Bottle show " Bottle show " is a production term for episodes which take place mostly on existing sets and do not generally involve major guest stars . The term itself is derived from the notion of " bottling up the action . " ( " " , paperback ed . , p . 253 ) Equivalent terms are " ship shows " and " bottle episodes " . ( " " , p . 119 ) In such installments , action and special effects are often minimized . ( " " , pp . 65 & 140 ) Bottle shows are usually created due to budget and time constraints . ( " " 2nd ed . , p . 94 ) Such shows are purposefully planned , every couple of episodes , so production can afford more expensive episodes , such as those filming on location or new sets . ( " " , paperback ed . , p . 253 ) While working on , Michael Piller explained , " " We need to do bottle shows on this series in order to pay the piper . We need to do contained non - optical direct shows . " " ( " " , p . 239 ) In hindsight , Tom Mazza , executive vice president of current programming & strategic planning at Paramount Television , agreed , " " We were constantly having to navigate launching the show with a big episode and then over the first few episodes do what we call a ' ship show , ' and all of a sudden there ' s a disease spreading on ship and you notice for forty - four minutes we didn ' t go anywhere [ . . . ] You can get away with it sometimes to offset some of those higher costs [ on the bigger episodes ] . " " ( " " , p . 119 ) 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 is also considered a bottle show . ( " " 2nd ed . , p . 94 ; " " ) Producing an effective bottle show was somewhat difficult . " " It ' s really hard to make a bottle show interesting , because you " are " with your own actors and you " are " on standing sets , " " remarked Denise Okuda . ( audio commentary , ENT Season 4 Blu - ray special features ) Nonetheless , many bottle shows are popular among both fan s and the production staff . Robert Justman remarked that many were " enormously compelling , as indicated by both fan reaction and the ratings . " ( " " , paperback ed . , p . 253 ) Likewise , Robert Hewitt Wolfe commented , " " A lot of these small shows turn out to be pretty good . " " ( " " , pp . 140 ) Attesting to the writing staff ' s predominantly positive reaction to bottle shows , Lisa Wilke , a writer who worked uncredited on , recalled , " " I had gone to the sets a year before and [ Michael Piller ' s assistant ] Eric Stillwell told us , ' Bottle shows ; all they want are bottle shows . Don ' t go to another planet , make it as cheap as possible and maybe they ' ll buy it . " " John Logan commented , " " The " Trek " I love most is not the whimsical " Trek " . It ' s the bottle shows I love : The Romulan s are here . The " Enterprise " is there . What ' s going to happen ? " " ( " " , pp . 24 , 199 & 391 ) However , only a few bottle shows were produced for TNG , at least in the opinion of David Livingston . During the making of the series , he stated , " " Very rarely do we ever just do a bottle show . There ' s always some kind of element that will be visually interesting . " " ( " " , p . 236 ) Indeed , even episodes conceived as bottle shows occasionally did not go as planned . Producing bottle shows was easier to do for TNG , though , than for . While working on the latter series , Michael Piller explained , " " We can do a bottle show and save a lot of money on " The Next Generation " by just keeping it on the ship . Here , you keep it on the space station and you are " still " going to spend a lot of money . You have to because you have the sets like Quark ' s and the Promenade , where you have so many alien s and people in the background . " " ( ) Bottle shows were deliberately sought towards the end of DS9 Season 1 . ( " Captains ' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages " , p . 54 ) 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 . The following episodes are considered bottle shows : " " ( p . 275 ) notes that many episodes in the third season of " The Original Series " were bottle shows . Harve Bennett likened to a bottle show , noting that sixty - five percent of the film took place on the set representing the bridges of the and . ( " " , pp . 111 - 118 ) John Logan similarly described as " essentially " a bottle show , pointing out that he kept the focus of the film ' s story on the lead TNG characters , especially Captain Picard and Data , aboard the , rather than Earth - based action . ( " " , p . 390 ) " Cinefantastique " ( Vol . 23 , No . 2 / 3 , p . 43 ) describes as being virtually " a shipbound ' bottle show ' " except for the episode ' s uses of the Crystalline Entity and the installment ' s teaser . Similarly , the reference book " " ( p . 38 ) refers to as 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 . Phlox actor John Billingsley remarked that , despite ENT Season 3 being primarily arc - based ( due to its focus on the Xindi incident ) , it also contains " a few , kind of , you know , bottle - y shows . ' Bottle ' not ' bodily . ' Bottle shows that function within the arc , but allow you to have a little rest . " ( " Part Two : Front Lines " , ENT Season 3 Blu - ray special features ) Episodes conceived as bottle shows . was conceived as a bottle show adaptation of " The Naked Time " , as the series was in desperate need of a bottle show when that episode was written . ( " " , paperback ed . , p . 222 ) Both and were also conceived as bottle shows , but rewrites led to more special effects being used . " The Next Phase " , which had a multitude of visual effects shots involving characters walking and running through walls and other objects , ended up as one of the most expensive episodes of its season . ( " " 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 . " " ( " " , p . 239 )