Basic Trope: To save money, an episode is done that involves fewer (or lower-quality) props, costumes, and set.
- Straight: An episode of Upper-Class Twit takes place entirely on The Couch.
- Exaggerated:
- The episode consists of nothing but Talking Heads.
- The characters move from a well-kept mansion to a run-down studio apartment.
- The show's traditional furniture is distinctly not on the set for one episode. Not a single character bats an eyelash at its absence, nor at its equally unexplained return for the next episode.
- An extended Story Arc happens to feature Alice and Bob going naked.
- Downplayed: Normally the characters hang out inside and outside the house, but today a rainstorm keeps them in.
- Justified:
- This sequence is All Just a Dream.
- The characters are experiencing a Broke Episode.
- It's Reality TV.
- It's a Breather Episode, allowing a chance for the characters to relax and wind down before the next big event.
- Inverted: An episode of Dom Com (which is usually produced dirt-cheap) has Alice and Bob staying at the beautiful vacation home of a better-off friend.
- Subverted: Bob announces that they'll be going to Hawaii and staying at a fancy resort.
- Double Subverted: The family's travel plans get fouled up, and they end up staying in a cramped little beach shack, or at a cheap motel miles from the beach.
- Parodied:
- The show's "producers" appear on the screen and are shown paying for the episode in play money.
- The characters are shrunken down to an inch tall each and put in an empty beverage bottle.
- Zig-Zagged: Episodes take place in different locations.
- Averted: The same set, costumes, and props are always used.
- Enforced: Budgeting problems behind the scenes. (By definition, this is the reason for the trope. If cheaper props are used for any other reason, it isn't an example.)
- Lampshaded: "I miss our mansion. This apartment sucks."
- Invoked: Bob makes a bad investment, and his family loses everything. Thanks to his close circle of friends, he gets back on his feet by the end of the episode.
- Exploited: Danny ransacks the town while Bob (one of a very few half-decent police officers in the town) is stuck elsewhere.
- Defied: Bob calls his wealthy sister Carla, and the family gets to stay in Carla's (much nicer) mansion.
- Discussed: "Do you think rich people ever go camping?" "Probably, but I don't think it's anything like camping as we know it."
- Conversed: "This episode only has a few people in one room the whole time!" "Show must be running low on funds."
This link to Bottle Episode was a cheaper one than normal, we needed to save cash.
