Bottle episode
Encyclopedia
The term bottle episode is used in episodic
television
to refer to episodes which are produced using the least money, and restricted in their scope to use as few, or no, non-regular cast members, effects, and sets as possible. Most bottle episodes are shot on sets already built for other episodes, frequently the main interior sets for a series, and they consist largely of dialogue or scenes for which no special preparations are needed.
' budget generally goes into producing episodes meant to pique audience
interest, such as season openers and closers, bottle episodes are produced using whatever money is left over, using existing resources. Scott Brazil
, executive producer/director of the FX
series The Shield
, described bottle episodes as "the sad little step child whose allowance is docked in order to buy big brother a new pair of sneaks".
An often parodied feature of bottle episodes among series that are rarely studio based is the means in which the cast are forced to stay in the same location, for example large external forces such as natural disasters (not seen on screen due to the expense) or something as simple as an accidentally locked door.
Bottle episodes should not be confused with filler
episodes; while many bottle episodes are fillers, this is not always the case. In fact, while the higher-priority episodes may be more visually appealing, bottle episodes are sometimes the ones in which actors give their best performances. In this respect, bottle episodes are a "make-or-break" process because they tend to be among the best or worst episodes in a series. For example, the Friends
episode "The One Where No One's Ready
" only features two sets and no guest stars, except for Peter Dennis for a few seconds at the end, yet it has been voted up to the third best Friends episode. In fact, series creator Marta Kauffman
reports that at least one bottle episode was created in every season of Friends due to that episode's popularity.
(whence the famous line "Hell is other people"), Samuel Beckett
's show Waiting for Godot
, Twelve Angry Men
and the eponymous film, and Michael Frayn's
's play Copenhagen
.
Similar formats have also been used in many films, including some smaller independent films (such as Coffee and Cigarettes
, and some more mainstream works).
, which, apart from a prison warden who has three lines towards the end of the episode, is thirty minutes set entirely within a prison cell with only two characters.
The BBC
sitcom One Foot In The Grave
is also well known for this. Examples are the series two episode "Timeless Time", set in the bedroom; the series three episode "The Beast In The Cage" (in the car); series four's "The Trial" (at home alone, waiting to hear about jury service
); series five, "Rearranging The Dust" (in a solicitor
's waiting room) and series six's "Threatening Weather" (set during a power cut
).
An example of a bottle episode from the TV Series Seinfeld
is the 1991 episode "The Chinese Restaurant
" where the entire episode
features the cast waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant.
In the making of "Quality of Mercy" feature in the The Outer Limits
season one DVD set, Executive Producer Pen Densham
describes that most cop shows would have a Dog Day Afternoon
episode which would house the entire show in a single room or set, referring to the movie which, for the most part, takes place in and around a bank.
Bottle episodes from the Star Trek
franchise are known for occasionally becoming among the most popular with fans. Prominent examples include "The Tholian Web", "Journey To Babel" and "Balance of Terror
". The phenomenon has persisted to a lesser extent in contemporary incarnations, with "Duet" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
) which has been celebrated by Startrek.com and Amazon.com
among other sources as "[a]rguably one of the best episodes of Deep Space Nine and a jewel in the entire Trek canon".
The Goodies
finished off series five and series seven with bottle episodes "The End
" and "Earthanasia
", the latter of which occurs in real time between 11:30pm on Christmas Eve and midnight, at which point the Earth is due to be destroyed, and the episode focuses on their attempts to decide how to use their last minutes. Both episodes are notable for featuring just the three stars, and take place entirely within their one-room flat.
In the classic series of Doctor Who
the third serial, entitled The Edge of Destruction
, was both a filler and a bottle episode: the original commission was for 13 episodes, but the two serials chosen to open the series were four and seven episodes long respectively, so a two part story featuring only the four leads and set entirely within the TARDIS
was written, using the remainder of the budget and filling the commission. In the 2005 series, Russell T Davies, the lead writer, has stated that several episodes which were written to be budget light have resulted in consuming more money than intended ("The Long Game
" and "Boom Town
" are two examples cited in the 2005 book "Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts"). The fourth-series episode "Midnight
" takes place almost entirely on a single (though purpose-built) set, and has minimal special effects.
