bottle show

n. an installment of a television series that is set in a single location or is filmed on pre-existing stage sets. Also bottle episode. Subjects: English, Entertainment, Television, Jargon

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Citations: 1992 [dh student 158271] Usenet: rec.arts.startrek.current (Jan. 22) “Re: Top 10 TNG Episodes”: A rather chatty “bottle” show, this episode could be contrasted to the fourth season episode, “The Drumhead.” 1997 Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens The Continuing Mission (Nov. 1) p. 91: The producers decided to fall back on a cost-saving television gimmick—a combined clip and bottle show. “Clip,” because a sizable part of the episode would consist of clips from previous episodes, and “bottle,” because it would be shot on already existing sets. 2003 Emily Nelson Wall Street Journal (Jan. 6) “Making Fake Flakes Isn’t So Easy for TV” p. A1: They reversed the weather in two other episodes, writing in a blizzard that keeps everyone housebound and keeps the cameras inside. A show where the cast never gets outside is called “a bottle episode.” 2004 Roz Kaveney Reading the Vampire Slayer (Mar. 18) p. 125: Even though they are moving, for large stretches “Spiral” is a bottle episode.…They are in the Winnebago, or the gas station, and it is a contained story. 2006 Jim Hill Jim Hill Media (Dec. 16) “Scrooge U: Part XXIV—How Xena saves Xmas…er…the Winter Solstice”: Now in TV production parlance, “a bottle show” is an episode of a television series that is deliberately designed to be shot on the cheap. Meaning that it can’t feature any on-location work, massive crowd scenes or elaborate stunts. Ideally, “a bottle show” must make use of the series’ pre-existing sets & costumes as well as keep the number of guest stars needed down to a bare minimum.

Posted 19 Dec 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend