History Series / Hustle

** Alfie Baron in "The Road Less Travelled". Ash even says this word-for-word when Alfred is describing Alfie to the rest of the team. At the end of the episode Alfie is still confused about the con even after everything has been explained right in front of him.

* GladYouThoughtOfIt: In season 6 Ash, suddenly promoted to leading the con after Mickey loses his mojo (and not enjoying it), uses this on Mickey to actually work out what to do. He basically refuses to tell Mickey what his (non-existent) plan is, getting Mickey to specualte what he'd do in such a situation - which Ash then uses as his actual plan. Subverted, in that at the end of the episode it's revealed Mickey knew exactly what was happening.

---> ''"Arse!!!"''

* TheCon. It is a show about conmen after all, so each episode has one [[OnceAnEpisode as its basis]]. Oftentimes it's a nested con, but the structure and payoffs of the group's scams varied enormously over the seasons. It's amazing to go to this trope's page and realise how many of its subtropes are used within the show at some point.

* IgnoredConfession: In "The Fall of Railton FC", Ash temporarily CannotTellALie as the result of a head injury. When TheMark asks him if there is anything else he should know, Ash tells him that the entire deal is a con and they are planning to steal his money. He then bursts out laughing, turning it into a SarcasticConfession that TheMark cheerily ignores.

* TheMark: Well, the series wouldn't work if the team didn't have a steady supply of people to scam. We see a huge variety over the course of the series; {{Corrupt Cop}}s, {{Hanging Judge}}s, [[ShadyRealEstateAgent crooked property developers]], [[AristocratsAreEvil arrogant aristocrats]], {{Morally Bankrupt Banker}}s, businessmen who [[GetRichQuickScheme fleece their victims]] with ReadTheFinePrint and {{Unreadable Disclaimer}}s, less principled grifters and even the odd [[CorruptPolitician bent]] [[SleazyPolitician politician]]. The only common aspects are that they are always huge {{Jerkass}}es and that the team always, ''always'' find ways to [[BreakTheHaughty make them suffer for it]].

** There's also a bit of one regarding Sean not being allowed alcohol, after he gets very drunk during their first score together, and calls Emma, "Sis" in front of [[TheMark the marks]].

* LandmarkSale: The London Eye, the Hollywood Sign and the often mentioned Sydney Opera House con.

* RealityEnsues:
** While reality didn't intrude much in later shows, series 1's "The Last Gamble" had a lot of this
*** First, it showed how much of an average score has to be put on the group's various expenses (almost 40% of a £100,000 score), which exacerbates tensions between Danny and Mickey.
*** It also showed how easy it would be for a suitably motivated and vengeful ex-mark to track them down if he wanted to, hiring someone who has identified and located them in the middle of a score in the space of a single episode. The ex-mark actually shows up with shotgun-armed thugs, and only his greed and Danny's quick thinking allow them to get out of it.
** There's also the events of "The Hush Heist" and "Curiosity Caught the Kat", both of which show that if the team have no advance warning the police are gunning for them it's fairly easy for them to be caught red-handed - both result in the crew being forced into essentially working for the cops/[=MI6=] with the threat of being jailed if they don't.
** It's played for laughs, but the end of "Law and Corruption" shows that if the team only works London and lives the same high-flying lifestyle, sooner or later they ''will'' run into someone they've previously scammed.

* ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Plenty of marks aren't that popular to the common people but MorallyBankruptBanker Sir Edmund Richardson takes the cake. After he got a nice golden parachute when his mismanagement caused his bank to fail, with thousands losing everything, he's hounded by paparazzi, has his car egged, and the team take particular joy in conning him out his pension for a year. Even Detective Britford, nominally out to stop them, admits to Mickey that it's tempting to just step back and let him take the guy down.

The show itself often [[NoFourthWall winks at thew audience or confides in their ideology or plans]], and is also equally unafraid to con the audience, with the characters having back-up plans with every action they take, and only revealing a crucial part(s) of the con until the very end; [[ChekhovsArmory seemingly random and unrelated moments throughout the episode are revealed to be vitally important.]] The one thing you can count on with this show is that if you think you know how a con works in a given episode, '''[[UnspokenPlanGuarantee then you don't]]'''. The show has some kind of [[TheReveal reveal]] at least OnceAnEpisode to wrap up the events into one narrative.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hustlecast6.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: The Series 5-8 Cast.]]

A British {{dramedy}} show (2004-2012) following a group of con artists who specialize in the [[TheCon long con]] and [[EvenEvilHasStandards only con]] those who deserve it. [[SpiritualSuccessor Highly inspired]] by ''Film/TheSting''--it's mentioned more than once and almost every con that appeared in the film ends up being played in ''Hustle'' at some point.

This show got renewed for a second series only four episodes through its six-episode run due to its popularity.

