I asked those who would know if there’s a name for a television episode with two characters stuck in, say, an elevator or a basement, talking about whatever until they get free. There is, and Merriam-Webster has it: “bottle episode” : “an inexpensively produced episode of a television series that is typically confined to one setting.”
What prompted my question: the “One Day” episode of Hacks, which aired last night. It’s mostly Ava and Deborah alone, in one setting, but it’s a big one, a forest full of trails, and it must have been expensive to shoot. A recap of the episode describes it as “a Pine Barrens moment,” referencing the Sopranos episode in which Christopher and Paulie are lost in the New Jersey woods.
I made a guess as to the origin of “bottle episode”: “Two’s a Crowd,” the 1978 All in the Family episode in which Archie and Mike, locked in the bar’s storeroom, talk and drink. What a great origin story! But no. Though Star Trek is often cited as the source, Merriam-Webster credits Leslie Stevens, who produced the series The Outer Limits. M-W cites a history of the series that recounts how Stevens once put together an episode in four and a half days: “Stevens dubbed this last-minute lifesaving technique the ’bottle show’ — as in pulling an episode right out of a bottle like a genie.”
TV Tropes and Wikipedia list many bottle episodes.
Friday, May 17, 2024
What is a “bottle episode”?
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comments: 4
Oh! I was thinking “Star Trek”, and then you mention it. There’s a famously cheap episode that takes place in a black room, with our usual 3 main characters and one guest star. It’s a terrible episode too—aliens are torturing our guys to test an empath’s power. Title—“TheEmpath”.
Zero stars, cannot recommend (though there’s good cheesecake of Kirk shirtless, dangling from chains, so there’s that very dubious pleasure?)
That sounds like something by Beckett, except for the Shatner. : )
I've worked on a few in my day, but didn't know the origen story. I thought maybe meant the characters were "bottled up". I figured your "All in.. " theory was wrong as the point of a bottle episode is to save money by moving less and shooting in fewer days. It's the crews time you save, not the "building sets". All in the Family was shot on one set in one day anyway, building the bar set cost money!
I wasn’t thinking about the money angle, just the idea of two (or more) characters stuck somewhere together. The M-W definition (which I looked up only after guessing about the origin) makes the money angle clear. And you’re right, of course — All in the Family was almost always in the Bunker house (with a live audience).
Now I’m trying to recall what show has people stuck in an elevator for almost an entire episode? Frasier? Seinfeld?
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