The eighth episode of the first season of Dennis the Menace (1986).
Here, Kitty!
Dennis brings home a stray kitten which Alice makes him turn over to the Wilsons. But the "kitten" is actually a baby mountain lion, which proceeds to wreck the Wilson's home. Things get worse when it's angry mother shows up, looking for its cub!.
Circus Berserkus
Mr. Wilson takes Dennis and Joey to the circus at Mrs. Wilson's request and ends up being the main event. His unwitting participation is a big success, which spoils a former ringmaster's efforts of revenge.
The Monster of Mudville Flats
Dennis and Tommy set traps for the Mudville Swamp Monster while Margaret whines, but allows them to use her "tracking equipment." The monster scares Margaret into the trap, and when the Ranger arrives to help, he congratulates them for finding the missing hippo from the zoo.
"Here Kitty!" provides examples of:
- Big Ball of Violence: The mountain lion cub and Ruff get into one when Dennis leaves them alone to get to know each other.
- Big Eater: The mountain lion cub eats an entire ham from Dennis' refrigerator, then eats the contents of the Wilsons' refrigerator.
- Clothing Damage: Mr. Wilson's clothes get ripped when the mother mountain lion attacks him.
- Mama Bear: The mother mountain lion is very protective of her cub, which is why when she finally finds him, she attacks Mr. Wilson.
- Temporary Bulk Change: The mountain lion cub gets a big round belly after he eats an entire ham. He's back to his normal weight in a later scene.
- Troublemaking New Pet: When Dennis brings the mountain lion cub home, it eats an entire ham, then later makes a huge mess of the living room, both of which Dennis accuses Ruff of doing. When Alice sees the latter, she is not fooled.
"Circus Berserkus" provides examples of:
- Bears Are Bad News: The ringmaster's first plan to sabotage the circus is to release a live bear from its cage. That plan is foiled when Joey mistakes said bear for a teddy bear and it ends up in his possession.
- Butt-Monkey: Mr. Wilson. While looking after Dennis and Joey, he gets frightened and later tossed into a cotton candy machine by the live bear, and gets roped into the circus' acts, inadvertently foiling two of the ringmaster's plans to sabotage it along the way.
- Circus Episode: In this episode, Mr. Wilson takes Dennis and Joey to the circus at his wife's request, while the Ringmaster tries to sabotage it as revenge for getting fired. Thanks to Dennis' antics, his plans are foiled.
- Comically Missing the Point: After running away from the live bear, Mr. Wilson says, "That was a close shave with that bear!". Joey then says, "Gee, Mr. Wilson, he didn't look like he shaved to me."
- Dastardly Whiplash: The ringmaster is tall, slightly hunched, has a handlebar mustache, an exaggerated nose and chin, and wears a black suit and top hat.
- High-Dive Hijinks: The human daredevil is about to jump from a 100-foot-tall platform into a bucket of water, but Mr. Wilson beats him to it when he is roped into a trapeze act.Human daredevil: Hey, fatso! That was my stunt!
- Human Cannonball: The human daredevil prepares to perform this act, but just like the high dive act, Mr. Wilson beats him to it. When the cannon shoots Mr. Wilson, he flies into the air and lands on the ringmaster, foiling his plan to release a live tiger from its cage.
- Prefer Jail to the Protagonist: At the end of the episode, the ringmaster is arrested for his attempts to sabotage the circus. He begs for the police to take him to jail so that he doesn't have to be near Dennis and Joey, who have been oblivious to his presence throughout the episode.Dennis: Gee, what's the matter with him?
Mr. Wilson: I don't know, but I can relate to it. - Repulsive Ringmaster: This episode features a wicked ringmaster who tries to sabotage the circus that Dennis, Joey, and a reluctant Mr. Wilson go to as revenge for getting fired from it. His plans include releasing a live bear and a live tiger from their cages and cutting the ropes to the tent to cause it to collapse, but all of those plans are foiled thanks to Dennis and Joey's antics.
- Rule of Three: The ringmaster tries three plans to sabotage the circus. His first plan is to release a live bear from its cage, but that plan is foiled when said bear ends up in Joey's possession. His second plan is to cut the ropes to the tent to make it collapse, but that plan is foiled when Mr. Wilson gets roped into a trapeze act. His third and final plan is to release a live tiger from its cage, but that plan is foiled when Mr. Wilson gets roped into a Human Cannonball act.
- Rhyming Title: Circus Berserkus.
- Too Spicy for Yog-Sothoth: After the live bear eats Joey's pizza, his face turns blue and he belches out steam, then he groans uncomfortably as he crawls back to his cage.
"The Monster of Mudville Flats" provides examples of:
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: When Margaret is about to leave with her equipment, wanting no part in catching the monster, Dennis convinces her that if he and Tommy catch the monster with her equipment, she'll be famous. Margaret likes the idea of being famous, so she agrees to track down the monster with Dennis and Tommy.
- Crying Wolf: After Dennis and Tommy set a trap for the monster, they hear growling behind Margaret and try to tell her the monster is behind her. Margaret doesn't believe them at first, but then she looks behind and hears the monster growling, realizing Dennis and Tommy weren't kidding.
- Expressive Hair: Margaret's hair frizzes up when she hears the monster growling.
- Full-Name Ultimatum: Margaret says, "Dennis Mitchell!" when Dennis tells her not to climb too far down the branch that he, she, and Tommy are on.
- Pit Trap: Dennis and Tommy set this kind of trap to catch the monster, but only end up catching Margaret when the monster frightens her.Tommy: Well, at least we know the trap works!
Dennis: Yeah, but it caught the wrong monster! - Never My Fault: When Margaret hears the monster, she asks Dennis and Tommy why they didn't say anything to her even though they've been telling her about it the whole time and she refused to believe them at first.
- Tempting Fate: At the end of the episode, Margaret climbs further down the branch that she, Dennis, and Tommy are on to get a better view of the baby hippo. Dennis warns her not to go too far, but Margaret tells him, "Dennis Mitchell, if you think you can tell me what to do, then you're all wet!". Sure enough, the branch breaks and Margaret falls into the water as a result. Dennis then says, "Wrong, Margaret! You're all wet!".
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: At the end of the episode, the monster is revealed to be a hippo who escaped from the animal park, and needed somewhere quiet to raise her newborn calf.
