[[quoteright:300:[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Costumer.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Just another ho-hum SpaceOpera episode.]]
An alternative reality episode that's an excuse to put the characters in period costume. This trope is almost exclusively the property of sitcoms and ''Franchise/StarTrek''. TheWildWest and TheRoaringTwenties / the GenteelInterbellumSetting are popular destinations. In [=SitcomLand=], it is usually either a DreamSequence after a character falls asleep in front of the TV, or a flashback told by an older relative about the characters' [[IdenticalGrandson identical ancestors]]. It's also a popular type of AlternateUniverseFic.

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!!Examples:

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[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''{{Pucca}}'' has episodes consisting of episodes where the entire cast is in the Wild West, or in Canada, or Holland, or even in ancient Greece.
* The "Boss Luffy" [[{{Filler}} Fillers]] in ''Manga/OnePiece'', which takes all the LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters of the series and place them in a setting that's reminicent of ancient Japan.

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[[folder: Comics ]]

* In ''GIJoe vs The {{Transformers}} II,'' some Transformers are cast back in time to the 1970s and 1930s, acquiring period vehicle modes.
* Kitty's Fairy Tale, a reimagining of the [[Comicbook/XMen X-Men]] in an Literature/ArabianNights-esque bedside story.
* In the ''ComicBook/YoungJustice 80'' Page Giant, a RealityWarper reimagines the team into a WildWest setting and a WorldWarII epic, among other things.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* In the children's book series ''The Magic Treehouse'', the two main leads, Jack and Annie get teleported to various locales and time periods throughout history. In most adventures, after they're finished warping, they find themselves in appropriate clothing of the time. When they went to ancient Rome, they wore togas. When they went to the North Pole, they had fur coats. And so on.

