History Main / HiddenWire

* In the Australian movie ''The Empty Beach'' (1985), for the climactic meeting with the villains, the police give a bug activated by a switch to PrivateDetective Cliff Hardy and tell him to hide it somewhere on his person. Anticipating the ObligatoryJoke, the cop says if Hardy [[AssShove shoves it up his arse]], he won't be able to flick the switch when needed.
* ''The Infiltrator'' (2016) starts with two criminals making a deal, when one of them suddenly doubles over in intense pain. Turns out he's an undercover FBI agent whose wire has just short-circuited and is burning his skin. Fortunately he has the presence of mind to convince his target it's a medical problem.

* ''Film/AtomicBond'' has a LingerieScene where Creator/CharlizeTheron is putting on a HiddenWire, which involves tucking a recorder [[StockingFiller into her stocking]], taping the wire to her body and attaching the microphone to her bra, in order to provide an excuse for a [[MaleGaze lingering fanservice shot]]. Though it does become significant later when she uses the tapes to create a RecordedSplicedConversation.

** In one episode, Monk has to wear a wire in his tie, but he ruins the transmission by trying to clean a stain off the tie.
** In another episode, Monk goes undercover as a reputed crime boss and speaks directly into his sleeve while describing every single detail in the boss' hotel room.
* Parodied in a ''Series/MrShow'' sketch, in which a rat leads a man to a hotel room for a drug deal, with a vast array of incredibly obvious bugs; the rat tells the perp to talk into a palm tree and takes his picture with a camera poorly hidden in an enormous sombrero. The perp is suspicious, but his fears are assuaged by a game of 'thumb-print TabletopGame/TicTacToe.' (Despite the evidence, the perp is acquitted on an episode of ''America's Dumbest Juries.'')

* On ''Series/TheWire'', two detectives buy an incredibly expensive wire, intending to use it and then return it. They plant it on a drug corner inside a tennis ball. [[spoiler:But the suspect, not knowing what it is, starts playing with the ball and eventually throws it into traffic, destroying the expensive equipment. They use the information anyway, crediting it to an informant named [[PunnyName Fuzzy Dunlop]].]]

* One episode of ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' had Mike putting a wire on Susan before she goes out to question Edie. The wire does not stay hidden from Edie.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': During Buckley's funeral, Mr. Strickland talks to Hank about the fire that got Buckley killed. When Hank reiterates his innocence, Strickland says he's glad Hank said so because the authorities forced him to wear a wire.

* A policeman told ''Series/AmericasDumbestCriminals'' of a drug bust where he was wearing two devices. The dealer insisted on searching him, found one of them and accused him of being a cop. He said it was a pacemaker. The dealer believed this, then found the other wire. The cop convinced him it was an insulin pump. The dealer said "Man, you shouldn't be doing drugs, you're ill!" Then sold him the drugs, and was arrested.

* On ''Series/TheWire'', two detectives buy an incredibly expensive wire, intending to use it and then return it. They plant it on a drug corner inside a tennis ball. [[spoiler:But the suspect, not knowing what it is, starts playing with the ball and eventually throws it into traffic, destroying the expensive equipment. They use the information anyway, crediting it to an informant named [[IncrediblyLamePun Fuzzy Dunlop]].]]

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Spooks}}'' Danny is sent into a meeting wearing a high quality hidden microphone that works exactly as designed. Unfortunately the other people are so paranoid they take the (perfectly ordinary) stud he's wearing in his ear for a wire.

* ''Series/TheBill''. A DirtyCop realises the criminal he's working with has turned informer and is recording their conversation. Suddenly he shouts, "Are you threatening me?", drops a knife into the criminal's hands and savagely beats him. Unfortunately he was being recorded on video as well as audio.

* ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'': In "They Serve Horses, Don't They?", Hugo shanghais Bob into helping him catch a guy illegally selling horse meat. Since Hugo doesn't have an actual wire, he has to hide a pink toy microphone under Bob's shirt and record it using a brightly-colored kid's tape recorder.

** In one story, Bart tries to tell on Homer to get out of his own legal troubles but Chief Wiggum refuses because he already has someone on Homer, who quickly guesses it's Lenny. Upset at being discovered, Lenny rips his wire.

-->'''Stewie:''' Oh for God's sake, there's only one way to put an end to this, ''HE'S WEARING A WIRE!''\\

* Parodied in a ''Series/MrShow'' sketch, in which a rat leads a man to a hotel room for a drug deal, with a vast array of incredibly obvious bugs; the rat tells the perp to talk into a palm tree and takes his picture with a camera poorly hidden in an enormous sombrero. The perp is suspicious, but his fears are assuaged by a game of 'thumb-print tic-tac-toe.' (Despite the evidence, the perp is acquitted on an episode of ''America's Dumbest Juries.'')

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'': Jet is trying to get some intel from an office and is told he cannot smoke in the office. He puts out the bugged cigarette in a potted plant. He later listens in on a conversation from the office.

* On ''Series/TheWire'', two detectives buy an incredibly expensive wire, intending to use it and then return it. They plant it on a drug corner inside a tennis ball. [[spoiler:But the suspect, not knowing what it is, starts playing with the ball and eventually throws it into traffic, destroying the expensive equipment]].
** [[spoiler:They use the information anyway, crediting it to an informant named [[IncrediblyLamePun Fuzzy Dunlop]].]]

* In "Stool Pigeon" by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, the title character is an ex-con who makes a deal with the FBI. In return for immunity from prosecution and help in setting up a new life, he visits his crooked friends, gets them reminisicing about the cons they pulled together, and records it all with a hidden wire.

-->'''CJ:''' Yo, Big Smoke! Hey, you wearing a hidden wire!?

* PlayedForLaughs in the ''WebVideo/JoueurDuGrenier'' special on ''VideoGame/GTASanAndreas'', where Big Smoke is wearing [[https://youtu.be/Bi6deqhF7lM?t=405 a gigantic microphone strapped to his chest.]]

* Averted in ''13'' where the protagonist is forced to strip so his clothes can be searched, and they even cut off his boot heels in case there's a TrackingDevice hidden in them. They're being ProperlyParanoid as the police are indeed trying to shut them down, though the protagonist is not working for them.

As a variant, a parabolic dish device operated by a technician at a distance is used to listen in on criminal conversations.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' where Stewie is kept awake by a gang of drug dealers in the motel room next door.

''[various sounds of gunfire and screams follow]''

* In ''Series/BabylonBerlin'', [[spoiler:Gereon manages to get Councilman Wendt to admit to his various crimes while wearing a microphone]]. Seeing how this takes place in ''1929'', the mic inside his vest has to be connected to a bulky transponder hidden in a suitcase underneath the bench, which is in turn connected to a ''squad van'' parked outside the venue, staffed by a small team of policemen overseeing the audio being recorded onto vynil.

See also EngineeredPublicConfession, IncrediblyObviousBug.

** Parodied in "Homer and Apu", where Homer wears a very small camera hidden in a ten-gallon hat to catch Apu selling spoiled food. In a subversion, it remains functional even after Homer throws it to the ground and stomps on it.