History AndIMustScream / LiveActionTV

* The very first episode (excluding the PoorlyDisguisedPilot) of ''CSINewYork'' involved the phenomenon of "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-In_syndrome Locked-In Syndrome]]." "Locked In Syndrome" was also used in episodes of both ''{{Scrubs}}'' and ''{{House}}'' (See Real Life Examples.)

* ''{{Torchwood}}'': In the season 2 finale, Jack Harkness is buried alive under Cardiff, constantly suffocating, reviving (painfully), and dying again... for 1874 years. He was buried in 27 AD then dug up in 1901, then cryogenically frozen (yes, in 1901, Torchwood could do that then) to bring him back to the present, paradox free.

** Attempted by the government villains in part 2 of ''Children of Earth'', as they try to contain Jack by [[spoiler:''encasing him in concrete''. Fortunately, he gets rescued by Gwen, Rhys and Ianto pretty quickly.]]

** Jonah, from the episode ''Adrift'', is a literal representation of this trope. [[spoiler: Among other things that left him disfigured, he returns home 40 years older and insane (because he looked at a Dark Star). Now he screams. For. Twenty. Hours. A. Day.]]
** Owen Harper's personal story arc in Torchwood, Season 2: [[spoiler:The worst part wasn't when he died, or when he was revived as a deathless, sentient zombie when Jack used one of the alien Resurrection Gloves on Owen. Or even when Owen discovered that his body, while immortal, was no longer able to digest food or heal injuries naturally, making him rather fragile. No, the worst came in ''Exit Wounds'', when Owen was trapped in the control room of the Turnmill Nuclear Power Plant and faced the decision to vent the radioactive steam from the overheating core through the room he was in, in a HeroicSacrifice to save the plant from going into meltdown. As he told Tosh over radio, the fact that this body was already dead meant that he wouldn't die quickly from the massive dose of radioactivity but instead would be trapped inside his body while it was slowly being consumed by the radioactive waste shredding his cells. He shut off the radio before he vented the system as to spare Tosh having to listen to his screams... assuming he was still able to scream, that is.]]

** Downplayed in the sixth season finale, when [[spoiler: Sam actually volunteers to trap Satan by allowing himself to be possessed by Satan and then jumping into an inescapable cage at the bottom of Hell. Because being locked up for all eternity with a very pissed-off fallen angel who has nothing to do but take out his frustration on Sam]] was the only way they could think of to prevent a global apocalypse.

* In ''StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Skin of Evil", the creature called Armus fits the trope. The result of an alien race's attempt to transcend evil, Armus is a self-loathing creature with no redeemable qualities, filled with emptiness, and living on a dead planet with no way off or any company. ''Totally'' sucks to be him.
** Although it's hard to feel pity for a literal pool of evil who kills for fun and really does have no redeeming qualities. The only thing one can feel pity for is that Armus had no choice in the matter of his creation.
*** Well, it ''did'' kill off [[TheScrappy Tasha Yar]]...
** Picard even rubs this in, making a speech to Armus where he informs him that he's arranged to have Armus trapped on his empty planet forever, "alone and immortal."

*** One wonders what happened to him when the Enterprise-D was destroyed in StarTrekGenerations.
* In ''{{Supernatural}},'' Sam and Dean bury Doc Benton (who's immortal) alive, chained up in a refrigerator. Another thing to consider: although he can't die, his body parts wear out, so eventually he'll rot away into a sentient and forever conscious pile of dirt.
** The episode "The Rapture", in a slight subversion, has the good guys bestow this kind of fate upon another good person. [[spoiler:Jimmy, the vessel for angel Castiel, begs Castiel to [[TakeMeInstead possess him to save his daughter from having a similar fate]].]] The whole episode pretty much was a PlayerPunch for the audience.
*** It's essentially the fate for every human possessed by an angel or demon. Even the "good guy" angels like Castiel, Anna and Gabriel have been pulling this stunt for countless millennia.

