Jail (stylized as JAIL) is an American reality television series that follows people who have been arrested for various crimes as they are booked and held in custody to await trial, release on bail, or transfer to another facility. The series was created and produced by John Langley and his son, Morgan Langley, through their Langley television and film Productions company. They also produce Cops.

The show originally premiered on Court TV as Inside American Jail in 2005.^[2] It was repackaged for MyNetworkTV's 2007 Fall schedule as simply Jail beginning September 4, 2007^[1] with a different theme song, "Get Me Out", performed by rapper Lil' Droppa.^[3] It was later syndicated on TruTV (A rebrand of the original Court TV) under its original name, and Spike TV, under its current title.^[4] The show ran initially for three seasons and was distributed by 20th Century Fox Television.

The booking of O. J. Simpson into the Clark County, Nevada Detention Center was featured in the show's February 12, 2008 episode.^[5][6]

In 2014, Spike revived the series as Jail: Las Vegas; shifting focus to jails in the eponymous city. The network ordered a 22-episode season which premiered on January 10, 2015.^[7][8]

In January 2016, it was announced on the show's Facebook page that Spike had renewed Jail for a fifth season.^[9] In April, the season's title was announced as Jail: Big Texas; focusing on jails in the state of Texas. The fifth and final season premiered on July 9, 2016, and ended on Saturday, July 15, 2017.^[10][11][12]