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| 7 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_noir_comics_calvin_and_hobbes.png]]]] |
| 8 | |
| 9 | In 1999, the AFI named Creator/HumphreyBogart the greatest male movie star of all time. One guess what film genre he was the poster child for. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Film Noir is one of the most popular and recognizable genres in the history of film. Practically everyone can recognize its tropes, and everyone knows the staples of it. Not surprisingly, a lot of writers and actors grew up loving it, so it would only make sense they would reference it. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | An episode that {{parod|y}}ies or {{homage}}s FilmNoir, in a series that otherwise doesn't. Will almost always be DeliberatelyMonochrome and feature a PrivateEyeMonologue, and may contrive a way to get characters into [[DressUpEpisode period costume]]; other noir tropes might or might not appear. In long-running series, often used in the manner of a sorbet, to cleanse the audience's palate after numerous high-octane episodes. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | SubTrope of FormulaBreakingEpisode, and arguably a form of OutOfGenreExperience. If the noir elements occur in a dream sequence or other alternate reality, it's also a {{Costumer}}. Compare HeistEpisode, which usually involves robbery. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | ---- |
| 18 | !!Examples of single episodes: |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 21 | |
| 22 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 23 | * Episodes 8 and 9 of ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' center on PluckyComicRelief character [[CluelessDetective Gai Kurosawa]] and pretty much parody every single hard-boiled trope. |
| 24 | ** Amusingly, this is despite the fact that a strong argument could be made in favor of the rest of the show being either noir or drawing heavily from it. |
| 25 | * ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' has one in the form of the two-episode Hardboiled Detective arc. |
| 26 | * ''Anime/MagicalShoppingArcadeAbenobashi''. Episode 6 is a general shout-out to FilmNoir style Hard-boiled Detective and Mobster movies. |
| 27 | * ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}'' had an episode that was half this and half ''Film/BladeRunner'' parody. |
| 28 | [[/folder]] |
| 29 | |
| 30 | [[folder:Audio Plays]] |
| 31 | * The ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'' audio "The Maltese Penguin", an AffectionateParody where Frobisher's PrivateEyeMonologue often humorously contradicts what he's actually doing. |
| 32 | [[/folder]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[folder:Comics]] |
| 35 | * The ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comic strip ''The Deep Hereafter'', with the Doctor taking on the persona of a detective investigating the death of a fish person detective in an alien CityNoir. |
| 36 | * In ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' #52, Sonic stumbles into a noir-themed Zone and has an adventure, complete with muted coloring and casting Sonic and Sally as detective and client respectively. |
| 37 | * Several of Creator/DCComics' ''Pulp Heroes'' 1997 annuals had the banner "Suspense Detective", and many of them were Noir Episodes. For example, ''ComicBook/{{Azrael}}'' managed an extended riff on ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'' with Jean-Paul as Sam Spade and Catwoman as Bridget O'Shaughnessy. |
| 38 | * ''ComicBook/SgtRock: Between Hell and a Hard Place'' is a murder mystery at its core, concerning the execution of three SS officers taken prisoner by Easy Company during the final push to Berlin. With every man in Easy a suspect, Sgt. Rock has to find both the sole survivor and the killer, knowing, ''hoping'', that they may be one and the same. During the climactic confrontation with the murderer, Rock is even treated to a MotiveRant. As you can expect from Creator/BrianAzzarello (and the genre in general), the dialogue is very layered and snappy in a manner recalling Hammett or Chandler. |
| 39 | * In ''ComicBook/SunnyvilleStories'' #12, "The Case of the Crushed Cake" is this. It's even got a PrivateEyeMonologue and also counts as DeliberatelyMonochrome since it's black & white. |
| 40 | * The eleventh installment of the ''ComicBook/{{Valhalla}}'' series, "The Magic Mead", is this, having Odin himself acting as the [[PrivateEyeMonologue monologue sprouting]] HardboiledDetective protagonist to boot. |
| 41 | * ComicBook/WonderWoman: |
| 42 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': "Who Killed Myndi Mayer" may not be DeliberatelyMonochrome, but it's still a heartfelt noir homage, complete with PrivateEyeMonologue from Inspector Indelicato. |
| 43 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanBlackAndGold'': The premise of "The Wager" is Diana in a noir-like interrogation scene with a man who has committed embezzlement and likely murder. |
| 44 | * The third issue of ''Literature/RiversOfLondon: Detective Stories'' has Peter interview the ghost of a sixties private detective, who tells his story in a PrivateEyeMonologue, and it turns out to involve a [[TheChanteuse chanteuse]] who may have been a FemmeFatale ([[spoiler: although it turned out he was lying about that bit]]). It also has an alternate cover InTheStyleOf a pulp detective magazine. |
| 45 | * In ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin would occasionally imagine himself as a [[PrivateEyeMonologue monologuing]] PrivateDetective named Tracer Bullet. These stories were relatively rare compared to Calvin's other two imaginary alter egos, [[SpaceOpera Spaceman Spiff]] and [[{{superhero}} Stupendous Man]], largely because the emphasis on moody shadows (as you can see in the article image) made them extremely time-consuming to draw. |
