The young blond boy with a cowlick and a mischievous personality, Dennis the Menace, gets into numerous scrapes and adventures with his dog Ruff and his friends Joey, Margaret, Gina, Tommy, PeeBee and Jay. Dennis is an impulsive, angel-faced little devil who is always getting into scrapes which end up tormenting his hapless next-door neighbor, Mr. Wilson (though Dennis always means well). Dennis finds himself involved in all kinds of wild adventures (some of which are fantasy-based like the international espionage and trips into the past stories) but always manages to save the day.