Line #12 PaperThinDisguise/LiveActionTV


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11	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/HannahMontana https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mileyhannah2.png]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:350:A girl like her can double as a superstar by putting on a blonde wig.]]
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17	Examples of PaperThinDisguise in live-action television.
18	----
19	* During the late 90's, multiple shows, such as ''Series/HomeImprovement'' and ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' make the claim that Hall of Fame basketball player and at the time star power forward for the [[UsefulNotes/{{NBA}} Chicago Bulls]] Dennis Rodman was an alien not even trying to hide the fact that he wasn't human, but getting away with it due to RefugeInAudacity and UnusuallyUninterestingSight.
20	* ''Series/AdventuresInWonderland''
21	** "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.
22	** 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.
23	** In "Wonderland: The Movie," [[ThoseTwoGuys the Mad Hatter and March Hare]] want more screentime in the titular documentary. At one point, they don Groucho Marx glasses and pass themselves off as "Mr. X and Mr. Y." In this case it's clearly PlayedForLaughs, as no one falls for the disguises in the slightest (despite the Hatter and Hare [[ButHeSoundsHandsome wondering aloud who the intriguing pair might be]]).
24	* ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSlimGoodbody'': The Gobbler and Stuffin' have used these to try to sneak into Nutri City for a GetRichQuickScheme. Once they pretended to be selling (unhealthy) food, and another time they were bakers who (deceptively) told the public that their bread had all the nutrients a body needs.
25	* Played straight in ''Series/{{Alias}}'' when Sydney literally uses wrapping paper as a skirt. This and a cheap convenience store wig are enough to fool the valley-girl clique she is attempting to infiltrate.
26	* ''Series/AlloAllo'':
27	** Monsieur Roger [=LeClerc=], "Man of a thousand faces--every one the same." Most episodes see him donning a completely useless disguise and [[PoseOfSilence conspiratorially whispering]], "[[CatchPhrase It is I, Le Clerc!]]"
28	** Subverted: A'' 'Duck Seller' '' enters the café approaches the bar and identifies as Le Clerc, but Le Clerc pops up and outs the Seller as an impostor. It is in fact Mme. Edith in a very convincing disguise.
29	** In Leclerc's case, Rene almost always recognises him immediately. However, when events like the Colonel and the Captain being trapped as British [=POWs=] in a Stalag Luft, and examined closely by their own General, or Herr Flick [[CrossDresser posing as a temporary typist]], [[CampGay Gruber]] or the airmen (complete with large handlebar moustaches) posing as nuns, and going completely unrecognised, the trope is played much straighter.
30	** As mentioned, [[CampGay Gruber's]] disguises are usually pathetic, but one episode features him disguised as a nurse so convincingly that most viewers don't realise it's him until he speaks. Judging from the ''explosion'' of laughter, the studio audience didn't recognise him either. The Colonel's disguise is not so convincing.
31	** In another case, Michelle of the Resistance comes in dressed as a very old lady. Though the ''identity'' of the person under the disguise may not be immediately apparent, it is quite obvious that it is a disguise due to the fact that her skin is very young looking apart from the false nose... and the fact that when she sits down a pair of decidedly not old lady legs emerge from the coat.
32	* Spoofed in the Creator/{{Nickelodeon}} series ''Series/AllThat'', where a thin, white little girl played by Amanda Bynes [[EasyImpersonation impersonates]] Superdude, a large black man played by Kenan Thompson, and tries to rob a bank. When Superdude shows up, 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).
33	** Another recurring sketch, "Cheeseburger Doyle", also spoofed this trope. The main character was a [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext 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.
34	* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
35	** Lorne's overcoat and a trilby, which looks dashing in a Humphrey Bogart-sort of way, but about as inconspicuous as a Ninja Turtle.
36	** A baseball cap and sunglasses are enough to disguise him in broad daylight.
37	* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'': 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.
38	* ''Series/AustinAndAlly'': Austin disguises himself as a lumberjack [[spoiler: so he can secretly perform at a karaoke parlor without being caught by Jimmy, who has banned Austin from ever performing again]]. Ally was the first to recognize him in his poorly made disguise. [[spoiler: Unfortunately for Austin, his beard gets knocked off, exposing his identity and ruining his chance at impressing Jimmy.]]
39	* On ''Series/BabylonFive'', Londo needs to sneak [[spoiler:Na'Toth]] off Centauri Prime. Londo's solution? Put a dress on her, partially conceal her face, and then [[RefugeInAudacity act slobberingly drunk as he very publicly walks her to the spaceport]], reasoning that everyone would go out of their way to ignore such an act.
40	** Played with in "Sic Transit Vir", when the Earth Alliance officers discover that the name of the Centauri associated with the death of thousands of Narns is "[[UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln Abrahamo Lincolni]]". The Centauri wouldn't necessarily pick up on the name of a historical figure of Earth, but Sheridan and Ivanova (of course) recognize the reference immediately. [[spoiler:It turns out that Vir, from his ambassadorial office on Minbar, created the fake noble, and has been using that identity to smuggle those Narns to other worlds, declaring them "dead" so that no Centauri would inquire. Vir is eventually forced to confess the scheme to Londo, but since "Lincolni" himself was never revealed to the Centauri, Ivanova continues using the name in hopes of saving more Narn lives.]]
41	* 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).
42	** Averted in the film of the series where Penguin disguises himself as the Commodore he and his team have kidnapped. Batman and Robin are not fooled for a minute.
43	* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': In 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.
