Truth or Ed

"Truth or Ed" is the 12th episode of Season 5 and the 114th episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy. In this episode, Ed and Eddy take over the duties of the school newspaper after they see how bland and boring the current articles Double D is running are. To make the school newspaper more interesting, Eddy creates many false articles about the kids under a pen name, and the kids all enjoy the articles until they notice that they themselves have come under Bobby Blabby's gimlet tabloid eye.

Plot
Rolf and Kevin are choosing sides for a game of basketball–or at least trying to, as Eddy's consistent yammering about how they should pick him is starting to get on their nerves. Eventually, a fed up Rolf flings the ball at Eddy, shutting him up, and the sides are soon chosen, with Kevin picking up Jonny and Nazz and Rolf choosing Ed and Plank over Eddy. The game starts, and all is good and dandy until Ed accidentally pops the ball with his teeth, forcing the rest of the kids to head inside.

Ed and Eddy are left behind, but there's someone else there as well: Double D, who has just been assigned the post of editor of the school newspaper. He invites his friends to join him on the paper, and Ed readily comes along. Eddy rejects the offer, though, thinking it stupid–until he hears that the paper is sold to the student body.

When Edd shows Eddy the newsroom, he is unimpressed. This is underlined when Ed comes back and announces that nobody at all wanted to buy a paper. Eddy is at first surprised by this, but when he takes a gander at the junk that passes for "news" at the Peach Creek Jr. High Tattler, he isn't surprised at all. After all, while Edd may consider Jimmy's shortcake headline news, and while Sarah and Jimmy might agree with this assessment, there is no way that Kevin or anyone else in the student body would be caught dead reading about something that trivial. Even Edd is forced to admit that they haven't been having the best run of news, but of course, he has a lead on the scoop of the century: the knitting club plans to knit the world's largest doily!

Not wanting to waste time discussing the stupidity of such an endeavor, Eddy pretends to agree that this is good news and sends Edd out to follow up on his lead. With Edd out of the way, Eddy is free to scheme, and his plan is to turn the tiny rag into a money-machine. Without further ado, he writes up a piece of pulp fiction about the back of Ed's head housing a colony of mutants, and sets the printing press to stupid fast. Once a nice stack of papers has been collected, Eddy sends Ed out to sell them, and Ed walks away to showcase the stories of the one known as Bobby Blabby.

Outside in the hall, Ed happens upon Sarah and Jimmy and shows them a few articles. The first one they read announces that Nazz was kicked off of the cheerleading squad. The two are immediately interested and purchase a paper for a measly twenty-five cents. While they read, Ed moves on, not noticing when Sarah shrieks because one of the stories is about how she is part of a secret chimp-foghorn race.

While Sarah is having a conniption fit, Rolf has managed to put Wilfred into his clothes and send the pig in to take a test for him. Rolf has barely gotten away with his ruse when Ed accosts him and suggests that he purchase a paper. Rolf does so and begins to read about how Jonny's nose was discovered to house the lost city of Atlantis as he heads upstairs. At the top of the stairs, he encounters Jonny, who is excited about something else he read in the paper: apparently Kevin keeps the world's largest collection of spandex bike shorts under his bed. While Jonny yammers on, Rolf looks up the boy's nose and is perplexed when he finds only darkness and sesame seeds. This confusion is increased when Kevin angrily comes by and accuses Rolf of wanting to bulldoze his house in order to build a rest home for Nana. While Rolf looks over the article in the paper declaring this as his plan, an angry Nazz comes by dragging Jimmy behind her. Jimmy confesses that Sarah is in the bathroom, and Nazz goes in. Soon enough, a fight breaks out between Sarah and Nazz, culminating in Sarah slamming a car down on Nazz's head. A stray comment from Jonny about something in the paper is actually important, however, as the kids realize that their true enemies are not each other, but rather the mysterious "Bobby Blabby" and head towards the newsroom to seek vengeance (except for Jonny and Plank, who apparently like the tabloid).