** Slightly subverted in the sixth season finale, when [[spoiler: Sam actually volunteers to trap Satan by allowing himself to be possessed by Satan and then jumping into an inescapable cage at the bottom of Hell. Because being locked up for all eternity with a very pissed-off fallen angel who has nothing to do but take out his frustration on Sam]] was the only way they could think of to prevent a global apocalypse.

* ''{{House}}'' had an episode featuring a patient with Locked-In Syndrome. Most of the episode was shown [[POVCam from his perspective.]]

** If I remember right, there was also an episode where a pair of immortals were doing a Bonnie and Clyde routine for kicks and/or money, with Duncan as their helper. Their M.O. was to rob banks until they were killed in the inevitable shootouts, then Duncan would dig them out of their graves to do it all over again. This worked fine for them until Duncan got fed up with their JerkAss ways, and ''[[WhatTheHellHero left them in their graves]]'' the next time they died.

** Also, Hell. You're basically tortured, daily, in unimaginable ways, for decades on end, unless you agree to do the same to others. [[spoiler:Main character Dean is able to hold out for thirty years before giving in.]]
*** Although [[spoiler: his dad, John, held out for one hundred years, and never gave any sign of giving in]]. "Stuff legends are made of," indeed. [[spoiler:John ''might'' have had the benefit of knowing the purpose of his incarceration. Once he or Dean were to give in, the first seal is broken on Lucifer being able to walk free.]]

** A third was entombed for a hundred and fifty years.

* ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': There are a few examples. A monster called Pineoctopus (who could disguise himself as a [[MonsterClown clown]]) had the ability turn people into cardboard cutouts, the Rangers were turned into pachinko balls on one occasion and bricks on another...

* This troper took this to be what someone who uses "The Phoenix" artifact(Which is designed to prevent death, especially fire- or explosion-related death) has for the couple second when he/she is "dead". His reasoning is what [[spoiler: MacPherson]] says [[spoiler: before he dies: He wanted Artie to see "what he saw"; chaos, destruction, pain.]]

He throws the mother into the orbit of an event horizon of a black hole, to be trapped there forever. He wrapped the father in unbreakable chains. He trapped the sister in a mirror-- every mirror in existence. And he suspended the son in time, covering his face with a sack and sticking him upright as a scarecrow to watch over the fields of England.

* Season 5 episode "Déjà Vu" from the 1995 version of ''{{The Outer Limits}}'' deals with a failed teleportation experiment that traps the main character in a shrinking time loop. While he manages to break free in the end, the antagonist isn't as lucky. He gets caught in another time loop that forces him to relive the last few seconds preceding a nuclear explosion at point blank range, most likely for all eternity.

* ''Series/NightVisions'', a short-lived "Twilight Zone"-type series hosted by HenryRollins, had one particular half-episode called "Switch." In it, a woman seeing a psychiatrist to find her alternate personality and eliminate it found that [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie she WAS the alternate]], created by her child-like real self after her parents died when she was five. The real twist? [[spoiler: She murdered them.]] The episode ended with this woman - trapped in her mind, unable to speak, and unable to move - totally encased in eight big hollow bricks that spelled out "ETERNITY," with holes only for her forearms.

* As with the ''{{Animorphs}}'' and ''[[Literature/TheHost The Host]]'' examples, being possessed by a Goa'uld in ''{{Stargate SG1}}'' leaves the victim fully aware but with no control whatsoever over their body. What makes this particular case [[ItGotWorse even worse]] is that the host can be kept alive in this state for ''thousands'' of years.
** Not to mention, Goa'uld are sadistic. They like to torture their hosts, both by causing pain in the central nervous system, and also by forcing them to watch as their loved ones die by their own hands. And this can continue for thousands of years. Or at least until the host gives up.
** And just when you think it's over, and your host is allowed to finally die, [[spoiler:as in the case of Apophis' host]], into the sarcophagus you go, and good as new! ...Physically, at least.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Five Doctors", anyone who claims Rassilon's Gift is granted true immortality, as an unmoving (but still aware) stone carving on Rassilon's tomb.
** The story "Mawdryn Undead" features a group of scientists who attempted to steal the secret of regeneration from the Time Lords. Caught by the Time Lords, the scientists were condemned to perpetual regeneration while also being trapped on a ship that is almost completely isolated from the universe.