The Facts of Life
season 4 episode 'Take My Finals, Please' takes place entirely in the girls' bedroom and features only the main 5 characters in an episode set over one night.
The X-Files
creator Chris Carter has described the season one episode Darkness Falls
as a bottle episode.
The season two episode of the series The West Wing
, entitled "17 People
", an episode that took place entirely within the West Wing main sets (Oval Office, offices of chief of staff, communications director, etc.) is regarded as a bottle episode. The season 5 episode "No Exit
" follows the a similar concept and examines several relationships between regular cast members, based on the Sartre play of the same title (which is an influence on both the concept of the bottle episode and many examples thereof). The season 4 episode "Evidence of Things Not Seen
" likewise could be considered a bottle episode.
In the DVD version of season one of the series Las Vegas
, series creator Gary Scott Thompson
explained that episode 13, entitled "The Night the Lights Went Out in Vegas", is a bottle episode, due to the entire episode taking place within the confines of its main location of the Montecito Casino, as well as the lack of extras in the casino during the episode.
While attempted with the episode "4 Days Out" in the second Season of Breaking Bad
, the Season 3 episode "Fly" only features the leading actors Bryan Cranston
and Aaron Paul
(plus a few extras) and takes place almost exclusively in the secret laboratory they use to cook meth. Series creator Vince Gilligan
has acknowledged this as a bottle episode, but also explained that the limited setting and cast allowed for a slower pace and deeper exploration of character traits and motives: "Even if financial realities didn't enter into it, I feel as a showrunner that there should be a certain shape and pace to each season, and the really high highs that you try to get to at the end of a season — the big dramatic moments of action and violence, the big operatic moments you're striving for — I don't think would land as hard if you didn't have the moments of quiet that came before them. The quiet episodes make the tenser, more dramatic episodes pop even more than they usually would just by their contrast."
In the Friends episode titled "The One Where No One's Ready
", the plot centers on Ross's (David Schwimmer
) anxiety as his friends take too long getting ready for a function that evening. The entire episode takes place in Monica and Rachel's apartment, with no non-regular actors.
In the Community
episode titled "Cooperative Calligraphy
", which is about the main cast locking themselves in a large study room in search of one character's missing pen, several characters break the fourth wall
and refer to the situation as a bottle episode and it plays out the stereotype in a satirical format. Additionally, the season 2 episode "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" fits many of the criteria for a bottle episode, with the main characters and one guest spending the episode in a room playing the titular game.
The show Boston Legal
also has a bottle episode near the end of its run, where many of the main cast members and several reoccurring guests spend most of the episode stuck together in Shirley Schmidt's house for Thanksgiving.
The fourth season episode "The Suitcase
" of the AMC
show Mad Men
primarily utilized the bottle episode format, with the primary characters Don Draper
and Peggy spending most of the episode alone in their office exploring their relationship and lives, save for a brief drunken interruption from former show regular Duck Phillips. The episode is considered among the show's best.
The first season episode of Homicide: Life on the Street
entitled "Three Men and Adena
" is considered a Bottle episode as it takes place almost entirely within the interrogation room over a twelve hour period.It received enormous critical acclaim and is considered among the show's best episodes. The episode "Night of the Dead Living
" which is set entirely within the office and involves no cases or advances in story arcs is also considered a bottle episode.
The fourth episode of the first series of Psychoville
took place in one, uninterrupted thirty-minute recording taking place in one setting and starring only three actors (Steve Pemberton
, Reece Shearsmith
and Mark Gatiss
).
The seventh episode of the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
entitled "Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games" takes place only at Paddy's Pub using just the main characters.
The sixteenth episode of the fourth season of Scrubs
called "My Quarantine" and takes place in the ICU the entire episode when J.D. makes the mistake of diagnosing a patient with SARS disease.
Episode
An episode is a part of a dramatic work such as a serial television or radio program. An episode is a part of a sequence of a body of work, akin to a chapter of a book. The term sometimes applies to works based on other forms of mass media as well, as in Star Wars...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
to refer to episodes which are produced using the least money, and restricted in their scope to use as few, or no, non-regular cast members, effects, and sets as possible. Most bottle episodes are shot on sets already built for other episodes, frequently the main interior sets for a series, and they consist largely of dialogue or scenes for which no special preparations are needed.