44	** A non-human example: one episode has Howard discovering a letter from his DisappearedDad hidden in the back of a closet. He can't decide if he wants to know what his father wrote, so the rest of the group all read it, then take turns describing what the letter said (meaning that one of them is telling the truth). Bernadette, Amy, Raj, Penny, and Leonard all give heartfelt answers, but [[NoSocialSkills Sheldon]], being Sheldon, describes the plot of ''Film/TheGoonies'' instead. He later tries again by changing the names of the characters and claiming it's completely different, but no one is fooled.
45	* 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: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.]]
46	** Similarly, George's suggestion that they find the German spy by going to the hospital and looking for the person whose name begins with "von" receives understandably short shrift from Blackadder.
47	** Similarly, in "Major Star", Private "Bob" Parkhurst is just a woman dressed up in men's clothing, without any facial disguising at all, and yet she is able to fool the General into thinking she is a man, to the point where he is repulsed by her "disgusting drag act" when she gives a cabaret performance (as opposed to earlier, when he thought George's actual drag act so real, he tried to date "Georgina"). Edmund, on the other hand is not fooled for a second, telling "Bob" "You're a girl with as much talent for disguise as a giraffe in dark glasses trying to get into a "Polar Bears Only" golf club."
48	** "Bob"'s ancestor, Kate (which she says is short for Bob), does something similar in Blackadder II. Everybody is actually fooled by it, [[SweetOnPollyOliver though Edmund falls for her and is worried that he might be gay]]. It's only when she shows Blackadder her breasts that he realises that she’s a woman (this is a ShoutOut to various Shakespeare comedies involving disguises of this sort, particularly A Comedy Of Errors)
49	** In ''Blackadder The Third'', the Prince of Wales and his butler exchange clothes and fool everyone, even their Igor, Baldrick or the King, the Prince's father.
50	*** To be fair, the King in question was a complete nutter, Baldrick was a complete idiot, and the entire setting is a CrapsackWorld where the character of Blackadder is typically the OnlySaneMan (with the exception of the first season).
51	*** 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]].
52	*** This example gets a {{lampshade\|Hanging}} and HandWave at the same time: Prince George says the switch will never work because his picture hangs on every wall. Baldrick says that, according to his cousin Bert, [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness paintings of the era are painted to a romantic ideal rather than as a true depiction of the idiosyncratic facial qualities of the person in question]]. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Blackadder then remarks "Your cousin Bert obviously has a larger vocabulary than you do, Baldrick"]]
53	*** Another interpretation is that the gathered nobles (with the exception of the Duke of Wellington, who they were trying to fool and had never seen the Prince before) all noticed the switch but just went along with it because they realised that Blackadder was a better choice for King than George.
54	** In "The Witch-Smeller Pursuivant" in ''Blackadder I'', Blackadder goes KingIncognito to avoid detection while he consults a wise woman. His disguise consists of a leather strap across his face. However he is recognised by a Peasant, despite people referring to him as 'Stranger'.
55	** 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.
56	* Subverted on ''Series/BlackLightning''. At first, it seems odd that Jefferson Pierce isn't recognized as his "disguise" as Lightning is basically a pair of goggles. That comes up when he's confronted by best friend, cop Billy and even his own daughters when he rescues them. However, it's stated by characters that something about Lightning's electrical aura "makes it hurt to look at him directly", which allows him to get away with it.
57	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Buffy gets rather miffed that her friends thought the Buffybot was really her going through grief. Also PlayedForLaughs at the beginning of Season 6 when it goes to Parent-Teacher Day and no one notices the difference. In a FridgeLogic moment, the Buffybot is able to impersonate Buffy well enough to fool Glory, despite the fact that Willow was unable to get the same result after months of tweaking during the summer.
58	* The ''Series/{{Castle\|2009}}'' episode "Limelight" featured former teen popstar Mandy Sutton, who is clearly intended to be based on Music/MileyCyrus; reference is made to Mandy having once been the star on a TV show where she was a teen superstar and a crime-fighter with her only disguise being a pair of sunglasses. Castle's daughter Alexis used to be a fan of the show and laughs at how she used to don similar glasses to 'fool' her dad, and is left embarrassed when she realises that Mandy Sutton, currently faking her death after her lookalike was apparently killed in her place, is actually sitting right next to Castle (justified as Mandy was wearing dark glasses, had her hair covering her face, and Alexis obviously thought she was dead).
59	* ''Series/ChappellesShow'': 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:
60	-->'''Tyrone:''' Get out the car!\
61	'''Rhonda:''' Tyrone, what are you doing?\
62	'''Tyrone:''' Who's Tyrone? Huh? I don't know Tyrone!\
63	'''Rhonda:''' No, it's you with your crusty-ass lips.\
64	'''Tyrone:''' Stop playin', and get out the car! Get out the car! I don't know no Tyrone.
65	* 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.
66	* ''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.
67	* ''Series/LeCoeurASesRaisons'' uses that quite often, but the most outrageous example would be when Brett disguised as his sister Brenda by '''solely''' sticking a name tag reading "Brenda" on his suit. And of course, [[RuleOfFunny given the nature of the show]], it worked ''splendidly''.
68	* ''Series/CoryInTheHouse'':
69	** In order to find an anniversary present for the First Lady, Cory sneaks the President into the mall disguised in nothing but a fake mustache. Not only does it manage to fool everyone in the mall, but he also ends up mistaken for an {{Identical Stranger}}.
70	** 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.
