bottle episode

noun
/ˈbɒtəl ˈɛpɪsəʊd/UK/ˈbɑtəl ˈɛpəˌsoʊd/US

Etymology

Said to be from the term “ship-in-a-bottle episode”, the nickname given by the cast and crew of the television series Star Trek (originally broadcast 1966–1969) to an episode set entirely on board the starship USS Enterprise.

Definitions

  1. An episode of a television series designed to be inexpensive and restricted in its use of…

    An episode of a television series designed to be inexpensive and restricted in its use of sets, effects, cast members, etc.

    • That's pretty much what a "bottle" episode is; one that uses minimal sets, guest stars, effects, etc, and/or uses lots of clips from past episodes, in order to make a much cheaper episode.
    • Even though they are moving, for large stretches 'Spiral' is a bottle episode.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bottle episode. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA