History Main / WunzaPlot

* The ''Film/RushHour'' trilogy. According to Creator/RogerEbert, "Wunza legendary detective from Hong Kong, and wunza Los Angeles cop. And wunza Chinese guy, and wunza black guy. And wunza martial arts expert and wunza wisecracking showboat. Neither wunza original casting idea, but together, they make an entertaining team."

* ''Film/{{Duplicity}}'': On its movie poster - "She's ex-Cia. He's ex-MI5, together they are stealing a fortune." She is Julia Roberts, he is Clive Owen.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' after JD notes that hospital lawyer Ted and [[AlmightyJanitor The Janitor]] should get their own sitcom, he has an imagine spot of them having having one called ''[[IncrediblyLamePun Legal Custodians]]'', in which they adopt and raise a child together.[[note]]For more information see [[Quotes/WunzaPlot the Quotes page]][[/note]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'' featured the ShowWithinAShow example of 'Mac & C.H.E.E.S.E.', in which Joey scores a breakout starring role as Detective "Mac" Machiavelli. [[AndroidsAndDetectives One's a hard-boiled detective, one's a robot]]; they fight crime.
* ''Series/BloodTies2007:'' She's a Canadian police detective who is slowly losing her sight. He's a vampire, son of a king, who writes bodice-rippers. They fight crime!
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': A devious young man with uncanny detective skills ''pretends to be psychic'' in order to solve mysteries. With his [[BlackAndNerdy nerdy]], put-upon TokenBlackFriend.

* Constantly parodied in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' when reading the title credits for the movies they watch. e.g. Tom: "Body Care and Grooming! They're cops!"
** "He's a cop. He's a rabbi. They're cops! [[{{Dissimile}} Except for the rabbi."]]
* ''Series/TheMiddleman'' Superhero with android secretary hires art student with crazed activist roommate as SideKick and heir apparent.

* ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' had a game revolving around this trope. The performers had to act/sing the opening sequence of a comedy whose title was supplied by the audience. Some of the fictional comedies:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LXjD5-YnM0 Napoleon and the Bartender]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA9ImkF4Yjc Satan and the Schoolgirl]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I283WGJTlDg Travel agent and Tom Jones]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm_9mOdJVzU Bea Arthur and Brad Pitt]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGF2x6cy3Ps Tyson and Lincoln]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy6uOLNb8FY Hilary and Monica]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmF70amuZ4g Bill Cosby and Hitler-ah...I mean the Insurance Salesman]]
---> '''Wayne Brady:''' [''imitating Cosby''] "[[ARareSentence Would you like some Jello...Hitler?]]"
* ''This Morning with Richard Not Judy'' mercilessly parodied this often. Such as this example:
-->Ian Roll is a driving instructor, Ian Reversal is a baker. Due to some kind of accident they are forced to swap jobs. With hilarious consequences.
** Or this one:
--->Ian and Iain Bent are brothers who are policemen. One is corrupt and the other is homosexual. They both suffer from curvature of the spine, and they're made of copper - they're robots in the future.
* ''Series/DarkAngel'' doesn't fall under this trope so much as leap into it headfirst from the roof of the Space Needle:
-->She was designed to be the perfect soldier. She was trained to be a human weapon. But then she escaped. They came after her, and she knew they would never stop looking. [...] She's found an unlikely ally in Logan Cale. Born to a life of privilege, he's now an underground cyber-journalist crusading against a corrupt government. He wants to save the world, or what's left of it. She just wants to find the others like her. Together... who knows?

* ''Series/ScarecrowAndMrsKing''': He's a spy; she's an everyday housewife. Together, they ...do spy-ish things.
* ''BJ And The Bear'': Wunza hunky truck driver, wunza chimpanzee. Together they solve other people's problems.
* [[Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge Alan]] [[Series/ImAlanPartridge Partridge]] follows this trope faithfully with the majority of the ideas he pitches to a senior BBC executive for new shows.
* ''Set List'', a show where stand-up comedians improvise bits in front of a live audience, featured the prompt "15th-century sitcom" during Creator/RobinWilliams' set. He responded with "He's a Grand Inquisitor. She's a Jewish schoolgirl!"
* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' after JD notes that hospital lawyer Ted and [[AlmightyJanitor The Janitor]] should get their own sitcom, he has an imagine spot of them having having one called ''[[IncrediblyLamePun Legal Custodians]]'', in which they adopt and raise a child together.[[note]]For more information see [[Quotes/WunzaPlot the Quotes page]][[/note]]
* ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' even uses this type of narration in the opening of TheMovie:
-->Kamen Rider Double, the two-in-one detective composed of Shotaro Hidari, the [[TheHeart kind-hearted]], half-baked [[TheHero hero]] who idolizes everything [[HardboiledDetective hardboiled]] and the mysterious Philip, with the unlimited knowledge of the [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything Gaia Library]] within his mind. Together they are the Kamen Rider who solves any mystery while fighting Gaia Memory-related crime!

