Trapped by Television is a 1936 American comedy-drama crime science fiction film directed by Del Lord and starring Mary Astor, Lyle Talbot and Nat Pendleton.

An inventor is working on his latest creation, a new form of television monitor and camera, but is struggling to complete his invention due to lack of funds.

A simple prop cathode-ray tube is shown as circular and discussed by the cast as an essential but expensive component, which is mentioned to cost $146 in 1936 dollars.

For the "demonstration" sequence, the inventors choose to set their camera up in a stadium to broadcast a football game, with accompanying commentary, thus anticipating one of the most lucrative uses of sports television.

The director, Del Lord, also featured a similar large screen set in the Niagara Falls scene of his 1940s Three Stooges short A Plumbing We Will Go.