| 46 | [[/folder]] |
| 47 | |
| 48 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 49 | * ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' uses Tracer Bullet also, "Tracer Bullet In Color!" being entirely dedicated to him. |
| 50 | * "In Search of Certainty" comprises two chapters of ''The Memory Band,'' part of ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook''. It's an InUniverse fanfic of [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Varric]]'s crime serial ''Hard in Hightown'', submitted as a writing assignment by two of the school's students. The format returns in the eleventh installment, ''Bright Jewels, Chained City'', where the same two students expand their original fic into a novel-length project for their final grade. Many noir tropes are deliberately invoked, including what are sometimes over-the-top analogies. |
| 51 | -->“Anybody got any bright ideas?” [the detective] muttered, squinting as they walked out into the sunlight. He felt tired and heavy, like a sack of potatoes that had been weighted down with another sack of potatoes and left to rot. |
| 52 | * ''Fanfic/HalfPastAdventure'', in the vein of its source material WesternAnimation/AdventureTime, has a noir [[ParodiedTrope parody]] in the form of "The Mystery of the Purloined Pudding", starring jaded [[PrivateInvestigator detective]] Cash Daniels. |
| 53 | * Chapter 37 of ''Fanfic/TheVictorsProject'' has this motif. It focuses on Mags's personal investigation into the death of Wheaton, another Hunger Games Victor. Mags travels to different bars and clubs in [[CityNoir the Capitol's underbelly]], and in one seedy nightclub, she meets a mysterious Peacekeeper who has critical information, but he will only help her if she helps him with some political intrigue. Mags soon uncovers a major political plot/sex scandal, and unbeknownst to her, the mysterious Peacekeeper is [[spoiler:Secretary of State Coriolanus Snow, who uses the information she gives him to move against his political enemies and consolidate power]]. When Mags learns the truth and realizes she was an UnwittingPawn, she literally says, "MyGodWhatHaveIDone!" |
| 54 | [[/folder]] |
| 55 | |
| 56 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 57 | * ''Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse'': |
| 58 | ** ''The Angel's Kiss by Melody Malone'', a really funny detective story written by River Song about her [[HerCodenameWasMarySue impossibly hot]] AuthorAvatar with no small amount of StylisticSuck. |
| 59 | ** ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresBloodHarvest Blood Harvest]]'' by Terrance Dicks, set in 1929 Chicago with a PrivateEyeMonologue by a PI called Decker. Oh, [[GenreBusting and there's vampires.]] |
| 60 | ** The ''Franchise/BerniceSummerfield New Adventures'' novel ''Mean Streets'', also by Dicks, is set in a sprawling CityPlanet CityNoir, with Benny and Chris teaming up with an Ogron private eye (who previously appeared in Dicks's ''Shakedown'' as a cop). |
| 61 | ** The ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel ''Illegal Alien'' is about Cybermen during the [[UsefulNotes/TheHomeFront London Blitz]], but includes an expat American private eye called Cody [=McBride=], who brings a lot of noir tropes with him. |
| 62 | * The Ned Stark sections in ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'' has been described as similar to a Noir story, where Ned's investigations into a political murder [[MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot reveal]] a web of deceit, betrayal, a plan to murder his friend the king, and that's just talking about the FemmeFatale. He also comes into contact with three ''additional'' conspiracies (Varys, Littlefinger, and Renly), and his merciful heart leads to his own demise at the hands of one of the people he was trying to save. Forget it, Ned, it's Kings Landingtown. |
| 63 | * The ''Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch'' novel ''I, the Constable'' has Odo searching for Quark on Feringar, and discovering that the case has a lot in common with the hardboiled detective stories O'Brien has shared with him. The cover shows him wearing a fedora and trenchcoat. |
| 64 | [[/folder]] |
| 65 | |
| 66 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 67 | * The ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode "Out of the Past", set in the fifties due to time travel, is DeliberatelyMonochrome with a PrivateEyeMonologue, explained by [[spoiler: the Coulson LMD]] having a glitch that affects his vision and thought processes. |
| 68 | * In the ''Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy'' episode "Archaeology" there's a segment featuring Luna Van Dyke and her detective agency. |
| 69 | * The ''Series/{{Bonanza}}'' episode "Joe Cartwright, Detective" dealt with Little Joe being reprimanded by Ben and Hoss for his obsession with reading detective novels, but he ultimately finds himself in the middle of a real mystery when he hears a pair of businessmen who are plotting to rob the bank at night when no one is around. When Little Joe tries to tell Hoss about this, [[NotNowKiddo Hoss just blows him off]], but when he does listen, [[CassandraTruth he just thinks that the businessmen are just doing their typical job.]] Of course, it's when Hoss and Joe listen in on the businessmen talking about their bank robbery plans that Hoss starts to believe Joe. |
| 70 | * The seventh season ''Series/BoyMeetsWorld'' episode ''As Time Goes By'' contains a parallel noir universe in Cory and Topanga's closet. |