71	** After Sophie quits Cory's scam to raise money for a ski trip, Cory improvises by dressing up Meena as Sophie and turns off the lights so the tourists won't recognize Meena. It fails when Sophie turns the lights back on.
72	* 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.
73	** 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.
74	* Invoked totally in ''Series/{{The Count of Monte Cristo\|1998}}'' with Creator/GerardDepardieu, where the disguises of the Count often involve no more than a larger nose than Gérard's normal one (although it should be noted that most of the people he disguised himself for were old friends/enemies of Edmond Dantes who would not have seen him for over twenty years and would have every reason to believe he was dead).
75	* On ''Series/{{CSI}}'', in the episode "Living Legend", a series of murders is 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.
76	* Invoked in ''Series/DadsArmy'' when, on a training exercise, Captain Mainwaring decides to dress some sheep in tin hats to make it look as though they were his men dressed as sheep. Meanwhile Corporal Jones poses as a [[MobileShrubbery log]] using a pantomime costume. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments It gets funnier.]]
77	* ''Series/Danger5:'' Only Danger 5 and Michelle recognize who "Johnny Hitler" really is. Extra points for Hitler's high school disguise, which consists only of a varsity jacket.
78	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
79	** TheMaster, whose skills involve being a master of disguise, disguised himself with a pair of glasses frequently during Creator/RogerDelgado's tenure. 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.
80	*** 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. (His schemes often involved infiltrating organizations under false identities.) 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).
81	*** 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.
82	*** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], he lampshades this tendency by referring to himself as "the Master of disguise" to two homeless men who recognize his resemblance to Harold Saxon.
83	*** [[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.]]
84	** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E4TheVisitation "The Visitation"]], the villain travels to London wrapped up in a huge cloak. Seeing as he's a lizard-like alien with nothing covering his large green snout, this disguise is particularly unconvincing.
85	** 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.
86	** In the ''Literature/PastDoctorAdventures'' novel "[[Recap/PastDoctorAdventuresWorldGame World Game]]", the Second Doctor has to help the Duke of Wellington during the Battle of Waterloo by posing as Napoleon Bonaparte to take a vital message through enemy lines. While the Doctor only bears a slight resemblance to the Emperor, with the right clothes and a suitable horse, he estimates that he will look enough like Napoleon to convince the average Frenchman who has only seen his Emperor in portraits or at a distance, so long as he avoids meeting any particularly high-ranking officers.
87	** AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho;
88	*** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoTLSS3E6TheFirstSontarans The First Sontarans]]", the Doctor's companion Peri and current ally Jane [[spoiler:disguise themselves as Sontarans to rescue the Doctor, but the Doctor notes that the disguise only worked because they were in a darkened storage room and the only true Sontaran to see them wasn't paying attention]].
89	*** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho176StarlightRobbery Starlight Robbery]]", when infiltrating an alien auction, the Seventh Doctor has current companions Klein and Will disguise themselves as the Warlords of Zebrednik, who look human enough that minimal disguise is needed and are far enough away that nobody at the auction would have plausibly met them.
90	** Madame Vastra is a Silurian living in Victorian London. Despite her only cover being a transparent black net veil over her head, nobody seems to notice that she's got green scaly skin and bone frills unless she specifically lifts the veil to show them.
91	* ''Series/Doona2023'': Discussed. K-pop idol Doo-na claims that she can walk on the street unbothered because people don't tend to recognize her when she's in plainclothes and a hat — after all, Won-jun didn't. He says that in the moment, it doesn't seem realistic or likely that you would actually be in front of a celebrity.
92	* Inverted in the ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' episode "The Theater Thug". Because Josh keeps getting attacked because he looks a lot like a wanted criminal, he decides to put on a heavy trenchcoat and hat. Everyone recognized him instantly.
93	* Used in the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Coup by Clam". A female character has disguised herself as a man by covering up her breasts in spite of the fact that her face is completely unchanged. She manages somehow to fool the guard she works with (possibly justified by the guard being an idiot as well as a misogynist dickhead) but Chiana sees straight through it. Also used again in that episode with John dressing up amusingly as one of the least convincing women ever, in order to enter a club where all the male clients are known.
94	* Happens a few times on ''Series/TheFlash2014'':
95	** In the [[AlternateTimeline Flashpoint timeline]], Barry finds that there is another Flash who isn't him. One day, the other Flash gets knocked down, and a curious Barry takes off his mask and is surprised to find out that he's actually Wally. This is despite the fact that unlike Barry's outfit, Wally's outfit leaves his hair exposed, and Barry should have easily been able to guess it was him, though in fairness Wally was seen vibrating his face and vocal chords earlier.
96	** When Cisco finally suits up, all he has as a disguise is his CoolShades, and he leaves his long hair down. While most people in Central City wouldn't know him, you'd think that ''some'' people would be able to recognise that hairstyle. In one episode, when a fellow metahuman is asking whey she should trust the team, he takes off his shades while Barry unmasks himself, even though the shades don't do much to hide his face.
97	** Similarly, no one in Central City seems to recognise Caitlin as a brown-haired brown-eyed version of Killer Frost, who is seen as enough of a threat to be mentioned in the local news, [[HeelFaceTurn and later enough of a hero]] to get a drink at a coffee shop named after her.
98	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': "Robert Strong", the newest, mysterious, helmeted, 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.
99	* In ''Series/{{Glee}}'', the kids switch names to screw with the substitute teacher. What name does the blonde, female Brittany choose? Mike Chang.
