History TrainingFromHell / LiveActionTV

** ''Series/UltraFightOrb'' has Ultraman Orb endure ten years of training from Seven and Zero within Zero's [[YearInsideHourOutside Shining Emerium Field]] in order to master the Emerium Slugger form.

* ''Series/{{UFO}}'': Not an example of training, but more the Psychological Assessment From Hell -- after witnessing a FlyingSaucer incident Paul Foster is subject to numerous forms of intimidation from SHADO operatives. It later turns out that they were evaluating him for recruitment into their organisation.

* Deconstructed in ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy'', where the Hargreeves siblings were trained as children to be superheroes by their abusive and neglectful adoptive father, Reginald. They were often blamed for anything that went wrong on missions, even for [[spoiler:the death of Ben]], resulting in the siblings growing up to be maladjusted adults. Klaus in particular received some of the worst treatment to develop his powers to commune with the dead, with Reginald locking him in a crypt for hours when he was a young child, which only served to traumatize Klaus and leading him to become an addict to cope and suppress his powers.

** Subverted with [[spoiler: Laurel Lance, who decides to take over her sister's role as superhero after her death. She notably lacks the TrainingFromHell the other three go through, just learning boxing and then training with Nyssa who is heir to the League buts lets her stop for milkshakes when she wants. Consequently Laurel's way below the standard of the others.]] Effective way of showing why TrainingFromHell is necessary on a superhero show.

* ''Series/ExtremeWeightLoss'': In this reality TV series, the personal trainer subjects all applicants he is interested in to a much shortened version of this, causing 95% of applicants to drop out. He wants to only train the people who are motivated enough to do the strict weight loss regimen, including diet and a LOT of exercise, for a year. And that means pushing people past their limits, which is what he does in the brief TrainingFromHell.

* ''Series/UltramanLeo'': Dan Moroboshi puts Gen Otori throught this to make him learn new techniques and defend the Earth better.
** Series/UltramanLeo then turns this around and gives Series/UltramanMebius training from hell in his respective series to help him grow as an Ultra.

** Sara Lance [[spoiler: also went through a similar thing, as viewers learn once it is revealed she is still alive - the island combined with The League of Assassins trained her.]]
** Thea Queen [[spoiler: between Season 2 and 3 went through 6 months of the same League of Assassins training which included things like having her hands burned repeatedly to learn to endure pain.]]

* In ''Series/CobraKai'', [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 Johnny Lawrence]] (the revived Cobra Kai's sensei) puts his students through a vicious training regimen, including having to walk across a narrow beam with broken glass under it, escape from vicious junkyard dogs (unnerving even [[TheBerserker Hawk]]), and having to work together to turn a cement mixer from the inside. This contrasts him with Miyagi's (and later Daniel's) WaxOnWaxOff method - while Johnny is strict and demanding, he's consistently honest about why he's having them do these exercises.

* ''Series/{{House}}'': Plays this straight at the beginning of Season four where several applicants are subjected to various (often cruel, degrading, or downright ridiculous) tasks in order to seize one spot in House's diagnostic team. Moreover, House arguably does this all the time with the members of his team -- training and pushing them constantly, to be their best at all times. Basically, he teaches them how to be a doctor -- only, he teaches them how to be a doctor ''like him''. Deciding if this is a good or a bad thing is up to the viewer; Cuddy most certainly doesn't like it. (The team members' reactions vary.)

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Lana Lang goes through this between her departure in season seven and return in season eight.

* ''Series/SurvivingTheCut'': This Discovery Channel show about real-life special forces training. The most harrowing lesson (in season two's Special Operations Aircraft Rescue episode) wasn't about killing people or overcoming stress but the consequences of losing track of your teammates: The two "captured" men had to stand in front of the unit's MIA-POW monument while the rest of the squad dictated condolence letters to their parents, then lay in a "plank" position to think about how their buddies lives were over.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': For the Unsullied, castration at the age of five is just the beginning. Relentless physical training and infanticide follow. RealityEnsues as only one in four survives to become Unsullied.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': For the Unsullied, castration at the age of five is just the beginning. Relentless physical training and infanticide follow. RealityEnsues as only one in four survives to become Unsullied.
* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'': Two third season episodes see Majors Nelson and Healey fall under the control of tough (and insane) officers who run them through unbelievably tough exercises.

* ''Series/{{Teen Wolf}}'': Allison is put through this by her father (Chris Argent) and to some degree, her aunt. Both threatened to kill her boyfriend in front of her, leading poor Allison to hysterics, and her father left her tied up and alone to struggle out and untie herself as part of her training, too. When her mother ends up dead (having killed herself because she'd been bitten and she'd rather be dead than turn into a werewolf), Allison is hysterical and asks if this is just another one of her father's sick training exercises. It's not, but the fact that she thought it might be speaks volumes about what kind of off-screen "training" she may have had to endure. And on this show, it's definitely played straight, and she's a master archer and hunter in every way now.

* ''Surviving The Cut'': This Discovery Channel show about real-life special forces training. The most harrowing lesson (in season two's Special Operations Aircraft Rescue episode) wasn't about killing people or overcoming stress but the consequences of losing track of your teammates: The two "captured" men had to stand in front of the unit's MIA-POW monument while the rest of the squad dictated condolence letters to their parents, then lay in a "plank" position to think about how their buddies lives were over.