| 71 | * The ''Series/{{Castle|2009}}'' episode "The Blue Butterfly", jumps back and forth between regular Castle, and Castle reading a diary of a 1940s-era P.I., done in noir style. |
| 72 | * ''Series/{{Casualty}}'' has a ([[BizarroEpisode non-canon]]) Noir Episode "Holby Sin City". Ethan gets embroiled in a a murder mystery involving a couple named Bonnie and Clyde, whilst [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall trying to remember the phrase used to describe Bonnie's character archetype]]. [[FemmeFatale He gets it in the end]]. |
| 73 | %%* The season 7 ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' episode "Charmed Noir". |
| 74 | * A mild version in ''Series/ColdCase''. The episode "Joseph" is basically a GenderFlipped retelling of the 1944 film noir Film/{{Laura}}, but stylistically the episode doesn't draw on noir at all. |
| 75 | * [[Recap/CommunityS3E03CompetitiveEcology "Competitive Ecology"]] in ''Series/{{Community}}'' is a very, very mundane FilmNoir with [[PsychopathicManchild Chang]] in the role of a detective. |
| 76 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': |
| 77 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E3TheDeadlyAssassin "The Deadly Assassin"]] was written as one due to the challenge the script posed -- Creator/TomBaker had been begging for a story without a companion he could [[TheWatson explain the plot to]], and the producer decided to give him just ''one'' (in order to prove to him it wouldn't work). The writer was then forced to come up with a new way of having the Doctor tell the story, which naturally led to the idea of him narrating, which he associated with the PrivateEyeMonologue, and so a one-shot noir story was the obvious genre choice. It's an interesting {{Pastiche}} in that the serial uses lots of the tone, storytelling and aesthetic noir tropes, but it avoids the big giveaway [[GarnishingTheStory garnishes]] everyone associates with noir, to the point where it's possible to watch the episode without realizing what it's doing. |
| 78 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E2TheHappinessPatrol "The Happiness Patrol"]] was originally going to be a black-and-white noir pastiche called "The Crooked Smile". |
| 79 | ** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E5TheAngelsTakeManhattan "The Angels Take Manhattan"]], both being a mystery episode set in New York with all the accompanying cinematographic effects, and with the central conceit that the Doctor can find out what to do next from a detective novel of the events. |
| 80 | * ''Series/FatherDowlingMysteries'' had an episode where the case of the week involved a [[StylisticSuck really bad]] detective story loosely based on Father Dowling and Sister Stephanie, and every now and then, the narrative changed to a black and white film showing the events in the book, which mirrored the actual investigation. |
| 81 | * ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' episode 20 of season 2 ("Brown Betty") combined this with a MusicalEpisode — that's right, a film noir musical. Justified in that it was a [[FramingDevice story within a story]] told by a drugged Walter to Olivia's niece. |
| 82 | * A subversion in the ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' episode "Of Course": TheTeaser plays like this, with Barney on the PrivateEyeMonologue — but the rest of the episode is in the show's usual style. |
| 83 | * ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': [[Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS14E06TheJanitorAlwaysMopsTwice "The Janitor Always Mops Twice"]] sees Charlie as the hardboiled janitor pursuing the mystery of who "diarrhea poisoned" Frank, Dennis as the gangster, Mac as his goon, The Waitress as FemmeFatale, and Dee as the [[WrongGenreSavvy goon who thinks she is a Femme Fatale]]. The episode is also DeliberatelyMonochrome except for the color red, features a PrivateEyeMonologue from Charlie, and is accompanied by a noir-style jazz score. |
| 84 | * ''Series/IZombie'': In "Night And The Zombie City" Liz eats the brain of a P.I. and subsequently acts like a hardboiled detective, refusing to wait for a warrant, going off investigating on her own, and reacting with violence to Blaine. She also wears a trenchcoat and has an old-timey vernacular. Ravi also eats from the brain and then delivers a PrivateEyeMonologue. The episode also features a jazz soundtrack and is darkly lit. |
| 85 | * ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', [[Recap/LegendsOfTomorrowS5E2MissMeKissMeLoveMe "Miss Me, Kiss Me, Love Me"]]. It has the Legends going back to 1940's LA and tangling with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugsy_Siegel Bugsy Siegel]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Hill Jeanie Hill]]; how could they resist? |
| 86 | * The ''Series/LoisAndClark'' episode "Fly Hard". Half noir black and white episode paralleling the Superman characters in present day. |
| 87 | * ''Series/Lucifer2016'': Season 5 has an episode where Lucifer tells Trixie the story of how he got his ring via noir-themed flashbacks. These scenes are filmed in black and white for the full FilmNoir effect. Additionally, the main characters are a hard-boiled Private Investigator, a mob boss, a stranger from out of town, and an alluring woman with a mysterious past. It also features deliberate {{Special Effects Failure}}s done in the same way as a 1940s film would have, with things like fake blood that looks like dried ketchup, a driving scene with the characters sitting in a car mockup while a film of a city street is played on a screen behind them, and other similar things. |
| 88 | * "The Big Nap" an episode of ''Series/MamasFamily'' where after watching detective movies on TV for a week, Mama dreams she is a private detective hired to find a client's missing mother. |
