Double D's tenure as the editor of the school newspaper has been a real dud - there's just not all that much going on in a random small town school after all. Eddy, seeing an opportunity for a cash cow, hijacks the newspaper while Double D is distracted, turning it into a gossip rag under the pen name "Bobby Blabby", publishing outlandish and scandalous stories about the Cul-De-Sac kids. Unfortunately, while this might be far more profitable, reader backlash quickly becomes an issue.
Tropes
- An Aesop: Don’t believe everything you read.
- Berserk Button: Several were pressed in the episode via Eddy's Malicious Slander but a shout out goes to Nazz calling Sarah "monkey face." Take note Sarah was crying at the time but as soon she heard Nazz call her that, she retaliates immediately by slamming a toilet onto Nazz.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Nazz, who is usually one of the nicest characters in the show, has shown in this episode when she is pushed to far, she will fight back. It's too bad for her that the person she had to go against is Sarah.
- Blatant Lies: Eddy's articles quickly go from merely slanderous to outright impossible - Sarah being part of a secret Chimp Foghorn race and the lost city of Atlantis being located up Jonny's nose? Really, Eddy?
- Brick Joke:
- Early in the episode, Edd mentions to Eddy that the Knitting Club is attempting to knit the World's Largest Doily and Eddy manages to convince Edd to go off to get information on it while he gets to his latest scheme. By the end of the episode, Eddy's punishment is being forced to knit said doily.
- Sarah smashes Nazz's head in with a toilet, then with a car. At the end, a newspaper article mentions the missing toilet, and the car turns out to belong to the school principal, who had to take the bus home.
- Rolf has Wilfred the pig take a test for him. Wilfred aces it.
- Broken Tears: Sarah was driven to tears after reading her entry on the article.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: Rolf spends the episode in his underwear as he made Wilfred wear his outfit.
- Comically Missing the Point: One of Eddy's articles claim that Rolf plans to tear down Kevin's house to build a rest home for his Nana. Rolf is outraged; what kind of barbarian would allow their Nana to rest?!
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Once Eddy accidentally reveals himself to be Bobby Blabby, the kids take their revenge for the slanderous articles by forcing him to become the sole member of the Knitting Club and forcing him to knit the World‘s Largest Doily.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Nazz vs. Sarah went as well as you expected. Nazz brought a tissue box to the fight. What did Sarah bring? A toilet and a freaking car!
- Dirty Coward: Eddy was all the more willing to let Double D suffer a rather painful fate in the hands of the kids (via heave him into a printing press) who accused him of the false article with the assumption he either wrote the articles or knew who did, just to save his own skin along with the cash the former of the two Eds made by discreetly sneaking out to the door. He is caught in the act and eventually gives himself away.
- Don't Look At Me: Sarah actually says this trope word-for-word (while shouting no less) after running into the bathroom after reading her article. When Jimmy tries to console her, she shouts this at him causing Jimmy to fly out of the bathroom.
- Extreme Omnivore: Ed, to no surprise by this point. He eats a sandal in one scene.
- Feud Episode: This episode actually evolved into this. Because of the fake articles speaking ill of each of the other kids, the kids actually believe one of the other did that to them. Even Nazz and Sarah fought against each other at one point and they're usually good friends (same with Rolf and Kevin but they didn't get physical like Nazz and Sarah did).
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: This happens quick but as soon Nazz was about to hit Sarah with a tissue box, you can see Kevin smiling (not because it's Sarah was about to get it but the fact that someone like Nazz was about to fight back as he was thinking "You go, girl!").
- Funny Background Event:
- At the end of the episode, there are multiple articles that reference past events in the episode.
- The principal’s car getting destroyed (Sarah smashed it on top of Nazz during her fight with her).
- The toilet goes missing (again, used by Sarah as a weapon).
- A pig scores top marks on a test (Rolf dressed up Wilfred in his clothes and had him take the test in his place).
- When Eddy is reading the newspaper with the section about Jimmy making shortcake, you can see another section titled "Sarah eats shortcake".
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Eddy keeps telling Ed to remember his psuedo-name "Bobby Blabby" throughout the episode. This bites him in the butt when he's confronted by the kids and he corrects Ed again after he calls Eddy "Bibby Boo-Boo".
Eddy: "IT'S BOBBY BLABBY! GET IT RIGHT!"
- Horrible Judge of Character: Double D really should have known better than to think Eddy would ever willfully surrender money to someone else.
- Hypocrite: Sarah and Jimmy are amused by the embarrassing story Eddy made up about Nazz, but they’re outraged when they see Eddy made up humiliating stories about them, too.
- Immoral Journalist: What other kind of journalist would you expect Eddy to become? After joining the school newspaper, Eddy sets out to increase sales and make money by printing made-up stories that slander the other kids.
