"The Lie" is the second Christmas episode of the Cartoon Network original series The Amazing World of Gumball.
Synopsis[]
It's January, and the people of Elmore are depressed since Christmas has passed. At the Watterson home, Gumball and Anais decide to make up a new holiday to cheer people up. After much brainstorming, Gumball comes up with the idea of Sluzzle Tag.
In the school bus, Gumball tells Darwin all about Sluzzle Tag and Sluzzle Dude, the supposed mascot. At the mention of no school during the (made-up) holiday, the others in the bus (including even Rocky), eager for some activity, gather around Gumball to hear about the new holiday. Banana Joe then realizes that Rocky is not driving the bus, so they crash into Miss Simian's classroom. Hearing about the new holiday, Miss Simian does not believe that it is real. But even the other school staff (specifically Mr. Small and Principal Brown) argue that it is real, and the principal declares no school, and for everyone to take the day off. Everyone leaves the school with joy, except Miss Simian who becomes determined to prove that Sluzzle Tag is a lie.
Later, Gumball, Darwin and Richard go shopping for Sluzzle Tag. After Gumball tells them that they eat junk food during the holiday, Richard invents the Sluzzlewurst, a sausage with everything in and on it. He pays for five of them and two bottles of milk which results in his card being completely sucked off its value. Then he and his children go home, with Miss Simian spying on them.
At night, many citizens decorate their toilets for Sluzzle Dude (who, Gumball says, will come out of their toilets to leave them presents). The Wattersons eat a dinner of Sluzzlewursts, watch the Sluzzle Tag special, and bond together. Then Richard and Nicole put their children to sleep.
But as they are just about to sleep, Anais reminds Gumball that Sluzzle Tag is not real, and that Sluzzle Dude will not be coming. Gumball panics that the whole town will be upset with him if all he promises to them will not come true. With the help of Anais, he takes all the leftover Christmas presents from the trash, and sneaks around the town, leaving the presents through the toilet. After Tony uses a toilet Gumball was in, Gumball and Anais start sneaking through alternative ways. Just as they leave a present in their own house, they are caught by Miss Simian who takes a picture of them putting a present in their bathroom. Darwin (who was asleep in the bathroom, waiting for Sluzzle Dude) is shown the photo by Miss Simian, and is about to scream, but the narrator decided it is best to not show the audience of Darwin screaming, and told them to imagine the scream of a million chihuahuas. The other citizens and his parents come in the bathroom. Gumball then apologizes to them and confesses that Sluzzle Tag is not real.
Instead of being upset, the citizens sigh in relief. Banana Bob says that he kind of knew that Sluzzle Tag was fake, and the others agree with this. They say that they needed something to cheer them up through January. Then Darwin gives Miss Simian a present and everyone laughs. The episode ends with the narrator saying the moral of this story is "that when life is tough and joy hard to come by most people are happier believing a lie."