History PaperThinDisguise / LiveACtionTV

* Subversion on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where Tobias steals the plot of ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' and dresses himself up as a British nanny in order to try to get closer to his daughter -- complete with ''Film/MaryPoppins''-style song-and-dance numbers and Tobias' own total lack of competence at housework. The other characters, apparently far more GenreSavvy than Tobias himself, recognize Tobias right away, as well as the movie he took it from, and their trying to deal with this without breaking Tobias' heart create some of the show's most hilariously painful scenes. The best part is that in order to impersonate a woman, David Cross had to shave off his signature mustache -- thus, whenever Tobias reappears as himself, he's wearing a painfully fake mustache.

* Subverted in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Season 4. Leonard tries to pick up women in an Apple Store by wearing a T-shirt. When that fails, Howard tells him it doesn't work, going back with a false moustache.

* The ''Series/{{Blackadder}} Goes Forth'' episode "General Hospital" features Blackadder trying to find a German spy in the field hospital. One of the men recovering there has a very thick German accent, introduces himself simply as "Smith" and behaves rather suspiciously...[[spoiler:Subverted in that as Blackadder points out, not even the Germans are stupid enough to send a man with such a pitiful disguise to be a spy; he's actually a British spy who's been in Germany for so long he's developed an accent.]]

* Subverted in ''Series/ChappellesShow'', when Tyrone Biggums is tricked into an intervention with his friends. One of them, Rhonda, recalls the time that he carjacked her. He tried to hide his identity simply by pulling his red hat over his head like a ski mask, but Rhonda instantly recognized him anyway:

* In the CrossOver special between ''Series/ICarly'' and ''Series/{{Victorious}}'', in order to infiltrtate a party in Hollywood without being identified as internet celebrities, Carly, Sam and Freddie all get pretty convincing makeup by an ex-girlfriend of Spencer. When Gibby says he needs a disguise too, she simply gives him a beauty mark. Subverted later in the episode; the moment Gibby loses his beauty mark, everyone immediately recognizes him "Hey, you're that guy from iCarly!"

** Subverted in the episode "Defeeted" where the mayor recognises Robbie straight away, even though the villain is wearing one of his better disguises: a superhero outfit. The characters have fallen for lesser disguises in the past.

* Subverted in an episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' where Colonel Flagg comes into Radar's office wearing a pretty absurd disguise, and Radar recognizes him quickly. When Flagg sternly asks him how he recognized him, Radar nervously said that Flagg was so good at not looking like himself that he guessed that someone who looked so much not-like him must be him. (However, when Flagg then walked into Colonel Potter's office, it didn't fool Potter either.)

* Subversion: On ''Series/TopGear'', the presenters occasionally switch out James "Captain Slow" May for their "tame racing driver", a [[TheFaceless masked man]] known only as The Stig. The whole disguise is The Stig wearing one of May's iconic shirts (a ghastly purple-and-pink striped number) over his white racing suit. Mysteriously, no one finds it convincing.

** In fact, most of the characters seemed to think that if they just put on a mask that covered their eyes they would be instantly unrecognizable even to their closest friends. [[IdiotPlot They were usually right...]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkFjwn-4R4g Another SNL sketch]] features a group of women out for brunch. They start talking about their celebrity crushes, and one woman, Claire, [[ButHeSoundsHandsome repeatedly talks about]] how hot she finds Chris Hemsworth. Needless to say, "Claire" actually ''is'' Chris Hemsworth in a wig and dress. It's then taken UpToEleven when the other women not only determine the truth ("Crazy question -- is our friend Claire actually Chris Hemsworth?"), but realize that ''they've never met Claire before.''

* Taken UpToEleven in the ''Series/StudioC'' sketch "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tmXRSnGs1s Death Bed Repentance]]", where the audience doesn't even realize that Jeremy is even wearing a disguise until he takes off the fake mustache and wig, revealing his ''identical'' mustache and hair, to prove that he is actually Jose Delgado.

** In "The Feminum Mystique", the Nazis mistake Wonder Girl for Wonder Woman repeatedly. The first time is almost reasonable since they knew nothing of Paradise Island or other Amazons, both wore a red and blue LeotardOfPower, and had the same super powers. It goes UpToEleven when they can't tell the difference between two entirely different women [[spoiler: after conquering Paradise Island itself!]]