100	* In the ''Series/{{Greg the Bunny}}'' episode "The Singing Mailman", when Dottie convinces the others to pretend they like the actor playing the mailman, Greg decides to wear a disguise, which includes a sombrerro, pancho, and mustache. It doesn't seem to fool anyone, but when he removes his mustache, Tardy Turtle reacts with surprise, "Hey! That French man is Greg!"
101	* ''Series/HannahMontana'' has the title character, who is able to complete conceal her identity by simply wearing a blonde wig; in one episode, she [[DramaticUnmask dramatically removes the wig]] to reveal herself to her boyfriend, and he's totally shocked, despite the fact that "Hannah" didn't change her clothes, make-up, or facial features in the slightest. Other characters suffer from this too, including Robbie Ray, who's apparently disguising himself with a (thin) mustache; however, this might be a subversion, as Robbie isn't trying to conceal his identity as much as his daughter.
102	** It's lampshaded when Miley reveals herself to the world as Hannah and genius neighbor Rico nearly has a breakdown figuring out how he couldn't see through such a lame disguise.
103	* {{Supervillain}} Sylar on ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' has an uncanny, entirely non-superpowered ability to convince other people that he's someone he's not, mostly by using a [[BriefAccentImitation variety of fake accents]] combined with [[BavarianFireDrill acting like he's supposed to be there]]. Once he gains the power to generate actual illusions, he quickly manages to bluff his way into becoming President of the United States.
104	* Many episodes of ''Series/ILoveLucy'' have Lucy and Ethel dressing up in paper-thin disguises to fool their husbands in some scheme. Depending on what the plot demands, Ricky and Fred either are completely fooled or recognize their wives right away.
105	** Tennessee Ernie Ford doesn't recognize the Wicked City Woman trying to seduce him (just Lucy in a black wig).
106	** 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; they then show up at opening night pretending to be those excited potential audience members and storm 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 (with a minor HandWave of an old vaudeville friend of Fred's lending them a quick-change cabinet for the rapid swaps). Ricky's boss is completely fooled.
107	** In "The Young Fans," Ricky runs into trouble with a teen girl who has a PrecociousCrush on him. Lucy tries to help by pairing the girl off with a boy at her school, but her romantic coaching makes the boy fall in love with Lucy instead. The Ricardos decide to trick the teens into thinking they're much older than they actually are by donning age makeup, coloring their hair (or, in Lucy's case, wearing a wig), dressing in grandparent-esque clothing, and speaking in exaggerated "old person" voices. This somehow fools the teenagers, despite them seeing the genuinely-youthful Ricky and Lucy the previous day, although to the girl's credit, she ''is'' somewhat suspicious.
108	* 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. The moment Gibby loses his beauty mark, everyone immediately recognizes him "Hey, you're that guy from iCarly!"
109	* On ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', Frank often uses this kind of disguise to help the gang with whatever scheme they're trying to pull off. Keep in mind that Frank is played by Creator/DannyDeVito, who's about five feet tall and has a distinctively round shape; furthermore, Frank is somewhat well-known InUniverse due to his occasional appearances on local TV. Despite that, his tricks usually work:
110	** 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.
111	** In one episode, Frank [[ItMakesSenseInContext commandeers a tourist boat full of East Asian people visiting Philadelphia]] by doing nothing more than saying he's Captain Frank and claiming that the previous captain was a junkie. It works.
112	** Frank's not above recruiting other people to do this for him. In "The Gang Gets Whacked," a handsome Latino man wearing a sports jacket approaches Dennis at a country club. He explains that he's a "gentleman companion" to wealthy older women, convincing Dennis that he should try the same to raise some much-needed cash. The man then returns to the kitchen, takes off the coat...and hands it back to Frank, who promptly pays him. He's actually a dishwasher at the club, and Frank recruited him to convince Dennis to become a male prostitute. It's particularly egregious because Dennis ''saw Frank wearing the jacket earlier.''
113	** Charlie has occasionally passed himself off as a wealthy oil baron using nothing more than a cowboy hat and Texas accent.
114	** Dee occasionally tries to pull these off with her various "characters," such as an leprechaun, male fisherman, or Latina newscaster. They're always [[DeliberateValuesDissonance horrifically racist and offensive]] and don't convince anyone.
115	** One episode involved the revelation that Charlie's mom (when she was still a prostitute) tried to conceal her career from her son by having the men who used her, er, services on Christmas dress up in Santa outfits and show up to the door with presents, telling Charlie that it was a Christmas tradition to have a bunch of Santas come over to "cheer her up." Naturally, when we see the Santas in the flashback, it starts with one guy in a fairly convincing Santa suit. Then a guy in a much cheaper Santa suit. Then a guy who's just wearing a Santa hat and a red shirt and suspenders. Then a guy who's just wearing a red ''scarf'' over regular work clothes. Then two guys with red T-shirts, whose idea of a gift for Charlie is a banana and a kickball. Naturally, Charlie is completely fooled, remembers every single one of them as genuine Santa Clauses, and it takes him years to realize the truth.
116	* One episode of ''Radio/TheJackBennyProgram'' had Jack appearing on ''You Bet Your Life'', using a toupee, mustache and sideburns. Groucho can see his ruse however, and manages to blow his cover by asking him about his true age.
117	* Mocked in the ''Series/JustRollWithIt'' episode "Shayna Pennsylvania" when Blair gets a new gig as the titular would-be pop star. All she does is wear a wig yet everyone treats her like a completely different person...except Owen, who's stunned no one else sees this is Blair.
