History BavarianFireDrill / LiveActionTV

* This is standard operating procedure for both the good and bad guys on ''Series/TwentyFour''.

* ''Series/AltaMar'': [[spoiler: How Sofia and her accomplices ultimately get the suitcase full of gold off the ship.]]

** When Luthen demands to know how Cassian managed to steal heavily guarded Imperial equipment, Cassian responds that all he has to get entrance in most places is walk somewhere wearing a maintenance uniform, while carrying a standard toolkit and with his hands dirty to help sell the deception, and he can get just about anywhere. Imperial arrogance helps because they don't expect anyone like him to be able to steal from them, making it more likely that they'll barely even look at or inspect the simple maintenance worker trying to go someplace. Cassian later uses this knowledge to help the Aldhani heist team blend in.
*** This also retroactively foreshadows the strategy that Cassian and Jyn Erso will use to infiltrate Scarif in ''Film/RogueOne''.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': When Luthen demands to know how Cassian managed to steal heavily guarded Imperial equipment, Cassian responds that all he has to get entrance in most places is walk somewhere wearing a maintenance uniform, while carrying a standard toolkit and with his hands dirty to help sell the deception, and he can get just about anywhere. Imperial arrogance helps because they don't expect anyone like him to be able to steal from them, making it more likely that they'll barely even look at or inspect the lowly worker trying to go someplace. Cassian later uses this knowledge to help the Aldhani heist team blend in.
** This also retroactively foreshadows the strategy that Cassian and Jyn Erso will use to infiltrate Scarif in ''Film/RogueOne''.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines for the ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Authority".
** Which ended up being surreal, as the target of the investigation railed against people following orders without question...and then proceeded to order people around without being questioned by those he was ordering. He went from being against the sheep mentality to being the shepherd.
*** That was the point. He wanted to show people how stupid/gullible they were for following orders without question.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': When Luthen demands to know how Cassian managed to steal heavily guarded Imperial equipment, Cassian responds that all he has to get entrance in most places is walk somewhere wearing a maintenance uniform, while carrying a standard toolkit and with his hands dirty to help sell the deception, and he can get just about anywhere. Imperial arrogance helps because they don't expect anyone like him to be able to steal from them, making it more likely that they'll barely even look at or inspect the lowly worker trying to go someplace.

** In "TOW Rahcel Has a Baby", Phoebe meets an attractive guy while waiting at the hospital but he gets on the elevator before she can learn his name or which room he's in. Joey, who plays a doctor on TV, pretends to be an ''actual'' doctor to get the receptionist to tell them which room he's in. Once they find him, Phoebe asks Joey to do his "doctor" thing again and go in first to ask the guy some questions so they can work out if he's nice. This backfires when an episode of Joey's show starts playing on the television in the guy's room, and then Joey runs in to get Phoebe because Rachel's about give birth.

** He also snuck into the offices of Wolfram & Hart by pretending to be a lawyer by wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase. ''Despite the vampire detectors at the doors''.

** Happens to Kramer again when he gets a job as a seat filler at the Tony Awards, where he inadvertently ends up getting caught in the crowd heading to the stage to accept an award, resulting in him attending several showbiz parties while brandishing an unearned Tony award. In neither case was he trying to get his own way or manipulate people, he was the one just going with the flow, which is exactly the sort of behavior required by ''others'' for the trope to work.

*** When the Master of the Revels is killed, the Doctor quickly informs everyone that its the result of an "imbalance of the humours", fitting in with contemporary medical practice, and asks for the body to be taken away. As he explains to Martha immediately afterwards, this is because the actual cause of death would start a riot.

* ''Series/ICarly'': Spencer pulls off a masterful one to get to the vault containing the frozen head of a company's founder. He has Freddie take off his fake pass and grabs him by the shoulder, yelling angrily at him for sneaking into the building. When the security guard asks what's going on, Spencer tears into him for allowing a teenager to sneak into the "bowels of Dingo", and says that he's going to talk to Mr. Fufferman (a made-up person) about this. He convinces the security guard to not only leave his post, but to ''hand over his keys'' before running off. Freddie is visibly impressed.

