"There I Was............"

At 10,000' feet, in an ice storm, and running out of fuel....
300' under water, surrounded by giant squid, and my air was running out.....
Surrounded by zombies, it's getting dark, and my shotgun just jammed.....

I'm sure you can make up many more of these simply by picking a situation that might have a bad outcome if certain things happen, and they're happening. The question is, how do the pros do it? I mean it's awfully hard coming up with situations for the hero to solve on a weekly basis. One of the reasons I stopped watching 24 was because I got reeealy tired of Jack Bauer rescuing his STOOOPID (but very pretty) daughter every week.
Now, I've seen flow charts in Wired magazine explaining how to do this, but they were so simple...I mean they just cried out for more detail. Well, while I was searching for a quote from Alien (It wasn't a distress beacon, it was a warning!), I stumbled across the TV Tropes website. At last! Every plot device, MacGuffin, and all the seemingly strange twists and turns that professional writers weave into their plot was explained, in excruciating detail.
Pick some genre, like Action/Adventure, and lo-and-behold, it's all explained for you.
Wonderful stuff, but be prepared to spend a LOT of time following all the hyperlinks!
Enjoy.....