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[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''TheDickVanDykeShow'': Rob has an Wild West dream while having dental work done.
* ''TheOddCouple'': Felix tells the story of how his and Oscar's fathers knew each other in the 1920s.
* ''HappyDays'' was a repeat offender, going back to such times as the First Thanksgiving, Prohibition and the Cunninghams' immigrant ancestors (it was a musical episode, too).
* ''GilligansIsland'': Pretty much all of the "dream" episodes.
* ABC once had sort of a "''[[http://www.poobala.com/timeball.html time travel night]]''", with the cast of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' superimposed over the 1970s and the cast of ''BoyMeetsWorld'' in World War II.
** Hey, don't forget the two forgettable shows: ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Wish_(TV_series) You Wish]]'' wound up in the 1950's and ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_Angel_(TV_series) Teen Angel]]'' was (also) trapped in the 1970's.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'' had an interesting example where Kryten's struggle with a complex computer virus is shown as a Western with him cast as the drunk sheriff. The others eventually go in and help him as Western heroes. Related to the trope below, because in the beginning, Lister is playing a total immersion video game in the style of ''Film Noir''.
** Another notable example is "JaneAusten World", which is exactly what it sounds like. Except for Kryten arriving to break things up with a ''T-55 tank''.
*** "Entering the King Arthur simulation with a book of cheats and attempting to seduce the queen of Camelot?! I haven't been this embarrased since my groinal box fell into mister Rimmer's soup!
* The third season finale of ''NorthernExposure'' was a WholeEpisodeFlashback to the founding of Cecily.
* ''ThePrisoner'' episode "Living in Harmony" is another Western-themed {{Costumer}}.
* Variation in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Halloween": Thanks to magic, the characters literally become the figures whom they dress up as -- Buffy is a young 18th century aristocrat, Xander is a soldier, and Willow is a ghost.
* ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'' and ''XenaWarriorPrincess'' were rather infamous for having episodes set in the show's future (our past, natch), starring [[IdenticalGrandson identical descendants]] or equally-identical {{Spiritual Successor}}s of the title characters.
* Let me count the [[Franchise/StarTrek Treks]]:
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': Not counting the times they were actually on another planet dressed as Nazis or Gangsters, the [=TOS=] Ur-example is "City On The Edge Of Forever", though the Depression-era costumes were deliberately ''not'' gorgeous.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' had "Time's Arrow", a two-parter, the episode where Q made them act out Robin Hood, and the Dixon Hill holodeck stories (see below).
** ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' had Bashir's James Bond holofantasies, the Ferengis visiting 1947, a holo-1963 where Vic Fontaine lived; and of course, the Tribble episode, where the Gorgeous Period they visited ''was the Original Series''.
** ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' had the [[TwoFistedTales pulp-inspired]] Captain Proton!, WWII Occupied France with Alien Nazis, an Irish village, and ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' on the holodeck. The actual time-travel "period piece" ep is a subversion, as the period was today, so they probably gave the costumers the day off and went to work in casual clothes.
*** Then when the Q Continuum got into a civil war and Voyager's crew got pulled into it, the Q's universe was dressed up as ''the American Civil War'' because its real appearance would have been too much for mortals to take.
** ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' had Alien Nazis. Again.
*** Although that time, they were alien Nazis on Earth, working with ''actual'' Nazis.
*** They also did a "time travel to the present day" episode. Same effect as Voyager.
* ''Series/MacGyver'' had several dream episodes set in TheWildWest town of Serenity. Cue [[ReverseFunnyAneurysm chuckles]] from [[{{Firefly}} modern science fiction]] fans.
** And the two part episode where Mac found himself back in a pseudo medieval Scotland, primarily to set up TheReveal of Mac's first name. [[spoiler: It's Angus.]]
* A season-two episode of ''PowerRangers'' had the Pink Ranger teleported back to the Wild West, where she met the predictably-dressed identical ancestors of the rest of the team; when they got Ranger powers, their Ranger suits were largely the same, but featured scarves/bandanas, fringe on the gloves, and restyled boots.
* ''SuddenlySusan'' also went back to the Wild West.
* Continuing with the Wild West, When [[WalkerTexasRanger Cordell Walker]] would tell stories about Hayes Cooper, one of the first Texas Rangers, he would imagine Cooper looking very much like himself.
* While they've never done full episodes, ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has featured such scenes in at least two episodes. In ''The Goat'', when we learn how Barnabus Stinson came to write the Bro Code, and twice in ''the Sexless Innkeeper'' when Barney and Ted recite their poems.
* ''ILoveLucy'' did this once. As to be expected, Lucy's dream is full of CrowningMomentofFunny.
* Not counting the [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0531116/ 1920's "Charleston dance" outfits]] or the Pilgrim outfits for the [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0769860/ silent school film]] (beause every family has outfits like these just for fun), [[TheBradyBunch Bobby Brady]] had a dream where his family lived [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0531075/ back in the late 1800's]] and was on board a train being robbed by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_James Jesse James]].
** Don't forget the episode where they got to be in a [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0531164/ old fashioned slapstick silent movie]].
*** Anything involving [[CousinOliver you-know-who]] I am purging from my mind. There's a reason he's the trope namer.
* ''ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', trying to get their bar recognized as a historical site, told the story of colonial days, and how their [[IdenticalGrandson Identical Ancestors]] cracked the Liberty Bell.
* Although usually averted on ''Series/DoctorWho'', Donna Noble enjoyed dressing the part when visiting historic time periods.
** Rose also did this when they visited TheFifties.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Roswell That Ends Well" had Fry donning army fatigues to avoid suspicion in 1947... and the Professor in a 30s zoot suit and Leela in a 50s poodle skirt.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' starts off on the high seas and details the exploits of the good Pirate Darkwing Dubloon.
* This happens twice in ''KimPossible''. The season 2 finale that has a dream sequence involving most of the major characters a century ago in GenerationXerox. Then we have the fourth season Cap'n Drakken where a school camp takes place at a recreation of 17th century, where everyone has to dress and act the part so there can be an escuse for the PiratesoftheCaribbean ShoutOut.
* ''FamilyGuy'' released made-for-DVD parodies of each movie in the original ''StarWars'' trilogy with Chris as Luke, Peter as Han, Stewie as Darth Vader, etc.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs'' Season 9 episodes had the time-traveling Smurfs automatically dress up in clothes that are appropriate for the time period and/or geographical location that they enter.

