Yeah, I know, but if money were no object, then that would have been the way to do it and not have the rubbish we got.
Shades of Grey
- Thread starter Kooz
- Start date
Yeah, I know, but if money were no object, then that would have been the way to do it and not have the rubbish we got.
It might have been more interesting, and still saved money, if they had used clips that were from "the cutting room floor."
Scenes done from a slightly different camera angle, actors use a different interpretation on the script, Riker misremembering things by using dialog that was later discarded.
A scene originally filmed in Picard's ready room, but what we saw was later filmed on the bridge, that sort of thing.
Scenes done from a slightly different camera angle, actors use a different interpretation on the script, Riker misremembering things by using dialog that was later discarded.
A scene originally filmed in Picard's ready room, but what we saw was later filmed on the bridge, that sort of thing.
Honestly, I think the original concept for this episode that had Riker getting into a BDSM contract with Counselor Troi was much more interesting. But instead we get a stupid clip show.
Or at least not used clips that took place when Riker was not there or was not aware.
Can't. There wasn't enough material for that.
Then it makes for a pretty stupid premise for an episode.
If money hadn't been a problem, SoG would never have got near a camera. It exists ENTIRELY because of the need to shoot something in a couple of days on standing sets with no guest stars.
Take that need away, and 2x22 wouldn't have been "SoG w/newly written & filmed flashbacks rather than clips from previous episodes", it would have been an entirely different episode from the ground up!
I've really only seen one good clip show in all the time I've watched tv (I'm 44 so I've watched a lot) and that was a first season episode of Alias called "Q and A". It actually added to the mythology of the show instead of being just a bunch of clips from previous episodes and a thin plot.
...But I must agree that "The Menagerie" would have been a pretty good clip show if not for the technicality that it wasn't one. There was appreciable dramatic relevance for most of the clips, a great contrast between "past" and "present", and also the considerable curiosity value of the clips forming a dramatically more coherent whole than the framing story. Really, has that happened anywhere else in the history of television?
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
I think I'll try that on my next series watching.
Clip shows were common back then. They started to get scorn since "Shades of Grey" and generally came to be avoided except perhaps for a small flashback here or there. They were purely to save money if a show was overbudget on earlier episodes that season or if they had budget cuts. Think about it- most of the footage was already filmed earlier and it fills a significant chunk of the episode.
Notice DS9, VOY, ENT entirely avoided clip shows. A lot of other shows from the '90s did like X-Files and many syndicated shows. Hercules had 1, EFC had 2 in Season 5, not sure if there might have been 1 earlier, then the Outer Limits had 1 per season (they tried to get creative and weave many of that season's tales together, but most of the time, they fell completely flat), The Legacy had 1 per season and 2 clip shows in its last season! Clip shows seemed more common in cartoons (cartoons seem to like the use of flashbacks more too).
Clip shows tend to always be hated as a concept (though some individual episodes get a mild reception. "Shades of Grey" is presented as a torture session, just Riker and the loathed Dr. Pulaski, basically showing clips from Season 1 to torture Riker. I guess for TOS, a clip show would have been showing episodes like "Spock's Brain", "And the Children Shall Lead" and other bad episodes to viewers). Most get low scores. One of the earliest clip shows, the Leave It to Beaver series finale, seems to be well-regarded. At a time when episodes were aired once and then not seen again til years later, the clip show served to show how much Beaver & Wally grew over the 6 seasons and matured. It was a sentimental look back for viewers.
I always thought they should have gotten creative with clip shows. Show clips from unused footage from episodes, like different angles that were left on the cutting room floor or better yet, whole alternate scenes filmed at the time with all these episodes where the dialogue is changed, the positions of the actors, or even the outcomes, and weave a sort of parallel history kind of clip show. The only show that comes to mind that did something different was Avatar: The Last Airbender, where there was no real clip show, but in 1 episode the group watched a highly embellished stage play chronicling all the events of the series, sort of a spoof of the whole series. That parody served to remind the viewers of all the events while presenting the material in a new way.