| 89 | * The ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' episode "Al Bundy, Shoe Dick", where Al pretends to be a noirish private eye after getting a measly job working as the real detective's janitor and cleaning up his office. He is invited to a private party by a sultry dame who mistakes him for the real deal and where he has to solve an unexpected murder, and the {{Private Eye Monologue}}ing is roundly spoofed. After solving the mystery it turns out it was AllJustADream. |
| 90 | * The ''Series/{{Monk}}'' episode "Mr. Monk And The Leper" seemed to have borrowed from FilmNoir and even broadcast the episode in black and white. |
| 91 | * The ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'' episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice". Dave and Maddie dream about a murder case, with each of them tilting the story the way they think it happened. The episode was subjected to heavy ExecutiveMeddling as the studio didn't like the scenes being shot in black and white and forced the crew to add a disclaimer read by Creator/OrsonWelles before the episode to explain what was happening. |
| 92 | * ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': The Liza Minelli episode features the Muppets staging a film noir murder mystery, featuring Liza as a lounge singer and Kermit as a hard-boiled private eye. |
| 93 | * The ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "D.O.A." which is DeliberatelyMonochrome, pushes the clothes and set-dressing as far as possible towards the noir era without actually leaving the 1910s, inlcudes a lot more smoking, has grey-area actions by the heroes, and is a WholePlotReference to [[Film/{{DOA}} the film of the same name]]. |
| 94 | * ''Series/OneTreeHill'' season 6, episode 11, "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" shows the characters in the 1940s, with everything paralleling their current lives. |
| 95 | * ''Series/OurMissBrooks'': "Postage Due" sees Miss Brooks search for a vanished postman wearing a trench coat and narrating the action with a PrivateEyeMonologue. |
| 96 | * "Shadow Play" was a Noir Episode in season 4 of ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars''. Under the influence of prescription drugs, Spencer hallucinates while watching a FilmNoir movie. In her DreamSequence, Toby is a PI, Hanna is a switchboard operator, and Mona and Ezra are cooperating against the girls, while demostrating some ShipTease. |
| 97 | * The first season finale of ''Series/QuantumLeap'' (1989) called "Play it Again, Seymour" both uses and spoofs noir tropes. Sam is cast as a P.I., in the typical old fashioned office, takes the case of a beautiful bombshell in distress, dances to a 1940s-style band, and leaps into a body that even resembles and dresses like Humphrey Bogart. |
| 98 | * The show ''Series/RadioActive'' had a noir episode with Morgan as the detective, giving her own PrivateEyeMonologue. It included a direct riff on ''Film/ToHaveandHaveNot'''s famous 'whistle' line. |
| 99 | * There is a scene in a ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' episode where she goes to find a detective in the Other Realm. The parody of Film Noir then starts with her entering the detective's office and the detective narrating...who is then revealed to be Roland (a recurring dwarf character whom she dislikes). |
| 100 | * The ''Series/SledgeHammer'' episode "Play It Again, Sledge", which specifically spoofs the Creator/HumphreyBogart Sam Spade noir films. After getting suspended Sledge decides to become a private detective, and the FemmeFatale who comes to him for help frames him for the murder of her husband, all the while he's assisted by a SpiritAdvisor of Bogart himself. |
| 101 | * The ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Noir". They went full-on noir here -- black and white, period costumes, references to noir-era "Superman", and a noir-ish storyline. |
| 102 | * The ''Series/SmallWonder'' episode "Big 'J', Private Eye" had this as Jamie's book report. |
| 103 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'': |
| 104 | ** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E08NecessaryEvil Necessary Evil]]" had Constable Odo using the PrivateEyeMonologue to parody the CaptainsLog, and flashbacks to a murder he investigated while working for the Cardassian occupiers. Bonus points for dark shadows enveloping everything (even in the "present", as it takes place during the station's night shift), thunderstorms in the first scene (on Bajor), a wealthy and shifty widow who's a bit of TheVamp, and Quark being surprisingly hard-boiled himself (which amusingly fits with Armin Shimmerman's Bogart-like voice). Interestingly, [[spoiler: it isn't the widow but series regular Major Kira who]] turns out to be the FemmeFatale murderer--leading to a ''quite'' noir-ish BlackAndGreyMorality ending. |
| 105 | ** Another, far less impressive attempt at Noir by ''Star Trek'' is ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'''s "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E7ExPostFacto Ex Post Facto]]", in which an arrested Tom Paris makes a recording of the events that led up to his incarceration, a la a toned-down ''Film/DoubleIndemnity''. The episode plays up his murky past as an ex-con, his recitation of HowWeGotHere sounds a lot like a PrivateEyeMonologue, and he gets framed for murder by a vampy FemmeFatale. |
| 106 | ** Any episode of ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Next Generation]]'' in which Picard plays 1940s P.I. Dixon Hill on the holodeck, starting with "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E11TheBigGoodbye The Big Goodbye]]". |
