History Main / WhatAreYouInFor

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. The moment [[YouAllMeetInACell Blake meets his future companions]] the SnarkToSnarkCombat [[WorldOfSnark commences]].

'''Blake:''' Well, I'm innocent; [[FrameUp of what I was charged with anyway]].\\

'''Jenna:''' [[SarcasmMode Of course it is.]]\\

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. After stealing their PrisonShip, Zhaan and D'Argo have this conversation because they've never had a chance to become acquainted due to being confined in separate cells. Ironically both turn out to be lying, or at least not telling the full truth, whereas untrustworthy Rygel gives the real reason straight off--deposed by his own cousin in a palace coup.

* On an episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Tim and Al were arrested for scalping tickets and end up in a cell with a man who "gave someone a tattoo." When they question why that was a problem, [[WorseWithContext he states that the man who he gave the tattoo to didn't want it]].

* From the US ''Series/QueerAsFolk'', when a letter addressed to Ben arrives while he's at work and Hunter wants to open it:

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. In "Hard Time", this is used to establish the kind of society that has just imprisoned Chief O'Brien. His cellmate asks what he's in for, and then continues, "Let me guess. Sedition?" It's espionage actually, but this establishes it's not exactly a world with Federation values.
** In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence", Lieutenant Reed keeps getting into awkward conversations due to getting caught running a black op for Section 31 and being thrown in the brig for it. Since everyone is busy dealing with the Klingons, both he and Captain Archer have no time to explain why he's in the brig to anyone... except when one of the Klingons who attacked the ''Enterprise'' gets tossed into the cell next to him. When Reed replies to his inquiry on why he's in the brig with "[[ItsalongStory That's a long story]]," the Klingon prisoner in turn replies "Entertain me." Reed then manages to give him a minimal-details summary in one line.
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Folsom Prison Blues", Sam and Dean intentionally get themselves arrested in order to investigate mysterious deaths at a prison. When Sam tries to probe Randall, a veteran inmate for clues, Randall changes the subject by asking Sam why he's there. Sam, who wasn't happy with the plan in the first place, responds: "Because I've got an idiot for a brother."

-->"[[TheStinger I killed a man. And you?]]"
-->"I added a Administrivia/ZeroContextExample to TV Tropes."
-->"(scoots away)"

-->'''Brickster:''' What are you in for? Oh, you're ''not'' in -- ''I'm'' in. Heh heh heh. For [[JustForPun bricking and entering]]. I hear they're gonna give me ''the chair''. Maybe even a lovely matching table.

* As quoted above, a variation appears in Arlo Guthrie's song/monologue "Music/AlicesRestaurant":

* In ''Series/TheTenthKingdom'', Tony is technically arrested for being found in the Queen's cell (wearing handcuffs) when everybody awoke to find her gone. When asked though, he says that he was arrested for a bank robbery. Which is technically true, he was arrested on Earth for the robbery before fleeing through the magic mirror.

-->-- '''Music/AlicesRestaurant'''

* In a ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' parody of ''Film/TheLongestYard'' (first version), this results in a long list of murders, ending with [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking "and strangling a tractor"]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom fanfic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3773755/1/The-Lunch-Club The Lunch Club]]", a fanon concept that Danny and Sam first met while serving lunch detention together, Danny asks Sam this. Sam retorts if they're in some 40s prison break movie.

* ''Film/HenrysCrime'': When Henry first becomes Max's cellmate, Max asks him what he is in for. Henry replies "bank robbery" and Max approves; commenting it is a 'clean' crime. When Henry asks Max what he is in for, Max answers "Life".

* In the first ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' Mahoney ([[KarmicTrickster detained for property damage]]) asks Jones what is he in for. Jones convincingly imitates the sound of a machine gun, creating panic in the police station. Mahoney decides to take him to the academy too.

* The live-action ''{{Film/Transformers}}'' movie had this on a helicopter:

* In addition to regular prisons, ''Series/{{Gotham}}'' also features Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane. When Barbara is sent there in Series Two; Jerome, taking an immediate interest in her, asks what she’s in for. “Killing my parents”, she tells him flatly. Which pleases him further as he’s in for killing his mother.

