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When the Fair Cop (preferably a female one) is forced to Clean Up Nicely and pretend to be a model, beauty pageant contestant, stripper or other hot-chick-related job in order to investigate a crime. The lady is usually Hollywood Homely and doesn't think she's attractive at all until after the Makeover Montage.
For a similarly flimsy excuse to include something using this plot, see Xtreme Sport Xcuse Plot.
Examples of Undercover Model include:
Comic Books[]
- One issue of G.I. Joe special Missions had Scarlett, Lady Jaye, Cover Girl and Jinx undercover as dancers on a parade float.
Film[]
- This is the entire premise of Miss Congeniality.
Literature[]
- Subverted in the Discworld novels: The needs-an-official-document-to-prove-he's-human "Nobby" Nobbs and the gorgeous blonde Sgt. Angua von Uberwald perform an undercover "sting" operation requiring one of them to dress up as a "seamstress" (Discworld euphemism for "prostitute"). Guess which one.
Live Action TV[]
- Happens to Myka on Warehouse 13. Sparks a discussion of Hollywood Pudgy (the writers think it's ridiculous).
- Diane pulls this off in White Collar.
- Kate Beckett does this impromptu-ly around Russian mobsters in Castle.
- More specifically: she ditches all clothing bar (bright red) underwear and a trench coat.
- A rare male case occurs in Psych when Shawn and Gus claim to be male models. Both played straight with Gus and subverted when nobody believes Shawn is a model, forcing him to claim to be a hand (and foot!) model.
- Diana Prince, in the Wonder Woman TV series, went undercover as a beauty pageant contestant. (Steve didn't think she was pretty enough to pull it off. Because Steve is an idiot.)
- This happened on an episode of New York Undercover--in this case they were male models. (In another episode they were drag queens.)
- Every other episode of Charlie's Angels.
- On the Married... with Children episode where Bud makes an exercise video, 3 lady cops (coincidentally named after Charlie's Angels) play background dancers in order to take down the mob boss who financed the video. They also arrest Bud for perving on them.
- One episode of Criminal Intent has this in the form of Detective Stevens pretending to want to work for an escort service.
Web Comics[]
- Inadvertently happens to Ki in General Protection Fault during the Nerdvana arc. Ki doesn't try to pass herself off as a supermodel, but is mistaken for one anyway (partially due to the supermodel's thinking all nerds are men).