Notice DS9, VOY, ENT entirely avoided clip shows. A lot of other shows from the '90s did like X-Files and many syndicated shows. Hercules had 1, EFC had 2 in Season 5, not sure if there might have been 1 earlier, then the Outer Limits had 1 per season (they tried to get creative and weave many of that season's tales together, but most of the time, they fell completely flat), The Legacy had 1 per season and 2 clip shows in its last season! Clip shows seemed more common in cartoons (cartoons seem to like the use of flashbacks more too).
Clip shows tend to always be hated as a concept (though some individual episodes get a mild reception. "Shades of Grey" is presented as a torture session, just Riker and the loathed Dr. Pulaski, basically showing clips from Season 1 to torture Riker. I guess for TOS, a clip show would have been showing episodes like "Spock's Brain", "And the Children Shall Lead" and other bad episodes to viewers). Most get low scores. One of the earliest clip shows, the Leave It to Beaver series finale, seems to be well-regarded. At a time when episodes were aired once and then not seen again til years later, the clip show served to show how much Beaver & Wally grew over the 6 seasons and matured. It was a sentimental look back for viewers.
I always thought they should have gotten creative with clip shows. Show clips from unused footage from episodes, like different angles that were left on the cutting room floor or better yet, whole alternate scenes filmed at the time with all these episodes where the dialogue is changed, the positions of the actors, or even the outcomes, and weave a sort of parallel history kind of clip show. The only show that comes to mind that did something different was Avatar: The Last Airbender, where there was no real clip show, but in 1 episode the group watched a highly embellished stage play chronicling all the events of the series, sort of a spoof of the whole series. That parody served to remind the viewers of all the events while presenting the material in a new way.
The puppet sequence in SG1's "200" was hilarious.
I just finished season 2. I had never seen this episode. I must have skipped this on my first viewing of the DVD set and I do not remember seeing it on TV.
I never knew trek did a clip show. I didn't mind the episode and I am sure that I will watch this again on my next trek through the seasons. There are better episodes and there are worse episodes. I would call this an average one. It doesn't deserve the hate I am reading in this thread.
I never knew trek did a clip show. I didn't mind the episode and I am sure that I will watch this again on my next trek through the seasons. There are better episodes and there are worse episodes. I would call this an average one. It doesn't deserve the hate I am reading in this thread.
When you see what they eventually did with bottle shows such as The Drumhead, (which rates in my top ten TNG) the clip show seems like a very lazy plot device.
However I think the hate is a bit much. Just think, without this we wouldn't have gotten the massively over-budget Q-Who, and then you start to see it in a different light. This episode is our friend.
This episode also holds a special place in my heart. In the days of VHS, back in 1989, I was eight and couldn't afford to buy the entire catalogue. I owned WNOHGB-The Last Outpost and Peak Performance-Shades of Grey. I thought it great that I had nearly two seasons of "best bits" crammed into one of the four episodes I owned.
However I think the hate is a bit much. Just think, without this we wouldn't have gotten the massively over-budget Q-Who, and then you start to see it in a different light. This episode is our friend.
This episode also holds a special place in my heart. In the days of VHS, back in 1989, I was eight and couldn't afford to buy the entire catalogue. I owned WNOHGB-The Last Outpost and Peak Performance-Shades of Grey. I thought it great that I had nearly two seasons of "best bits" crammed into one of the four episodes I owned.
This episode also holds a special place in my heart. In the days of VHS, back in 1989, I was eight and couldn't afford to buy the entire catalogue. I owned WNOHGB-The Last Outpost and Peak Performance-Shades of Grey. I thought it great that I had nearly two seasons of "best bits" crammed into one of the four episodes I owned.
Is it sad that I remember they were cassettes 3 and...24 I think?
I have the same affection for certain episodes just because I owned the CIC Videos back in the day. "Samaritan Snare"/"Up The Long Ladder" (cassette 22) was one of the earliest I got.
