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 a 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!

♪ Martha speaks.

♪ DAD: What a morning!

Sun, blue skies, and I'm getting married to the loveliest girl in the world!

Aren't you already married?

I'm not really getting married.

I'm just practicing my lines.

The community theater group is putting on a play, Martha.

Mom and Dad are the stars.

And guess who gets to be stage manager and yell "Places!"

and stuff.

You?

Wow!

It's a play about two people in love but they come from mundos diferentes-- different worlds.

Darling, how can we be happy together?

We come from different families, different traditions.

What are traditions?

Traditions are things you do because your family or your community has always done them that way.

Like celebrating Thanksgiving, or Hanukah, or Christmas.

And our family has its own traditions-- like Sunday dinner with Grandma and Grandpa and our annual family camping trip.

Dad, annual means you do it every year.

We went camping once.

But we're going again this year.

I promise.

(dramatically): Why?

Because I am... (stiffly): a traditional man.

MR. BOXWOOD: Hold it.

We need more feeling, Daniel.

Hector is a bullfighter.

He is telling the woman he loves that he can never give that up!

It's part of his culture.

Okay.

A person's culture is everything that has been passed down to him from his family and his country.

Bullfighting is a part of Spanish culture just like baseball is part of American culture.

Or... Or like playing fetch is part of dog culture.

Exactly.

Thank you, Martha.

Kids, I may have just had a stroke of genius.

Everybody take five.

I want to have a chat with my newest star.

Who?

Me?

MRS. BOXWOOD: We thought you two could share the star dressing room.

The door is a little sticky.

The trick is to give the knob a little flick of the wrist.

Et voilà!

The bull?

You want me to play the bull?

It's the best role in the play.

Just the costume alone.

You've got the only talking dog in the whole theater industry, and I don't even get any lines.

Martha, any fool can say a few lines.

But you, with your mere presence, must convince the audience you are the bull!

Say it for me.

Say what?

"I am the bull."

Say it.

(weakly): I am the bull.

(with gusto): I am the bull!

I am the bull!

This is the dinner scene, Martha.

You're not on until the bullfighting scene.

Love the energy, Martha!

But remember, don't say it out loud.

Just think it.

Think it.

MR. BOXWOOD: That's right.

(sighs) Okay.

Let's take it from "How do you like your eggplant?"

And... How do you like your eggplant, Hector?

Muy sabroso-- very tasty!

Where did you get the recipe?

It's a family secret, passed down from generation to generation.

What's a generation?

A generation is the people in a family who are about the same age.

Jake and I are one generation.

Mom and Dad are another generation.

Then Grandma and Grandpa, and so on.

DAD: Delicious!

What will the main course be?

Chicken?

Oh.

This is the main dish.

Our family has been vegetarian for generations.

That means we only eat vegetables.

What did you say you do for a living, Hector?

MR. BOXWOOD: Lester?

We need tension here.

Hector fights bulls.

Maria's family are animal lovers.

They don't eat meat.

This is why, in the end, Maria and Hector can never be married.

(gasps) They can't get married?

They don't eat meat?

How can they not get married?

They love each other!

So what if they come from different cultures?

Helen, you're the stage manager.

Didn't you read the script?

I thought there must have been a scene missing at the end.

They have to get married.

It's a love story.

MR. BOXWOOD: No, no, I'm sorry.

We mustn't change one word.

This play is a masterpiece.

MOM: You look great.

Just like a real Spanish bullfighter.

"I am a traditional man.

Soy un hombre trad-I-cional!"

Actually, it's tr adicio-NAL.

Really?

"Soy un hombre tradic-IO-nal!"

(giggles) Everyone, gather 'round.

Our community theater's annual...

Places, please!

No time.

Well, break a leg, everyone.

Break a leg?

It means "good luck," Martha.

It's an old theater custom to say it.

Oh, right.

What's a custom?

Is that like a costume?

No, a costume is something you wear.

Like this cape.

A custom is something people have done for a long time.