** In the new series, ''the Doctor'' did this in a different way to each member of the Family of Blood in the episode of the same name. (Moral of the story: never, ever piss off the Doctor.)\\
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** The Carrionites from "The Shakespeare Code" are trapped in their crystal ball. "The Unicorn and the Wasp", a year later, has him taking the ball out as part of a RummageFail scene, and they can still be heard inside, shouting.

** As far as the Doctor is concerned, just ''being'' a Dalek falls under this trope, although they can (and do) scream. "From birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage, completely alone..."
** In "The Pandorica Opens", the Doctor is contained inside a super-prison built exactly to his specifications, unable to move at all and preserved for eternity. He's even screaming as it closes- this trope to a T.

* In the series finale of ''{{Alias}}'', BigBad [[spoiler: Sloane finds the underground tomb of Rambaldi and uses his secret elixir to become immortal and invulnerable. Jack Bristow then proceeds to blow up the cave they're in, causing it to collapse on Sloane and leaving him to spend eternity buried under literal tons of rock, unable to move, all alone in the darkness, with only the stench of Jack's rotting corpse for company, while the rest of the world thinks he's dead.]]

* Misfits - Season 2, episode 6. [[spoiler: Nathan]]

* In ''StargateSG-1,'' hosts to the Goa'uld are subjected to being stuck within their own bodies unable to communicate or control themselves.

* ''NightVisions'', a short-lived "Twilight Zone"-type series hosted by HenryRollins, had one particular half-episode called "Switch." In it, a woman seeing a psychiatrist to find her alternate personality and eliminate it found that [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie she WAS the alternate]], created by her child-like real self after her parents died when she was five. The real twist? [[spoiler: She murdered them.]] The episode ended with this woman - trapped in her mind, unable to speak, and unable to move - totally encased in eight big hollow bricks that spelled out "ETERNITY," with holes only for her forearms.

* In the Canadian tv show TheCollector, a woman tries to evade death and eternal damnation by placing her mind into the body of a robot. The transfer was a success. The only problem is there is a malfunction, causing the robot to be stuck in place. She can see and think, but is stuck forever. The devil notes that she is the first client to create her own personal hell. In admiration he decides to keep her running for the next millenia, but seals off the door so no one can ever find her. It ends with showing her robot body endlessly chanting "I will move now. I will move now. I will move now"

* In the Canadian tv show TheCollector, a woman tries to evade death and eternal damnation by placing her mind into the body of a robot. The transfer was a success. The only problem is there is a malfunction, causing the robot to be stuck in place. She can see and think, but is stuck forever. The devil notes that she is the first client to create her own personal hell. In admiration he decides to keep her running for the next millenia, but seals off the door so no one can ever find her. It ends with showing her robot body endlessly chanting "I will get up now. I will get up now. I will get up now."

* Subverted in ''{{Farscape}}'': the crew stops on a planet where the newly-declared Empress and Regent are customarily turned into [[TakenForGranite living statues]] for the eighty years it takes for the current rulers to die. However, rather than being viewed as a punishment that drives them insane, it's a duty that makes them wiser by allowing them to observe royal court proceedings; also, people can talk with the couple via a psychic headset, which no doubt helps lessen the monotony somewhat.

** [[spoiler:Ellis Hartley Monroe]]'s fate at the end of episode four of 'Miracle Day' is merely the most extreme example of the trope in this season of Torchwood - see also the 'survivor' of the explosion in the first episode...