* In the Cloris Leachman episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', pigs take over the show and fill all the roles. Cloris comes out on stage while "Kermit the Pig" is making an introduction and states her belief that he's not Kermit the Frog, despite being green (not easy for a pig) and having the collar. What changes her mind? "Ribbit!" He didn't even have to hide his ears or snout. Though given Cloris later saves the show, she evidently saw through the disguise at some point.
** Any role played by Gonzo fits, as the mask has to fit that unique nose of his.
--->'''Gonzo:''' (As the Black Knight) The world will forever wonder who I am!\\
'''Kermit:''' Though some may harbor suspicions...
** Beaker once [[LampshadeWearing donned a lampshade]] to hide from testing Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's invention. This worked well, until Beauregard plugged him in.
** Bunsen takes a turn while being harassed by multiple clones of Beaker, trying to hide his identity using a ConspicuousTrenchcoat, a hat and a plastic glasses/nose/'stache arrangement. It fools Kermit but works for all of thirty seconds before the Beakers find him.
** In the episode with Milton Berle, Fozzie is afraid of meeting his idol and hides throughout the show. At one point, Fozzie wears a disguise, which is merely a pair of glasses with a fake nose and large beard attached. At first Scooter appears to be fooled, but then it's revealed he isn't.
** In another episode, Fozzie disguises himself as Ms. Piggy to get more screen-time (his mother's in the audience and he wants to show off). This consists of stealing her Pigs in Space costume and putting on a blonde wig, then peppering his statements with "''Mon capitan''". Since he's dealing with Link Hogthrob, this works. Link just thinks "Piggy" hasn't shaved, and then tries to kiss her, much to Fozzie's alarm. It's only once he takes the wig off Link realizes he's been had.
** In ''Tales Of the Tinkerdee'', a pre-Muppet Show Creator/JimHenson production, Taminella Grindenfall, witchiest witch of them all, is able to disguise herself as a Santa Claus, the princess, the kingdom prime minister, and an artist by wearing different wigs and hats.
** Zigzagged in the Muppet special ''Film/HeyCinderella''. As the King plans a masked ball, Prince Arthur Charming meets Cinderella while gardening and, after realizing she doesn't recognize him as the prince, says he's the gardener. He arranges for everybody to be invited to the ball so she can go, but since it's a masked ball they arrange to each wear a geranium so they'll recognize each other, unaware that the King plans to give each guest a geranium. They end up spending the whole time at the ball dancing together without knowing it -- but the masks they're wearing only cover the eye area of their faces, to say nothing of the fact that they'd spoken to each other at length and thus should have recognized each other's voices. Sort of justified in that they also dressed differently from how they expected each other to dress (Arthur thought Cinderella was going to wear a crummy dress, Cinderella doesn't know Arthur is the prince) and had only met each other once (though they do recognize each other when they next see each other three months later, and Cinderella initially doesn't notice Arthur in prince clothes at first).
** Additionally, the only time Cinderella uses her mask as a disguise is when she's near her stepmother and stepsisters. It works, but is justified in that they don't expect her to have such a nice-looking dress. And when the Fairy Godmother encounters Splurge at the dance, she says that she initially didn't recognize him with his mask on. Keep in mind Splurge is a big purple monster and his mask is a Lone Rangers mask.

* Usually averted whenever it happens on ''Series/SesameStreet'', when other characters see through the paper-thin disguises. Justified as it is an educational show for children. Some examples include:
** In one sketch, Ernie gets a disguise kit and uses it to fool Bert, who is not fooled at all, especially since Ernie left his pirate beard on when he dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. However, when a wolf shows up, Bert thinks it is Ernie.
** In another sketch, Cookie Monster dresses as "The Cookie Bunny", and "corrects" Ernie whenever he refers to Cookie as Cookie Monster.
** In a street scene of one episode, Big Bird and Alan bake birdseed cookies for Granny Bird. When Cookie Monster finds out, he dresses as Granny Bird. Big Bird and Alan know that it's Cookie Monster all along but play along with it.
** In another episode, Abby thinks Oscar might really be a prince and wants to kiss him, which Oscar wants to avoid. At one point Oscar dons a disguise (Groucho Marx glasses) which doesn't work.
** One "Word of the Day" sketch features Jack Black and Elmo defining the word "disguise," so as might be expected, Paper-Thin Disguises came into play. Jack claims to be a "master of disguise," and tries to prove it by putting on various outfits to conceal his identity. The first is a large sombrero and a pair of sunglasses; the second is a rainbow clown wig and...another pair of sunglasses. Elmo instantly sees through both disguises, which makes Jack sad. He leaves, and a few moments later, a Muppet chicken enters. In a subversion of the trope, Elmo asks if the chicken has seen Jack Black...three guesses as to who the chicken ''really'' is.
** In the "Smart Cookies" segments introduced in the 46th season, The Crumb, a villainous chef, is always able to fool Cookie Monster with these kinds of disguises.
** In an episode of ''The Furchester'', "Don't Eat the Guest", a talking cookie comes to the hotel, on a day when the hotel is out of cookies. In an attempt to keep Cookie Monster from eating the guest, the staff puts a fake mustache on him so Cookie won't know that he's a cookie. Sort of works, though Cookie Monster does say that he thought it was a cookie at first ("But whoever heard of cookie with mustache?").
** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pItfGZ52Des a viral video]], Abby looks for Elmo, who disguises himself wearing only a pair of Groucho Marx glasses. She is actually fooled, even when Elmo says "Elmo hasn't seen your friend Elmo anywhere".
** In one sketch, Bert accuses Ernie of stealing a plate of cookies he was saving for himself. Ernie loves cookies and has been known to trick Bert out of his desserts, but [[NotMeThisTime swears that he's innocent in this case]]. Bert argues that he saw someone in a red-and-blue striped sweater with a tuft of black hair laughing in Ernie's distinctive "Khee-hee-hee" manner, which proves he must be the crook...and that's when Cookie Monster enters, wearing a sweater that looks like Ernie's and a small black wig, to help himself to another dish of sweets. This was apparently enough to fool Bert, despite the fact that Cookie Monster is, you know, a ''fuzzy blue monster.''
** In the episode where The Count has a ceremony to receive the noble prize for counting, The Count is late showing up, and the rules state that the winners must receive their prize in person, so Alan, Telly, and Elmo all dress as The Count in an attempt to get him to have his award. The judges rightfully don't think they look enough like The Count, but go along with it anyway, not learning the truth until each one confesses/gets exposed as imposters (only done after they fail to do the counting challenge or fail to make thunder and lightning).
** In the New Year's special ''Sesame Street Stays Up Late'' Telly dons an ill-fitting fake beard, sunglasses, a fedora and trenchcoat and claims to be an agent from the U.S. Department of Celebrations and Parties under the impression that stopping the New Year's Eve party would stop the new year from coming. While the kids believe him until he gets his beard caught in his briefcase, Gina is visibly not fooled.

* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows'': Laszlo goes on the run as his alter-ego Jackie Daytona. Putting a toothpick in his mouth apparently makes him impossible for vampires to recognize.

** Another recurring sketch, "Cheeseburger Doyle", also spoofed this trope. The main character was a [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext talking cheeseburger with eyes that ran a detective agency]] -- and not a human-sized burger either, but an ''actual four-inch sandwich puppet.'' Upon being hired to solve a mystery, Doyle would infiltrate the scene of the crime wearing a disguise, usually a phony mustache or small hat; when questioned if he was a cheeseburger, he'd deny it, making up a generic name ("Oh, no...I'm Al"). After catching the culprit red-handed, he would proceed to dramatically reveal himself: "AHA! I'm not REALLY a construction worker named Al!" He'd then (literally) shake off the disguise, and the suspect would gasp in over-the-top shock ("CHEESEBURGER DOYLE!"), while others reacted in amazement at Doyle actually being a cheeseburger.

--->'''Hammond:''' [[Series/AlloAllo It is I!]]

* A sketch on ''Series/KeyAndPeele'' features two escaped African-American [=POWs=] hiding out in Berlin during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, with their only disguise being to paint their faces white (as in, the colour white) and their lips bright red. An SS officer comes to their house looking for "Negros" and uses a series of ridiculous tests to determine if they are black, not noticing their obvious African features, dark skin everywhere but their faces and Ebonics accents. At one point he even takes off their hats, revealing their hair, but only to measure their heads as "...ze Negro head interestingly enough only comes in ze half sizes."

* A sketch on ''Series/Key&Peele'' features two escaped African-American POWs hiding out in Berlin during UserfulNotes/WorldWarII, with their only disguise being to paint their faces white (as in, the colour white). An SS officer comes to their house looking for "Negores" and uses a series of ridiculous tests to determine if they are black, not noticing their obvious African features, dark skin everywhere but their faces and Ebonics accents. At one point he even takes off their hats, revealing their hair, but only to measure their heads as "...ze Negro head only comes in ze half sizes. It is vun of ze many interesting things about ze Nergo head".

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** "The Queen Who Came in from the Cold" featured the Queen of Hearts--a heavyset Black woman with a fondness for wearing all-red outfits--upset about receiving a number of anonymous letters complaining about her newest taxes. To find out who the letter writers are, she assumes a disguise--a crimson dress and matching hat with her hair partially over her face--and speaks in a half-whisper, which makes her look remarkably like...a heavyset Black woman with a fondness for wearing all-red outfits. It fools ''everyone'' but the Cheshire Cat--and the characters interact with the Queen on a daily basis! What makes it even funnier is that there are no other women, African-American or otherwise, in Wonderland, and yet everyone is completely unable to recognize her.
** The show also occasionally spoofed this idea with the Mad Hatter. In "Christmas in Wonderland," the gang meets to plan a holiday surprise for the Queen of Hearts. Tweedledee points out that, since the gift is a surprise, it should be a secret meeting--if the Queen spots them, the plan will be ruined. The Hatter announces "Only if she ''recognized'' us!", and provides everyone, including preteen Alice, with the same disguise--a large white Santa Claus beard.