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': From Howard and Raj's crossover song about ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' vs. ''Franchise/IndianaJones'':
-->"''Thor and Doctor Jones! Thor and Doctor Jones! One plays with lightning, the other plays with bones!''"
* Used in a magazine ad for ''Series/CoverUp'':
-->''She's the world's sexiest photographer! He's fashion's hottest model! They go where the government can't, helping Americans in trouble!''

* ''Series/KnightRider'': One's an ex-cop officially declared dead. One's an ArtificialIntelligence built into a car. They fight crime!
* The 2019 French series ''Astrid et Raphaëlle'': She's an autistic savant. She's a Parisian cop. They fight crime!

* ''Series/Riptide1984'': Two of them are helicopter pilots, one of them is a robotics engineer. They fight crime!

* ''WebVideo/AgentsOfCracked''. One's a [[ManChild mentally-unfortunate]], [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane possibly magic]], [[AnythingThatMoves pansexual]] [[BunnyEarsLawyer judge]] with HammerSpace, the other is... [[OnlySaneMan pretty]] [[TheChewToy much]] [[ButtMonkey Charlie Brown]]. Together, ''[[MundaneMadeAwesome They Write Jokes!]]''

* The premise of ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' in which the impulsive tomboyish [[FieryRedhead Kei]] is paired up with the more cerebral and mannered Yuri. Of course it's all right since they fight crime...

* [[DiscussedTrope Referenced]] in ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'': Matthew (a servant of Morpheus who happens to be a raven who used to be a man) describes his brief adventure with the Corinthian (a serial killer with fanged mouths in place of eyes) as being "like a bad TV show." Borders on a LampshadeHanging, except that unlike most of these examples, the weird team-up was only a small part of a much larger story.

* ''G.I. Robot.'', he's a robot. His buddy's a hard bitten G.I. They fight [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology dinosaurs]] and Japanese giant robots until the robot is sent into space with military werewolves, vampires, etc. and the comic's creator. Bob Kanigher, man..
* Referenced in the ''Comicbook/TwoThousandAD'' one-shot story "Wunza", in which the creator of such a show, who murdered his biggest rival and let his writing partner take the fall, discovers said partner has escaped from prison and keeps harassing him with terrible pitches such as "''High and Dry'': One's a drug-addicted cop, the other's a recovering alcoholic private eye!", eventually hounding him to his death.

* The ''Film/RushHour'' trilogy. According to Creator/RogerEbert, "Wunza legendary detective from Hong Kong, and wunza Los Angeles cop. And wunza Chinese guy, and wunza black guy. And wunza martial arts expert and wunza wisecracking showboat. Neither wunza original casting idea, but together, they make an entertaining team."
* From ''Film/TheKentuckyFriedMovie'': "She was six feet of Black dynamite. He was a short, Hasidic Jew... Samuel L Bronkowitz presents Cleopatra Schwartz..."
* ''Film/AlienNation'' pairs a human cop with an alien cop...naturally, They fight crime! Mostly used as an allegory for racism.

* ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries'': She's a luscious, highly desirable telepathic barmaid. He's a vampire suffering from anachronistic attitudes.

* The Literature/GotrekAndFelix novels, set in the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' world, began life in very much this way. One's a massively-muscled, shaven-headed, axe-wielding Dwarf in search of a glorious death, the other's a ne'er-do-well poet, minor political agitator and the son of an Altdorf wool merchant. Together they fight... well, anything and everything they can really - glorious deaths are hard to find when you're as good at fighting as Gotrek Gurnisson. The only thing keeping them together, or so Felix says, is a drunken oath Felix swore many years ago to record Gotrek's doom in an epic poem (and Dwarfs take both oathing and drinking very, very seriously). In fact Felix often muses on the situation he's found himself in, and wonders whether he really could go back to a different life if Gotrek did eventually meet his doom, so long have they been adventuring together.

* The opening lines to Music/AvrilLavigne's 2002 hit "[=Sk8er=] Boi":

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmF70amuZ4g Bill Cosby and Hitl... the Insurance Salesman]]

* The 2019 French series ''Astrid et Raphaëlle'': One's an autistic savant, one's a cop. They're both women, and they fight crime!