In the newsroom, meanwhile, Ed has come back with a hat full of quarters. He puts them on the desk, and Eddy cheers, especially happy because he's already created tomorrow's headlines. Edd then walks in. Unlike his friends, Double D is glum, as his lead led nowhere, due to the failure of a knitting club to exist because of a lack of interest. When Eddy shows off the quarters, though, Double D is happy again, and mentions that the student fund's coffers will be enriched by the dough. It seems that all this time, Eddy was working for a nonprofit organization.

Of course, Eddy isn't one to give away money, so he tries to wrest the cap of cash from Edd's grasp. He is ultimately successful when the posse bursts through the door and grabs Edd, demanding to know the identity of Bobby Blabby. To assist them in this endeavor, they hold Double D over the printing press. Edd is as confused by this as anyone, however, and when he scans the paper he realizes that Bobby Blabby took over his paper. Of course, he knows who did it, and suggests that Eddy should tell the kids who Bobby Blabby is. Eddy isn't dumb enough to reveal the secret, though, and only suggests that this "Bobby Blabby" is a big jerk–only for Ed to mention that Bippy Boo-Boo dropped his hat, causing Eddy to yell at him that it's actually Bobby Blabby, inadvertently disclosing his secret newsman identity.

Soon things are set back to normal, with Edd printing ordinary papers about how Bobby Blabby tricked everyone and how the knitting club was finally formed with one member. This member is none other than Eddy, who was forced into the club by the other kids, who chose this as their form of revenge. To add insult to injury, Eddy has to knit the world's largest doily, a feat that Edd thinks sounds like a front pager and Ed thinks smells like a back-pager. It doesn't really matter, anyway, as even if Eddy hates doilies he still has to do it.

Memorable Quotes
''[Rolf tosses the ball at Eddy's head, smashing it against the wall. Eddy finally shuts up.]'' Rolf: "His shrieks rip through Rolf like Nana's cabbage stew! Continue, yes."
 * Eddy: [trying to be picked for the basketball game] "Hey guys! Wake up! Yoohoo! What are ya, blind? I'm red hot, baby! Right here! Pick me! Come on! The light don't get any greener! Eddy goin' once, Eddy goin' twice, sold to the guy with–"

Rolf: "Rolf chooses the wood. Yes?" [He picks up Plank.] Eddy: "Oh come on! It's a hunk of wood for crying out loud!"
 * Eddy: "Ah ha! You gotta pick me now!"

Ed: "Not today, Eddy! I'm flying solo."
 * Eddy: "I'd rather wear Ed's underwear for a week!"

Eddy: [reading a random article] "'Jimmy Makes Shortcake'? I wouldn't line a birdcage with this bunk!" Edd: "I'll have you know Jimmy's shortcakes are the best I–" [He takes a newspaper to the face.] Eddy: "Where's the scandal?! That's what sells papers! Ed: [eating a sandal] "Yep. Because sandals are baked fresh daily, Double D." Eddy: [after a long pause] "Ignore him. Just stick to the script."
 * Ed: "Extra! Extra! Kids pelt Ed with can't-sell-school papers! Not a one."


 * Ed: "Pick paper up! Pick paper up!"


 * Eddy: "Let's see what we got here." [choosing random words] "'Fork Boy Created'...I got tomorrow's headline, Ed! Fork Boy created in cooking class! Meatballs jabbed as teachers run for napkins! I like that."

Jonny: "Hey Rolf!" [He gets up and walks over to Rolf whist pointing to an article.] "Did you hear about Kevin having the worlds biggest collection of spandex bike shorts under his mattress?" [Rolf stretches Jonny's nostrils open wide so he can take a good look inside.] Rolf: "Rolf sees no city, only darkness and sesame seeds!"
 * Rolf: [reading an article about Jonny] "Jonny 2x4 forged into his nostrils and found the lost city of Atlantis yesterday!" [He looks up from his newspaper and spots Jonny.]

Eddy: "IT'S BOBBY BLABBY!!! GET IT RIGHT!!!" [He realizes he gave himself away and covers his mouth.] "Oops!"
 * Ed: "You dropped your loot, Bibby Boo-boo!"

Edd: "Sounds like a front pager." Ed: "Smells like a back pager." Eddy: "I hate doilies."
 * [Eddy is forced to knit the world's largest doily.]

