# Origin of: "She's a \_\_\_; he's a \_\_\_. They're detectives!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 14, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657 "2011-03-14T15:30:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/1 "2011-03-14T15:30:00Z")
“He’s a chimp; she’s a gimp. They’re detectives!” (Or “They fight crime!,” according to the TV Tropes site.) I know this one was popularized by Mystery Science Theater, but I have this vague feeling that this form was actually used in promoting some '70s TV show. Can any real-world non-post-ironic examples be pinned down? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/2 "2011-03-14T15:44:59Z")
[This is close](http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sEUtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qJ8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3128,3571322&dq=she's+he's+together+they+abc&hl=en%5B/url) 1973: > [@](#): > > Burns is the thin one. Schreiber the round one. . . Together, they form one of the most distinctive comedy teams in years. I doubt that that is the first occurrence of that type of phrasing, though. But, we’ve at least set a benchmark. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/3 "2011-03-14T15:50:46Z")
That’s a good one. But only the first half works. I’m interested in something more succinct, like “they’re \_\_\_!” or “they \_\_\_ \_\_\_!” ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/4 "2011-03-14T18:36:26Z")
How about the intro to Hart to Hart: “This is my boss, Joanthan Hart, a self-made millionaire, he’s quite a guy. This is Mrs H., she’s gorgeous, she’s one lady who knows how to take care of herself. By the way my name is Max. I take care of both of them, which ain’t easy cause when they met it was murder” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/5 "2011-03-14T18:45:33Z")
Still not sufficiently pithy. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/6 "2011-03-15T06:06:06Z")
I think this is a little closer: She’s a girl from the big city. He’s a reckless soldier of fortune. For a fabulous treasure, they share an adventure no one could imagine… or survive. - Romancing the Stone ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/7 "2011-03-15T14:26:16Z")
“One black. One white. One blond.” [The Mod Squad](http://www.chezgrae.com/modsquad/tvguide72-3Jul.pdf). ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/8 "2011-03-15T14:55:36Z")
It’s not clear to me whether that tagline is something from that TV Guide article or something you made up yourself. I’m looking for evidence of actual usage, not just clever descriptions of things that we can come up with ourselves. That’s why I’ve written off the TV Tropes page on this topic as useless. And also your quote is missing the second, critical part. What is it that they do when they get together? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/9 "2011-03-15T16:34:28Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > It’s not clear to me whether that tagline is something from that TV Guide article or something you made up yourself. I’m looking for evidence of actual usage, not just clever descriptions of things that we can come up with ourselves. That’s why I’ve written off the TV Tropes page on this topic as useless. > > And also your quote is missing the second, critical part. What is it that they do when they get together? Note that the TV Guide article put the line in quotes, suggesting that the author sourced it. And here’s a [reasonably authoritative cite](http://books.google.com/books?id=28cMReggGGEC&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=%22one+black.+one+white.+one+blonde%22&source=bl&ots=e8skk5MXcK&sig=diD3R5FZhCAuW_O6WwmjLh-SqCk&hl=en&ei=zpB_TbalA8Th0gGb8Y3sCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22one%20black.%20one%20white.%20one%20blonde%22&f=false)that says it was the network’s tagline. If you’re looking for a 40 year-old newspaper ad or video with the exact phrase, I can’t help you. But if you want a “real-world non-post-ironic example” of the trope, I think it fits. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/10 "2011-03-15T16:37:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Note that the TV Guide article put the line in quotes, suggesting that the author sourced it. And here’s a [reasonably authoritative cite](http://books.google.com/books?id=28cMReggGGEC&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=%22one+black.+one+white.+one+blonde%22&source=bl&ots=e8skk5MXcK&sig=diD3R5FZhCAuW_O6WwmjLh-SqCk&hl=en&ei=zpB_TbalA8Th0gGb8Y3sCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CFkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22one%20black.%20one%20white.%20one%20blonde%22&f=false)that says it was the network’s tagline. Yes, that was in the old TV commercials. I remember being bugged by the implication that the blonde wasn’t white. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/11 "2011-03-15T19:52:35Z")
As soon as I read the OP, I said _ **"One black. One white. One blond."** _ Did it ever end with “_ **All cops.** _” – or did I add that in my young brain, thinking that it really _should_ be there? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/12 "2011-03-16T02:58:04Z")
Will [The Avengers](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjyjDRN9kr8)do you? Or the [Space Sentinels](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DKQWecvwjE)? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/13 "2011-03-16T03:21:49Z")
Nope. I’m looking for a match in this exact form – “He/she is a \_\_\_\_\_. He/she is a \_\_\_\_. They/They’re \_\_\_\_\_.” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/14 "2011-03-16T03:27:11Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Yes, that was in the old TV commercials. I remember being bugged by the implication that the blonde wasn’t white. Interestingly, although she’s the most whitebread waspy looking of the trio both her maternal and paternal grandparents were Eastern European Jews. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/15 "2011-03-16T03:52:22Z")
Possibly the origin of the meme, a sketch from Kentucky Fried Movie (1977) [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJcgjO-TAKY) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-shes-a-___-hes-a-___-theyre-detectives/574657/16 "2011-03-16T04:01:42Z")
That’s a hilarious sketch. Boy, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that movie. But it’s still missing the kicker, isn’t it?