* To be effective as ''Series/{{The Cape}}'' Vince Faraday is put through intense training by fairly ruthless circus performers, the physical part described as "to the very limits of the human body". Later, after barely surviving being poisoned by an enemy's blade, he sets this up for himself, building up his body's immunity to many toxins and training to catch a thrown knife, by sticking sharp metal blades into a baseball pitching machine and then ''waiting in front of it!''

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': How is Oliver Queen, SpoiledBrat party-hearty rich kid able to kick so much ass? Five years trapped on an island with an army of merciless killers, some of whom are supers. He had to suffer insane torture (and he still has scar tissue over 20% of his body to prove it) and grieve the loss of many friends, but some of those friends taught him some amazing fighting techniques.
** Sara Lance [[spoiler: also went through a similar thing, as viewers learn once it is revealed she is still alive - the island combined with The League of Assassins trained her.]]
** Thea Queen [[spoiler: between Season 2 and 3 went through 6 months of the same League of Assassins training which included things like having her hands burned repeatedly to learn to endure pain.]]
** Subverted with [[spoiler: Laurel Lance, who decides to take over her sister's role as superhero after her death. She notably lacks the TrainingFromHell the other three go through, just learning boxing and then training with Nyssa who is heir to the League buts lets her stop for milkshakes when she wants. Consequently Laurel's way below the standard of the others.]] Effective way of showing why TrainingFromHell is necessary on a superhero show.
* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'': Virtually everyone on this show goes through this, as the show is about training people against their will to become insanely skilled assassins. Nikita and Alex are great examples as early on as the pilot.
* ''Series/PowerRangersMegaforce'' has Noah, after being stomped on by the MonsterOfTheWeek decide to improve his swordfighting skills by ''defending against flying blades.''
* ''Series/{{JAG}}''
** The [[SemperFi Marine Boot Camp]] for women in "Boot".
** Captain Coonan in "Force Recon", who sent his men in an area with live artillery shells hitting the ground, to prepare them for combat.

* In ''Series/CobraKai'', [[Film/TheKarateKid1984 Johnny Lawrence]] (the revived Cobra Kai's sensei) puts his students through a vicious training regimen, including having to walk across a narrow beam with broken glass under it, escape from vicious junkyard dogs (unnerving even [[TheBerserker Hawk]]), and having to work together to turn a cement mixer from the inside. This contrasts him with Miyagi's (and later Daniel's) WaxOnWaxOff method - while Johnny is strict and demanding, he's consistently honest about why he's having them do these exercises.

* ''Series/{{House}}'': Plays this straight at the beginning of Season four where several applicants are subjected to various (often cruel, degrading, or downright ridiculous) tasks in order to seize one spot in House's diagnostic team. Moreover, House arguably does this all the time with the members of his team -- training and pushing them constantly, to be their best at all times. Basically, he teaches them how to be a doctor -- only, he teaches them how to be a doctor ''like him''. Deciding if this is a good or a bad thing is up to the viewer. Cuddy most certainly doesn't like it.

* In one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', the victim is a ChildProdigy whose father was obsessed with "pushing" her and her sister to academic success. His methods included keeping the classroom freezing cold to "stimulate the mind", forcing them to kneel on rice while he drilled them, and [[AbusiveParents physically abusing them]] when they made mistakes. He ultimately kicked the older daughter out at 16 because even though she had an IQ of 135, he felt that she wasn't good enough and didn't want to waste his time on her.

* To be effective as ''Series/The Cape'' Vince Faraday is put through intense training by fairly ruthless circus performers, the physical part described as "to the very limits of the human body". Later, after barely surviving being poisoned by an enemy's blade, he sets this up for himself, building up his body's immunity to many toxins and training to catch a thrown knife by ''loading sharp metal blades into a baseball pitching machine and then waiting in front of it!''

* To be effective as Series/{{The Cape}} Vince Faraday is put through intense training by fairly ruthless circus performers, the physical part described as "to the very limits of the human body". Later, after barely surviving being poisoned by an enemy's blade, he sets one up for himself, building up his body's immunity to many toxins and training to catch a thrown knife by 'loading sharp metal blades into a baseball pitching machine and then waiting in front of it'!

** Subverted with [[spoiler: Laurel Lance, who decides to take over her sister's role as superhero after her death. She notably lacks the TrainingFromHell the other three go through, just learning boxing and then training with Nyssa who is heir to the League buts let's her stop for milkshakes when she wants. Consequently Laurel's way below the standard of the others.]] Effective way of showing why TrainingFromHell is necessary on a super-hero show.

** Unfortunately, a combination of the pressure, Henry's WellDonSonGuy tendencies, and family drama causes Shawn to resent all the training and rebel against Henry's teaching. The relationship ended up being strained for years as a result.

* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': Shawn's father Henry subjected him to a child-friendly version of this in order to develop his observational and deductive skills, with the intention that Shawn would follow in Henry's footsteps and join the police force. Naturally, seeing as he was just a kid at the time, Shawn grew up to resent this and rebel against Henry's teaching; unfortunately, Henry is a WellDoneSonGuy, and their relationship wasn't exactly cordial as a result.
** Actually, in the flashbacks, it looks like Shawn wasn't nearly as resentful of his father as one might expect until Shawn's mother left and Shawn [[spoiler: mistakenly]] assumed it was his father's fault.

** Henry also ''locked Shawn in the trunk of the car'' when he was around eight years old, just so he could learn how to get out of one. The neighbors watching at the time were understandably disturbed.
*** Although, of course, this [[ChekhovsSkill comes in handy later]], as does almost all of Henry's training.