Trivia

 * Did you spot the date on the school's printing press? AKA 1957 - the year Danny Antonucci was born, and the AKA obviously refers to A.K.A. Cartoon, the shows production company.
 * The Drama Club's poster says 'Ask Mr. Toomey' who is Cory Toomey, Ed, Edd n Eddy's character and prop designer.
 * The "Sabrina Rubber Duck talks Korea" headline is a reference to storyboard artist Sabrina Alberghetti.
 * The Volunteer Yearbook Club is run by Nurse Prowse, a reference to Ceile Prowse.
 * Right after Eddy sends Edd to search for the knitting club, he tosses all of the old non-scandalous newspapers in the air. However, when they fall back down, you can see that they are all Eddy's scandalous newspapers, even though they had not been published yet.
 * Eddy breaks the fourth wall by saying "Just stick to the script", referring to the episode's script.
 * When Jonny was reading the article about the knitting club being formed with only one member at the end of the episode, you can see another article entitled, "Pig Makes Top Mark on Test", with Jonny's huge head blocking the picture. Earlier in this episode, Rolf sent Wilfred into a test room, dressed up as Rolf, so that he could take Rolf's test in his place. This suggests that Wilfred got a better score than anyone else on that test.
 * An article in the paper at the end of the episode claims the principal had to take the bus after his car was mysteriously destroyed as well as a missing toilet seat. Sarah was the one who destroyed the principal's car and the toilet seat when she fought with Nazz.
 * In the scene right before Eddy reveals he is Bobby Blabby, there is a picture on the wall that says "Bobby Blabby" with a question mark over an outline of Eddy's head (making it look mysterious). This image is later used for the picture next to the "Bobby Blabby Tricked You" headline.
 * If you watch closely at the end, you can see a poster that says "Darn. Ain't this fun?" and has a ball of yarn.
 * When Rolf is reading the article about Jonny discovering Atlantis in his nose, the image used for Atlantis in the newspaper is actually the skyline of Vancouver, Canada, the location of A.K.A. Cartoon.
 * The use of the word "Tattler" in the school newspaper name is a tongue-and-cheek reference to journalism in general.
 * Goof: When Eddy takes the picture of Ed after he hit the door, he isn't wearing his jacket, but when Ed reads the newspaper, the picture shows him wearing his﻿ jacket.
 * Jonny was the only person who liked the scandals.
 * 82nd time Lee and Marie don't appear.
 * This is the only episode where only one Kanker appeared without the others. Here, May appeared briefly in the room where Rolf was scheduled to take his test.
 * Because this is one of the few episodes that takes place in the school for an entire episode, the Cul-de-Sac was never seen.
 * This is the second episode that involved newspaper deliveries, the first was "Read All About Ed".
 * Eddy changed the name of the Peach Creek Jr. High Tattler to "Peach Creek Extreme Magazine".
 * This is the fourth time Sarah has cried in the series. The first time was "High Heeled Ed", the second time was in "For Your Ed Only", and the third time was in "Is There an Ed in the House?".
 * Running Gags:
 * Ed getting Bobby Blabby's name wrong and Eddy having to correct him each time.
 * The kids thinking another one of the kids told a scandal about them to Bobby Blabby.
 * When Sarah runs to the girls bathroom she comes from the hallway, however when Jimmy was thrown out by Sarah's yelling, he falls on the stairs.
 * If you look closely when Ed ringing the newsroom doorbell, there is a sign above the door that says "The pen is mightier than the sword".
 * This is the second time Ed says, "Pick paper up". The first time was in "Mission Ed-Possible".
 * In the scene where Eddy whips up the title "Fork Boy Created" on the bulletin board, you can see a photo of The Kankers below it.
 * When Eddy sends Ed out to sell papers, there is a poster on the wall that says "Grad '74". This is most likely the year that the show's creator, Danny Antonucci, graduated high school as he would have been 17 years old at the time.
 * When Rolf bought a newspaper from Ed, it's shown that his underwear have pockets as he was getting a quarter out of the pocket.
 * A sticky note on Bobby Blabby's desk can be seen with the name "Sherann" on it. Also, a paper with the name "Simon" on it can be seen too. This is a referrence to Simon Piniel and Sherann Johnson, both storyboard artists at A.K.A. Cartoon.