrawal, don't you think?

"Perfect" isn't
the adjective we'd use.

Don't you know
I'm unbeatable?

Should I define it for you?

"Define" is when you explain
what a word means.

There's no need
to define "unbeatable."

And there's no need
to define "define."

Book Bots are experts
at defining.

For example, your match
is defined as a person,

or group of persons, who are
equal in strength to you.

Now get ready
to meet your match.

(laughs)

Do you think a dog in a helmet
can stop this?

This is a farm supplies
catalogue!

Know what nouns
are in here?

How about... tractor!

Silo!

Missed us!

Not even close.

KIDS:
Whoa!

Hay!

Hay! Hay!

Martha, what are
you waiting for?

Uh, a little help?

Why aren't you calling out
adjectives to modify his nouns?

He's too fast.

I can't think of the best ones
in time.

Just say the first one
that comes into your head.

How about a combine?

Now, Martha, modify it now!

Uh...

Bouncy!

Tiny, bouncy combine!

Ow.

That never happened before.

It's all over, Announcer.

Yeah.

We've got a dog
in a helmet.

Anvil!

What kind of anvil, Martha?

Feather!

A feather is a thing!

Feather is a noun,
not an adjective!

Feathery!

A feathery anvil!

No!

Anvil, anvil, anvil!

Weightless!

Weightless, floating anvils!

Weightless means
having no weight.

There isn't one weightless anvil
for sale in this catalogue!

Nope.

I made them weightless.

That's why they're
floating there.

They don't weigh anything.

Things that are weightless
are also very easy to pick up.

I control your nouns now,
Announcer.

Hey!

Cut that out, you kids!

Leave my nouns alone.

The word "villain" doesn't
seem like enough for you.

What kind of villain would you
like him to be, Martha?

Weightless?

I'd say tiny!

A tiny villain!

(in high voice):
No!

If I can't lift my mic,
I'm a powerless villain!

TD:
Good work, Martha.

Now he's a tiny,
powerless villain.

I hate adjectives!

Nouns rule!

(sobbing)

Nouns rule.

And so the bad guy
became the sad guy.

HELEN:
Hungry, Skits?

(barks)

(sniffing)

(barks)

What?

You said you wanted food.

There's your food.

Didn't you get the food
you wanted?

(grumbles)

I made up that story
to show you the power

of choosing the right words.

Using the right nouns
and adjectives

helps people to understand
exactly what you mean.

(barks)

He said the exact word
for what he wants is "steak."

(barks)

A steak with adjectives.

Pick some adjectives.

You're telling me
Skits ordered

a thick, juicy steak?

Yes.

I think if your dog uses nouns
and adjectives correctly,

he deserves a reward.

MARTHA:
My helmet makes it
a juicy steak!

And what are they doing now?

Oh, they're playing Book Bots,
a TV show Martha made up.

I wonder what life is like
for people with regular dogs.

Dull.

Dull life.

(barks)

Those sure were
delicious steaks,

thanks to nouns
modified by adjectives.

(woofing)

Exactly.

A noun is a person,
place, or thing.

Steak is a noun.

(barking)

Right, adjectives are words

that describe a person,
place, or thing.

Like juicy.

(woofing)

Yes, adjectives are an important
part of every meal.

If you say "steak," that could
mean any kind of steak.

(sighs)

What kind of steak
would you like?

(grumbling, barking)

Yes, "every" is
an adjective.

(barks)

You want every steak.

Of course.

MARIELA:
Get off the couch,
naughty dogs.

(barking)

Yes, "naughty"
is an adjective.

Did you catch all the words
about nouns and adjectives?

If not, here are a few again.

Nouns are words for persons,
places, or things.

Adjectives are words that
describe or tell about nouns.

Modify means to change
something a little.

Define is when you explain
what a word means.

I only hope the next show
is about the words

"sitting" and "around."

And...

(snoring)

Bye!