118	** Owen lays out via a huge chart how Shayna and Blair are identical down to mole and light scar...and Byron and Rachel just shrug "not seeing it."
119	** Blair point-blank tells schoolmates she's Shayna, even putting on the wig...and they [[YourCostumeNeedsWork dismiss her as just a "wannabe"]] and try to find the "real" Shayna.
120	** What does convince Byron and Rachel? When "Shayna" does a "retirement video" and they recognize it's in Blair's room. Owen can only roll his eyes.
121	* This was practically a RunningGag in ''Series/KamenRiderDenO'', as [[PeopleInRubberSuits giant friendly Tengu rubber-suit monster]] Deneb would routinely stroll through the streets next to the main characters wearing no more of a disguise than... say, a hat.
122	** ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'' plays it painfully straight with the main character. Now, while a suit that covers one's entire body is good for hiding one's features, Kotaro has a habit (shared with pretty much every Rider ever, actually) of using his Rider-motif bike in civilian identity. He gets a new bike as Black, and rides ''it'' in civilian form, too. Establishment shots frequently have it parked outside in plain view. He never tries to pretend to ''not'' be hunting down whatever [[NebulousEvilOrganization Golgom]] is up to, or ever make an excuse for running off. Somehow, nobody notices.
123	** Inverted in ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' in that, while Shoutarou rides around on the same bike that Double uses, the Fuuto Police Department inspector believes that Shoutarou is a 'friend' of Double. One could assume that he also told the inspector that Double gave him a duplicate bike and that the public simply also believes this.
124	** ''Series/KamenRiderZeroOne'' villain Azu is ''capable'' of achieving a perfect disguise at will through use of her VoluntaryShapeshifting. However, her disdain for the heroes is such that she never bothers making her disguises more than paper-thin, with her first few disguises being physically perfect but with no attempt to act anything like the characters she's impersonating, while her final disguise only changes her hair color. After the first time, everyone sees through her disguises in a heartbeat.
125	* 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 interestinkly enough only comes in ze half sizes."
126	* Played with on ''Series/KnightSquad''. Ciara is the Princess of Astoria whose father refuses to let her become a knight. So she uses a magical ring to transform herself for training. Given that the ring just changes her clothes and hair and Ciara looks and sounds the same, it's hard to believe so many (including her own father) could fail to see the truth. However, it's indicated the magic spell prevents people from seeing the details (Arc only found out as he saw her transform).
127	** Later in the series, teammates Prudence and Warwick discover the truth and both amazed they didn't see it before.
128	** In the series finale, [[spoiler: Ciara reveals herself to the entire kingdom with everyone shocked. However, the king [[SecretSecretKeeper reveals he's known the entire time]] as "what father doesn't know his own daughter?"]]
129	* In ''Series/LazyTown'', no one ever realises the person causing trouble who looks like Robbie Rotten in a silly outfit ''is'', in fact, Robbie Rotten in a silly outfit. This is especially hilarious because his cover is blown at the end of ''every'' episode, yet the townspeople will ''still'' fall for his paper-thin disguise in the next episode. (And yet, Robbie Rotten himself thinks his disguises are amazingly awesome and calls himself "The Master of Disguise".)
130	** If he actually is fooling everyone, then he's probably on to something.
131	** Taken to the extreme in "Play Day" where his hat falls off and not one person yells "Robbie Rotten!" like they usually do.
132	** In the episode "Defeeted", 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.
133	** 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.
134	* ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'' contains a rare effective example. It's obviously the same actor with different makeup and hair, but because [[ActingForTwo that actor plays about a third of the characters on the show]], you'll never guess. Saying which two characters are the same person would be telling.
135	* The first ''Series/LegendsOfTheSuperheroes'' special, "The Challenge", had Solomon Grundy, Sinestro and Dr. Sivana try to deceive the Justice League and impede them from stopping the doomsday device by using very obvious disguises. Solomon Grundy wears nothing more than a uniform and a cap (and unwittingly blows his cover in front of every hero who comes near him by doffing his cap), Sinestro tries to dupe Green Lantern by disguising himself as a fortune teller (his cover blown when Green Lantern notices his ring) and Dr. Sivana disguises himself as a boy selling lemonade to trick the superheroes into drinking a formula that will disable their powers (his disguise is the only one the heroes don't see through before it's too late).
136	* Naturally, ''Series/LoisAndClark'' used this with Clark simply slicking back his hair as Superman. A famous bit has villain Tempus revealing the truth to Lois and how people in the future ask "How ''dumb'' was she?"
137	** In one episode, Lois gets super-powers and becomes the masked heroine Ultra Woman. She's amazed at how a domino mask is all that keeps Perry White and Jimmy Olsen from recognizing her, ranting about how they can't see the truth of someone they work with every day...and stops when Clark smirks at her.
138	* ''Series/LoveAndDestiny'': When he goes to see Ling Xi in the mortal realm, Si Ming disguises himself as a fortune teller and then as [[DisguisedInDrag a woman]]. Neither disguise is convincing.
139	* 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.
140	-->'''Foggy Nelson:''' Given my history on the subject, [[ICantBelieveImSayingThis I can't believe I'm even gonna say this]], but... if you're gonna fight crime, have you considered wearing a mask?\
141	'''Luke Cage:''' I'm 6'3", black, and bulletproof. You really think that wearing a Lone Ranger mask is gonna keep people from figuring out who I am?