* From the US ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' when a letter addressed to Ben arrives while he's at work and Hunter wants to open it:

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. In "Hard Time", this is used to establish the kind of society that has just imprisoned Chief O'Brien. His cellmate asks what he's in for, and then continues, "Let me guess. Sedition?" It's espionage actually, but this establishes it's not exactly a world with Federation values.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" Lieutenant Reed keeps getting into awkward conversations due to getting caught running a black op for Section 31 and being thrown in the brig for it. Since everyone is busy dealing with the Klingons, both he and Captain Archer have no time to explain why he's in the brig to anyone... except when one of the Klingons who attacked the ''Enterprise'' gets tossed into the cell next to him. When Reed replies to his inquiry on why he's in the brig with "[[ItsalongStory That's a long story]]," the Klingon prisoner in turn replies "Entertain me." Reed then manages to give him a minimal-details summary in one line.
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "Folsom Prison Blues," Sam and Dean intentionally get themselves arrested in order to investigate mysterious deaths at a prison. When Sam tries to probe Randall, a veteran inmate for clues, Randall changes the subject by asking Sam why he's there. Sam, who wasn't happy with the plan in the first place, responds: "Because I've got an idiot for a brother."

[[folder: Radio]]

* ''Theatre/AGulagMouse''. Prushka the Mouse reveals she's serving ten years for telling an "anecdot" - anti-government joke.

* In the first ''VideoGame/LEGOIsland'' game, when you visit the Brickster in his lone jail cell next to the police station, this begins one of the quotes he says.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Shepard can ask this of an [=NPC=] on the Purgatory PrisonShip. He casually explains that he killed a few people -- only about twenty or so -- and blew up "that one habitat". This is apparently small-time by Purgatory standards.
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'' features a long (and hilarious) conversation between two guys stuck in the police stations holding cell about how one of them ended up getting arrested because he ended up stealing a car that had a murder weapon in it. He asks the other guy what he's in for and he just says "Who, me? DUI."

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/PvP'' had a story where Brent took Skull to a veterinarian for a checkup, and ended up in jail for owning an exotic animal without a license (they thought he was a gorilla). When the other, significantly more hardcore criminals in lockup asked Brent what he did, he gave a legalese answer about not filing the proper paperwork, and receives blank stares.

-->'''Beetlejuice''': What are you in for? Indecent decomposure?\\
'''Rico''': My name's Rico, and [[LamePunReaction that joke stinks]].

* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'': Variant. At the end of the WesternAnimation/BugsBunny cartoon "WesternAnimation/WabbitTwouble," after a typical Bugs once-over Elmer Fudd angrily trashes a sign at Jellostone National Park, which leads to him getting arrested for destroying government property. In his cell, Bugs and the bear that chased Elmer earlier both ask "How long ya in for, doc?"

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. After stealing their PrisonShip, Zhaan and D'Argo have this conversation because they've never had a chance to become acquainted due to be confined in separate cells. Ironically both turn out to be lying, or at least not telling the full truth, whereas untrustworthy Rygel gives the real reason straight off--deposed by his own cousin in a palace coup.

-->-- "Music/AlicesRestaurant"

[folder:Fan Works]]

* At the conclusion of the [[VacationEpisode London episodes]] of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al is imprisoned for [[StealingFromTheHotel stealing a towel from an upscale hotel]]. He asks this question of a fellow prisoner, who informs him that he stole an ashtray. Al despairs, but brightens up when the guy tells him that prisoners are fed bread and water.

* On an episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Tim and Al were arrested for scalping tickets and end up in a cell with a man who "gave someone a tattoo." When they question why that was a problem, he states that the man who he gave the tattoo to did not want it.

** The Professor is there for refusing to sign up for his school's football team, which said school interpereted as him not being an agreeable person or team player.