Use
Because the largest part of a television seriesTelevision program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
' budget generally goes into producing episodes meant to pique audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
interest, such as season openers and closers, bottle episodes are produced using whatever money is left over, using existing resources. Scott Brazil
Scott Brazil
Scott Brazil was an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning American television producer and director.-Early years:...
, executive producer/director of the FX
FX Networks
FX is the name of a number of related pay television channels owned by News Corporation's Fox Entertainment Group...
series The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
, described bottle episodes as "the sad little step child whose allowance is docked in order to buy big brother a new pair of sneaks".
An often parodied feature of bottle episodes among series that are rarely studio based is the means in which the cast are forced to stay in the same location, for example large external forces such as natural disasters (not seen on screen due to the expense) or something as simple as an accidentally locked door.
Bottle episodes should not be confused with filler
Filler (media)
In media, filler is material that is combined with material of greater relevance or quality to "fill out" a certain volume.-Early television:...
episodes; while many bottle episodes are fillers, this is not always the case. In fact, while the higher-priority episodes may be more visually appealing, bottle episodes are sometimes the ones in which actors give their best performances. In this respect, bottle episodes are a "make-or-break" process because they tend to be among the best or worst episodes in a series. For example, the Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
episode "The One Where No One's Ready
The One Where No One's Ready
"The One Where No One's Ready" is the second episode of the third season of the American television situation comedy Friends, which aired on NBC on September 26, 1996...
" only features two sets and no guest stars, except for Peter Dennis for a few seconds at the end, yet it has been voted up to the third best Friends episode. In fact, series creator Marta Kauffman
Marta Kauffman
Marta Kauffman is an American writer and TV producer, best known as the co-creator of the popular sitcom Friends, alongside David Crane. Both Crane and Kauffman were also executive producer of the show, along with Kevin Bright. Crane and Kauffman have also produced Veronica's Closet, starring...
reports that at least one bottle episode was created in every season of Friends due to that episode's popularity.
Influences
Many bottle episodes utilize tropes and techniques popularized by certain plays, in which few cast members interact in minimalist settings over the course of the show. Some of the more prominent examples include Sartre's play No ExitNo Exit
No Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original French title is Huis Clos, the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors; English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out...
(whence the famous line "Hell is other people"), Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's show Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
, Twelve Angry Men
Twelve Angry Men
Twelve Angry Men may refer to:* Twelve Angry Men , a 1954 teleplay by Reginald Rose* Twelve Angry Men , a play adapted by Rose from his teleplay* 12 Angry Men , an adaptation of the play, directed by Sidney Lumet...
and the eponymous film, and Michael Frayn's
Michael Frayn
Michael J. Frayn is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce Noises Off and the dramas Copenhagen and Democracy...
's play Copenhagen
Copenhagen (play)
Copenhagen is a play by Michael Frayn, based around an event that occurred in Copenhagen in 1941, a meeting between the physicists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. It debuted in London in 1998...
.
Similar formats have also been used in many films, including some smaller independent films (such as Coffee and Cigarettes
Coffee and Cigarettes
Coffee and Cigarettes is the title of three short films and a 2003 feature film by independent director Jim Jarmusch. The 2003 film consists of 11 short stories which share coffee and cigarettes as a common thread, and includes the earlier three films....
, and some more mainstream works).
Examples
One of the earliest examples of this is "A Night In", the third episode of prison sitcom PorridgePorridge (TV series)
Porridge is a British situation comedy broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film. Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland...
, which, apart from a prison warden who has three lines towards the end of the episode, is thirty minutes set entirely within a prison cell with only two characters.
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
sitcom One Foot In The Grave
One Foot in the Grave
One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven year period, from early 1990 to late 2000...
is also well known for this. Examples are the series two episode "Timeless Time", set in the bedroom; the series three episode "The Beast In The Cage" (in the car); series four's "The Trial" (at home alone, waiting to hear about jury service
Jury duty
Jury duty is service as a juror in a legal proceeding. When a person is called for jury duty in the United States, that service is usually not optional: one must attend or face strict penalties. Employers are not allowed to fire an employee simply for being called to jury duty...
