The thirty-third episode of the first season of Dennis the Menace (1986).
Ruff's Hat Trick
Dennis causes a mishap while Henry is driving and they get stopped by a police officer, but before he's able to throw the book at Henry, Ruff makes off with his helmet, leading to a chase, which goes all the way to a bank that's being robbed. As the cop fights with Ruff to get his helmet back, Dennis is able to get the jump on the bank robber with his water gun. More police arrive on the scene and credit the two as heroes. The officer is due for a promotion and tears up the ticket he was going to give to Henry, but Dennis, who's now an honorary policeman, decides to cite him for littering.
A Moving Experience
Mr. Wilson gets peeved with Dennis, who's playing football with Joey. He wants him to pretend his house is an empty lot in hopes they don't play around his property again. Dennis mistakenly believes he wants to move away when a giant moving truck arrives and he tells them Mr. Wilson's house is due to be moved. The movers make off with the house while Mr. Wilson is out on a drive. He's completely shocked when he returns to an empty lot. Not only is his whole house gone, but his wife is too, since Mrs. Wilson was still inside when they left. Mr. Wilson pursues the truck and tries to stop it, but the house slides away in the forest. However, danger is averted when it winds up in a peaceful setting with a babbling brook, making it ideal for the Wilsons. Unfortunately, Dennis finds the movers, who tell them they have to return the house to its original position and once again, Mr. Wilson gets caught in one of Dennis' football plays.
Lemon-Aid
Dennis opens a lemonade stand with Margaret, but she decides their partnership is unfair since Dennis is keeping most of the money they've made for himself. As a result, Margaret opens her own stand to compete with Dennis, leading to a battle between them. First, Joey comes along, making them lower their price to entice him. He decides to join as Dennis' new partner and the two need more lemons by getting some from Mr. Wilson's tree. They need more supplies and Margaret obliges them by dumping sugar and water on Joey, then uses her ice machine to shoot the boys back to their stand, leaving Dennis to wave the white flag to surrender.
"Ruff's Hat Trick" provides examples of:
- Alliterative Name: The burglar that robs the bank is named Harry the Heister.
- Butt-Monkey: The police officer. He gets squirted by Dennis, has his hat stolen by Ruff, gets tangled in a ball of wet cement, breaks through a sheet of glass when he chases after Dennis and Ruff, and gets ticketed by Dennis for littering when he rips up the ticket he was going to give Henry.
- Cassandra Truth: Dennis playing with Ruff causes Henry to run a red light. When Henry tries to explain the situation to the police officer who stops him, the officer doesn't believe him.
- Kid Hero: Dennis and the police officer catch up to Ruff at the bank, which is being robbed by Harry the Heister. Harry tries to sneak away with the stolen money when the police officer is occupied with getting his hat back from Ruff, but Dennis stops him when he points his water pistol at him. Harry mistakes Dennis's water pistol for a real gun and surrenders. After the other police officers arrest Harry, the chief makes Dennis an honorary member of the police department, and the police officer rips up the ticket he was going to give Henry.
- HA HA HA—No: This episode ends with the police officer ripping up the ticket he was going to give Henry, since Dennis helped him arrest Harry. Dennis then tickets the officer for littering, saying they ought to discuss this at the police station. Henry and the police officer both laugh, until Dennis squirts them with his water pistol.
- Literal-Minded:
- When the police officer doesn't believe Henry when the latter tells him that Dennis caused him to run a red light, Dennis tells Henry that he always says he makes him see red.
- When the officer calls Dennis a squirt, Dennis squirts him with his water pistol.Henry: Dennis, how could you?
Dennis: Well, he said "Squirt", so I squirted!
- Malaproper: Dennis misinterprets what Henry told him earlier, saying that he had a new invention for breaking the speed limit, when what Henry really said was he had no intention of breaking the speed limit.
- Sheet of Glass: Dennis and Ruff are being chased by a police officer. Two workers are seen carrying a sheet of glass, when Ruff and Dennis approach them. Though the workers manage to avoid having having the sheet of glass shattered by both Ruff and Dennis, they're not so lucky when the police officer comes across them.Worker: Well, two out of three isn't bad.