* ''Series/{{Porridge}}'': New prison officer Mr Beale briskly asks prisoner Oakes what he's in for, when trying to assert his authority. He also asks Fletcher the same question, who replies "got caught".
-->'''Mr Beale:''' (Brusquely) What are you in for, son?\\

'''Mr Beale:''' I didn't mean time, I meant offence.\\

-->''And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly 'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things and he sat down next to me and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?" And I said, "Littering." And they ''all'' [[EvenEvilHasStandards moved away from me on the bench there]]...''

* ''Webcomic/PvP'' had a story where Brent took Skull to a veterinarian for a checkup, and ended up in jail for owning an exotic animal without a license (they thought he was a gorilla). When the other, signifigantly more hardcore criminals in lockup asked Brent what he did, he gave a legaleze answer about not filing the proper paperwork, and recieves blank stares.

--->'''Mr Burns:''' GET ME AWAY FROM THIS SAVAGE BEAST!!

%% Image removed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1590980007064235200
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:201:[[Webcomic/{{Freefall}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/in_for.png]]]]

* At the conclusion of the [[VacationEpisode London episodes]] of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Al is imprisoned for [[StealingFromTheHotel stealing a towel from an upscale hotel]]. He asks this question of a fellow prisoner, who informs him that he stole an ashtray. Al despairs, but brightens up when the guy tells him that prisoners are fed bread and water.
-->'''Al:''' This is truly the best vacation I've ever had!
* In addition to regular prisons, Series/{{Gotham}} also features Arkham Asylum for the criminally insane. When Barbara is sent there in Series Two; Jerome, taking an immediate interest in her, asks what she’s in for. “Killing my parents”, she tells him flatly. Which pleases him further as he’s in for killing his mother.

* In the ''Mark Steel's In Town'' episode about Ventnor on the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight, Mark notes that it's a protected red squirrel area, and that bringing in grey squirrels is punishable by two years in prison. Since the Isle of Wight is also the site of the notorious HMP Parkurst, where the Krays were imprisoned, he imagines a LondonGangster asking "What are you in for?" and being told "I took a grey squirrel on the hovercraft".

* ''Madea Goes to Jail''. Well, the title character's cellmate already knows why she's there.
* ''A Gulag Mouse''. Prushka the Mouse reveals she's serving ten years for telling an "anecdot" - anti-government joke.

* In ''[[VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2 Mask of the Betrayer]]'', the Wychlaran of Mulsantir allows you to take one of the local prisoners to fight with you against the giant bear spirits waiting outside the gaits. Naturally, you get to ask what they're in for: Groznek killed some men who taunted him; Joeb's in for pickpocketing; and Gannayev is there because, well...
-->'''Gannayev:''' My crime? It is a serious one -- you see, [[SoBeautifulItsACurse I am too handsome to look upon.]]
* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' you can be thrown in the Markath prison mine. An Orc in there answers the question with:
-->'''Orc:''' Murder, Banditry, Assault, Theft... [[BrickJoke and]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking lollygagging]].

* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 2'' features a long (and hilarious) conversation between two guys stuck in the police stations holding cell about how one of them ended up getting arrested because he ended up stealing a car that had a murder weapon in it. He asks the other guy what he's in for and he just says "Who, me? DUI."
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Shepard can ask this of an [=NPC=] on the Purgatory PrisonShip. He casually explains that he killed a few people -- only about twenty or so -- and blew up "that one habitat". This is apparently small-time by Purgatory standards.