It's customary for actors to say "break a leg" instead of "good luck" before the show because they think it's bad luck to say "good luck."

I hope that's wrong, because you just said "good luck" twice.

Oops!

Oh, well.

What could possibly go wrong?

(crowd murmuring) Excuse me, I couldn't help noticing the way you are standing.

You are a dancer, aren't you?

(bullfight music plays) I am the bull.

I am the bull!

(roars) Why does that dog have paper cones on its head?

I'm the bull!

(whispers): Psst!

Pull out the sword.

(whispers): Oh, right.

No, Hector!

You must not fight this helpless animal.

But Maria, I am a traditional man.

Soy un hombre tr ad-I-cional.

(whispers): Tradicio-NAL.

(whispers): Tr adicio-NAL.

(loudly): T radicio-NAL.

(applause) Well, that was weird.

How does my shawl look?

HELEN: Places!

Curtain going up!

Great!

Let's go.

Uh-oh.

Well, Maria, tonight we meet this young man you've spoken so much about.

Maria?

Mom!

You're on!

(Dad struggles to open the door) MOM: Give it a flick of the wrist, Danny, remember?

DAD: Right.

A flick... Oh, no.

Maria!

I don't know what could be keeping her.

This is weird.

Nothing's happening.

Aquí hacemos?

What do we do?

The window.

Nice weather.

MRS. BOXWOOD: It certainly is.

MR. PARKINGTON: Maria!

What kept you?

Um... hola, Papa.

(loud clunking noise) GUARD #1: Tights and a cape?

Guy thinks he's a superhero.

DAD: It's okay!

There's a woman trapped inside.

I have to rescue her.

Mama, you cannot judge this young man until you meet him.

(knock on the door) That must be him now.

I hope.

Buenos tardes... Hector?

Afternoon, folks!

So this is the young man you wish to marry, Maria?

Uh, sí!

This, is, uh, Hector.

Hiya!

Hey, I thought the dog was the bull.

Now she's the bullfighter?

I have to hurry.

I'll explain later.

(whistle blows) This is the main dish.

Our family has been vegetarian for generations.

I prefer sausages.

(audience laughs) Hector?

Hola!

Sorry I'm late.

He's not Hector.

I'm Hector!

A phony Hector?

The mind reels!

(whistle blows) Got to run!

Officer Bradshaw?

He must be after that phony Hector.

He went thataway.

Doorknob.

Where's the doorknob?

MOM: I don't know.

Look around.

This has certainly been an exciting day.

MARTHA: Who's this?

Um, I'm your sister?

Whose sister?

Oh, you probably came for this.

Did she just give him a doorknob?

Gracias.

Maybe I'll go out the other way.

(audience gasps) HELEN: But why can't you accept him and his culture?

And have that man in my family?

I would rather have this home fall down around our ears.

(Dad screams) Duck!

(laughter and applause) I'm here!

Sorry I'm... (gasps) Maria?

Of course.

Your sister has been looking for you.

And... wait!

Is this Hector?

I thought that was Hector!

But now I realize it was the bull.

RONALD: That makes no sense whatsoever!

It's true.

I am the bull.

And I may just be a simple animal, but from what I can see, Hector and Maria love each other.

And I don't see why tradition, or customs, or anything else should stand in their way.

Also, I don't think you should fight me.

The bull is right.

If tradition says I can't marry Maria, then the heck with tradition!

Yay!

I mean, uh, felicitaciones!

Oh, Hector!

Oh, Maria!

I think I'm going to cry.

It's true, darling.

We must all be willing to change, even if we are... A man... a woman... a bull of tradition.

That was the best community theater play ever!

(cheers and applause) How would you like to be in next year's community theater play, too?

Okay, but only if I can speak.

Sure thing.

This could be the start of a whole new tradition.

MARTHA: Why not?

Because dogs don't get allowances, Martha.

Helen gets an allowance.

And?

Okay, she's not a dog.

All right, but still, it's the principle of the thing.

Martha, Helen does chores for her allowance.

