Bottle shows are usually created due to budget and time constraints. (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion 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. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, paperback ed., p. 253) While working on Star Trek: The Next Generation, 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." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, 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 bi