Season 1 premiered on September 1, 2008, with the self-titled episode “Martha Speaks” and “Martha Gives Advice” and concluded on July 17, 2009 with “What’s Bothering Bob? With 40 episodes and 80 segments, it is the longest season of the show. When Helen gives her alphabet soup to Martha, the letters go to her brain and she develops the ability to talk. After her family complains that she talks too much, she valentines surprises for her eating her soup.
Then a burglar breaks into her house, and Martha finds herself speechless. The burglar then gives her alphabet soup, which causes Martha to regain her ability to talk. Helen tries to take her advice, even though she is pretty happy with how she looks already. Then Martha becomes the new host of a radio advice show, and people start doing some pretty strange things. A new puppy named Skits joins Martha’s household, bursting with puppy energy and the desire to chew everything. Unlike Martha, when Skits eats alphabet soup, nothing comes out except “Woof. Helen is miserable after Martha volunteers her for a part in the school play.
With practice, and a little help from Martha, Helen finds she can do anything she wants, if she puts her mind to it. It’s Alice’s birthday and everybody is invited, including Martha. The only problem is that Nelson, Martha’s cat nemesis, will be there too. When somebody, or some animal, ruins the birthday cake, Alice’s brother Ronald thinks Martha is responsible because of his resentment of her.
Now that everybody has gone home in disgrace, how will Martha catch the real criminals? Martha is inspired by her favorite show, “Courageous Collie Carlo. Unfortunately, her attempts to become a doggie hero don’t quite work out the way she plans. In the end, both Martha and Helen discover they can be courageous when it really matters. Ronald finds out that Helen and Alice plan to go camping and warns them about Big Minnie, a mythical monster who lives in the woods. After all, everybody knows Big Minnie’s imaginary. When Martha tries to help with chores, things get a little out of hand.
She doesn’t think she’s cut out to be a farm dog, until she raises the alarm, just in the nick of time. When Helen blames Martha for a mess Skits made, Martha feels unappreciated and decides to run away. She finds the perfect job to match her abilities, a telemarketer, and enjoys career success. But she realizes that no amount of success is a substitute for a loving family. Granny Flo decides to cut costs at the soup factory. Who would notice if each bowl of soup had only half the letters of the alphabet anyway? As the letters are subtracted from the soup, they’re also subtracted from her speech, and Martha loses her ability to communicate.