| 107 | * The ''Series/Warehouse13'' episode "The Big Snag" has Myka and Pete getting trapped in a hard-boiled detective novel that is also an artifact. The episode even has a SpecialEditionTitle with a saxophone version of the theme tune and a sputtering neon sign logo. |
| 108 | * Similarly, ''Series/{{The Librarians|2014}}'' "...and the Silver Screen" has Flynn and Eve get trapped in a film noir and unable to leave until they follow the script to the end. [[spoiler: The ''original'' script, not the one that was filmed.]] |
| 109 | * ''Series/WeirdScience'' offered up "The Genie Detective" from its last season. Lisa plays a VR game where she is Legs [=MacGuffin=]. The story characters resemble Wyatt (a shifty businessman), Gary (a jockey), Chett (the client), and Scampi (a quirky doctor). The case is to find the antidote for the poison the client was given. Everything's in black-and-white, and narration is regularly employed. We learn partway through the story that the client really is Chett; he secretly joined the game and poisoned himself as part of a misguided effort to be close to Lisa. He thought he'd be fine since it's just VR, but dying in the game means dying for real, and someone swiped the antidote he had hidden, so the duo really do have to solve the case. [[spoiler:It turns out Wyatt also secretly entered the game and was responsible for this, though he didn't know Chett could die for real]]. |
| 110 | * The ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "A Most Holy Man" borrows heavily from ''The Maltese Falcon'' and various other Noir icons. |
| 111 | * A brief gag in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "200" had Teal'c pitching a TV show where he starred as a private detective, shot and narrated in this style. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 115 | * Australian rock band Music/TheChurch managed to have a noir ''song'' - "Loveblind" on their album ''Sometime Anywhere''. Starts off with "Have I told you 'bout the case/Of the man who had no face...". |
| 116 | * [[VideoGame/MegaMan3 Gemini Man]]'s song ''[=GeminEye=]'' from Music/TheMegas' ''History Repeating: Red'' album is a essentially a noir episode, with themes and vocabulary drawn from noir detective stories. |
| 117 | * Music/DireStraits' spoken-word song "Private Investigations" has noir themes, in addition to being a PrivateEyeMonologue. |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder: Radio]] |
| 121 | * The Storyteller sketch in Season 3 Episode 4 of ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'': |
| 122 | -->'''Storyteller''': Well, since you ask me for a tale of mean streets and hard boiled dames, there is one curious tale you may find of interest. It all began one rainy Chicago night in black and white during a period that I was, for tax reasons, an American. |
| 123 | [[/folder]] |
| 124 | |
| 125 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 126 | * In-Universe: Sally's science project in ''Theatre/MeAndMyDick''. [[NoodleIncident What we hear about it]]. |
| 127 | -->'''Sally:''':Well, I was thinking we do a FilmNoir about silver nitrate. You know, [=AgNO3=]... ''[later]''... and it's not until the '''silver''' and the '''nitrogen''' find '''all three''' of the oxygens do they finally solve the case!!! |
| 128 | [[/folder]] |
| 129 | |
| 130 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 131 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Battleborn}}'', the DLC story operation "Attikus and the Thrall Rebellion" is Attikus' account of the eponymous rebellion via holo sim with some creative liberties taken by him that frames it like a stereotypical FilmNoir detective story complete with various tropes commonly associated with the genre. |
| 132 | * ''VideoGame/CriminalCasePacificBay'' has Case 34, "[[Recap/CriminalCasePacificBayCase34Murdertown Murdertown]]", where the player investigates the murder of an actress who was killed in a crime movie set. Throughout the case, Frank has many {{Imagine Spot}}s narrated by him and shot entirely [[DeliberateMonochrome in black and white]], as well as wearing a trench coat to imitate a detective movie he saw last night. |
| 133 | * ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'' deserves an honorable mention, though it was a video game that was a spinoff from [[Literature/{{Discworld}} the books]]. |
| 134 | * Pretty much all the missions that have to do with [[KnightInSourArmor Garrus]] in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series tend to be heavily inspired by Noir. |
| 135 | * ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' features one Nick Valentine as a follower the player character picks up in the main quest. He’s a straight up hard boiled detective, trench coat, fedora and all. In addition to being important to complete the main quest, the “Far Harbor” add on revolves around a case he and the player character are hired to solve involving a missing teenage girl on an island off the coast of Maine. |
| 136 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' had a Noir Level, though it was more a homage to classic CloakAndDagger spy stories than detective noir. |
| 137 | * The beginning of ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxTheDevilsPlayhouse'''s third episode, where Sam doesn't take kindly to Max's brain being stolen. This part of the game is entirely about Sam, hard-eyed and heartbroken, drifting around town and interrogating suspects with a variety different methods. One of these methods is 'Noir', which lets loose several overly-dramatic parodies of noir monologues, and usually doesn't do anything but confuse his suspects. |
| 138 | -->'''Sam:''' Sure. Hide behind your crates. But one of these days the gutters will overflow, and stain your pretty white socks with the blood of the innocent.\ |