* [[http://www.duelinganalogs.com/comic/xbox-killer/ This]] ''Dueling Analogs'' comic (along with its [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-killed-a-man many, many online redubs]]). A big, hulking convict sits on a prison bench, next to a smaller guy with NerdGlasses.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E11OneFishTwoFishBlowfishBlueFish One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish]]":
--->'''Homer:''' What are you in for?\\
'''[[CaptivityHarmonica Harmonica-playing Con:]]''' Atmosphere.
** When Mr. Burns is jailed for stealing valuable art, he seemingly lucks out by being put in the same cell as another white-collar criminal... until he finds out said inmate went to Dartmouth College.
--->'''Mr Burns:''' GET ME AWAY FROM THIS SAVAGE BEAST!!
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': In the episode "[=SpongeBob=] Meets the Strangler";
-->'''Tattletale Strangler:''' ''[in prison]'' [[FromBadToWorse Well, at least I'm safe from that yellow idiot]].\\
'''[[TooDumbToLive Patrick]]:''' ''[in the same cell as him]'' Hey, mac. ''[the Strangler faces him]'' What're you in for?\\
''[episode ends]''
* In ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', Wade, after [[MattressTagGag ripping the a tag off the bottom of a couch and learning that it's against the law]], [[ImagineSpot imagines himself in a prison cell with two dangerous-looking criminals]]:
-->'''First criminal:''' I've robbed 50 banks and 60 gas stations.\\
'''Second criminal:''' Yeah? well, I robbed 70 banks, see, and 90 gas stations. And I stole [[RunningGag the Klopman Diamond]]. What are you in for?\\
'''Wade:''' Uh, I tore a tag off a pillow.\\
''[[[ComicalOverreacting the criminals run for the bars and scream for help]]]''

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack: The Series'' features an alien race that's downright obsessive about law and order, complete with an ultra-brutal gulag for housing the many, many lawbreakers they round up. How strict are they? When Jay finds himself in the prison, he asks a fellow inmate what he's in for, and, well, [[MattressTagGag it turns out they take their mattress tags very seriously]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' has the gang trying to get help from one of the people they've put away. Shaggy and Scooby, in their usual fashion, slink away to the cafeteria. One inmate asks them what they're in for, and Shaggy responds "The food!"

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'':
** In the episode "Chris Has Got a Date, Date, Date, Date, Date" Stewie and Peter send out a tweet that a movie was "Just okay" and promptly get arrested by the "Internet police". When they get to jail, they run into another inmate; Brian asks "What are you in for"? and he replies "I thought that Caytlin Jenner wasn't very courageous or good looking."
--->'''[[AmbiguouslyGay Stewie]]:''' ''[terrified]'' Brian, there are some bad people in here!!
** In "Dial Meg for Murder", Meg is sent to a women's prison, and her black cellmate asks her "Did you get caught trying to vote in Ohio?"
* Variant: at the end of the [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Bugs Bunny]] cartoon "WesternAnimation/WabbitTwouble," after a typical Bugs once-over Elmer Fudd angrily trashes a sign at Jellostone National Park, which leads to him getting arrested for destroying government property. In his cell, Bugs and the bear that chased Elmer earlier both ask "How long ya in for, doc?"

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' episode "The Birdbrain of Alcatraz" has Beetlejuice ask this to a fellow inmate of The Big House.
-->'''Beetlejuice''': What are you in for? Indecent decomposure?\\
'''Rico''': My name's Rico, and [[LamePunReaction that joke stinks]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dynomutt|DogWonder}}'' #2, the villain Mastermind is apprehended and jailed for a very mundane crime: not returning an overdue library book. In jail, two bruisers tell each other what they're in for, then they ask Mastermind what he's in for.
-->'''Mastermind:''' Oh, shush!

* ''ComicStrip/USAcres'':
** As alluded to in the explanatory section, Wade steps on a rake, sending him into a musical number, followed by a short trial sentencing him to [[LongerThanLifeSentence 9999 years in prison]]. Once there, two inmates brag about their crimes. When Wade sheepishly admits his, the other two pull on the bars, terrified of sharing a cell with such a psychopath.
** Similar to this, in a comic strip, two criminals are bragging about their crimes, when their third cellmate says that he's in for beating up Santa, causing the other two to cower in a corner.

* In one ''ComicStrip/BloomCounty'' strip, Opus ends up in jail, and learns that his new cellmate is in for "strangling Oakland." And no, it's not a colorful sports metaphor. [[spoiler:[[DontExplainTheJoke It means he strangled each and every single person in Oakland.]]]]

