Bottle show

From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference.

Bottle show is a production term for episodes which take place entirely on existing ship sets, and do not generally involve major guest stars. They typically have minimal action and special effects. They are used for a number of reasons including budget constraints, time restrictions and, often, character development.

Bottle shows are purposefully planned every couple of episodes so production can afford more expensive episodes such as those featuring extensive special effects or filming on location. Insofar as animated series are concerned, bottle show can be used to describe those episodes that require no new backgrounds (or relatively few) to be created.

The concept of a bottle show is related to that of a clip show, in that both are methods of producing under-budget episodes. Clip shows such as TNG: "Shades of Gray" are also considered bottle shows. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)

[edit] Bottle shows

• TOS:
  • "Charlie X"
  • "The Naked Time"
  • "The Ultimate Computer"
  • "The Changeling"
  • "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"
  • "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
• TAS:
  • "One of Our Planets Is Missing"
  • "The Survivor"
• TNG:
  • "Where Silence Has Lease"
  • "Time Squared"
  • "The Drumhead"
  • "Shades of Gray" (excluding file footage)
  • "Transfigurations"
  • "Disaster"
  • "Conundrum"
• DS9:
  • "Duet"
  • "Whispers"
  • "The Wire"
  • "Babel"
  • "Civil Defense"
  • "Facets"
• VOY:
  • "Parallax"
  • "Elogium"
  • "Meld"
  • "The Gift"
  • "One"
  • "Course: Oblivion"
  • "Projections"
• ENT:
  • "Shuttlepod One"
  • "Vox Sola"
  • "Dead Stop"
  • "Doctor's Orders"
  • "Daedalus"
  • "Observer Effect"
  • "A Night in Sickbay"

[edit] Episodes conceived as bottle shows

Both TNG: "The Next Phase" and "Power Play" were conceived as bottle shows but rewrites led to more special effects being used. "The Next Phase", which had scenes of characters running through walls, ended up as one of the most expensive episodes of the season. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)

[edit] External link

• Bottle episode at Wikipedia