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[[folder: Web Comic ]]

* ''{{Narbonic}}'' has a long-running Sunday feature involving Victorian versions of the characters and an Edgar-Rice-Burroughs-esque space travel plot.

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In a nearly identical trope, the characters will find themselves in a Sam Spade-like ''Film Noir'', complete with a Grizzled Gumshoe and a Classy Dame. (Fun Fact: Did you know there are more ''Film Noir'' parodies than there are actual ''Film Noir'' films?)

Examples:
* ''NYPDBlue'' (in a reviled episode)
* ''MarriedWithChildren''
* ''FamilyMatters'' "Farewell, My Laura." Steve writes a short story about himself as the hard-boiled detective Johnny Danger.
* ''StepByStep''
* ''{{Jesse}}''
* ''{{Moonlighting}}'': "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" (FilmNoir) and "Atomic Shakespeare" ([[CaptainObvious take a guess]])
* ''SmallWonder'' (Jamie's videotaped book report)
* ''HappyDays'' (During the post-Shark Jump years, Richie & the gang remember a story about the Cunningham family, featuring the gang in, of course, period 20s gangster dress, with Richie as an inquisitive DA, and the Fonz as the head gangster.)
* ''BoyMeetsWorld''
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' (Dixon Hill)
* ''{{Smallville}}''
* ''Lois & Clark'' did this in the episode Fly Hard, as terrorists try and break into the Daily Planet Perry recites the story of gangsters where the newspaper now stands. Clark, Lois, Perry, Lex and Jimmy play the part of mobsters and currupt cops during the flashback sequences.
* ''Blue Heelers'' has a story of an old film fan who may have come across old crooks. The end credits has the actors dress as old cops, gangsters and dames to a 1930s rag time version of the theme song.
* ''PhineasAndFerb'' in the episode "Finding Mary McGuffin" has this. After watching their father's old Film Noir movies, Phineas and Ferb decide to find Candace's lost doll using that style. They also parody other detective movies and shows. Lampshaded when an old man they are questioning says, "Aren't you a little young to know all these detective shows." and Phineas says "[[{{Catchphrase}} Yes. Yes we]] (''puts sunglasses on'') [[{{Catchphrase}} are.]]
* The ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'' example mentioned above.
* Film Noir detective is one of the options for the Camden Lock's interrogation simulator in the ''Series/{{Hyperdrive}}'' episode "Convoy". In fact, most of the options use literary or film detectives as the interrogators.

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Yet another variation is to have the cast reenact the events from a famous period play or work of literature.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* ''What's Happening'' and ''Fame: the TV Series'' both had characters who got hit on the head and imagined themselves in ''Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz''.
* ''Moonlighting'' had a NoFourthWall episode, where a fan of the show is forced to do his homework instead of watching the latest episode of the show, so he reads "The Taming of the Shrew", but imagines it with the cast of Moonlighting.
* ''MarriedWithChildren'' had the entire cast playing out the roles of characters in a bodice-ripper romance novel. (With Steve Rhodes cameo-ing as a singing pirate who likes to torture people with Gilbert and Sullivan songs.)

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''TheSimpsons'' had an episode like the ''MarriedWithChildren'' example , as well, with Ned Flanders playing the role of the "manly man" to Homer's {{jerkass}} love rival.

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[[folder: Theatre ]]

* This has been done so often with ''A Christmas Carol'' that it has [[YetAnotherChristmasCarol its own trope.]]
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