* In ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights'', Asneeze informs Robin that he was in for "Jaywalking". In 12th century Jerusalem. [[RuleOfFunny It's a Mel Brooks movie.]]
* Happens in ''Film/TheLastCastle'' when Irwin asks the doctor why he is in prison. The doctor says he was busted for marijuana possession. Irwin points out that marijuana possession will get you discharged from the military but not normally earn you a stint in a maximum security military prison. The doctor agrees and starts to explain, but they are interrupted and [[TheUnreveal the audience never does get to hear the full story]].
* In ''Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace'', one of the Klowns allows himself to be locked up in the town jail. A nebbish human prisoner then invokes this trope.
* Played with in ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'': Andy Dufresne maintains his innocence, making everyone else laugh: "everyone's innocent in here" and "[I'm in because] a lawyer fucked me" become {{Running Gag}}s among Andy's friends, while Red wryly refers to himself as "The only guilty man in Shawshank." ([[spoiler: Andy's telling the truth about being innocent, though.]])
* In the remake of ''Film/AttackOfThe50FootWoman'', the main character's cheating husband found himself in a spaceship with two other guys and one of them asked, "What are you in for?"
* Played somewhat straight in ''Film/DownByLaw'': the arguably tough looking Music/TomWaits and John Lurie are sent to prison on separate frame-up jobs. Their cellmate, the tiny, meek and bumbling Roberto Benigni reveals in the What Are You In For scene that he's in for a pool hall murder, which he provoked by cheating at cards.
* ''Film/AmericanHistoryX'' has a scene in which the main character is talking to a black prisoner why they are in prison. The scene is played straight, however.

* In the first ''Film/PoliceAcademy'' Mahoney ([[KarmicTrickster detained for property damage]]) asks Jones what is he in for. Jones convincingly imitates the sound of a machine gun, creating panic in the police station. Mahoney decides to take him to the academy too.
* ''Film/SchindlersList'': When Oskar Schindler is arrested by the German police in occupied Poland for possibly violating the Nazi racial acts by kissing a Jewish girl, his cellmate's first question is "What about you?" Schindler's answer prompts the incarcerated man to counter with a lurid anti-Semitic joke.
* In ''Film/IAmAFugitiveFromAChainGang'', the hero is asked this by a fellow inmate but refuses to answer. Clearly he was still not over the fact that he was convicted to 10 years of hard labor for stealing $5.
* In the second ''Film/{{Fletch}}'' movie the protagonist asks the cellmate -- a huge, scary-looking guy -- and the guy answers "molesting a dead horse". He then tells Fletch to [[PrisonRape bend over]]. Fortunately for Fletch, that's when the cops come in to move the guy. However it's later revealed this is all a plot to frighten Fletch, so we don't know if he really was arrested for that reason.
* In ''Film/TheFirstWivesClub'', when the three main characters' ex-husbands are coerced into congregating at the titular club's headquarters, the last to arrive, Brenda's ex-husband Morty, sees the other two in the waiting room and asks, "What are you guys in for?"
* In ''Film/ArtemisFowl'', Holly Short asks Mulch Diggums what he's in for this time. He tells her the truth, that it's tunneling and entering, and asks her to put in a good word for him.
* ''Film/HenrysCrime'': When Henry first becomes Max's cellmate, Max asks him what he is in for. Henry replies "bank robbery" and Max approves; commenting it is a 'clean' crime. When Henry asks Max what he is in for, Max answers:
-->''"Life".''

* Winston muses that a question like this is essentially moot in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour''. There is only one crime the Party cares about, so the answer is always {{Thoughtcrime}}.
* In ''Help I Am Being Held Prisoner'' by Donald Westlake, the protagonist played a silly prank that ended in a traffic accident. Because said accident resulted in the exposure of a politician's unsavory sexual habits, said politician pulls strings so the protagonist will get punished as hard as possible. Because of this his sentence and the description of his crime, while ambiguously vague, make him sound like a hardened, inhuman murderer -- so the toughest gang in prison recruit him to their schemes...