); series five, "Rearranging The Dust" (in a solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
's waiting room) and series six's "Threatening Weather" (set during a power cut
Power outage
A power outage is a short- or long-term loss of the electric power to an area.There are many causes of power failures in an electricity network...
).
An example of a bottle episode from the TV Series Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
is the 1991 episode "The Chinese Restaurant
The Chinese Restaurant
"The Chinese Restaurant" is the eleventh episode of the sitcom Seinfelds second season on NBC, and is the show's sixteenth episode overall. The episode revolves around protagonist Jerry and his friends Elaine Benes and George Costanza waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, on their way to...
" where the entire episode
The Chinese Restaurant
"The Chinese Restaurant" is the eleventh episode of the sitcom Seinfelds second season on NBC, and is the show's sixteenth episode overall. The episode revolves around protagonist Jerry and his friends Elaine Benes and George Costanza waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, on their way to...
features the cast waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant.
In the making of "Quality of Mercy" feature in the The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1995 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that originally aired on Showtime,the Sci Fi Channel and in syndication between 1995 and 2002...
season one DVD set, Executive Producer Pen Densham
Pen Densham
Pen Densham is a British-Canadian-American film and television writer, producer, director and author, known for writing and producing films such as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves television revivals of The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone, as well as writing, producing and directing MGM’s Moll...
describes that most cop shows would have a Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon is a 1975 drama film directed by Sidney Lumet, written by Frank Pierson, and produced by Martin Bregman. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Chris Sarandon, Penny Allen, James Broderick, and Carol Kane. The title refers to the "dog days of summer".The film was...
episode which would house the entire show in a single room or set, referring to the movie which, for the most part, takes place in and around a bank.
Bottle episodes from the Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
franchise are known for occasionally becoming among the most popular with fans. Prominent examples include "The Tholian Web", "Journey To Babel" and "Balance of Terror
Balance of terror
The phrase "balance of terror" is usually used in reference to the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War....
". The phenomenon has persisted to a lesser extent in contemporary incarnations, with "Duet" (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
) which has been celebrated by Startrek.com and Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
among other sources as "[a]rguably one of the best episodes of Deep Space Nine and a jewel in the entire Trek canon".
The Goodies
The Goodies (TV series)
The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
finished off series five and series seven with bottle episodes "The End
The End (Goodies episode)
The End is an episode of the British comedy television series The Goodies— a BAFTA-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.This episode is also known as "Encased in Concrete" and "Concrete on the Outside"....
" and "Earthanasia
Earthanasia (Goodies episode)
"Earthanasia" is the suspected finale of the British comedy television series The Goodies— a BAFTA-nominated series for Best Light Entertainment Programme.This episode is also known as "The End of the World Show"....
", the latter of which occurs in real time between 11:30pm on Christmas Eve and midnight, at which point the Earth is due to be destroyed, and the episode focuses on their attempts to decide how to use their last minutes. Both episodes are notable for featuring just the three stars, and take place entirely within their one-room flat.
In the classic series of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
the third serial, entitled The Edge of Destruction
The Edge of Destruction
The Edge of Destruction is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in two weekly parts on February 8 and February 15, 1964. The serial is distinguished as a rare "bottle episode", in that the entire story is shot on a single set, with just...
, was both a filler and a bottle episode: the original commission was for 13 episodes, but the two serials chosen to open the series were four and seven episodes long respectively, so a two part story featuring only the four leads and set entirely within the TARDIS
TARDIS
The TARDISGenerally, TARDIS is written in all upper case letters—this convention was popularised by the Target novelisations of the 1970s...
was written, using the remainder of the budget and filling the commission. In the 2005 series, Russell T Davies, the lead writer, has stated that several episodes which were written to be budget light have resulted in consuming more money than intended ("The Long Game
The Long Game
"The Long Game" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on May 7, 2005. Along with new companion Adam, the TARDIS deposits the Doctor and Rose on Satellite 5, a space station that broadcasts across the entire human empire...
" and "Boom Town
Boom Town (Doctor Who)
"Boom Town" is an episode in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast on 4 June 2005. The Doctor, Rose and Jack travel to modern-day Cardiff and meet up with Rose's boyfriend, Mickey...