* The opening lines to Music/AvrilLavigne's 2002 hit "Sk8er Boi":

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': One's a programming genius. The other's a former CIA agent. They fight crime!... that the government doesn't care about.

* [[DiscussedTrope Referenced]] in ''ComicBook/TheSandman'': Matthew (a servant of Morpheus who happens to be a raven who used to be a man) describes his brief adventure with the Corinthian (a serial killer with fanged mouths in place of eyes) as being "like a bad TV show." Borders on a LampshadeHanging, except that unlike most of these examples, the weird team-up was only a small part of a much larger story.

Oddly, even the most bizarre premises can end up rather mundane in execution, with the strange characters -- despite initial weirdness -- ending up in fairly stock show formats like workplace comedies/dramas, quirky sitcom family hijinks, or, yes, [[TheyFightCrime fighting crime]] as private detectives or freelance do-gooders.

See also InAWorld. Compare and contrast with OddCouple, BuddyPicture. A necessary ingredient (especially when combined with CopAndScientist) for TheyFightCrime Not to be confused with KudzuPlot.

* The premise of ''LightNovel/DirtyPair'' in which the impulsive tomboyish [[FieryRedhead Kei]] is paired up with the more cerebral and mannered Yuri. Of course it's all right since TheyFightCrime...

* ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'': A down-on-his-luck, goofy single father and an icy-cold pretty-boy upstart are paired together as a corporate-sponsored superhero duo. TheyFightCrime.

* ''ComicBook/AngelAndTheApe'' ('60s comic book with revivals in the '80s and '00s): She's a gorgeous [[GreatDetective super-sleuth]] who speaks thirteen languages [[ActionGirl and knows karate]]. He's a comic book artist who happens to be a talking gorilla. TheyFightCrime!
* ''ComicBook/HeroesForHire'': [[ComicBook/LukeCage A (black) Harlem street fighter who's bullet-proof]] and [[ComicBook/IronFist a (white) multi-millionaire who's been classically trained in Kung-Fu]]. Together, TheyFightCrime (for hire)!
* ''ComicBook/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': One's a dog. The other's a hyperkinetic lagomorph. TheyFightCrime

* ''Film/AlienNation'' pairs a human cop with an alien cop...naturally, TheyFightCrime! Mostly used as an allegory for racism.

* ''Literature/BloodBooks'': She's a star detective who's lost her night vision and is going blind. He's a vampire, bastard son of Henry VIII, who writes romance novels. Together, [[TheyFightCrime they fight supernatural threats and protect the innocent.]]

* ''Hope Never Dies'': One was the 44th President of the United States. One was his Vice President. Together, TheyFightCrime

* ''Series/AlienNation'': One's an everyday human cop, one's an alien refugee cop. Naturally, TheyFightCrime!

* ''Heat Vision and Jack'' was a show pitched by Ben Stiller whose pilot (the only episode ever made) is a bit of a cult classic that parodies this whole trope. The premise is that a former astronaut with solar powered super genius (Jack Black) and a talking motorcycle (voiced by Owen Wilson) cruise the country as drifters on the run from NASA. TheyFightCrime!

-->She was designed to be the perfect soldier. She was trained to be a human weapon. But then she escaped. They came after her, and she knew they would never stop looking. [...] She's found an unlikely ally in Logan Cale. Born to a life of privilege, he's now an underground cyber-journalist crusading against a corrupt government. He wants to save the world, or what's left of it. She just wants to find the others like her. Together... [[TheyFightCrime who knows?]]

-->Kamen Rider Double, the two-in-one detective composed of Shotaro Hidari, the [[TheHeart kind-hearted]], half-baked [[TheHero hero]] who idolizes everything [[HardboiledDetective hardboiled]] and the mysterious Philip, with the unlimited knowledge of the [[GreatBigLibraryOfEverything Gaia Library]] within his mind. Together they are the Kamen Rider who solves any mystery while [[TheyFightCrime fighting Gaia Memory-related crime!]]
* ''Mann And Machine:'' He's a hard-boiled city cop. She's a sexy female android. TheyFightCrime!
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'': One's a programming genius. The other's a former CIA agent. TheyFightCrime... that the government doesn't care about.

* ''Series/RosemaryAndThyme'': She's a gardener. She's...also a gardener, but she used to be a cop. TheyFightCrime!

* They're ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain''. [[ThemeTune One is a genius. The other's insane. To prove their mousey worth, they'll overthrow the Earth.]]