She takes out the trash.

She clears the table.

I do chores.

What chores do you do?

Plenty of them!

I keep gophers out of the yard.

There are no gophers in the yard.

You see what a good job I'm doing?

Now how about an allowance?

I'm sorry, Martha, but people just don't give money to their dogs.

It's unfair.

I bet if I were a person, I'd get an allowance.

What is that you're doing?

A map?

It's a family tree.

It shows all your relatives and how they're related.

These are all my ancestors up here.

Ancestors?

Your ancestors are the people who came before you in your family.

So my ancestors are up here.

Here's Grandma Lucille's mom and dad, who are my great-grandparents.

And below are all the sons and daughters and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Here's me and Jake.

Wow, that's great.

Where am I?

Where's Skits?

Oh, a family tree is just people.

It shows how people are related.

Could you put us in anyway?

Me and Skits?

I would, but it's homework.

I need to do it right.

Oh... okay.

Not getting allowance is bad enough, but to not be part of the family tree... Where's my family tree, I'd like to know.

Hey, wait a minute.

I know where I could go to find out.

(woofs) Back where I came from, that's where.

MARTHA: The animal shelter.

Sure, I remember the first time you were here.

You were a great little pup.

But what about my ancestors, Kazuo?

Well, actually, dogs are descendants of a very interesting family.

I had a feeling we were, right Skits?

(woofs) Uh, what is a descendant again?

Well, when you say you're descended from someone, that means you're related to someone who lived before you.

For instance, I'm a descendant of my grandfathers and my great-great- great-grandfathers.

They're ancestors and I'm a descendant.

Then who am I a descendant of?

TV NARRATOR: The wolf is a fearsome predator, featured in tales and folklore.

But did you know that wolves are the main ancestors of... today's pet dog?

(yips) I'm descended from wolves?

That's right.

TV NARRATOR: Before they were domesticated by humans, dogs, like wolves, traveled in packs.

A pack is a group of animals who live and hunt together.

A pack?

Hmm... (woofs) We came to the zoo because they have wolves here.

Maybe they'll let us join their pack.

Come on.

(zoo animals roar) Walk fast!

Walk fast!

Maybe we can find a nicer pack to join.

(cat meowing, dogs yipping) Holy heritage!

We don't need to find a pack, Skits.

We can make our own.

(inquisitive woof) Okay, let's hear your wolf howl.

(unimpressive howling) Okay, we'll work on it.

The main thing is, we're a pack, right?

We stick together, we hunt together.

We're the wolf pack and nobody better mess with us.

(howling) Okay, pack, the first thing we do is the first thing our ancestors did: We prowl for food.

(yips) (panting) (sighs) Look, I can see you guys don't understand what being a pack is all about.

We're not pets anymore.

We're going to live like our ancestors, the wolves.

We're a pack and there's only one place for us now: out in the wild.

(owl hoots) (gasps): What was that?

(barks) An owl?

Right, I knew that.

No need to panic.

Why?

'Cause we're the wolf pack!

(howling) Nobody better mess with us, right?!

(barking, howling) And now that we're out in the wild, what do we do?

(yips) Hide-and-go-seek?

Hide-and-go-seek is a human game.

We're animals.

We're hungry.

We... hunt.

We hunt.

(dejected growl) Okay, now squirrels are fast, but we're a pack.

We can work as a team to confuse our prey, right?

(sighs) Like on the Animal Channel.

(excited woofs) Okay, so here's what we're going to do... (bees buzzing) Look, guys, you're doing this wrong.

We need to follow the natural order here.

You see, we're hunters like our ancestors, the wolves.

(squeaking) What about you?

Well, you're the prey.

That's a very important role.

(squeaking) What does it involve?

Well, basically you let us eat you for dinner.

Hey, that's not nice!

(squeaky laughter) I got a nut.

That's good, right?

Okay, okay, I'll admit it-- round one went to those stinking squirrels.

But hey, it's only our first day, right, pack?

(yips) What do you mean how long are we doing this?