" are two examples cited in the 2005 book "Doctor Who: The Shooting Scripts"). The fourth-series episode "Midnight
Midnight (Doctor Who)
"Midnight" is the tenth episode of the fourth series of British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 14 June 2008. The episode placed much more emphasis on the role of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor than in the rest of the fourth series, with the...
" takes place almost entirely on a single (though purpose-built) set, and has minimal special effects.
The Facts of Life
The Facts of Life (TV series)
The Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to May 7, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' premise focused on Edna Garrett as she becomes a housemother at the fictional Eastland School, a prestigious...
season 4 episode 'Take My Finals, Please' takes place entirely in the girls' bedroom and features only the main 5 characters in an episode set over one night.
The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
creator Chris Carter has described the season one episode Darkness Falls
Darkness Falls (The X-Files)
"Darkness Falls" is the twentieth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on April 15, 1994. "Darkness Falls" was written by series creator Chris Carter, and directed by Joe Napolitano. It featured guest appearances...
as a bottle episode.
The season two episode of the series The West Wing
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
, entitled "17 People
17 People
"17 People" is the 40th episode of The West Wing. The episode was written as a "bottle episode" to save money as the series had run up large over time costs. The episode starts the same night as the Stackhouse Filibuster, and takes place entirely within the West Wing main set. Other than the main...
", an episode that took place entirely within the West Wing main sets (Oval Office, offices of chief of staff, communications director, etc.) is regarded as a bottle episode. The season 5 episode "No Exit
No Exit
No Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original French title is Huis Clos, the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors; English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out...
" follows the a similar concept and examines several relationships between regular cast members, based on the Sartre play of the same title (which is an influence on both the concept of the bottle episode and many examples thereof). The season 4 episode "Evidence of Things Not Seen
Evidence of Things Not Seen
"Evidence of Things Not Seen" is episode 85 of The West Wing. The episode introduces Matthew Perry to the series.-Plot:On the night of the vernal equinox, the West Wing staff and the President are engaged in a game of poker, but keep getting interrupted by various crises...
" likewise could be considered a bottle episode.
In the DVD version of season one of the series Las Vegas
Las Vegas (TV series)
Las Vegas was an American television series broadcast by NBC from September 22, 2003 to February 15, 2008. The show focuses on a team of people working at the ficticional Montecito Resort & Casino dealing with issues that arise within the working environment, ranging from valet parking and...
, series creator Gary Scott Thompson
Gary Scott Thompson
Gary Scott Thompson is a screenwriter, television producer, and director. Spending much of his childhood in American Samoa, Thompson first gained exposure to the world of entertainment as an actor, studying the craft from such notable actors as Powers Boothe. Eventually settling on writing, he...
explained that episode 13, entitled "The Night the Lights Went Out in Vegas", is a bottle episode, due to the entire episode taking place within the confines of its main location of the Montecito Casino, as well as the lack of extras in the casino during the episode.
While attempted with the episode "4 Days Out" in the second Season of Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series...
, the Season 3 episode "Fly" only features the leading actors Bryan Cranston
Bryan Cranston
Bryan Lee Cranston is an American actor, voice actor, writer and director. He is best known for his roles as Hal the father in the Fox situation comedy Malcolm in the Middle, and Walter White in the AMC drama series Breaking Bad, for which he won three consecutive Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
and Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul
Aaron Michael Paul is an American actor. After appearing in several roles in American television, including a recurring role on the HBO series Big Love, Paul came to prominence in the late 2000s for his critically acclaimed portrayal of Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series Breaking Bad, for which he...
(plus a few extras) and takes place almost exclusively in the secret laboratory they use to cook meth. Series creator Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan
Vince Gilligan is an American writer, director and producer. He is the creator of the highly acclaimed television series Breaking Bad. Gilligan has also worked on the hit series The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen. He is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University...
has acknowledged this as a bottle episode, but also explained that the limited setting and cast allowed for a slower pace and deeper exploration of character traits and motives: "Even if financial realities didn't enter into it, I feel as a showrunner that there should be a certain shape and pace to each season, and the really high highs that you try to get to at the end of a season — the big dramatic moments of action and violence, the big operatic moments you're striving for — I don't think would land as hard if you didn't have the moments of quiet that came before them. The quiet episodes make the tenser, more dramatic episodes pop even more than they usually would just by their contrast."
