The Trickster is the twelfth episode of the series George and Martha that aired on May 2, 1999. It's sister episode is The Picnic.
Summary[]
Martha is hosting a barbecue party in her backyard, with all her animal friends there, as well as George her best friend, of course. Penny considers this party the second best she's been to, with the first being the barbecue she hosted herself. Bud also eats the tablecloth, with Valerie having a laugh about it. Martha gets her own burger and grabs the mustard bottle, but there is a hole in it and the mustard splatters on her face. George, who clearly done it, chuckles.
Later that night, Martha makes lemonade, and George hurries her to the living room as they are watching a movie. Martha tells him that she will be in there once she gets her house slippers, but they are stuck to the floorboards. She marches into the living room with the boards on her slippers, saying someone nailed them to the boards, once again making George laugh. The next day, Martha finds a blue balloon that says "POP ME". She follows it's instructions and blue smoke covers her, getting another laugh from George. Martha knocks on his door, so he sneaks into the bathroom and turns on the shower, telling her he's showering as he sits and waits until she leaves. Martha heads inside and plops on the couch to wait, when she finds a "101 Practical Jokes" book. She tells him goodbye, so he gets out of the bathroom and makes his way outside, where he is confronted by Martha with the book.
George claims that anybody could've put the book on the table, and also claims that anybody could've written his name inside of it when Martha shows him. However, Martha says that an expert stated that it was his handwriting. Martha shows him the disclaimer on page 57, that says playing too many practical jokes on a friend can lead to "dire consequences", and walks off. George later goes to her house, asking if she would like to go get ice cream, but Martha doesn't say anything to him and closes him out. George waits briefly until he goes to a window reminding him about the ice cream. Martha just shuts it and also pulls the shade down. After trying to get her attention again at the store, George learns that one of the dire consequences is getting the silent treatment from your friend, but it could be cured if you surprise them with something they like.
George gets a cake mix and makes it at home. While he has trouble with the ingredients, such as having one of the eggs break on his face, or having a catastrophe with the cake mixer, he makes a somewhat perfect cake for Martha, complete with pink icing. He puts it in a box beside the window, which Martha sees outside and thinks with a smirk. When George arrives at Martha's, she knows that this surprise is just a trick, and tells George to open it himself. He does, and spiders and snakes come jumping out, which startles him. Martha had tricked George in replacing his cake gift with the trick gift, although she saves a slice of cake for him too. George vows to not prank again, and so does Martha, but after she pulls another one and lends George some whipped cream, that also splatters in his face. Later on, Martha sees a box that says "DO NOT OPEN" on the table, which she agrees to not do. After some time passes, Martha can't resist and opens it, and out comes George's Mexican jumping bean collection, that bounce all around. Martha is shown to have a hassle getting them, but she gets them all and puts them back in the box by nighttime, which is when George comes back home. Martha claims that she didn't open the present despite looking out of breath, something that George believes. However, there is still one last bean, that she quickly traps under her mug.