Bottle show

Template:Realworld 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. The term itself is derived from the notion of "bottling up the action."

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. In animated series, a 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. The clip show TNG: "Shades of Gray" is also considered a bottle show. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 94; Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission)

The production of many consecutive bottle shows was, at times, frustrating for the cast and crew. Janeway actress Kate Mulgrew remarked, "You know, when you're in the bottle too long – by that, I mean... as you know, that means a ship show – you do three or four bottle shows back-to-back and everybody starts to get wacky." (VOY Season 2 DVD)

Bottle shows

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The following episodes are considered bottle shows:

• TOS:
  • "The Naked Time" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "The Doomsday Machine" (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 253)
• TNG:
  • "Lonely Among Us" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "Where Silence Has Lease" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., 68)
  • "Shades of Gray" (excluding file footage) (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 94)
  • "A Matter of Perspective" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 115)
  • "The Offspring" (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 193)
  • "Suddenly Human" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 140)
  • "Clues" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 154)
  • "The Drumhead" (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 2nd ed., p. 163)
  • "Conundrum" (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, pp. 237-238)
• DS9:
  • "The Forsaken" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 54)
  • "Duet" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
  • "The Wire" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
  • "Civil Defense" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
  • "Visionary" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 93)
  • "Explorers" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 96)
  • "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" (Star Trek Monthly issue 26, p. 39)
  • "In the Cards" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
  • "Time's Orphan" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
• VOY:
  • "Parallax" (Delta Quadrant, p. 14)
  • "The Cloud" (Delta Quadrant, p. 25)
  • "Eye of the Needle" (A Vision of the Future - Star Trek: Voyager)
  • "Jetrel" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 147)
  • "Learning Curve" (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 147)
  • "Projections" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 76)
  • "Elogium" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 76)
  • "Twisted" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 4/5)
  • "Meld" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 28, No. 4/5, p. 96)
  • "The Swarm" (Beyond the Final Frontier, p. 297)
  • "Someone to Watch Over Me" (Template:Brokenlink)
• ENT:
  • "Shuttlepod One" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "Dead Stop" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "Doctor's Orders" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "Similitude" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "Daedalus" (Template:Brokenlink)
  • "Observer Effect" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 37, #2, p. 38)

Harve Bennett has likened Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to a bottle show, noting that sixty-five percent of the film took place on the set representing the bridges of the USS Enterprise and USS Reliant. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, pp. 111-118)

The reference book Delta Quadrant (p. 38) refers to VOY: "State of Flux" as being virtually a bottle show, apart from location work for that episode's teaser and use of some leftover sets that were made to look distressed.

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 2nd ed., p. 203) Likewise, all the action in "Power Play", according to Michael Piller, "instead of helping us get even, knocked us into the stratosphere." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 239)

External link

• Bottle episode at Wikipedia