* From ''Series/AlloAllo'', there is the character of Monsieur Roger [=LeClerc=], "Man of a thousand faces - every one the same." Most episodes see him donning a completely useless disguise and conspiratorially whispering [[CatchPhrase "It is I, Le Clerc!"]]

** Another recurring sketch, "Cheeseburger Doyle", also spoofed this trope. The main character was a [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext talking cheeseburger with eyes that ran a detective agency]]--and not a human-sized burger either, but an ''actual four-inch sandwich puppet.'' Upon being hired to solve a mystery, Doyle would infiltrate the scene of the crime wearing a disguise, usually a phony mustache or small hat; when questioned if he was a cheeseburger, he'd deny it, making up a generic name ("Oh, no...I'm Al"). After catching the culprit red-handed, he would proceed to dramatically reveal himself: "AHA! I'm not REALLY a construction worker named Al!" He'd then (literally) shake off the disguise, and the suspect would gasp in over-the-top shock ("CHEESEBURGER DOYLE!"), while others reacted in amazement at Doyle actually being a cheeseburger.

* Subversion on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where Tobias steals the plot of ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' and dresses himself up as a British nanny in order to try to get closer to his daughter - complete with ''Film/MaryPoppins''-style song-and-dance numbers and Tobias' own total lack of competence at housework. The other characters, apparently far more GenreSavvy than Tobias himself, recognize Tobias right away, as well as the movie he took it from, and their trying to deal with this without breaking Tobias' heart create some of the show's most hilariously painful scenes. The best part is that in order to impersonate a woman, David Cross had to shave off his signature mustache - thus, whenever Tobias reappears as himself, he's wearing a painfully fake mustache.

* Common on ''Series/Batman1966'', where the citizens of Gotham City are remarkably unobservant when it comes to recognizing Special Guest Villains. In "The Zodiac Crimes/The Joker's Hard Times," ComicBook/TheJoker is able to pass himself off as a wealthy Southern oil baron--not by covering up his distinctive facial features (a pure white face and red clown smile), or even by changing out of his infamous purple suit, but by simply ''wearing a hat'' (although he does manage to pull off a halfway-convincing Texan accent).

*** This is theoretically actual history this is taking place in, so the fact that the king is off his nut shouldn't come as a surprise-he's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_III_of_the_United_Kingdom George the Third]].

** In "The Archbishop", Blackadder is chased by a pair of crusaders and he, Baldrick, and Percy disguise themselves as nuns to shake them off. The disguises not only work fine, but the crusaders subsequently decide to put on similar disguises as well in order to fool Blackadder and his company. They follow with a short discussion, neither side realizing the truth - even though one of the crusaders has a ''beard''! - until they accidentally thank one another without a high pitch.

* In ''Series/Charmed1998'', the sisters fake their deaths at the end of season 7. In season 8 they pretend to be their own "cousins" and continue living in the same house, raising Piper and Leo's kids. They do change their appearance using glamors (though they also change the glamor multiple times). At one point Piper's glamored appearance turns out to have been copied from someone wrongfully accused of murder, and she's imprisoned. This doesn't seem to raise any questions about why the other two were letting this woman live there, pretending to be related to them. Muggles get a pass for not guessing the truth, but this subterfuge should have fooled demons for about half a second.
* ''Series/CobraKai'': In the first episode of season 3, Johnny tries to sneak into the hospital to visit Miguel Diaz. Since only family are allowed due to Miguel being in a coma, he tries to do so by dressing up as a doctor using a discarded lab coat. Another patient immediately realizes he's not a doctor because of how beaten up his face is, forcing Johnny to injure himself further to get admitted as a patient.

* Deliberately invoked in ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' episode "Theo and the Real World." [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title suggests,]] the episode features Theo boasting that he'll be extremely successful as an adult in the "real world." To test this theory, the rest of the family convert their brownstone into the "Real World Apartments," and pose as various people that Theo might experience while trying to rent an apartment, find a job, buy furniture, and get a bank loan. They change roles by assuming simple costumes and props--Cliff's "landlord" outfit, for instance, is simply turning a baseball cap backwards and putting a cigar into his mouth. Subverts come as the family isn't trying to ''trick'' Theo; the disguises are simply to indicate that they're different individuals, like costumes in a play.
** It does seem to be deliberately invoked in one case, though--Theo and Cockroach head through the family kitchen (which was earlier established as "Millie's Chuck Wagon", a restaurant) and encounter Denise, who's wearing what appear to be her regular clothes. She says that she ''is'' Denise and refers to Theo by name. The boys are happy to get a break from the roleplaying and decide to have some lunch. As they eat, Denise comes over and pulls out a pad to charge the pair for the meal, explaining that she's Denise ''Farquar'', Millie's daughter and a waitress at the restaurant.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': "Robert Strong", the newest, mysterious, helmed and mute member of the Kingsguard introduced in the season 5 finale. Despite wearing full plate armor that covers everything but his eyes and never speaking, his true identity (Gregor Clegane) should be obvious to anyone who sees him due to his great size. In Season 6, Qyburn and the other Small Council members drop the pretense in private. In the books, it's narrated from Kevan's sole POV that other Kingsguards have never seen Robert Strong eat/drink or use the privy, and Qyburn had previously ordered a suit of armor for Strong so large/heavy/thick that the smith voiced his belief that no man could move and fight in it. While not directly confirmed it's Ser Gregor in the books, many suspect it and most readers presume it to the point it would be more shocking if it wasn't him. Also, the Martells asked for Gregor's head and therefore most people kept quiet about Strong being obviously Gregor. In the show there is no real reason to hide it since the Martells are gone.

