"Shades of Gray": As Bad as its Reputation?

[Michael]

I have to agree with those who like "Shades of Gray". Sure, it's a clip show to save money, but the clips chosen are actually not all that bad. Riker is my favorite TNG character, so I enjoy having him at the center of it. I also love Pulaski, so having her is a plus, too. And what about that Ron Jones score? Isn't it great?!

 

[sonak]

it was cheap and lazy and came at a point where it was way too early for a clip show. There are worse episodes but not many.

 

[Richard Baker]

I had totally forgotten this episode- nothing interesting happens in it and it is an obvious construct to fill an hour with as little as possible.
I generally do not care for clip shows for that reason (except SG-!'s, for the reasons mentioned earlier).
It would have been so simple to have the same actors on that show just shoot a couple of extra scenes involving an event which had not been in an actual episode earlier. Nothing special, but add an event which the viewer had not seen already. The Enterprise has been doing a lot of things which were not shown on screen but sometimes references in the Captains Log or in dialog...

 

[Therin of Andor]

It would have been so simple to have the same actors on that show just shoot a couple of extra scenes involving an event which had not been in an actual episode earlier.

Which totally defeats the cost- and time-saving aspect of the episode. Not "simple" at all.

As I mentioned before, salvaging a few cut scenes from previous episodes, such as Wesley's birthday, would have worked. But then there'd be costs in researching through the old footage, completing any sound and colour balance stuff - were the SPFX stars missing from bluescreen windows?, etc.

 

[Harvey]

There might have been more visual effects costs to complete those sequences (I haven't seen them; really don't know), but they would have still helped to accomplish what the episode set out to do: shoot an episode in three days.

 

[urbandefault]

I haven't seen this one in years, but I tend to like clip shows. But that's just me being me.

 

[Xzpezer]

It is bad but not as bad as an episode like Angel one