Clip show
From Memory Alpha, the free Star Trek reference
(written from a Production point of view)
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previously aired episodes. The clips are generally shown as flashbacks in a new framing story.
Several Star Trek episodes have used clips. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2 finale "Shades of Gray" best fits the definition of a clip show. The episode took only three days to shoot, with most of the aired episode comprising of clips involving the character of William T. Riker. The result was poorly received, with even writer Maurice Hurley calling it "terrible, just terrible". (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
The TNG Fourth Season episode "The Drumhead" was created in response to Paramount Pictures asking The Next Generation producers for another clip show to balance the budget for the season. Michael Piller and Rick Berman, however, despised the idea as they didn't want a repeat of "Shades of Gray". Piller commented, "We think they're insulting to the audience. They tune in and then you create this false jeopardy and then flashback as their memory goes back to the wonderful time they had before they got trapped in the elevator and all that bullshit." They persuaded the studio to allow them to produce an episode that would be equally under budget but would have some integrity. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages)
Prior to this, the Star Trek: The Original Series episodes "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II" utilized most of the footage from the unaired pilot, "The Cage", in a new framing story.
Clips would later feature in Act 8 of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine finale, "What You Leave Behind", where several main characters reminisced about previous events on the show. It was David Weddle and Bradley Thompson who went back through the past episodes to find clips for the montage. They chose almost ninety clips which they felt best illustrated what the montage scenes were trying to achieve, and the editors whittled them down to a more manageable number. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion)
