Greetings. One of my favorite episodes of the original "The Outer Limits" was a so-called "bottle episode" (in fact, the term "bottle show" was originally coined by the series' creator and exec producer Leslie Stevens) from 1964 -- "Controlled Experiment". The episode is all played very much tongue-in-cheek.

Two Martians (don't worry, they look just like humans) -- played by Barry Morse (inspector) and Carroll O'Conner (Earth outpost caretaker) head to a local seedy hotel under orders to study the unique Earth custom of murder.

Phobos One (the inspector) brings with him a temporal converter disguised as a ragged old suitcase. These are powerful and dangerous and only to be used with great skill -- which of course Phobos notes that he possesses.

They then study a predicted murder from all angles over and over, running it backwards and forward, slow and fast, riding up in the elevator with the victim (played by Robert Fortier, later of Star Trek fame), and getting increasingly confused.

Finally, Phobos makes a radical decision. He will prevent the murder by diverting the bullet, and see what happens. Carroll O' Conner's character Deimos is very dubious, but Phobos is used to getting what he wants. So he does it, causing the (would be) victim to feel himself, obviously wondering why the bullet didn't hit him.

And it all seems happy! Instead of murder, the young woman with the gun and the man who had been the intended victim (she thought he was two-timing her -- which actually he was) embrace and kiss as he asks her to marry him.

Our two Martians are all smiles.

Until a loud beeping starts coming from the temporal converter:

Deimos: It's... it's not going to blow up, is it?

Phobos: No. That's an emergency signal
from control center. Is the recording tape on?

Yes. Oh, affirmative.

We'd better contact them. Give me the communicator.

Control center? This is Phobos One calling from Earth. We've received an emergency signal on temporal converter unit. Please advise. Over.

Control Center: This is Martian control center. Tape of your experiment relayed through computers indicates double-a
red alert emergency. Probability division
will give you instructions. Stand by.

Double-a red alert emergency? Why, that's the highest priority in the galaxy.

Received you loud and clear. Standing by.

Phobos One, you have exceeded your authority. You have tampered with a temporal sequence. The space-time continuum may be permanently damaged.

Oh, but, sir, all I did was to tap a lead pellet out of its trajectory.

Fatal error. Repeat, fatal error. Computers predict major disaster.

Disaster? How?

Male and female are now together. They marry and produce male child. Father tells child of miraculous escape.
Child grows up, believes it's immortal.
Child enters politics, becomes dictator.
Starts atomic war in belief it cannot be killed. Atomic chain reactions explode atmosphere, blow up planet Earth.
Radiation affects entire solar system.
Destroys ecologic balance of galaxy.
Galaxy collides with Andromeda.
Computers unable to predict beyond this point due to overheating.

But, sir, I can assure you, it all looks perfectly harmless from down here.

Pull yourself together, Phobos One.
This is double-a red alert emergency.

Your orders are as follows...
PUT IT BACK THE WAY IT WAS!

Let her shoot him?

AFFIRMATIVE!

- - - -

Some days you just can't catch a break. Or can you? -L

@lauren Leslie Stevens also created "Search", a wheel series and one of my favorites. Considering that world travel was essential to the show's theme I don't imagine (let alone recall) they ever did a bottle episode. Though they were certainly guilty of the common technique of using stale stock footage to establish a scene in some far-flung city, and then doing everything else on the studio lot.