** One episode has Frank infiltrating an art gallery to convince the owner to come to Paddy's Pub for a show Mac plans to put on. Frank agrees--after [[BlatantLies promising to "keep it subtle"]]--and goes undercover by putting on a black turtleneck and pants, horn-rimmed glasses, and a white Creator/AndyWarhol-like wig. He proceeds to call himself "Ongo Gablogian, the art collector," and marches around the gallery declaring that various works are "derivative" and [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible claiming that the building's air conditioner is a beautiful statement on the human condition.]] The owner is successfully fooled.

** It's also worth noting that there are exactly three male adults in the town--the mayor (who's AmbiguouslyBrown and heavyset), Sportacus (a muscular white man), and Robbie (who, while also white, is much slenderer than Sportacus), which severely limits the number of people who the Birthday Fairy/manners teacher/scoutmaster/etc. could be... and yet no one ever catches on.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'' season 2. Luke is being sued by Cockroach for assaulting him, and being repped by Foggy Nelson, [[Series/Daredevil2015 Matt Murdock]]'s former law partner. Foggy suggests that Luke consider wearing a mask to hide his identity, since that's what Matt did. Luke shoots it down on account that his height and being bulletproof make him identifiable, mask or no mask.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'': In "Mr. Monk and the Big Game", Natalie is thrown out of a basketball game she's helping Monk coach. She sneaks back onto the court wearing the mascot's costume—a move that carries severe penalties for herself and her team if she's caught—so Monk can tell her how he solved the episode's mystery. The referee doesn't even notice her, even after she removes the head.

** Zigzagged in the Muppet special ''Film/HeyCinderella''. As the King plans a masked ball, Prince Arthur Charming meets Cinderella while gardening and, after realizing she doesn't recognize him as the prince, says he's the gardener. He arranges for everybody to be invited to the ball so she can go, but since it's a masked ball they arrange to each wear a geranium so they'll recognize each other, unaware that the King plans to give each guest a geranium. They end up spending the whole time at the ball dancing together without knowing it--but the masks they're wearing only cover the eye area of their faces, to say nothing of the fact that they'd spoken to each other at length and thus should have recognized each other's voices. Sort of justified in that they also dressed differently from how they expected each other to dress (Arthur thought Cinderella was going to wear a crummy dress, Cinderella doesn't know Arthur is the prince) and had only met each other once (though they do recognize each other when they next see each other three months later, and Cinderella initially doesn't notice Arthur in prince clothes at first).

* On ''Series/RobinHood'', all the outlaws had to do to render themselves invisible was to put on their hoods. In any given crowd of people, there would always be a little group of people that had their hoods obscuring their faces - this was never considered suspicious.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkFjwn-4R4g Another SNL sketch]] features a group of women out for brunch. They start talking about their celebrity crushes, and one woman, Claire, [[ButHeSoundsHandsome repeatedly talks about]] how hot she finds Chris Hemsworth. Needless to say, "Claire" actually ''is'' Chris Hemsworth in a wig and dress. It's then taken UpToEleven when the other women not only determine the truth ("Crazy question--is our friend Claire actually Chris Hemsworth?"), but realize that ''they've never met Claire before.''
* [[CloudCuckoolander Kramer]] of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' is quite fond of donning disguises and false names to sneak into places where he does't belong. Whether or not he succeeds is usually a case of ThisIsReality--for example, his identity as "Horace J. Pennypacker, wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers bicyclist]]" (which is just him wearing a fancy suit coat and glasses while smoking a cigar) works because people have no reason to doubt his identity, but his recurring persona of "Doctor Van Nostrum" (which he creates by wearing a white lab coat) often fails because any ''actual'' medical professional can instantly tell he's not the real thing.

* Naturally, Count Olaf in ''Series/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2017''. Actually pulled off "better" than in [[Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents the film]], where the "Stefano" disguise was almost unrecognizable as Olaf to most viewers - here, "Stefano" is just Olaf with a bald wig and fake beard.