- Jerkass Has a Point: When looking over the school newspaper, Eddy obnoxiously says that scandal sells. Given how people like to pay attention to scandalous things, he's actually right.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Jimmy and Sarah both smile in amusement when reading the embarrassing story Eddy wrote about Nazz, but then they see that he also printed humiliating stories about the two of them.
- Eddy gets forced to knit the World's Largest Doily by the other kids after posting all of those fake, slanderous articles about them.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Eddy tells Double D to "stick to the script" after Ed makes a joke about eating sandals.
- Luminescent Blush: Jimmy blushes after Jonny mentions an article claiming Jimmy got beat up by the girls’ curling club.
- Malicious Slander: The main plot point of the episode. Eddy makes a bunch of fake articles on the other kids in order to earn money. Here is all of the articles that were released.
- Ed: There is a mutant colony on his head.
- Nazz: She was kicked off of the cheer-leading squad for refusing to shave her legs.
- Sarah: That she was part of a secret foghorn chimp race.
- Jonny: He found the lost city of Atlantis underneath his nostrils.
- Kevin: Having the world's biggest collection of spandex bicycle shorts under his mattress.
- Rolf: That he allowed Kevin's house to be bulldozed to make room for a resthome for his Nana.
- Jimmy: Says that he was "knocked two Thursdays from now by the girls' curling club."
- Misplaced Retribution: Narrowly averted. The kids nearly toss Double D into the copier, thinking that, as editor, he wrote the libel about them or at least knew who did. Fortunately, Eddy unintentionally outs himself before anything bad happens to the wrong person.
- No-Sell: Yeah... let's just say that tissue box Nazz used was "not very effective" on Sarah.
- Not Helping Your Case: After Eddy caught the attention of the kids before they found out he was "Bobby Blabby," Eddy tries to deny this but ends up dropping his hat full of money. Ed then tells him that he dropped his money and Eddy screams at Ed "IT'S BOBBY BLABBY! GET IT RIGHT!" Needless to say, Eddy was screwed.
- Oh, Crap!: As soon Eddy accidentally reveals his "Bobby Blabby" name in front of the kids that were looking for him, he gets this expression and could only muster a small "Oops..."
- Only One Finds It Fun: Jonny is the only kid who enjoys the fabricated stories.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Usually, speaking bad about Sarah is just asking for a butt-kicking. However, the article written about her in this episode actually drove her to tears.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Rolf dresses his pig Wilfred up in his clothes and passes him off as himself to get out of having to take a test. Wilfred somehow aces the test.
- Pathetically Weak: Jimmy is so weak, he can’t even push the button on a water fountain hard enough to make any water come out, and needs Sarah to push the button for him.
- Picked Last: Eddy is apparently the only kid who gets left out of the basketball game during team choosing. He gets the last laugh though when the game is ruined due to Ed destroying the ball, and he tauntingly tells Kevin and Rolf it would have been avoided if they had just picked him.
- Poor Communication Kills: Double D really should've just told Eddy from the start that the money earned from the school paper couldn't be personally kept. And this is a guy that should know better that his good friend's character-defining trait is his greed and should've known that Eddy would want to keep the money.
- Punny Name: This episode's name is a pun of the game "Truth or Dare." What's funny is that there was already an episode that was about Truth or Dare (Mirror-Mirror on the Ed).
- Rage Breaking Point: At the end of the episode, Eddy had enough of Ed constantly saying "Bobby Blabby" wrong (on top of being found out) and shouts at the top of his lungs at Ed. Too bad he had to have done this in front of the other kids.
- Rubber Orifice: After reading that Jonny found the city of Atlantis inside his nose, Rolf stretches his nostrils to look, even sticking his whole face inside. Currently provides the page image.
- Running Gag: Ed mispronouncing Eddy's editing alias "Bobby Blabby" much to Eddy's annoyance. He actually screws himself over at the end of the episode by yelling out to Ed how to say his alias right in front of the kids who were out for Bobby Blabby's blood.
- Shout-Out: Near the end the episode, one of the headlines in Johnny's newspaper said the school principal had to take the bus home due to his car being destroyed by Sarah. This is a direct nod to Ferris Bueller's Day Off where the school principal Ed Rooney took the bus in the post credits after losing his car.
- Worst News Judgment Ever: The articles published in the school paper before Eddy takes over are things like "Janitor Finds a New Mop", "Paint On Gymnasium Doors - Dry", "Photocopier Repaired", and "Photocopier Still In Working Order". No wonder the paper wasn't doing so well.
Eddy: "Jimmy Makes Shortcake"? I wouldn't line a birdcage with this bunk!
(at the end of the episode)
Double D: "Eddy demands desolation as he dotes on distinguished doily." Sounds like a front-pager.
Ed: Smells like a back pager.
