History AlienAbduction / LiveActionTV

* In ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Lois feels weird after coming home one day. A new neighbor, who is a trained hypnotist, helps her recover the memories, and she realizes that she was the subject of a typical alien abduction. When she confides in Clark, he expresses disbelief, even after she points out that he's an alien himself. However, it's eventually revealed that the memory was implanted by the episode's bad guy, who triggers a post-hypnotic suggestion in Lois several times in order to distract Superman, while the bad guy's people get away with some crime.

* Series/AliensInTheFamily: Cookie was abducting Doug when they fell in love. In one episode, Doug invites his business acquaintance Carl and his wife Holly over for dinner. Cookie recognizes Holly as a previous abduction victim.
* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': In ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}''/''Series/{{Arrow}}''/''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''/''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'' {{crossover}} ''[[Series/Invasion2016 Invasion]]'', the Dominators abduct Oliver, Sara, Ray, Thea, and John with teleporters and put them into a LotusEaterMachine, where they live completely different lives. The ''Queen's Gambit'' never sank, Oliver is about to marry Laurel (still alive), Sara and Thea never became assassins, Ray is still a CEO and is set to marry Felicity, and John is the Hood. However, they quickly start to see that something is wrong and eventually remember the truth and break out. They manage to steal an alien fighter and flee TheMothership. A swarm of fighters gives chase, but the ''Waverider'' appears for a GunshipRescue.
* ''Series/BabylonFive''
** Spoofed in the episode [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhC_KHkihKY "Grail"]], in which the great-grandson of a human abductee sues the great-grandson of his alien abductor for damages.
** They later did a reenactment of the torture scene from ''Fire in the Sky'' when a new race was scouting for easy invasion prospects.

** The Vorlons did abduct [[spoiler:Jack the Ripper]]. Presumably on the assumption that no-one would be eager to have him back.

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' episode "Consequences." A schizophrenic woman "captures" a badly injured paintball player, thinking he's an alien and that the green paint oozing all over his gear is his blood. She also has metal colanders hanging from her ceiling and offers them to Stella and Flack to wear so their thoughts won't be captured. Naturally, they decline.

** In "Beyond the Veil", Eddie Wexler checks himself into a psychiatric institution which caters to people who were, or at least think they were, abducted by aliens.
** In "Down to Earth", Dale [=LaRose=] claims to have been abducted by aliens but he later reveals that he made it up as he wanted the other members of the organizing committee of the North American UFO Convention to accept him. [[spoiler: However, it turns out that Dale is in fact Agent Paulson of the Tri-Fab Commission and that he either works with aliens or is one himself.]]
** {{Subverted|Trope}} in "The Awakening". Beth Carter believes that she was abducted by aliens but it turns out that Joan Garrison and Kevin Flynn were trying to [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslight]] her.
** In "Abduction", Cody Phillips, Jason, Ray, Brianna and Danielle are abducted by aliens.
** In "Dark Child", Laura Sinclair was abducted by aliens in 1984. Her friend Susan, whom Laura met during her voluntary stay at a psychiatric institution, also claims to have been abducted.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' did its own take of this in "Schisms", where the crew gradually realise that aliens from another dimension have been abducting and conducting sinister experiments on them, then wiping their memories and returning them to the ''Enterprise''. Unusually for ''Star Trek'', their actual purpose in doing so is never revealed.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' did have that one time that the crew of the ''Enterprise'' accidentally abducted a 20th century US Air Force pilot during some unintentional TimeTravel. Most of the rest of the episode's plot centered on trying to figure out what to do with him, having accidentally given him knowledge of the future.

* ''Series/ResidentAlien'': We learn that aliens do abduct people, and once even took an unborn baby from its mother's womb somehow. At a UFO conference numerous people talk about being abducted and other encounters with aliens. Given this, at least some of their accounts are probably true.

** Played with in episode "[[Recap/SupernaturalS06E09ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve Clap Your Hands If You Believe]]". A series of mysterious disappearances in a small town lead Sam and Dean to investigate. A group of UFO nuts are convinced that the abductions are alien in nature. Their theory seems to be confirmed when Dean is abducted (he escapes when he pulls a gun and just starts shooting everything, which, as he notes, he doesn't think anyone else had done), [[spoiler:only for the perpetrators to be ''fairies'', not aliens.]]
** Played with in an earlier episode, "[[Recap/SupernaturalS02E15TallTales Tall Tales]]". Sam and Dean are investigating a campus where a bunch of bizarre urban legends are coming true, amongst them an AlienAbduction. [[spoiler: It turns out to be a {{T|heTrickster}}rickster, a RealityWarper with a dark sense of humour.]]

** This happens a fair bit in the show. Mulder and Scully's first case together involves AlienAbduction, and later, [[spoiler:both of them were abducted (albeit at separate times) -- Scully in "Ascension" and Mulder in "Requiem"]].

* The Illacks in ''Series/TripForBiscuits'' pretty much do this as their modus operandi. [[spoiler:When Bajo finds this out about halfway through the series, it becomes a major plot point in regards to his parents' abductions.]]
* ''Series/{{UFO}}''. Aliens from a dying world abduct humans in order to harvest them for their organs.
* ''Series/TheXFiles''. Subverted in "[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E20JoseChungsFromOuterSpace Jose Chung's]] ''[[Recap/TheXFilesS03E20JoseChungsFromOuterSpace From Outer Space]]''" where the fake alien abductors got abducted by real aliens. [[RashomonStyle Prob]][[UnreliableNarrator ably.]]
** Of course this happened a fair bit in ''The X-Files''. Mulder and Scully's first case together involved AlienAbduction, and later [[spoiler: both of them were abducted, albeit at separate times - Scully in "Ascension" and Mulder in "Requiem"]].