** In season 1, Kara needs Lucy's help to free a friend from jail. At her apartment, Kara pulls off her glasses and opens her shirt to reveal her uniform under it. After an initial shock, Lucy openly asks how she could possibly not see it before.
** In fact, Kara's entire "disguise" is nicely mocked in season 2 as Alex is thrown when girlfriend Maggie relates she's figured out Supergirl is Kara due to how Alex is so worried for her.

** Nicely justified in season three when, to protect the secret, Alex allows J'onn to erase all memory of Kara being Supergirl from her mind. At first, it seems crazy that Alex, of all people, can't notice Supergirl is just her sister without glasses but it's made clear that the mindwipe also has adjusted Alex's perception so she literally can't put two and two together. It takes watching Supergirl being nearly beaten to death by Red Daughter for the conditioning to break and Alex remembers everything.

** In "If I Only Had a Job," Raven dons a long blonde wig and designer clothes, coupled with a [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent bizarre, vaguely foreign-sounding accent]] to pretend to be a famous pop star and help her father get his restaurant job back. Chelsea and Eddie don black clothes and sunglasses to pass themselves off as her publicist and bodyguard, respectively, and Eddie calls her "Liz Anya" after [[LineOfSightAlias seeing a waitress carrying a plate of lasagna.]] Despite the fact that Raven's been in the restaurant many times before, the owner fails to recognize her. The credibility is strained further when Raven has "Music/JenniferLopez" call her cell phone--it's actually Cory, Raven's little brother and thus a ''preteen boy'' speaking in a high-pitched voice that sounds nothing like J.Lo. To top it all off, when the restaurant patrons ask Liz to perform a song for them, she says she'll do one she just wrote with Eddie accompanying her on piano--and he promptly starts playing "When the Saints Go Marching In," as it's the only tune he knows. For all that, no one is even remotely suspicious.
*** Interestingly, the trope is [[LampshadedTrope lampshaded]] when, at the end of the song, Chelsea and Eddie notice their Spanish teacher coming in the restaurant and hurriedly try to get Raven to stop performing--apparently, the teacher will know who they are, despite the outfits fooling everyone else.

** In "Double Vision," Chelsea arranges for a hippie singer named "Rayn Bo" to perform a concert for the school's Vegetarian Club. When Rayn Bo and Eddie end up locked in a broom closet, Raven decides to stall the crowd by donning vaguely flower-child clothing and a blonde wig to pass herself off as "Sunshine," the opening act. This example is particularly egregious because Raven doesn't do anything to change her facial features or voice beyond speaking in a breathy register--and she's standing in front of fellow students who ''see her every day.'' Apparently the school has a lot of teens with vision problems.

* The 2005 Canadian series ''Series/YoungBlades'' was '''notorious''' for this. The best example was Jacqueline - a female Musketeer [[SweetPollyOliver masquerading as a man]] - who used to conceal her femininity by tying back her (waist-length) hair, assuming a bizarre guttural voice and frowning a lot. In some episodes she sported a highly amusing fake goatee, which only made things worse. And yet no one penetrated her disguise, ''ever'', even when she let her hair down, put on a dress and started pretending to be her own twin sister. It was absurd!

* ''Series/TheTick2016'': Arthur's superhero disguise consists of translucent goggles that mildly obscure his face and has the same reasonably distinctive mannerisms in both guises, although the biggest problem is that due to panicking when first asked, his superhero name is just his own first name.

** Cory later disguises himself as his sister Raven to present new uniforms for the White House (the real Raven cannot attend because she is being hunted down for harassing the President, who is unaware of her being Cory's sister). His disguise merely consists of dressing in Raven's clothes, putting on makeup, wearing a wig, and stuffing balloons in his top to give himself a bustline. It also doesn't help that he is badly hiding his masculine voice. Meena even comments on the " resemblance" that "Raven" has to Cory.

* Happens in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}''. In [[Recap/SherlockS03E01TheEmptyHearse "The Empty Hearse"]], Sherlock disguises himself as a French waiter by stealing a black bowtie, horn-rimmed glasses, scribbling on a fake mustache, and talking in a French accent when attempting to reveal that he's still alive to John. And John is so distracted that it still takes him a few minutes to realize that he's been talking to Sherlock (it should also be noted that he's spent three years believing Sherlock is dead, so obviously wouldn't have been looking for him anyway).

** In the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'', Sabbath demonstrates just what a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute of the Master he is, with a dreadful pseudonym (Mr. Holiday) and a disguise which, being BiggerOnTheInside, makes him ''very slightly thinner than he actually is''. The Doctor is thrown off, while the readers wonder if the Doctor recognizes people who've been on a diet.

