# Was "The Trouble with Tribbles" a bottle episode? (Star Trek: TOS) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [September 26, 2025, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422 "2025-09-26T22:58:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/41 "2025-09-29T00:19:21Z")
A classic. Twelve bottle episodes > [@Bakers Dozen](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bakers-dozen/549173/17132): > > “Bottle” episodes of television series “Two’s a Crowd” All in the Family (the “Shoe-booty” episode) “Fly” Breaking Bad The Tholian web - Star Trek TOS The first season of Cheers Most Episodes - The Honeymooners Nearly every episode - Barney Miller Cooperative Calligraphy- Community (in which Abed was conscious of being in a bottle episode) “Midnight” - Doctor Who “Maude Bares Her Soul” - Bea Arthur solo, talking to her (unseen) psychiatrist for 30 minutest. No other actors appeared “O.R.” - MAS… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/42 "2025-09-29T04:53:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If anything, I’d expect guest stars to be considerably cheaper than the main cast, since they’re likely to be no-name actors just taking whatever gig they could. I think the idea is that you’re going to be paying your main cast anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/43 "2025-09-29T04:57:57Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > A classic. > > Twelve bottle episodes If I’m being cited then I must be an authority on this topic. Therefore I’m calling it; “The Trouble with Tribbles” is not a bottle episode. So let it be written. So let it be done. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/44 "2025-09-29T13:28:43Z")
I saw that Maude ep a few years ago, and, boy, was it painful! Practially a whole episode of closeups of Maude’s face with that look of perpetual constipation. FWIW, the first reference to “bottle episode” that I found in press accounts was from 2010 regarding an episode of the series “Community.” While I don’t know how long it might have been industry jargon, it was apparently new enough to the public that the account defined it thus: “A cost-saving measure in which a plot device confines the cast to a single pre-existing set with no guest stars.” Possibly the original definition is evolving to encompass something broader. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/45 "2025-09-29T13:42:37Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > FWIW, the first reference to “bottle episode” that I found in press accounts was from 2010 regarding an episode of the series “Community.” No cite, unfortunately, but I seem to recall becoming familiar with the term earlier than that – possibly in the 1990s or 2000s – and specifically in reference to _Star Trek_ episodes which used the money-saving technique. [Google’s Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=bottle+episode&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3) shows use of the phrase steadily increasing from around 2000 on; there are some interesting bumps in the 1920s and 1940s, too, which I would suspect are some other usage of the term. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/46 "2025-09-29T13:54:49Z")
I found numerous citations of ‘bottle episode,’ but they were accounts that involved some non-tv-series ‘episode’ involving actual physical bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/47 "2025-09-29T13:56:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Star Trek_ wasn’t averse to bottle episodes. Right! In fact, if what I’ve read is accurate, they were close to being broke during the final season and cut a lot of corners to produce the season without completely running out of money. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/48 "2025-09-29T14:07:37Z")
“Set phasers on invisible.” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/49 "2025-09-29T14:22:29Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > there are some interesting bumps in the 1920s and 1940s That meant something entirely different back then. Just ask Fatty Arbuckle. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/50 "2025-09-29T14:46:32Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > FWIW, the first reference to “bottle episode” that I found in press accounts was from 2010 regarding an episode of the series “Community.” Now I only know it in context of Star Trek, but the term was used at least as early as Shades Of Grey which was 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/51 "2025-09-29T14:53:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Listen guys, we’re not going to get a good debate going here unless somebody is willing to take the other side. Well, Scotty got drunk enough to get into a bar fight, so I’m pretty sure there was a bottle involved in that somewhere! ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/52 "2025-09-29T15:41:31Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > _Star Trek_ wasn’t averse to bottle episodes. > > Right! In fact, if what I’ve read is accurate, they were close to being broke during the final season and cut a lot of corners to produce the season without completely running out of money. Can’t forget then the ep. “Mark of Gideon” where an alien society far far away somehow managed to make an exact duplicate of the Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/53 "2025-09-29T15:42:52Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Can’t forget then the ep. “Mark of Gideon” where an alien society far far away somehow managed to make an exact duplicate of the Enterprise. “Quantum Entanglement”? LOL ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/54 "2025-09-29T15:46:03Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > I think the ultimate bottle series was “I Dream of Jeannie.” ISWYDT. Well played! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/55 "2025-09-29T15:53:40Z")
Was that dumb episode where intruding aliens were running around the Enterprise so fast that they were invisible a bottle episode? Seems like they were mostly standing around talking. That was one of the most comic book stories ever filmed. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/56 "2025-09-29T15:54:55Z")
Not really. They had scenes on the planet and a lot of different sets on the ship. So not a bottle episode. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/57 "2025-09-29T16:13:23Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Well, Scotty got drunk enough to get into a bar fight, so I’m pretty sure there was a bottle involved in that somewhere! > [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > the cast was quarantined in a saloon during a smallpox outbreak. If there’s a bar fight, it’s a Broken Bottle Episode.. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/58 "2025-09-29T16:46:35Z")
> [@digs](#): > > If there’s a bar fight, it’s a Broken Bottle Episode.. [breaks bottle] Dem’s _fightin’ words!_ ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/59 "2025-09-29T17:24:32Z")
_“And also cost-effective!”_ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422/60 "2025-09-29T17:37:33Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > I think a key feature of bottle episodes is that they focus on the existing characters interacting with each other (or for a solo character to emote to himself! (as when Hawkeye monologues in front of a Korean family who exist only to listen to him)); guest stars should exist only to facilitate that feature. By that standard, “The Empath” and “Naked Time” work well as bottle episodes. “Doomsday Machine” is too focused on Decker to meet that standard. “The Naked Time” and “Tholian Web” for sure, but in “The Empath” she is as important as Decker. That is more of an example of the common plot where Kirk, Spock and McCoy are taken off the ship and Scotty spends the hour trying to rescue them, succeeding just after they resolve the problem. “Catspaw” is like this also. “The Corbomite Maneuver” is pretty much a bottle episode also, though from being filmed first it was before we might have gotten bored of the Enterprise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-the-trouble-with-tribbles-a-bottle-episode-star-trek-tos/1023422.md?page=4)