Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,561
edits
Obfuscating Stupidity/Live-Action TV: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
(update links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by 3 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
Examples of [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}]] in [[{{SUBPAGENAME}}]] include:
* Lt. [[Columbo]], famously. Maybe the single most well-developed example ever on television.
* ''[[The Beverly Hillbillies]]'': Jed Clampett, in particular the first seasons, despite his stereotypical "hayseed" appearance and mannerisms, clearly is a lot smarter than he lets on.
Line 29 ⟶ 31:
*** And in "The Message," he shows forethought and a slight philosophic interest.
{{quote|'''Jayne''': [to Sheppard Book] "Me, I see a stiff, one I didn't have to kill myself, I just get the urge to, ya know, do stuff. Work out, run around, maybe get some trim, if there's a willin' woman about...My kinda life don't last long preacher. I 'spect I'm invested in makin' good sport of it while I can."}}
*** Its even shown briefly in the Serenity movie; in the final battle scene when everybody is dragging out some nearby crates to form a barricade against the Reavers, Jayne is the ''only'' person to remember to actually look ''in'' the crates first to make sure that they don't contain anything explosive or hazardous.
** Mal exhibits this to some extent also, though it's an in-universe trait; the viewers know he's more intelligent than he lets on. Mal and Jayne reveal more in the episode where {{spoiler|Malcom figures out that it was Jayne that sold them out to the Alliance during a heist. Jayne then shows a much deeper personal side when he asks Mal that if he's gonna kill him for betraying the crew, please don't tell anyone that's why he died; he'd rather they remembered him as the abrasive idiot than as a traitor.}}
*** Lampshaded when Mal corrects The Operatives's reference to "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", then mocking Inara's disbelief.
Line 116 ⟶ 119:
* In the ''[[West Wing]]'' episode "Running Mates," Leo McGarry deliberately flubs his prep session for the vice-presidential debate, then leaks the story anonymously to various news sources. His opponent spends the run-up to the debate convinced he'll win - until Leo proceeds to kick him all around the debate floor and then use him as a rag to mop up the resulting mess.
* In ''[[Sherlock]]'', Molly's dumb, [[Camp Gay]] boyfriend "Jim from IT" is revealed to be {{spoiler|''James'' Moriarty, the INTELLIGENT [[Camp Gay]] criminal mastermind}}.
* A subversion occurred in the [[VH-1]] Reality show, ''I Love Money 2'' where a contestant simply referred to as "It" floated into the final episode because he was likable, physically nonthreatening despite his size and just one more vote for the main alliance. Channelling Johnny Fairplay of ''[[Survivor]]'' fame's "Dead Grandma" ploy, claiming he had a sick/dying grandfather won him the sympathy to reach the Final 3 where he [[Oh Crap|revealed it was a lie, he doesn't need glasses]] and dropping his [[Uncle Tomfoolery]] speech pattern, making it seem like he really ''would'' become the show's winner...only to [[What an Idiot!|get lost, lazily reach a challenge the other two contestants were almost finishing then not even bothering to finish and simply ordering food]] and to cap the [[Humiliation Conga]], he dropped his plate on the ground.
* Speaking of ''[[Survivor]]'', Nicaragua sees Jud Birza, better known as "Fabio", would use this as his strategy the whole time. {{spoiler|Not only does he wind up in the top 3, he wins the whole thing.}}
** There's a bit more to be said about this; almost the whole game, Fabio had been playing the male dumb blonde stereotype. At a certain point in the game, when there were 6 people left, there is a four person alliance (Sash, Chase and Holly) against a three person "alliance" (Fabio and Dan and Jane, who weren't in an alliance, but didn't have much to go on). In an incredibly subtle and clever move after winning immunity, Fabio put an idea in the heads of Sash and Chase that Jane was a bigger threat than Dan, their original planned target, and they took the bait. Fabio then proceeded to slink back into the shadows as Sash and Chase made the idea entirely their own and Jane found out about it. By this point, they had completely forgotten that the idea was Fabio's. Cut to Jane putting out the fire angrily before tribal council... and Fabio grinning maniacally when nobody could see him.
Line 145 ⟶ 148:
* On ''[[White Collar]]'', Peter does this from time to time. For example, in "All In" he deliberately plays the bumbling agent, lets a bunch Mei Lin's co-workers appear to confound him by speaking only Chinese at him, and then walks away -- and reveals to Neal and Lauren that he was recording the whole thing for later translation.
{{tropesubpagefooter}}
| |||