142	* Played with in ''Series/{{Lupin}}''. When Assane Diop personally delivers a letter stating his intention to steal the Black Pearl, he acknowledges that he resembles Diop, saying that the only thing that's kept him out of prison is the fact that his eyes are brown. The woman who receives the letter later describes his disguise as "very subtle - just colored contacts to make his eyes look brown", only to be told his eyes ''are'' brown.
143	* Someone handed ''Series/{{MacGyver\|1985}}'' the IdiotBall in the episode "Cleo Rocks". Despite clues so obvious that a child could work it out, it takes Mac most of the episode to realize that his old nemesis Murdoc is back, even though his disguise is so thin that it's obvious who he is the first time we see him. From behind. In the dark. And he's only halfway in the frame. They clearly thought it was working, too, since even after the first [[TheReveal reveal]] where Murdoc appears undisguised, it's only after we get a ''second'' reveal that anyone realizes that he's been in disguise all along.
144	** More like the producers expected the audience to be carrying the idiot ball. Since it was airing on USA network at the time, they were probably right.
145	* While ''Series/{{MadTV}}'''s [[HughMann Smith Comma John]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLSlGmVrmuM Human Being for President]] looks completely human, his disguise is rendered paper thin [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial by his loudly announcing to anyone that will listen that he's not plotting a full-scale invasion to colonize the planet for the Barconians]]. For example, he can use a 3-way light bulb, has a dog for a wife, and sits near fire ''willingly''. Could an alien do that? Apparently not.
146	* In an episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'' 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.)
147	* The same kind of [[ActingForTwo economy casting]] is used on ''Series/TheMightyBoosh''. But it didn't make Howard and Vince's attempts to masquerade as old ladies in the Bingo Hall seem any less feeble. Howard in particular should really have considered doing something about his moustache...
148	* ''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.
149	* Parodied in a ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' sketch, where [[ThoseWackyNazis "Mr. Hilter"]] and his associates, "Ron Vibbentrop" and "Heimlich Bimmler", campaign for the National Bocialist Party in Minehead, England. Nobody recognizes them, despite wearing Nazi uniforms, speaking in thick German accents, and denying that they're Nazis rather [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial unconvincingly]].
150	-->'''Heinrich "Bimmler"''': I am retired vindow cleaner und pacifist, without doing war crimes.
151
152	* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' subject ''The Rebel Set'' features one of the most bizarre examples of all time: the mastermind of an armored car robbery goes incognito on a train to bump off his henchmen (all of whom have spent a lot of time with him) and keep the money for himself. His disguise? A priest's collar. The [=MST3k=] guys have said that the first time they saw the film, it took them all quite a while to realize it was even supposed to be a disguise.
153	* As ''Series/TheNanny'' was envisioned as a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Series/ILoveLucy'', several episodes feature Fran (and occasionally other characters) donning simple disguises for various [[ZanyScheme zany schemes.]]
154	** In "Stock Tip," Fran has to infiltrate a men's-only country club to stop Mr. Sheffield from making a bad investment. She puts on a suit, short brown wig, glasses, and a fake beard to pass herself off as [[Series/MrEd "Mr. Ed Wilbur"]], but it's still obvious that she's not a man, especially how she's badly disguising her voice. Humorously, Fran notices a cocktail waitress walking around the club and realizes that she should have gone with ''that'' for a disguise instead.
155	** In "A Close Shave," Fran tries to sneak out of a hospital when Mr. Sheffield shows up for an appendectomy, and puts on surgical scrubs and a mask to pretend she's a nurse. A doctor falls for it and tells her to shave Maxwell for his surgery, prompting one of the series' most ridiculous gags.
156	** "The Cher Show" features a non-Fran example. When Maxwell allows {{Music/Cher}} to recuperate at his mansion after plastic surgery, Fran can't resist snooping and blabs to Val. Soon, every tabloid reporter in town shows up hoping for a photo. Fran solves the problem by having her WholesomeCrossdresser cousin who does a Cher act disguise himself as the singer and make an appearance. In this case, ''no one'' is fooled, but the [[WeNeedADistraction distraction]] proves long enough for the real Cher to sneak out the back.
157	* An episode of ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' had Ned infiltrating on Missy's club (ripping off the titular guide) by donning a blond wig and mustache alongside a pair of sunglasses. Missy catches him immediately however, and Ned is soon dragged off the room
158	** Later in the episode, one of Loomer's cronies uses a similar guise to avoid being noticed on sewing class--He succeeds, and he didn't even disguise properly.
159	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcmXCXqI7Ew&feature=related The Butterfield Detective Agency]] sketch from ''Series/ThePeterSerafinowiczShow'', in which most of Butterfield's disguises consist of hats or simple props.
160	* In the infamous "pizza episode" of ''Series/PowerRangersTurbo'', Porto comes into the pizza parlor to pick up an order, wearing a dress and large woman's hat to disguise himself. (Given his natural shape, which resembles a man in a bulky spacesuit, it's not very convincing.) Not a completely straight example of the Trope, because the clerk does seem to notice ''something'' odd about him, and when Porto notices that the Rangers are there (in their civilian identities), he leaves quickly before they see him.
161	* 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.
162	** An especially strange example is when Will Scarlett and Allan-a-Dale put on their hoods ''after'' a guard has stormed past and told them to get out of his way.
163	** Funny hats also did the trick, as did a fancy dress for Djaq. Guy of Gisborne stops her as she infiltrates the castle, only for him to give her some orders, thinking she's a serving girl. Just for the record, Djaq was a ''Saracen woman''. I guess Guy sees a lot of them around Nottingham...