| 139 | '''Frankie the Rat:''' ...Socks? I don't wear socks. I'm a rat!\ |
| 140 | '''Sam:''' And don't you forget it. |
| 141 | * The ''ComicBook/SpiderManNoir'' segments of ''VideoGame/SpiderManShatteredDimensions''. |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 145 | * A ''Webcomic/DamagedTape'' strip aptly titled "Dave Noir", where Dave discovers he has a PrivateEyeMonologue playing in his head ([[spoiler:it ends up being, however, that he has schizophrenia]]). |
| 146 | * The "Legerdemain & Magic" storyline in ''Dead Marlo'' (begins [[http://deadmarlo.blogspot.com/2010/05/prologue-to-madness.html here]]). |
| 147 | %%* ''Webcomic/DreamKeepers Prelude'' [[http://www.dreamkeeperscomic.com/Prelude.php?pg=157 A brief fantasy]] |
| 148 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has the Detective Block "storyline" in EGS:NP, where the detective is an unintelligible writer's block. |
| 149 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Fillbert}}'''s "Dial F for Furrbert" arc, Fillbert becomes a [[PrivateEyeMonologue monologuing]] detective, while several characters get an outfit change and become partially or fully greyscale. |
| 150 | * ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' presents : [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20170809 Ivo Sharktooth, Private Jäger.]] |
| 151 | * The Midnight Crew Intermission in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}''. This being ''[[QuirkyWork Homestuck]]'', [[TimeTravel things get weird...]] |
| 152 | * ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'' features one in chapter 10 — Speakeasies & Sea Monsters, when someone uses the RealityWarper Belt of Genre Change to change the genre to noir, turning Mimic from [[MonsterAdventurers monster adventurer]] to private detective. |
| 153 | * ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'' has the ''Under A Killer Balloon'' StoryArc. (Labeled ''Episode 1'', which may hint that this will become a recurring bit in the future.)[[note]] Sandy South would go on to make several further appearances.[[/note]] |
| 154 | [[/folder]] |
| 155 | |
| 156 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 157 | * Website/ThisVeryWiki has a whole page written FilmNoir-style [[SoYouWantTo/WriteAFilmNoir here]] ([[SelfDemonstratingArticle it also happens to be a guide to writing]] InTheStyleOf FilmNoir). |
| 158 | * WebVideo/EchoChamber did one, appropriately titled "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy1gHgVJYFo Noir Episode]]". |
| 159 | * WebVideo/{{Retsupurae}}'s Diabetus appropriately did a riff of a VideoGame/LANoire LetsPlay in this fashion. |
| 160 | * WebVideo/RegularCarReviews did this for their Pontiac Fiero review. |
| 161 | * {{WebAnimation/Gotham Girls}} "Gotham Noir" episode |
| 162 | * From ''Website/SCPFoundation'', [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3143 SCP-3143]] is an anomaly that rewrites documents involving him into a Film Noir screenplay. His first sighting was in overriding and neutralizing [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-3043 SCP-3043]]. |
| 163 | * Most of the ''WebVideo/WizardsWithGuns'' video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAqkKbwvD1U The Mysterious Case of Who Sh*t My Pants]]" is in black and white and Mike spends most of the video dressed like an anachronistic HardboiledDetective. |
| 164 | [[/folder]] |
| 165 | |
| 166 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 167 | * ''WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatiansTheSeries'': The episodes "The Maltese Chicken" And "K Is For Kibble" feature Spot in her Pullet Marlow persona trying to solve a mystery, in a parody of classic film noir mysteries. |
| 168 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': "B-MO Noire" has BMO playing at being a hard-boiled private eye while trying to find Finn's lost sock, complete with black and white and dramatic narration. |
| 169 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "Little Frogtown", Hop Pop is inspired by some detective movies Anne had saved on her phone to do a ''film noir''-style investigation of the apparent mysterious disappearance of his old friend Sal. The [[CharacterNarrator Character Narration]] is {{Lampshaded}} quite often. |
| 170 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' episode "This Pun for Hire" with the Warners do a film noir parody, taking every cliché and killing them with many bad puns. Feature Ralph as villain and also Minerva Mink as FemmeFatale. |
| 171 | * ''WesternAnimation/ArcherDreamland'' is an entire noir season for its parent series, ''{{WesternAnimation/Archer}}'', though it's part of the protagonist's AdventuresInComaland. Instead of his usual work as a spy, Archer dreams of being a HardboiledDetective in 1947 Los Angeles. |
| 172 | * Episode ''A Bullet for Bullock'' of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' is told from Bullock's POV, following the general format of a straightforward 40s detective story and even has jazz music to match. Although the entire show is Neo-Noir looking normally. |
| 173 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' episode "Ear's Looking at You" is a send-up to film noir where Beetlejuice takes on the persona of a noir detective named Sham Shpade. |
| 174 | * [[Creator/DisneyChannel Playhouse Disney]]'s ''Series/TheBookOfPooh'' did this in "The Case of the Disappeared Donkey," with Tigger as detective "Stripey [=McSnarl=]" and doing the monologue bits, at times annoying or confusing the other characters. |
| 175 | -->'''Tigger''': So you wanna play games, do ya'?\ |
| 176 | '''Pooh''': Well, I suppose I could play some games. Pooh sticks is very nice. Oh, and so is croquet.\ |
| 177 | '''Tigger''': He was playing dumb and he was good at it. But not as good as I was. |
