The thirty-second episode of the first season of Dennis the Menace (1986).
Laundry Business
Dennis, Joey, and Gina accidentally break Mr. Wilson's windows when they play baseball, and Dennis has to pay to replace them out of his allowance. When he finds out it means he won't get any allowance until next year, he gets the idea to start a laundry business to raise the money. Dennis' lack of experience and ignorance of his customers' instructions results in their laundry getting ruined, and Dennis has to pay to replace the ruined clothes. Dennis then manages to find a lost wallet, which the husband of one of his clients has been looking for and was offering a generous reward for its return, allowing Dennis to pay to replace everyone's ruined clothes and Mr. Wilson's windows.
Journey to the Center of Uncle Charlie's Farm
When Dennis and Joey visit Uncle Charlie's farm, they find out that the crops haven't been able to grow due to a drought. When Joey's basketball drops down a well, they go down into the well to retrieve it, discovering an unusual subterranean civilization. The boys befriend a young boy named Fred who tells them that his tribe is suffering from a lack of water, and explore the cavern in the hope of finding some. Eventually, they find the source of the trouble in the form of a pile of boulders from an earthquake. After the pile collapses, the boys flee back to the vilage in a cane and the rushing water brings them back up to the surface of Uncle Charlie's farm. Fred is grateful to Dennis and Joey for helping him bring water back to his village, but quickly goes back down into the well, since he can't stand sunlight. Uncle Charlie is overjoyed when he finds out that his crops will be saved and plays on a geyser, which amuses the boys.
Dennis Springs into Action
When Mr. Wilson tells Dennis that his new shoes are supposed to put the spring in his step, Dennis gets the idea to put springs on the shoes, allowing Mr. Wilson to jump higher.
"Laundry Business" provides examples of:
- Broken Glass Penalty: A Type B example; this episode's plot is kickstarted when Dennis accidentally breaks Mr. Wilson's window when he, Joey, and Gina play baseball. Dennis has to pay to replace the broken window from his allowance, as that was the deal he and Alice made after the last window he broke... ten minutes ago. When Dennis finds out it means he won't be able to get any allowance until next year, he gets the idea to start his own laundry business to raise the money.
- Domestic Appliance Disaster: Due to Dennis' inexperience in washing everyone's clothes and his ignorance of their instructions, he ends up flooding the house with soap bubbles.
- Easy Come, Easy Go: Dennis earns a large sum of money for the return of the lost wallet of the husband of one of his clients. Unfortunately, all of the money gets used to replace everyone's ruined clothes and Mr. Wilson's windows.
- Here We Go Again!: Said word-for-word by Dennis at the end of the episode when he accidentally breaks Mr. Wilson's window, which he just paid to replace.
- Shrunk in the Wash: One of the clothes that Dennis, Joey, and Gina wash is Mr. Wilson's sweater, which becomes small enough to fit Joey. Mr. Wilson is horrified when Joey shows him the sweater.
"Journey to the Center of Uncle Charlie's Farm" provides examples of:
- Bat Scare: When Dennis and Joey travel into the well to retrieve the latter's missing basketball, Dennis tells Joey to be glad there aren't any bats in it. As if on cue, a colony of bats fly past them. This happens again later in the episode when Dennis and Joey, now tied to each other, search for the source of the missing water. When the bats fly past them, Joey runs from them, pulling Dennis along and into a pit. The two would have fallen in if not for Fred coming to their rescue.
- Big Dam Plot: Uncle Charlie's farm is suffering from a drought and Fred's tribe is suffering from a lack of water. Dennis and Joey soon find the source of the problems; a pile of boulders from an earthquake. They dislodge the boulders, bringing water to Fred's tribe and Uncle Charlie's farm.
- Day Hurts Dark-Adjusted Eyes: Due to living underground and only coming to the surface world at night, Fred's eyes are not used to sunlight. When he, Dennis, and Joey go up to the surface, he puts on sunglasses to protect his eyes. When Joey tells him to come back and visit him and Dennis so they can go to the zoo or the amusement park together, Fred tells them he'd rather do those things at night, and asks him and Dennis how they can stand the sun.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: This exchange between Fred and Joey:Fred: Uh, Joey, there, something on head.
Joey: So? It's a bat. (Beat) A bat?! (screams) - Hates Baths: Discussed; when Uncle Charlie tells Dennis that they have to conserve on water due to the drought, Dennis is happy to comply, telling him that to help him out, he and Joey won't take baths.
- Learnt English from Watching Television: When Dennis asks Fred how he's able to speak English, Fred explains to him that he learned to speak it from sneaking into Uncle Charlie's house in the middle of the night and watching television (particularly the cartoons).
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: This episode's title is a reference to the 1864 Jules Verne Science Fiction novel, Journey to the Center of the Earth.
- Translator Buddy: The members of Fred's tribe all speak in a native language, but Fred is able to translate for them because he can speak English.
- Underground City: Dennis and Joey discover one when they travel into the well to retrieve the latter's missing basketball.
- You No Take Candle Being a young boy from a native tribe who learned English from watching television, Fred speaks in broken English.
"Dennis Springs into Action" provides examples of:
- Clothing Damage: Mr. Wilson's shirt gets caught on a nail after he springs up to the window near it. The shirt rips after Mrs. Wilson hands him a sponge to clean the window with.
- Literal-Minded: When Dennis hears from Mr. Wilson that his new shoes are supposed to bring the spring back into his step, he gets the idea to attach some springs to the shoes.
- Pun-Based Title: This episode's title refers to spring into action, meaning to do something quickly, and of course, Dennis puts springs on Mr. Wilson's shoes.
- Tricked-Out Shoes: Dennis and Joey attach springs to Mr. Wilson's shoes in an attempt to put the spring back into his step. These cause Mr. Wilson to jump higher.