164	* Played for laughs on ''Series/SavedByTheBellTheNewClass''. Realizing too late that they don't have dates for the big school dance, Katie and Maria both get Eric to go along with them. He wears an idiotic wig as he pretends to be his "cousin" with one girl and then himself with another. From the looks he gets from other students, it's obvious no one is buying this at all. This comes up in the middle of the dance as the wig is knocked off. Maria and Katie put on a show of being "shocked" that Eric is pretending to be his own cousin "just so he could date the two of us!" Eric just walks off, yelling to never do this to him again or at least get a better wig as everyone laughs.
165	* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive:'' One sketch parodying ''Undercover Boss'' has [[Franchise/StarWars Kylo Ren]] going undercover as "Matt the Radar Technician". It'd probably have worked a bit better if Ren hadn't [[ButHeSoundsHandsome tried praising his own shreddedness]], and using the Force to strangle people who insulted him. As it turns out, pretty much everyone knew he was Kylo Ren before that anyway.
166	** [[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 up to eleven 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.''
167	* [[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, 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.
168	** In one episode, Kramer is babysitting a young boy. When the kid runs away, Kramer goes after him and has his friend Mickey, a little person, pass himself off as the child by covering himself in blankets and pretending to be asleep when his mother gets home. Surprisingly, it actually works...that is, until the mother says "Good night," and Mickey [[TooDumbToLive unthinkingly responds]] in his gruff, masculine voice.
169	* 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.
170	** Unlike in the books, where the orphans rarely figure out their disguises, Olaf's henchmen also fall into this. For example, in "The Reptile Room" the Hook-Handed Man puts on a pair of obvious prosthetic hands over his hooks. Mr. Poe is, of course, oblivious.
171	* 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.)
172	* ''Series/SonnyWithAChance'': "That's So Sunny", a MythologyGag of ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'', features Raven as [[LoonyFan Amber]], the President of Chad's fan club, investigating Nico and Grady while in disguise as a jazz guy and investigating dressed as an Indian masseuse named [[FunnyForeigner Maia Babouti]] with a [[OohMeAccentsSlipping a very odd accent.]]
173	** Sonny pulls this too and in one scene, Music/DemiLovato states that she pulled many of these in a reference to her former show.
174	* In the 1971 {{Tokusatsu}} Series/{{Spectreman}}, Dr. Gori and Lla come from Planet E, where everyone is a simian and resemble Earthern gorillas. Despite their ape-like faces and hairy bodies, Lla is able to flawlessly disguise himself as a human using basic items like ponchos, sunglasses and cowboy hats. In some instances he doesn't even bother to put more than one article of clothing. This happens OnceAnEpisode and not a single human raises an eyebrow at Lla's disguise, making it easy for him and Dr. Gori to carry out their plans of taking over the Earth.
175	* Zigzagged in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Enterprise Incident". Kirk has [=McCoy=] use a type of plastic surgery on him so he can infiltrate the Romulan ship and steal the cloaking device technology. While the surgery does give Kirk the features of a Romulan, it's still obviously him. However, because he doesn't come into contact with any Romulans who knows what James T. Kirk looks like, he still succeeds.
176	* A RunningJoke on ''Series/TheSteamVideoCompany'' where every week an exasperated cast member would express dismay at the shoddiness of Bob Todd's disguise.
177	* Exaggerated 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.
178	* Nicely used on ''Series/{{Supergirl\|2015}}'' when James Olson decides to fight crime as the Guardian. He wears a uniform covering him head to toe and even lined with lead. It's a good disguise so that it takes having him unmasked for Kara (who knows James well) to figure out it's him. When James rescues Cat Grant from an attack, he and Winn are both stunned when she automatically thanks him as "James".
179	-->'''James''': I'm... Guardian.\
180	'''Cat''': Oh, honey, I can see your eyes through the slit.
181	** 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.
182	** 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.
183	--->'''Maggie''': Plus, the glasses really don't help.\
184	'''Alex''': I always said that too, it's kind of ridiculous.
185	** Played straight with Reign and Kara and Alex are unable to look past a DominoMask and see how Reign is the same height, build, voice and hair of their good friend Sam. Then again, even Sam herself is unaware of her evil alter ego (and it's mentioned the suit blocks Kara's X-Ray vision so she can't see past the mask).
186	** Nicely justified in Season 3 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.
187	* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E20WhatIsAndWhatShouldNeverBe "What Is and What Should Never Be" (S02, Ep20)]], Dean believes changing the car's license plate and getting new credit cards should be a sufficient disguise. They continue to drive a 1967 Impala and do not alter their appearance, despite having recently escaped from prison and having arrest warrants in at least five states.
188	* In the costume party episode of ''Series/{{Taxi}}'', Jim apparently fools everyone by going just wearing his [[LimitedWardrobe usual outfit]]. However Alex notices and he puts on a pair of novelty glasses.
189	* One of the major draws of ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' was that the titular character, in addition to having PsychicPowers, was a MasterOfDisguise who could don wacky outfits to help with whatever ZanyScheme her friends had gotten themselves into that day. Best friends [[OnlySaneMan Eddie]] and [[TheDitz Chelsea]] would occasionally join in on the fun. Unfortunately, most of the disguises fell heavily under this trope.
190	** 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.
191	*** 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.
192	** In "Art Breaker," Chelsea is chosen to exhibit her artwork at a gallery show, and creates a sculpture of Raven to display. After Raven inadvertently breaks it, she decides to cover herself in clay and feathers to [[NobodyHereButUsStatues pass herself off as a statue]] at the show. Granted, she's pretty good at staying still, but she's also standing in the middle of a room full of people and still breathing and blinking, so...