The show itself is unafraid to con the audience, with the characters having back-up plans and only revealing part of the trick until the end; [[ChekhovsArmory seemingly random and unrelated moments throughout the episode are revealed to be vitally important.]] The one thing you can count on is that if you think you know how a con works in a given episode, [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee then you don't]]. The show has some kind of [[TheReveal reveal]] at least OnceAnEpisode to wrap up the events into one narrative.

The fourth series saw a change in the cast; Mickey was busy in Australia "selling the Sydney Opera House", leaving Danny as the (far-more chaotic and improvisational) leader. The fifth man was Billy, a younger and naive short con artist who idolised Danny.

Mickey returns in the fifth series, but with Danny and Stacie in America, Albert in prison, and Billy... [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse unmentioned]], Mickey and Ash need to put together a new crew.

The show ended in 2012 with its eighth series.

It has an [[UsefulNotes/ThePond across the pond]] [[TransAtlanticEquivalent counterpart]] in ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', though save for general concept and at least one prominent guest star appearing on both shows, the two shows are unrelated.

* MassiveMultiplayerScam: A random character often turns out to be a fellow con man working with Mickey and the team on another part of the scam.

* NotNamedInOpeningCredits: Guest actors aren't listed in the opening credits anyway, but there was no advance publicity for [[spoiler:Marc Warren]]'s appearance in the final episode.
* ObfuscatingDisability: The forger in "Picture Perfect". It's actually exploited by Mickey when he tries to double-cross them; before they see him, Mickey reports reports him to investigators suspicious of his (non-existent) disability, with them turning up just as he tries to scam the team.

* ChekhovsArmory: The show runs on the rule of the UnspokenPlanGuarentee in that if you think you know how an episode is going to go, you are most certainly wrong. Part of that involves this trope, in which lots of seemingly-unrelated gags, con setup, montage moments and even the things they say are edited to fit a specific context for the audience, only for it all to be revealed to be part of a wider context and plan. Case in point, in "Curiosity Caught The Kat", one of the first scenes has the gang do their usual briefing on the lowdown of one Linda Runcorn, who is a CausticCritic shutting down smaller chains unless they pay up for a good review. [[spoiler:Linda is an actor in on the real con to arrest DirtyCop [=D.I Fisk=] for corruption, and the briefing scene shown leaves out "Linda" being in the same room, sitting behind a pillar just off-camera]].

* CelebrityResemblance: Emma bears a striking resemblance to ''Music/KylieMinogue'', especially when put in similar outfits used in her music videos. This comes in handy for when a mark wants to meet her.
** These [[https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/hustle-season-5-episode-1-review/ two]] [[https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/hustle-season-5-episode-2-review/ reviews]] actually note Kelly Adams' physical and vocal resemblance to Kylie a full year before that particular episode aired!

* BigStore: Once an episode. Trips Mickey up early on when a mark turns out to have known what was going on for most of the con because she headed back to the (now-empty) fake office, realised what was going on and spun Mickey's con into humiliating her ex-husband instead.

* SpanishPrisoner: Danny mentions it in one episode, and is done at last in the first episode of season seven [[spoiler: with four marks at the same time]].

* DelayedWire: Final episode of the first series and again in the first episode of the fifth.

* TheCon: In "Law and Corruption", a DirtyCop attempts to blackmail the crew into doing his dirty work by planting cocaine in Mickey's briefcase and arresting them. They turn the tables on him by managing to swap the cocaine for confectioner's sugar while in jail. As Mickey points out, it is not illegal to be in possession of several kilos of confectioner's sugar.

* BeatBag: In "Law and Corruption", a DirtyCop attempts to blackmail the crew into doing his dirty work by planting cocaine in Mickey's briefcase and arresting them. They turn the tables on him by managing to swap the cocaine for confectioner's sugar while in jail. As Mickey points out, it is not illegal to be in possession of several kilos of confectioner's sugar.

* TheCon. It is a show about conmen after all, so each episode has one [[OnceAnEpisode as its basis]]. Oftentimes it's TheConWithinACon, but the structure and payoffs of the group's scams varied enormously over the seasons. It's amazing to go to this trope's page and realise how many of its subtropes are used within the show at some point.

*** Albert (played by Robert Vaughn): TheRoper, and resident CoolOldGuy

The show itself is unafraid to con the audience, with the characters having back-up plans and only revealing part of the trick until the end; seemingly random and unrelated moments throughout the episode are revealed to be vitally important. The one thing you can count on is that [[UnspokenPlanGuarantee if you think you know how the con works, you don't]].

Now has a [[Recap/Hustle Recap Page!]] Please move tropes to relevant episode pages, and fill in any missing episode pages.

%%* TheMark: Of course.
* MassivelyMultiplayerScam: A random character often turns out to be a fellow con man working with Mickey and the team on another part of the scam.

!!''[=Hustle=]'' provides examples of:

** TheBusCameBack: Mickey returns in season 5. [[spoiler: Stacie and Danny return for the finale. No sign or mention of Billy though...]]