The protagonist of the series is Andy Larkin, a mischievous teen and the self-proclaimed "world's greatest prankster". The show follows him as he tries to perform incredibly well-thought-out and elaborate practical jokes, or pranks, on people. He lives in the fictional town of East Gackle. He constantly breaks the fourth wall when the screen freezes. Andy's best friend, Danny Pickett, helps him out with almost every prank. His enemies include his older sister, Jen Larkin, and the bullies Peter Lik and Andrew Leech. Andy has a crush on a girl named Lori Mackney (in the books her name is Lisa Mackney) and usually tries to impress her. The show is based on Andy Griffiths' children's series of Just... books (which were illustrated by Terry Denton), although many episodes are not directly based on the books. Changes from the books to the TV series include Andy's last name, which was originally that of his creator, and other minor name changes, such as Lori's name being Lisa in the books.