| 178 | * The [[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts ''Cars Toon'']] "Mater: Private Eye". Private investigator Mater must solve a case about counterfeit tyres and track down the whereabouts of Tia's sister, Mia, who's been car-napped. |
| 179 | * The ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' episode "The Big Clam-Up" has Ma-Ti monologuing his way through a series of black-and-white fantasy sequences while the team solves a mystery in San Francisco. |
| 180 | * ''WesternAnimation/CaptainSimianAndTheSpaceMonkeys'' has an episode with the crew in a rainy noir movie-looking planet getting involved in a [[Film/TheMalteseFalcon1941 Maltese Falconish]] plot. |
| 181 | * ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'': "The Catburglar", complete with PrivateEyeMonologue narration by Dan, a FemmeFatale named Honey O'Houlihan, and a sepia tone filter over most of the scenes. |
| 182 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' had one, in which Cornfed took on the role of the hard-boiled detective. (Which he kind of is, anyway.) There were femmes fatales, atmosphere music, fog, black and white, the whole deal. |
| 183 | * There's one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', "Where's Wanda?", set in a Film Noir style, which Timmy specifically wished for. It even poked fun at the usual black-and-white visuals, with a corner of Timmy's room still being grayscale after he wished away the Film Noir effect. The end has a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Casablanca}}''. |
| 184 | * ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldsBabesAndBullets'', much like its source material (a prose story in ''ComicBook/GarfieldHis9Lives''), concerns an homage to film noir where Garfield is a detective investigating a murder. |
| 185 | * There is an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' in which Broadway did this, called "The Silver Falcon". |
| 186 | ** "Revelations," as well. |
| 187 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}'': The 1952 short "WesternAnimation/HowToBeADetective" casts Goofy as "Johnny Eyeball", a detective who's hired to find a RunawayGroom known only as "Al". |
| 188 | * ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'': "Grandpa's Packard" |
| 189 | * ''WesternAnimation/HerculesTheAnimatedSeries'': "Hercules and the Aetolian Amphora" casts the hero-in-training as a stand-in for a P.I., his future wife Megara as the fast-talking FemmeFatale hiring him, and an amphora full of Lethe water stolen from the Underworld as the desired object. Meg claimed the amphora was a family heirloom, but she hired a Centaur to get her the water and stash it in there, as she wanted to forget Adonis. As Meg strings Herc along to be her muscle, Pain and Panic are searching for the water, while Fear and Terror also want it to make Ares forget he grounded them. Along with appropriate music and terminology, there's the requisite narration for most of the episode (though it's revealed Hercules had been telling the story to a couple side characters to vent about being double crossed by the sultry dame he fell for). The episode maintains continuity with the movie by having Hercules and Meg doused in the Lethe water, thus making them forget falling for each other. |
| 190 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'' episode "Let's Play Detectives". |
| 191 | * ''WesternAnimation/MegaManFullyCharged'': In "A Guilded Cage", Aki starts talking and acting like a film noir detective after watching a late-night movie. It even extends to his moments as Mega Man, where most of the segments are shot in black and white and backed with jazzy "detective music". |
| 192 | * ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'': "[[Recap/MrBogusS2E7BogusPrivateEye Bogus Private Eye]]" |
| 193 | * From ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' the episode "Rarity Investigates" is a homage to the genre, complete with DeliberatelyMonochrome colors, {{Chiaroscuro}} lighting, and muted trumpet music during Rarity's detective mode. |
| 194 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': In the episode "[[Recap/NinjagoS12E141NinjagoConfidential Ninjago Confidential]]" Zane acts like a stereotypical private eye, having concluded that this is the best way to solve mysteries from [[TaughtByTelevision having downloaded every crime story he could find]]. The episode is mainly in black and white, but it switches to full color when Zane's PrivateEyeMonologue (which he says out loud) is interrupted. |
| 195 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' had an episode in which the two boys were inspired by a FilmNoir movie to become private eyes and even applied black and white makeup to themselves. As it progresses, they end up parodying more modern detective shows as well: |
| 196 | -->"Aren't you a little young to know about all these old detective shows?"\ |
| 197 | "Yes, yes we... (puts on Sunglasses) are."\ |
| 198 | >"[[Series/CSIMiami YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH]]" |
| 199 | * ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'': |
| 200 | ** The episode "Brain Noir". |
| 201 | ** The show also parodied the famous British Noir ''Film/TheThirdMan'' in "The Third Mouse", a black-and-white episode that trades heavily on Brain's [[Creator/OrsonWelles Orson Welles]]-like voice. |
| 202 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': "The Girl was Trouble". In fact, the French title for the episode was, "Black Series for the Girl in Blue". (The "blue" part referring to Gretchen's [[TrueBlueFemininity signature outfit]].) |