Forever.

We're wild dogs now.

(howls) (barks) What are we going to eat?

Plenty.

There's... spiders.

Yum, right?

Nice, tasty spider sandwich.

My mouth is watering already.

And grubs.

Don't forget grubs, which are these white wormy things that crawl around in rotten logs.

(faint motor whirring) (barks) Wait!

Where are you going?

Cisco!

We're a pack!

(woofs) Ah, let him go.

Now only the strong ones are left, right, pack?

Hey, look, you guys!

This is great.

We can use this as our wolf den.

(sniffs, barks) Of course it smells damp.

It is damp.

(barks) Well, yes, I am cold too, Burt.

I am also a short-haired breed.

But you know what keeps me warm?

It's knowing that I'm my own beast.

I don't have to depend on humans... (faint crackling sound) I'm part of the wolf pack.

Right?

Burt?

Where are you going?

Just don't come crying to me about all the fun you're missing out on.

(sighs) Well, looks like it's just you and me, Skits.

Hey, shove over.

(woofs) You just need to scooch.

Now scoo.. (Skits howling, Martha yelling) This is going to be a long night.

(barks) What day is today?

Skits, day names are human inventions.

From now on we have no day names.

There is Woofday and Woofday followed by Woofday.

There is no Thursday.

There is no... (woofs) Okay, yes, it's Wednesday.

(woofs) You're right!

Courageous Collie Carlo is on tonight!

We have to...

Wait, no, hang on.

Skits, we have to ask ourselves: Are we going to live like humans or are we going to live like wolves?

(barks) You're supposed to say "like wolves."

(whimpers, woofs wearily) Yeah, well, I miss home too, but we're not humans.

If you said we were part of the family on your homework, you'd be wrong.

And a pack is better than a family anyway.

No one can tell you that you're not part of it.

(barks) (whimpers) Okay, okay, go watch your show.

(barks happily) (whimpers) Don't worry about me.

I'll be fine.

I'm my own pack.

It's okay, Martha.

You're a pack of one.

Slipping in and out of the shadows, a lone hunter.

Hang on.

What have we here?

Martha spots the unknowing prey.

Her wolflike instincts kick in.

The dog waits for its moment.

It's a matter of split-second timing that will decide... whether she'll have a delicious duck dinner for one, or spend the night with an empty belly.

Something is wrong with this duck.

It seems to have a broken wing.

Helpless and unprotected, it is no match for the hungry hound.

And now... the dog makes... her move!

How is he, doc?

You were right, it was a broken wing.

It's good you brought him in so quickly.

Can I go talk to him?

Sure.

Does it hurt?

(quacks) Well, I'm sorry if I scared you.

I can't help it.

I'm a beast.

(quacks) Well, yes, I did bring you here.

I suppose that part isn't very beastly, but I'm still getting the hang of it.

Up until now I've just been a house dog.

(quacks) What's wrong with that?

Well... (quacks) Sure, there are meals.

(quacks) TV?

Of course.

(quacks) You would?

Well, maybe I can help you.

MARTHA: Can we keep him?

Please?

I'll watch him.

I mean, just until he's better.

And then it's back to the woods.

Well, I don't see why not.

At least until his wing works.

Great!

You're in, duck.

(quacks) Sorry.

Ralph.

His name is Ralph.

(quacks) Well, I'm glad you're here, Martha.

I have something to show you.

After we talked, I worked on my homework some more.

See?

I added to it.

Hey, it's Skits and me.

I told Mrs. Clusky that I thought being part of a family is more than just being related.

Sometimes it's kind of like... A pack?

Sure.

Mrs. Clusky said she could never leave Francois out of her family tree.

I'm sorry if you didn't feel like... didn't feel like you... (quacks) ...were part of the family.

It's okay.

Being a wild beast isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I decided I'm one lucky duck.

MARTHA: Now that I'm back, you think Dad'll give me an allowance?

HELEN: Martha!

(duck quacks) WGBH access.wgbh.org