* Subverted in the ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' episode "Consequences." A schizophrenic woman "captures" a badly injured paintball player, thinking he's an alien and that the green paint oozing all over his gear is his blood. She also has metal colanders hanging from her ceiling and offers them to Stella and Danny to wear so their thoughts won't be captured. Naturally, they decline.

* When Arnie was PutOnABus in ''Series/{{Roseanne}}'' (the original series), he left a note to Nancy claiming he was abducted by aliens. The end of the episode shows that was ''true''. When TheBusComesBack, he claims he wrote that because he got cold feet about marriage, but the end of ''that'' episode shows that not only was the abduction real, he was hoping to talk Nancy into coming with him to space.

* An alternate ending to the GrandFinale of ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' would have played this for laughs. After [[spoiler: Dick removes Mary's memories of him and the Solomons return to their home planet, Mary regains consciousness and gets into the now abandoned Rambler. Then Dick beams in naked, yells "Alien abduction!", and beams out with her.]]

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': In ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}''/''Series/{{Arrow}}''/''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''/''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'' {{crossover}} ''Series/[[Invasion2016 Invasion]]'', the Dominators abduct Oliver, Sara, Ray, Thea, and John with teleporters and put them into a LotusEaterMachine, where they live completely different lives. The ''Queen's Gambit'' never sank, Oliver is about to marry Laurel (still alive), Sara and Thea never became assassins, Ray is still a CEO and is set to marry Felicity, and John is the Hood. However, they quickly start to see that something is wrong and eventually remember the truth and break out. They manage to steal an alien fighter and flee TheMothership. A swarm of fighters gives chase, but the ''Waverider'' appears for a GunshipRescue.

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': In ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}''/''Series/{{Arrow}}''/''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''/''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'' {{crossover}} ''Series/{{Invasion}}'', the Dominators abduct Oliver, Sara, Ray, Thea, and John with teleporters and put them into a LotusEaterMachine, where they live completely different lives. The ''Queen's Gambit'' never sank, Oliver is about to marry Laurel (still alive), Sara and Thea never became assassins, Ray is still a CEO and is set to marry Felicity, and John is the Hood. However, they quickly start to see that something is wrong and eventually remember the truth and break out. They manage to steal an alien fighter and flee TheMothership. A swarm of fighters gives chase, but the ''Waverider'' appears for a GunshipRescue.

* One of Creator/PeterCook's last appearances was on ''Clive Anderson Talks Back'', playing four different characters. The first of these was a man who claimed to have been abducted by aliens, recounting the event in deadpan style. His experience, he said, made him realise how insignificant the aliens were.

* ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'': In ''Series/TheFlash2014''[=/=]''Series/{{Arrow}}''[=/=]''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow''[=/=]/''Series/{{Supergirl}}'' CrossoverEpisode, the Dominators abduct Oliver, Sara, Ray, Thea, and John with teleporters and put them into a LotusEaterMachine, where they live completely different lives. The ''Queen's Gambit'' never sank, Oliver is about to marry Laurel (still alive), Sara and Thea never became assassins, Ray is still a CEO and is set to marry Felicity, and John is the Hood. However, they quickly start to see that something is wrong and eventually remember the truth and break out. They manage to steal an alien fighter and flee TheMothership. A swarm of fighters gives chase, but the ''Waverider'' appears for a GunshipRescue.

** Of course this happened a fair bit in the X-Files. Mulder and Scully's first case together involved AlienAbduction, and later [[spoiler: both of them were abducted, albeit at separate times - Scully in "Ascension" and Mulder in "Requiem"]].

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "Beyond the Veil", Eddie Wexler checks himself into a psychiatric institution which caters to people who were, or at least think they were, abducted by aliens.
** In "Down to Earth", Dale [=LaRose=] claims to have been abducted by aliens but he later reveals that he made it up as he wanted the other members of the organizing committee of the North American UFO Convention to accept him. [[spoiler: However, it turns out that Dale is in fact Agent Paulson of the Tri-Fab Commission and that he either works with aliens or is one himself.]]
** {{Subverted|Trope}} in "The Awakening". Beth Carter believes that she was abducted by aliens but it turns out that Joan Garrison and Kevin Flynn were trying to [[{{Gaslighting}} gaslight]] her.
** In "Abduction", Cody Phillips, Jason, Ray, Brianna and Danielle are abducted by aliens.
** In "Dark Child", Laura Sinclair was abducted by aliens in 1984. Her friend Susan, whom Laura met during her voluntary stay at a psychiatric institution, also claims to have been abducted.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' did its own take of this in "Schisms", where the crew gradually realise that aliens from another dimension have been abducting and conducting sinister experiments on them, then wiping their memories and returning them to the ''Enterprise''. Unusually for ''Franchise/StarTrek'', their actual purpose in doing so is never revealed.
** There are at least a couple of inversions in the series - where the Enterprise beams up an unsuspecting local alien (at least one from a "bronze age" society). However, there was generally a lack of probing and prodding, but they do try to erase the alien's memories of the event.
*** To be fair, if you've already taken someone apart and put them back together again at a subatomic level then a rectal probe seems a bit blasé...
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' did have that one time that the crew of the ''Enterprise'' accidentally abducted a 20th century US Air Force pilot during some unintentional TimeTravel. Most of the rest of the episode's plot centered on trying to figure out what to do with him, having accidentally given him knowledge of the future.