193	** 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.
194	** 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 the 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 as easily played the role, especially because the manager hadn't seen him before.
195	* ''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.
196	* Terryin Al Murray's ''[[VideoGame/BenThereDanThat Time, Gentlemen, Please!]]'' is frequently able to pass himself off for someone else just by wearing different clothes, an obviously fake moustache and in some cases simply saying he's not Terry. This doesn't last for long however since Terry is known to be 'very gassy'. He is however hailed as a master of disguise by everyone he fools.
197	* In ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'', villain Enter is made of data and can change his clothes in the blink of an eye, but for some reason never bothers with the rest of the disguise, and maintains his appearance and signature goggles every time.
198	* 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.
199	-->'''May:''' Some say I was bound and gagged in locker room...
200	** Also played with during the Hammerhead i-Eagle Thrust challenge when the "[[BlatantLies independent tester]]" was clearly May with a gaffer-tape mustache and his hair tied back.
201	** And in the "Three Wise Men" special, when Clarkson and Hammond dress up in niqab. For one thing, Clarkson is ''six foot five''.
202	--->'''Hammond:''' [[Series/AlloAllo It is I!]]
203	* Downplayed in ''Series/TheUntamed''. Wei Wuxian wears a CoolMask like Mo Xuanyu did because the summoning ritual caused the latter's body to inhabit both the soul and appearance of Wei Wuxian and Wei Wuxian has no plans of being discovered anytime soon. While this works on unsuspecting people and those who never personally knew Wei Wuxian, as Mo Xuanyu would always cover his face and was considered eccentric anyways, it's a different story to those that do know him. However, it's Wei Wuxian's powers that tend to give him away first rather than him taking off his mask.
204	* ''Series/WhatWeDoInTheShadows2019'': 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.
205	* In ''Series/UchuuSentaiKyuranger'', Champ (the team's Black Ranger) leaves the team because his creator Dr. Anton turned out to be an evil MadScientist, making him feel like he doesn't deserve to call himself a "champion of justice". Shortly afterwards he turns up using the alias Yagyuu Juubee, but his "disguise" is just his Ranger suit with a few minor alterations, like wearing a luchador mask ''on top of his helmet'' and his TransformationTrinket covered up...by wrapping his Kyuranger team jacket around his arm. Garu is the only one who falls for it, which prompts KidHero Kotaro to ask "Garu, are you stupid?"
206	* In Swedish 1960s series, ''Villervalle i Söderhavet'' ('Villervalle in the Southern Seas'), Villervalle (who is a blond Swedish kid) moves with his family to Polynesia in the southern hemisphere. During the journey there (on a cruise ship), the boy spies on two French-speaking spies who planted a bomb on board. Later, in another episode, after the family has settled in their new tropical island life, Villervalle dyes his hair with a black dye and passes himself off as a local. The boy mingles with other Polynesian locals who are being lectured by the French-speaking spies, and the duo never notice him.
207	* In an episode of the UK version of ''Series/WhoWantsToBeASuperhero'', after one of Dr. Dark's henchmen steals the secret identity files of their superheroes, they are forced to don disguises and create distractions in an attempt to take them back off him. Most of the heroes' disguises were paper thin and if anything would make them stick out like a sore thumb. Fortunately the henchman was fooled until he saw some of the superheroes taking the files from under his snout.
208	* On ''Series/TheWildWildWest'', Artemus Gordon was supposed to be a MasterOfDisguise, but most of his disguises involve little more than a fake scar or cheap mustache. They make "paper thin" seem unnecessarily complimentary. This was because the [[ExecutiveMeddling network heads complained whenever he wore a disguise that actually worked]], fearing it would confuse the audience, and required that all of his disguises be paper thin. The actor and the make-up people are on record complaining about this.
209	* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': Wonder Woman has multiples:
210	** The glasses disguise for her SecretIdentity that fools everyone else is literally broken by aliens using a projector in "Mind Stealers from Outer Space". He takes a picture of Diana Prince and overlays it with a picture of Wonder Woman.
211	--> '''Alien Leader''': Undoubtedly the same human
212	** In the pilot, "The New Original Wonder Woman", the Amazons on Paradise Island wore masks during the competition to determine who would become Wonder Woman. Diana's mother, Hippolyta, forbade her from competing, but somehow couldn't recognize her in her mask.
213	** 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 up to eleven when they can't tell the difference between two entirely different women [[spoiler: after conquering Paradise Island itself!]]
214	* 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!
215	** 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. They were usually right...
216	** Notably averted in the episode "The Chameleon," where the villain had the ability to ''shapeshift'' at will. Though of course, given the good guys' track record for recognizing impostors, an eyepatch and a cigar might have served him just as well.
217	*** Also ''inverted'' in "The Chameleon", where the Chameleon disguises himself as Jacques, and D'Artagnan claims the disguise was paper thin to him because "Jacques" acted like a man, not like a woman disguised as a man.
218	* Eric van Helsing from ''Series/YoungDracula'' who doesn't even shave his beard off when disguising himself as a woman.
219	* In ''Series/YoureTheWorst'', whenever Jimmy wants to be incognito, he wears a hat and a fake mustache that make him look like [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]].
220	* Logan tries to pass for Chase in ''Series/{{Zoey 101}}'' while trying to join the secret school society. Nobody is fooled by his Afro wig.
221

Context PaperThinDisguise / LiveActionTV