- Tempting Fate: When Dennis runs through a patch of wet cement that two construction workers are working on, the first one tells him to stop, or he'll call the police. The second one says, "Forget it, Charlie. You know there's never a policeman around when you need one." Just then, the police officer shows up, and all three of them get tangled in a ball of wet cement.Construction Worker #2: Here's your policeman. You want to tell him something?
Construction Worker #1: I sure do, but he'll probably arrest me if I do. - Wet Cement Gag: While on the run from the police officer, Dennis and Ruff run through a patch of wet cement, angering two construction workers. When the police officer runs through it, he and the construction workers get tangled in a ball of wet cement.
"A Moving Experience" provides examples of:
- Broken Glass Penalty: This episode begins with Dennis and Joey accidentally breaking one of Mr. Wilson's windows when they play football near his house.
- Gone Horribly Right: When Dennis and Joey accidentally break one of Mr. Wilson's windows while playing football, Mr. Wilson tells them to think of his house as a vacant lot. This plan works too well, as when the workers show up and ask Dennis if he knows someone who is having their house moved, Dennis tells them that Mr. Wilson is, resulting in Mr. Wilson's house being loaded onto their truck with Mrs. Wilson still inside.
- Moving Buildings: Mr. Wilson gets upset with Dennis and Joey when they accidentally break one of his house's windows while playing football. Mr. Wilson tells the boys to think of his house as a vacant lot, which backfires immensely when a pickup truck big enough to carry Mr. Wilson's house shows up. The workers on the truck are unable to figure out the proper address, so when they ask Dennis if anybody is having their house moved, Dennis tells them Mr. Wilson is. The workers load Mr. Wilson's house on their truck and take it away, and when Mr. Wilson finds out, he is desperate to get his house back, especially because Mrs. Wilson is still inside it. Mr. Wilson's house eventually ends up near a babbling brook, which both Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are happy with; the former because it's far away from Dennis' house, and the latter because it's what she always wanted. Unfortunately for them, Dennis finds the workers, who put the Wilsons' house back where it belongs, having realized their earlier mistake.
- Shout-Out: While sitting with her feet in the lake, Mrs. Wilson hums the Inspector Gadget theme song.
- Status Quo Is God: Thanks to Dennis convincing the workers that Mr. Wilson's house is being moved, Mr. Wilson's house ends up near a babbling brook. However, the workers soon realize their mistake and have to bring Mr. Wilson's house back to where it was before, lest they risk losing their jobs.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are both happy when their house ends up near a babbling brook, especially the former due to it being far away from Dennis's house. Unfortunately, the workers end up bringing it back to where it was before, saying they could lose their jobs if they leave it where it is now. Mr. Wilson gets very upset when he hears this.
"Lemon-Aid" provides examples of:
- Feud Episode: When Dennis takes most of the money he and Margaret earn for their lemonade stand, Margaret decides to open her own lemonade stand, and she and Dennis compete against each other.
- Lemonade Stand Plot: In this episode, Dennis starts his own lemonade stand with Margaret as his helper. When Dennis only gives her a fifth of the money they make, Margaret starts her own lemonade stand out of spite and competes against Dennis. Dennis then hires Joey to be his new helper.
- Loophole Abuse: When Dennis runs out of lemons, he decides to ask Mr. Wilson for some. At first, Mr. Wilson refuses, as last time, Dennis stripped the tree bare, but when Joey calls him a sourpuss, Mr. Wilson changes his mind and tells Dennis that he can only have the lemons on the ground. To Dennis and Joey's disappointment, none of the lemons are on the ground, so Dennis uses Alice's weight reducing machine to shake the lemons off the tree. The tree is once again stripped bare, and every single lemon is on the ground, providing Dennis and Joey with more than enough.
- Manly Tears: Mr. Wilson cries these just after Dennis strips his lemon tree bare.
