Stop the Press is the fourteenth episode of the second season and overall the thirty-fifth episode of Shining Time Station.
Plot
Becky, Dan, and Kara are inspired by Jake Scoop's stories in the newspaper, and they decide to start their own newspaper "The Shining Times". The three interview Schemer, Billy, Midge Smoot, Stacy, and Mayor Flopdinger for potential stories for their paper.
Finding the stories they came up with too boring for their newspaper, the three start twisting the stories around to make them more interesting, and write stories about a romance between Midge Smoot and Mayor Flopdinger, Stacy wanting to kick Schemer out, Schemer being mad at his mommy, and Billy being the grandson of Sitting Bull.
With this the three print out their first edition of "The Shining Times" and pass them out to the adults. Afterwards, Midge and the Mayor have a falling out, Schemer confronts Stacy about wanting to kick him out, and then panics about what his mother will say when she reads the paper. Dan and Stacy talk about the stories, and talk about the difference between creative writing, and reporting.
Billy talks to the girls about how he's proud of his Sioux heritage, but he is not related to Sitting Bull. He assures them that he's not mad at them, as they made a simple mistake. Mr. Conductor tells a story about how it's ok to make mistakes if you learn from them.
Jake Scoop questions the kids about their untrue stories, right before being confronted by Mayor Flopdinger about a news article about the Mayor's speech being garbage, that Scoop got wrong. The Mayor insisted his speech was ABOUT issues pertaining to garbage, such as cleaning up, and recycling. Scoop apologizes and claims he'll print a retraction in the next paper. He explains a retraction is an news statement claiming a previous story was wrong, and the writer apologizes for the mistake. With this, the kids get busy on a retraction issue of "The Shining Times".
Cast and Characters
Main Cast
- George Carlin as Mr. Conductor
- Didi Conn as Stacy Jones
- Tom Jackson as Billy Twofeathers
- Erica Luttrell as Kara Cupper
- Ari Magder as Dan Jones
- Danielle Marcot as Becky
- Brian O'Connor as Schemer
Flexitoon Performers
- Jonathan Freeman as Tito Swing
- Olga Felgemacher-Marin as DiDi
- Craig Marin as Tex
- Peter Baird as Grace
- Kenny Miele as Grace
- Alan Semok as Rex
Guest Starring
It is unknown who played the Mime.
Mentioned Characters
Thomas Stories
Jukebox Band Segment Song
Trivia
- The Thomas stories are listed in reverse order in the end credits.
- In the Fox Family version, the story "A Big Day for Thomas" was cut out.
- This episode marks the last appearance of Jake Scoop.
- A traveling boy from the The Picture Machine song segment, Home, which will later be fully sung in All's Fair, cameos at the beginning before Mr. Scoop comes in and after the mime leaves for his trip to Lucy's Leap.
Goof
- "A Big Day for Thomas" was mistakenly dated 1986 in the end credits when the episode was made in 1984.
<< Series 1 |
Series 3 >> |
| #01 Scare Dares | #10 Washout | #19 Jingle, Jingle, Jingle |
| #02 Oh, What a Tangled Web | #11 Crackpot | #20 All's Fair |
| #03 The Magic is Believing | #12 Yabba, Yabba, Yabba | |
| #04 Win, Lose or Draw | #13 Nickel in a Pickle | |
| #05 Sweet and Sour | #14 Stop the Press | |
| #06 Achoo | #15 He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not | |
| #07 A Dog's Life | #16 Double Trouble | |
| #08 Field Day | #17 Is Anybody There? | |
| #09 Wrong Track | #18 Do I Hear | |