* When Harry of ''Literature/{{Incompetence}}'' is arrested for ImpersonatingAnOfficer, he is forced into a massively overcrowded holding cell for people who are awaiting trial. He notes that asking WhatAreYouInFor used to be a taboo question until an [[ObstructiveBureaucrat overabundance of regulations and laws]] that makes criminals of everybody means that hardened criminals need to know if they are mixing with real crooks or people who are arrested for displaying their fruits in pounds instead of kilos. A cellmate does enthusiastically tell Harry in excruciating detail exactly what bureaucratic cock-up led to him being detained, [[TooMuchInformation causing Harry's eyes to glaze over]].
* In ''Literature/JacobTwoTwoMeetsTheHoodedFang'': when Jacob enters the children's prison, he sees a girl in a cell, and asks what she's in for. The warden replies that she broke out in measles the day her father invited the boss to dinner, and ruined everything.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' once went to prison on an undercover mission. His cellmate quickly noticed that he was obviously unused to prison and didn't seem like a criminal type. When he asked this, Monk improvised and said "embezzlement."
* An episode of ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' has Elliot and Carla arrested for soliciting a male prostitute (they wanted to do a favor for a female patient who didn't want to die a virgin). At the station, Elliot asks people going in what they're in for and brags that they're in for prostitution. Carla tells her to stop enjoying it so much.
* In ''Series/MartialLaw'', the cop duo go undercover in jail. The Asian one's backstory is killing a dozen people in a restaurant shootout, and the black guy, purse theft.
* After Helena from ''Series/TheLWord'' is sent to jail, she's scared of her cell mate, who she's sure is a murderer. Actually, she's in for embezzlement, she just [[PrisonsAreGymnasiums works out a lot]].
* From the US ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' when a letter addressed to Ben arrives while he's at work and Hunter wants to open it:
-->'''Michael:''' Well, you can't open someone else's mail. It's a federal offense.\\
'''Hunter:''' I can see it now: I'm on death row, awaiting lethal injection. This mass murderer who killed 48 babies and ate them asks me what I'm being executed for. I say: "Opening Ben's letter."
* In an episode of ''Series/HeresLucy'', Lucy goes undercover in a women's prison. When she is first asked this question, she replies:
-->'''Lucy:''' Highway robbery.\\
'''Matron:''' Highway robbery?\\
'''Lucy:''' Yeah. I stole Route 66.
* An early episode of ''Series/GrowingPains'' had Mike in jail for graffiti. One of his cellmates asks this question to which he replied, [[Music/JohnnyCash "I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die."]]
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Chandler says this to a couple of girls while he's going to talk to Phoebe's policeman boyfriend. He thinks it's funny, they don't.

* ''Series/DeepSpaceNine''. In "Hard Time", this is used to establish the kind of society that has just imprisoned Chief O'Brien. His cellmate asks what he's in for, and then continues, "Let me guess. Sedition?" It's espionage actually, but this establishes it's not exactly a world with Federation values.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episodes "Affliction" and "Divergence" Lieutenant Reed keeps getting into awkward conversations due to getting caught running a black op for Section 31 and being thrown in the brig for it. Since everyone is busy dealing with the Klingons, both he and Captain Archer have no time to explain why he's in the brig to anyone... except when one of the Klingons who attacked the ''Enterprise'' gets tossed into the cell next to him. When Reed replies to his inquiry on why he's in the brig with "[[ItsalongStory That's a long story]]," the Klingon prisoner in turn replies "Entertain me." Reed then manages to give him a minimal-details summary in one line.
* In a surprisingly dark joke from ''Series/FullHouse'', Danny and Joey end up in a holding cell with a man who was arrested for scalping. He was '''not''' scalping tickets.
* On an episode of ''Series/HomeImprovement'', Tim and Al were arrested for scalping tickets and end up in a cell with a man who "gave someone a tattoo." When they question why that was a problem, he states that the man who he gave the tattoo to did not want it.
* Played straight (''"What did they get you for?" "Oh, It's a long story. You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."'') and then inverted in the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "Frontier in Space", when the Third Doctor is sent to a prison full of political prisoners:
-->'''Three:''' Now, that's stealing, you know. \\
'''Warden's henchman:''' That's what I'm in for. Got a troublemaker, have we?\\
'''Three:''' That's what ''I'm'' in for.
* Asked multiple times throughout ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack''. Occasionally, new inmates like Piper will be under the impression that it's taboo to ask this question.
* The prison drama ''Series/{{Oz}}'' averts this frequently relative to their large cast of prisoners, instead introducing new prisoners via Augustus Hill's [[BreakingTheFourthWall narration to the audience]], in which he also lists the length of the person's sentence. Inmates usually become aware of other inmates' crimes by reputation or by implied offscreen conversations.
* ''Series/{{Porridge}}'': New prison officer Mr Beale briskly asks prisoner Oakes what he's in for, when trying to assert his authority. He also asks Fletcher the same question, who replies "got caught".
--> '''Mr Beale:''' (Brusquely) What are you in for, son?
--> '''Oakes:''' (Coldly) Two years.
--> '''Mr Beale:''' I didn't mean time, I meant offence.
--> '''Oakes:''' None taken.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