| 203 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Radio Daze" alternated between its normal style and a Film Noir style while parodying the classic film ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}''. |
| 204 | * An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' about the assassin robot who found a dog and became a trumpet player before being forced back into his old role by Aku. |
| 205 | * The second season ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "The Late Mr. Kent", which features Superman narrating (in full PrivateEyeMonologue) the story of how Clark Kent was "murdered" while investigating a death row inmate's wrongful conviction. |
| 206 | * The original ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' animated series has some CityNoir elements in its own right, including the trench coat and fedora disguise the turtles wear while in public, but goes full blown private eye tribute in the episode "The Maltese Hamster," with Donatello giving the monologue. |
| 207 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': |
| 208 | ** The episode "Dial N for Nerder", while not done in black and white, uses noir music cues and has scenes which mirror famous noir films, most notably the supermarket scene from ''Film/DoubleIndemnity''. The A and B plots reflect that, with the former concerning [[FilleFatale Lisa]] and Bart's attempts to cover up their involvement with the accidental death of a classmate, while Marge suspects Homer of cheating (on his diet). Homer even wears a fedora and trench coat, and the end credits are in the style of ''Series/{{Columbo}}''. |
| 209 | ** "The Dad Who Knew Too Little" focuses on Homer hiring a stereotypical noir PrivateDetective so that he can learn about Lisa. The episode ends with a house-of-mirrors shootout a la Film/TheLadyFromShanghai. |
| 210 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Squid Noir, a season 11 episode, where Squidward becomes a hard-boiled detective to find his missing clarinet. |
| 211 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' had one in season 4, with Hank fancying himself a noir detective. The picture switches to monochrome whenever he puts on his fedora. (it came with a [[Franchise/IndianaJones whip]]! A [[FridgeBrilliance detective's whip]]!) |
| 212 | %%* New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: "Eeyore's Tail Tale". |
| 213 | [[/folder]] |
| 214 | |
| 215 | ---- |
| 216 | !!Examples of recurring "bits": |
| 217 | |
| 218 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 219 | * The [[http://tracerbullett.wordpress.com/blog/ "Tracer Bullet"]] comics from ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes''. Amazingly enough, creator Bill Watterson confessed to having almost no familiarity with the noir genre when creating the comics. Despite this, they're one of the best noir parodies out there. |
| 220 | [[/folder]] |
| 221 | |
| 222 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 223 | * ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'' has a couple. ''The Never War'''s "A-Plot" is set in 1937 New York City for the most part, so it has a prominent FilmNoir feel to it. Courtney's plot in ''The Pilgrims of Rayne'' is similarly noir-themed. |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 227 | * The children's show ''Series/BetweenTheLions'' had Sam Spud, Par-Boiled Potato Detective. The bits were frequently a HurricaneOfPuns as everything Sam narrated was literally true. The absurdity of it was always [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by a child watching the show, only to be assured by their mother that the show was educational and, thus, should be good for them... somehow. |
| 228 | * The Velma Mulholland sketches from ''Series/InLivingColor''. Velma was a 1940's noir-type character in the 1990's. To contrast this, she is in black and white (her apartment and her car are the same way) while everything else is in color. |
| 229 | * The Dixon Hill episodes of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', despite lacking the usually-obligatory black and white. |
| 230 | ** The producers originally planned for the holodeck scenes of "The Big Goodbye" to be in black and white but were concerned about how could they justify the holodeck making the real people black and white. However, they seemed to have abandoned this concern by the time that Captain Proton made his debut in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. |
| 231 | * ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' has a game called Film Noir, in which the players (typically Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie) would narrate for one another. |
| 232 | [[/folder]] |
| 233 | |
| 234 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 235 | * ''Radio/APrairieHomeCompanion'''s "Guy Noir, [[PrivateDetective Private Eye]]". |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 239 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Pibgorn}}'', this is Nat Bustard's signature style, and he often transforms the strip. |
| 240 | * In ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'' Sandra's [[PrivateDetective hard-boiled detective]] alter-ego Sandy South appears in several stories. |
| 241 | [[/folder]] |
| 242 | |
| 243 | |
| 244 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 245 | * One of the recurring settings for a short in ''WesternAnimation/TheTomAndJerryShow2014'' is one where Tom and Jerry work together as the Cat and Mouse Detectives, complete with an InteractiveNarrator to provide Noir style voice over for them. The first season in particular features a desaturated color scheme and Noir style plots, although later seasons both lighten up on the colors and the kinds of mysteries the duo solves. |
| 246 | [[/folder]] |
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