*** [[spoiler:Averted in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough and Time"]], when his disguise as Mr. Razor is extremely elaborate, including a full mask, wig and false teeth, as well as a fake voice and a 24/7 act as an eccentric hospital caretaker]]. {{Justified}} since [[spoiler:he's hiding from an entire city that wants him dead, and he can't risk Bill recognising him as Harold Saxon.]]

* On ''Series/{{CSI}}'', in the episode "Living Legend", a series of murders are committed, ostensibly by separate people. All of the killers look amazingly alike (including the one who's supposed to be black and female). All of the killers use names that are obviously cribbed from horror movies. None of the killers try to hide their identities, which don't lead back to any real people. Any viewer with half a brain cell will have figured out by the fifteen-minute mark that all the killers (plus a few other characters) are played by ''[[NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize special guest star]] [[Music/TheWho Roger Daltrey]]'', but it takes the well trained and highly intelligent police until the 48 minute mark to even figure out that any one of the killers is actually using a disguise and fake name, let alone figure out that they're all the same person.

** TheMaster, whose skills involve being a master of disguise, disguised himself frequently during Creator/RogerDelgado's tenure with a pair of glasses. Creator/AnthonyAinley also adopted paper-thin disguises in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva "Castrovalva"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E7TimeFlight "Time-Flight"]] (in the latter case, they actually intended to fool someone, as Ainley even used a pseudonym in the credits). The Master also hides behind obviously pseudonyms like "Colonel Masters", "Mr. Magister", "Dr. Masterly", etc. In the new series, he hides behind an unintentionally SignificantAnagram.
*** To be fair, in most cases the Master was trying to fool ordinary people who at that point had no idea who he was or what was going on (often his schemes involved infiltrating organizations under false identities), and his pseudonyms are probably ''intended'' to be bad as a mockery of a species he looks down on. In fact most of the time whenever the Master appears in disguise to the Doctor or someone who actually knows who he is they see right through his disguise immediately (and he probably wouldn't have it any other way).
*** His "Harold Saxon" guise zigzags this somewhat. In this case, the Master actually did bother to create a fictional backstory for himself, and even generated a few photographs. However, he also went out of his way to make it as obvious as possible that he had appeared out of nowhere eighteen months ago. For instance, all the obviously photoshopped pictures of him as a University student don't look any younger than his current appearance, and he had no paper trail despite getting a first at Oxford ''and'' being a former rugby champion. Then he deliberately became one of the most visible people in the world by founding his own political party, leading it to an electoral landslide and becoming Prime Minister of Great Britain, to put the eyes of the world on him when he brings the Toclafane in. Thanks to the Archangel network, he's got the populace under subtle mind control that prevents anyone looking too closely...well, 98% to 99% at most, and being able to fool a planet full of stupid humans without even trying probably appealed to the {{Troll}} in him.

* Spoofed in the Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} series ''Series/AllThat'', where a thin little girl played by Amanda Bynes [[EasyImpersonation impersonates]] Superdude, a large black man played by Kenan Thompson. the local superhero Superdude encounters an impersonator robbing the bank. The townspeople are completely unable to tell the difference between the two, even after Superdude bends a metal bar in a knot and the impersonator simply rips a piece of paper (which the citizens are convinced is a form of SuperStrength).

* Common on ''Series/Batman1966'', where the citizens of Gotham City are remarkably unobservant when it comes to recognizing Special Guest Villains. On at least two occasions, ComicBook/TheJoker is able to successfully impersonate someone else -- not by wearing makeup to hide his distinctive features, or even by changing clothes, but by simply ''wearing a hat'' (though he ''did'' manage a halfway-convincing Texas accent).

* [[CloudCuckoolander Kramer]] of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' is quite fond of donning disguises and false names to sneak into places where he does't belong. Whether or not he succeeds is usually a case of RealityEnsues--for example, his identity as "Horace J. Pennypacker, wealthy industrialist, philanthropist, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers bicyclist]]" (which is just him wearing a fancy suit coat and glasses while smoking a cigar) works because people have no reason to doubt his identity, but his recurring persona of "Doctor Van Nostrum" (which he creates by wearing a white lab coat) often fails because any ''actual'' medical professional can instantly tell he's not the real thing.

** In "True Colors," a VerySpecialEpisode about racism, Raven discovers that she was passed up for a job at Sassy's, a store in the mall, despite being a highly qualified candidate because the owner is a racist who refuses to hire black people. The whole gang teams up to expose the owner; Raven's part of the plan is to pass herself off as a middle-aged, ''male'' vice-president of Sassy's by wearing a suit, fake beard, and bald cap while speaking in a deeper voice that fails to cover up the fact that she's a teenage girl. [[WebVideo/AVerySpecialEpisode Funny or Die]] [[FridgeLogic pointed out the issue]] with this by remarking that Victor, Raven's father and an ''actual'' middle-aged black man, could have just easily played the role, especially because the manager hadn't seen him before.