* ''Series/ICarly'': Spencer pulls off a masterful one to get to the vault containing the frozen head of a company's founder. He has Freddie take off his fake pass and grabs him by the shoulder, yelling angrily at him for sneaking into the building. When the security guard asks what's going on, Spencer tears into him for allowing a teenager to sneak into the "bowels of Dingo", and says that he's going to talk to Mr. Fufferman about this. He convinces the security guard to not only leave his post, but to ''hand over his keys'' before running off.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': When Luthen demands to know how Cassian managed to steal heavily guarded Imperial equipment Cassian responds that with a janitorial uniform and some quick talking he can get just about anywhere, since the Imperials aren't looking for him and don't expect anyone like him to be able to manage to steal from them.

* ''Series/ICarly'': Spencer pulls this off to get to the vault containing the frozen head of a company's founder.

* ''Series/CallTheMidwife'':
** Timothy Turner pulls one almost by accident. He arrives at the scene of a train crash carrying his father's medical bag and white coat. A cop sees him, assumes he's a doctor, and tells him he needs to go help. After climbing up to the bridge, he puts on the white coat and uses his apparent authority to get help rescuing his father and Sister Julienne.

* A skit from the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "The Screaming Skull" has Pearl, Bobo, and Observer putting on penguin costumes and using these tactics to try and trick Mike and the bots into dressing in a similar fashion. After laughing at Mike and the bots' pathetic attempts at costumes, Pearl, Bobo, and Observer come to the sad realization that they themselves are even ''more'' pathetic thanks to [[OverlyPrepreparedGag the massive amount of effort they put into their lame joke]].

--->'''Ellen:''' I'm serious. If you're wearing nurse scrubs and you're running, stores will pretty much let you take anything for free.

** Apparently people don't get any smarter about this in the future. In "Chrysalis", the "Jack Pack", a group of {{Genius Ditz}}es, managed to order their way onto the station to see Bashir simply because one was dressed as an admiral. When questioned, the "admiral" would simply act irritable, snap "That's a stupid question!", and the cowed crew member would back off.
** In "The Search, Part II", a group of Jem'Hadar soldiers ambushes and tries to arrest Sisko and co. as they attempt to close the wormhole. Garak gets them out of it by pretending to be TheMole and then shooting the Jem'Hadar once they let their guard down. [[spoiler:Although it ultimately turns out the whole thing was a simulation.]]
** However, Garak seems to like this tactic in real life too. In "Tacking Into the Wind", he, Odo, Kira, and [[spoiler:Damar with some other Cardassian resistance members]] play the same trick on some other Jem'Hadar. Odo (impersonating the Female Changeling) asks to 'inspect' a plasma rifle and Garak proceeds to 'test' it. It helps when the people you fool revere you as a God.
** He also pulls it off in "Second Skin" when Sisko and co. get intercepted by a Cardassian patrol while posing as the crew of a civilian freighter. In order to avoid the ship being boarded and the crew identified as Starfleet, Garak contacts the Cardassian officer and pulls rank on him in an irritated tone backed with an [[StateSec Obsidian Order]] clearance code to make him go away and keep silent about the encounter. Subverted by the fact that said Cardassian [[OhCrap immediately checks]] if the code is valid and '''it is''', even though Garak [[ObfuscatingStupidity nonchalantly claims he overheard it while working as a tailor when Sisko questions him about it]]... but since this is [[ConsummateLiar Garak]] we're talking about, [[DoubleSubverted he was probably lying about that as well]].
** In "Paradise Lost", Sisko is investigating a conspiracy within Starfleet, and discovers that Red Squad is in some way connected. He gets the truth by pretending to be in on the conspiracy and grilling the head cadet on his "sloppy" work, causing the cadet to indignantly spell out the whole FalseFlagOperation as a matter of pride.
** Averted however in "Sons of Mogh". Worf and his brother Kurn try to bluster their way past a Klingon officer who's caught them breaking into the ship's computer. He appears to back down, then Kurn suddenly draws his weapon and shoots the officer. Turns out he was actually going to stab Worf with a hidden knife.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** In the fourth episode of ''Series/ObiWanKenobi'' [[spoiler:Imperial officer and anti-Imperial network member Tala Durith does this to bluff her way into the Fortress Inquisitorius when stopped by a Lieutenant manning a security checkpoint]].