In the Friends episode titled "The One Where No One's Ready
The One Where No One's Ready
"The One Where No One's Ready" is the second episode of the third season of the American television situation comedy Friends, which aired on NBC on September 26, 1996...
", the plot centers on Ross's (David Schwimmer
David Schwimmer
David Lawrence Schwimmer is an American actor and director of television and film. He was born in New York City, and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was two. He began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern...
) anxiety as his friends take too long getting ready for a function that evening. The entire episode takes place in Monica and Rachel's apartment, with no non-regular actors.
In the Community
Community (TV series)
Community is an American television comedy series created by Dan Harmon that airs on NBC. The series is about a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. The series heavily uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television...
episode titled "Cooperative Calligraphy
Cooperative Calligraphy
"Cooperative Calligraphy" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series Community, and the 33rd episode of the series overall...
", which is about the main cast locking themselves in a large study room in search of one character's missing pen, several characters break the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
and refer to the situation as a bottle episode and it plays out the stereotype in a satirical format. Additionally, the season 2 episode "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons" fits many of the criteria for a bottle episode, with the main characters and one guest spending the episode in a room playing the titular game.
The show Boston Legal
Boston Legal
Boston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC...
also has a bottle episode near the end of its run, where many of the main cast members and several reoccurring guests spend most of the episode stuck together in Shirley Schmidt's house for Thanksgiving.
The fourth season episode "The Suitcase
The Suitcase
"The Suitcase" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Mad Men, and the 46th overall episode of the series. It aired on the AMC channel in the United States on September 5, 2010. The episode is almost entirely centered around the characters of Don Draper ...
" of the AMC
AMC
AMC may refer to:* AMC , a short-lived British steam car manufactured in London in 1910*AMC Networks, an American media company** AMC , originally American Movie Classics, a cable television channel owned by AMC Networks...
show Mad Men
Mad Men
Mad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
primarily utilized the bottle episode format, with the primary characters Don Draper
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
and Peggy spending most of the episode alone in their office exploring their relationship and lives, save for a brief drunken interruption from former show regular Duck Phillips. The episode is considered among the show's best.
The first season episode of Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
entitled "Three Men and Adena
Three Men and Adena
"Three Men and Adena" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 3, 1993. The episode was written by executive producer Tom Fontana and directed by Martin Campbell...
" is considered a Bottle episode as it takes place almost entirely within the interrogation room over a twelve hour period.It received enormous critical acclaim and is considered among the show's best episodes. The episode "Night of the Dead Living
Night of the Dead Living
"Night of the Dead Living" is the ninth episode and first season finale of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 31, 1993. In the episode, the homicide squad works the night shift on a summer evening, but...
" which is set entirely within the office and involves no cases or advances in story arcs is also considered a bottle episode.
The fourth episode of the first series of Psychoville
Psychoville
Psychoville is an award-winning British dark comedy television serial written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French and Jason Tompkins in...
took place in one, uninterrupted thirty-minute recording taking place in one setting and starring only three actors (Steve Pemberton
Steve Pemberton
Steve James Pemberton is an English actor, comedian, writer and performer, most famous as a member of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
, Reece Shearsmith
Reece Shearsmith
Reeson "Reece" Shearsmith is an English actor and writer. He is most famous for his work as part of The League of Gentlemen along with fellow performers Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and co-writer Jeremy Dyson.-Early life:...
and Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
).
The seventh episode of the seventh season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is an American television sitcom that premiered on FX on August 4, 2005. New episodes continue to air on FX, with reruns playing on Comedy Central, general broadcast syndication, and WGN America—the first-ever cable-to-cable syndication deal for a sitcom...
entitled "Chardee MacDennis: The Game of Games" takes place only at Paddy's Pub using just the main characters.
The sixteenth episode of the fourth season of Scrubs
Scrubs (TV series)
Scrubs is an American medical comedy-drama television series created in 2001 by Bill Lawrence and produced by ABC Studios. The show follows the lives of several employees of the fictional Sacred Heart, a teaching hospital. It features fast-paced screenplay, slapstick, and surreal vignettes...
called "My Quarantine" and takes place in the ICU the entire episode when J.D. makes the mistake of diagnosing a patient with SARS disease.