%%* And [[http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20040312 this]] ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'' strip.

* The title character of ''Webcomic/{{Rosa}}'' sardonically asks her dead skeleton cellmate, Ol' Gil, [[http://www.junglestudio.com/roza/?date=2007-05-14 this question]].
* ''Webcomic/YetAnotherFantasyGamerComic'': Gertrude the Valkyrie (on visiting from ''Cowboys and Crossovers'') asks this to [[http://yafgc.net/comic/2984-gertrudes-saga-02/ another frog in a cage after being herself turned into a frog]]. Yeah, that tends to happen when you piss off a wizard.
* ''Webcomic/PvP'' had a story where Brent took Skull to a veterinarian for a checkup, and ended up in jail for owning an exotic animal without a license (they thought he was a gorilla). When the other, signifigantly more hardcore criminals in lockup asked Brent what he did, he gave a legaleze answer about not filing the proper paperwork, and recieves blank stares.
-->'''Brent:''' Uh, and I popped a cap in my old lady for giving me lip about it.\\
'''Thug:''' Word!

* [[http://www.duelinganalogs.com/comic/xbox-killer/ This]] ''Dueling Analogs'' comic (along with its [[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-killed-a-man many, many online redubs]]). A big, hulking convict sits on a prison bench, next to a smaller guy with NerdGlasses.
-->'''Big guy''': I'm in here for kidnapping a guy, tying him to a tree and [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]] me dig up and [[CrossesTheLineTwice violate his]] [[ILoveTheDead dead mother's corpse]].
-->'''Smaller guy''': I bought an UsefulNotes/Xbox360 [[Music/JohnnyCash just to watch it die]].
-->'''Big guy''': *''[[EvenEvilHasStandards moves to the other end of the bench]]''*

* In the ''Mark Steel's In Town'' episode about Vetnor on the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight, Mark notes that it's a protected red squirrel area, and that bringing in grey squirrels is punishable by two years in prison. Since the Isle of Wight is also the site of the notorious HMP Parkurst, where the Krays were imprisoned, he imagines a LondonGangster asking "What are you in for?" and being told "I took a grey squirrel on the hovercraft".

* In the ''Mark Steel's In Town'' episode about Vetnor on the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight, Mark notes that it's a protected red squirrel area, and that bringing in grey squirrels is punishable by two years in prison. Since the Isle of Wight is also the site of the notorious HMP Parkurst, where the Krays were imprisoned, he imagines a LondonGangster asking "What are you in for" and being told "I took a grey squirrel on the hovercraft".

* If you do get asked this in jail, it is generally advised to answer truthfully, since if you avoid answering you may be suspected of child molestation. And [[EvenEvilHasStandards then,]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown well...]] Although in most American prisons, it is generally considered more polite to phrase the question as "What are you accused of?" While either is acceptable, one should never ask the question "What did you do?" as it implies guilt.