* Beautiful subversion on ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'', where Tobias steals the plot of ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' and dresses himself up as a British nanny in order to try to get closer to his daughter - complete with ''Film/MaryPoppins''-style song-and-dance numbers and Tobias' own total lack of competence at housework. The other characters, apparently far more GenreSavvy than Tobias himself, recognize Tobias right away, as well as the movie he took it from, and their trying to deal with this without breaking Tobias' heart create some of the show's most hilariously painful scenes.
** The best part is that in order to impersonate a woman, David Cross had to shave off his signature mustache - thus, whenever Tobias reappears as himself, he's wearing a painfully fake mustache.

* Deliberately invoked and subverted in ''Series/TheCosbyShow'' episode "Theo and the Real World." [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the title suggests,]] the episode features Theo boasting that he'll be extremely successful as an adult in the "real world." To test this theory, the rest of the family convert their brownstone into the "Real World Apartments," and pose as various people that Theo might experience while trying to rent an apartment, find a job, buy furniture, and get a bank loan. They change roles by assuming simple costumes and props--Cliff's "landlord" outfit, for instance, is simply turning a baseball cap backwards and putting a cigar into his mouth. The subversion comes in as the family isn't trying to ''trick'' Theo; the disguises are simply to indicate that they're different individuals, like costumes in a play.

** "The Queen Who Came in from the Cold" featured the Queen of Hearts--a heavyset black woman with a fondness for wearing all-red outfits--upset about receiving a number of anonymous letters complaining about her newest taxes. To find out who the letter writers are, she assumes a disguise--a crimson dress and matching hat with her hair partially over her face--and speaks in a half-whisper, which makes her look remarkably like...a heavyset black woman with a fondness for wearing all-red outfits. It fools ''everyone'' but the Cheshire Cat--and the characters interact with the Queen on a daily basis! What makes it even funnier is that there are no other women, African-American or otherwise, in Wonderland, and yet everyone is completely unable to recognize her.

** After Ricky is fired from the Tropicana after demanding a raise, Lucy, Ethel and Fred all conspire to get his job back by booking every table at the club with fake reservations on the night Ricky's replacement is performing for the first time and then showing up at opening night pretending to be those excited potential audience members and storming out in disgust when they realise that they'll be seeing anyone onstage other then Ricky. The three of them come back over and over in various "disguises" which amount to different silly accents, wigs, and outfits, complete with Fred in drag. Ricky's boss is completely fooled.

** It's also worth noting that there are exactly three male adults in the town--the mayor (who's AmbiguouslyBrown and heavyset), Sportacus (a Caucasian muscular man), and Robbie (who, while Caucasian, is much slenderer than Sportacus), which severely limits the number of people who the Birthday Fairy/manners teacher/scoutmaster/etc. could be... and yet no one ever catches on.

** In another episode, Fozzie disguises himself as Ms. Piggy to get more screen-time (his mother's in the audience and he wants to show off). This consists of stealing her Pigs in Space costume and putting on a blonde wig, then peppering his statements with "''Mon capitan''". Since he's dealing with Link Porkthrob, this works. Link just thinks "Piggy" hasn't shaved, and then tries to kiss her, much to Fozzie's alarm. It's only once he takes the wig off Link realizes he's been had.

* Subverted in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Season 4. Leonard tries to pick up women in an Apple Store by wearing a T-shirt. When that fails, Howard tells him it doesn't work going back with a false moustache.

* In the Cloris Leachman episode of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', pigs take over the show and fill all the roles. Cloris comes out on stage while "Kermit the Pig" is making an introduction and states her belief that he's not Kermit the Frog, despite being green (not easy for a pig) and having the collar. What changes her mind? "Ribbit!" He didn't even have to hide his ears or snout.

** After Ricky is fired from the Tropicana after demanding a raise, Lucy, Ethel and Fred all conspire to get his job back by booking every table at the club with fake reservations on the night Ricky's replacement is performing for the first time and then showing up at opening night pretending to be those excited potential audience members and storming out in disgust when they realise that they'll be seeing anyone onstage other then Ricky. The three of them come back over and over in various "disguises" which amount to different silly accents, wigs, outfits, complete with Fred in drag. Ricky's boss is completely fooled.

** After Ricky is fired from the Tropicana after demanding a raise, Lucy, Ethel and Fred all conspire to get his job back by booking every table at the club with fake reservations on the night Ricky's replacement is performing for the first time and then showing up at opening night pretending to be those excited potential audience members and storming out in disgust when they realise that they'll be seeing anyone onstage other then Ricky. The three of them come back over and over in various "disguises" which amount to different silly accents, wigs, outfits, complete with Fred in drag and Ricky's boss is completely fooled.