History ObfuscatingStupidity / LiveActionTV

* Used on ''Series/WhoseLineIsItAnyway'' when Wayne Brady provides an example for "Things George W. Bush does in the Oval Office when no one's around":
-->"I grow weary of this charade. How I long to be me! Dickens...the encyclopedia...the tomes I have loved all my life--"\\

"Uh, yeah?"

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS6E3 Painted in Blood]]", Barnaby abuses Noland and Backney's attitude that he and Troy are 'flat-footed country coppers' by acting as though the missing money is way out of their league to lull them into a false sense of security, before asking for some authorization from DI Gudgeon before they remove the money to draw Gudgeon out into the open.

** As a topper, when Lothor returns in "Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder", he attacks the Wind Academy where Marah and Kapri are now training and captures all the other ninjas. The two are able to talk their uncle into taking them back, claiming they can be tough now that they're (semi) ninja trained. Lothor agrees, although warning them that one screw-up and they're done. The two go back into their old ditz routine so well that Lothor is annoyed and ignores them... allowing them to rescue Sensei Kanoi right under their uncle's nose.

** As a topper, when Lothor returns in "Series/{{DinoThunder}}", he attacks the Wind Academy where Marah and Kapri are now training and captures all the other ninjas. The two are able to talk their uncle into taking them back, claiming they can be tough now that they're (semi) ninja trained. Lothor agrees, although warning them that one screw-up and they're done. The two go back into their old ditz routine so well that Lothor is annoyed and ignores them... allowing them to rescue Sensei Kanoi right under their uncle's nose.

* During his early TV career, British presenter Creator/LouisTheroux ruthlessly exploited a put-on faux-naif persona to lull his subjects into a false sense of security. He also intentionally played stupid until he annoys his subjects to spell out their views, which has been couched beforehand in elaborate euphemisms and doublespeak, in offensively plain language. This was a surprisingly effective interview technique, though it seems that people eventually caught on, and he doesn't do it much now.
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* During the 2015 Christmas Special of ''Series/EightOutOfTenCats'', Jimmy Carr asked Sean Lock and Jon Richardson to play a game of "Carrot in a Box".[[note]]A closed box is given to each contestant; one has a carrot in it, the other does not. One contestant peeks in his box, to see if there's a carrot in it, and then the other contestant must observe his reaction and decide which of the two boxes to keep for himself. Whoever ends up with the carrot wins.[[/note]] As Jimmy tries to explain the rules, [[spoiler: Sean does nothing but complain what a stupid idea it is, and seems to be missing the point of the game altogether. When instructed to peek into his box, he even reaches right in to grab the carrot, and then asks to keep his box because "there's a carrot in it". Jimmy chides him for screwing up the game and explains the rules to Sean once again (while everyone in the studio is crying with laughter at how badly the game is going), but Sean keeps arguing that he doesn't want to give up his box. Jon is finally given the choice of which box to take, and obviously picks the one Sean had just proclaimed as having a carrot in it.]] He then opens the box... [[spoiler:only to find it empty.]]

** Tracy himself. His [[Main/ManChild ManChild]] antics are a cover.

* ''Series/AgentCarter''. Peggy Carter 'accidentally' reveals that Director Dooley is lying about not having the missing car report that Jarvis filed, to stop him cracking and confessing all. This is PlayedForDrama because she's been trying to prove her worth, only to end up reinforcing Dooley's belief that a woman can't make a good SSR agent. Peggy's EvilCounterpart in the Black Widow program plays the trope straight by acting TheDitz.

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': At a shooting range, Castle first appears to be a terrible shot. Until Beckett promises to give him the files he wants, if he's able to hit the ten ring. He sinks the next three bullets exactly there.

'''Dalek:''' [[TheComicallySerious DALEKS DO NOT STORE STUFF.]]\\

'''Dalek:''' DESIST! DO NOT APPROACH!\\

'''Dalek:''' DALEKS DO NOT HAVE MANAGERS.\\

'''Dalek:''' ARTRON ENERGY PARTICLES DETECTED! YOU ARE A FRIEND OF THE DOCTOR! ANALYSIS CONCLUDES THIS IS A DELAYING TACTIC!

--->'''Jenny''': He didn't just make himself human — he made himself an idiot.\\
'''Baines''': Same thing, isn't it?

** The Pakleds in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode ''Samaritan Snare'' are to all indications genuinely some of the most stupid aliens featured in ''Star Trek'', but they ''are'' capable of playing it up even more in some areas to appear more harmless than they actually are and manipulate others into doing what they want.

** In ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'''s "In a Mirror Darkly", Mirror Hoshi pulls it on both the characters and the audience. She seems like nothing more than a willing consort for whoever her captain is at the moment,but then at the end she [[spoiler:poisons Mirror Archer and declares herself Empress of the Terrans.]]

** This also works for Bernardo, who is Zorro's servant. Bernardo is a mute, but he pretends to be Deaf, Dumb, Mute. This works greatly as it allows Bernardo to eavesdrop and gather information people would never let slip around someone who could hear.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order.

** The Doctor, particularly in his second and fourth incarnations, often used to play the fool to lull his enemies into a false sense of security ("Would you care for a jelly baby?"). (He also, often, played the fool because he simply felt like it, believing "there's no point being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes".) Later on, in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood "The Family of Blood"]], whilst pretending to be still human his blundering nervousness lulls the Family into such a state of arrogant superiority that they don't notice that the buttons he's "accidentally" pushing will destroy their ship until it's much, much too late.

** Sam basically embodies this completely. The initial impression one gets of him is a slightly overweight womanizer who chugs beers and has about as much insight as a sixth grader. While the first part is still completely true, one learns over the course of the series that he's a former Navy SEAL, has numerous contacts across multiple government agencies, and can be just as manipulative and technologically proficient as Michael or Fi.