** Inverted in some of the early episodes where the brothers are unsuccessful at this, usually because people question their covers and it falls apart. For instance, in "Bloody Mary":

** Played straight in "Hollywood Babylon", where Dean gets mistaken for a PA on a movie set and just goes with it. He originally does it just so he has unlimited access to check for EMF, but finds himself surprisingly good at it and enjoying it.
** In "Something Wicked", while passing as a CDC agent, Sam is initially worried that they will get caught because his most relevant ID identifies him as a "Bikini Inspector". The hospital receptionist pauses and directs them to their destination, at which point they go to the opposite floor.
** In "Sex and Violence", while posing as [=FBI=] agents, they run into an ''actual'' federal agent who starts questioning the validity of the brothers' identities and asks to talk to their superiors. Dean reluctantly hands him a number, the real agent calls it, and the audience assumes that their cover's blown...until we see that the number connects to Bobby, who poses as their boss (he has several phones, each listed as a high-ranking federal agent of various agencies), chews out the agent, and then turns around to finish making breakfast in his kitchen. Dean and Sam's skill at this trope is so ridiculous that it verges into RefugeInAudacity and CrazyPrepared at times. It worked both ways: The "real fed" was actually the MonsterOfTheWeek, and Sam and Dean bought his act. Bobby is quick to call them on how a simple check would have exposed him as a fake.

** The opening of the season-two episode "The Usual Suspects" contains a hilarious montage of some of their more brazen claims. And that's only in the first ''two'' seasons.
** The ploy broke down hilariously in the Season 8 episode "LARP and The Real Girl" where Sam and Dean attempt to infiltrate a group of people who were engaging in medieval role-play by impersonating FBI agents. Two players immediately called them out on it... because their [=IDs=] were out of date. They then assumed the brothers were members of an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT role-play group which met on a different day and told them what they wanted to know anyway. Later, when Dean ''really'' needs info, he admits he isn't a real agent... but he does have a real gun, so they better cooperate.

* In the season 12 episode "Blast From the Past" of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', Gibbs, of all people, has to go undercover as an IT consultant. When he's trying to gain access to a classified computer lab, the guard asks him what he's doing there. [=McGee=], who is coaching him via radio, tells Gibbs to give a technical answer loaded with geekspeak. Gibbs shrugs and tells the guard, "Not a clue. My boss e-mails me in the middle of the night, I shut up and show up." The guard smiles and waves him in; a moment later, Gibbs tells [=McGee=] he doesn't need to know computers: "I know ''people.''"

** They are ''shameless''. They once convinced a little girl that they were "teddy bear doctors" by showing her one of their many fake badges and waving it around so that she couldn't read it.

* On ''Series/TheXFiles'', Mulder has real authority as an FBI agent. This, however, is a civilian office and cuts no ice at military installations where he wants to poke around. To get into these, he puts on an air of authoritative condescension and psychs out whoever's on guard duty.

** In "[[Recap/LeverageS04E05TheHotPotatoJob The Hot Potato Job]]," Nate runs this on a security guard while Hardison explains it to a field-trip kid who's insinuated himself into the con. Nate pretends to be a pissed-off executive who chews out the guard, telling him to let the VIP who's about to come up into the secure vault, or else he's fired. As Hardison explains, the guard is now too stressed and afraid to pay enough attention to the VIP and her credentials to realize that this is just Parker with a stolen ID card.