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Clip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows include a frame story in which cast members recall events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. Clip shows are also known as cheaters, particularly in the field of animation. Clip shows are often played before series finales as a way to summarize the entire series, or once syndication becomes highly likely as a way to increase the number of episodes that can be sold. Other times, however, clip shows are simply produced for budgetary reasons (e.g. to avoid additional costs from shooting in a certain setting, or from casting actors to appear in new material).
Clip shows have their origin in theatrical short films and serials. Every serial chapter always had a brief recap showing where the previous chapter left off, but, beginning in 1936, entire chapters were largely devoted to material that audiences had already seen. In these recap chapters (also called "economy chapters"), previous chapters were summarized for those who may have missed some episodes (which were unlikely to be rerun). The practice began with the Republic Pictures serial Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island. Adverse weather conditions slowed the filming of the series, which had been budgeted for 12 chapters, and screenwriter Barry Shipman was forced to create two more chapters to recoup the lost production costs. Shipman wrote a few scenes in which the screen characters recount their adventures to date, and footage from previous chapters is shown instead of new sequences. Shipman's brainstorm was a convenient way to economize on production, and soon Republic made the recap chapter standard procedure.
Movie studios often resorted to old footage to save money. The most famous example is the short comedies of The Three Stooges which, from 1949 until 1957, borrowed lengthy sequences and often entire storylines from old shorts. Only a few new scenes would be filmed as a framework for the old footage. This practice was adopted because the studios could charge more money for "new" films than for old ones; this also allowed the series to continue producing shorts after Shemp Howard died, using carefully obscured body doubles to blend the old footage.
Animation studios were also known to periodically make cartoon shorts—often referred to as "cheaters"—made up primarily of clips for earlier cartoons in order to save money. Examples of this include Betty Boop's Rise to Fame (Fleischer/Paramount, 1934), What's Cookin' Doc? (Schlesinger/Warner Bros., 1944) and a regular yearly series of Tom & Jerry "cheaters" such as Smitten Kitten (MGM, 1952).
One variant of the modern clip show is the compilation episode, using clips from the most popular episodes, assembled together in one episode, sometimes without a frame story as such.
Another format is to have a host who describes various characters and characteristics of the show to introduce various clips from past episodes. For example, a special one-hour clip show episode of All in the Family featured actor Henry Fonda discussing the main characters on the show followed by relevant clips from previous episodes; a similar two-part clip show appeared on Three's Company, hosted by Lucille Ball. This format was parodied in a clip show for The Simpsons ("The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular"), in which fictional actor Troy McClure—a recurring Simpsons character—introduced the clips.
A third variation, used in a two-part clip show episode of Cheers featured the entire cast of the show, including former cast members, sitting on a stage while being interviewed by talk host John McLaughlin about their characters on the show, with clips of previous episodes mixed in. A similar clip episode of Barney Miller aired after the death of cast member Jack Soo, with flashbacks introduced by the rest of the cast highlighting Soo's character Detective Sergeant Nick Yamana.
In anime and tokusatsu series, a common type of episode is the recap episode, which presents clips from previous episodes in a manner to remind viewers of the story so far and help newer viewers catch up on the plot and details. In tokusatsu, the episode is often used to give the actors and crew a week off or a lighter load around the time of a holiday (typically in the summer or during Golden Week).
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Clip show
A clip show is an episode of a television series that consists primarily of excerpts from previous episodes. Most clip shows include a frame story in which cast members recall events from past installments of the show, depicted with a clip of the event presented as a flashback. Clip shows are also known as cheaters, particularly in the field of animation. Clip shows are often played before series finales as a way to summarize the entire series, or once syndication becomes highly likely as a way to increase the number of episodes that can be sold. Other times, however, clip shows are simply produced for budgetary reasons (e.g. to avoid additional costs from shooting in a certain setting, or from casting actors to appear in new material).
Clip shows have their origin in theatrical short films and serials. Every serial chapter always had a brief recap showing where the previous chapter left off, but, beginning in 1936, entire chapters were largely devoted to material that audiences had already seen. In these recap chapters (also called "economy chapters"), previous chapters were summarized for those who may have missed some episodes (which were unlikely to be rerun). The practice began with the Republic Pictures serial Robinson Crusoe of Clipper Island. Adverse weather conditions slowed the filming of the series, which had been budgeted for 12 chapters, and screenwriter Barry Shipman was forced to create two more chapters to recoup the lost production costs. Shipman wrote a few scenes in which the screen characters recount their adventures to date, and footage from previous chapters is shown instead of new sequences. Shipman's brainstorm was a convenient way to economize on production, and soon Republic made the recap chapter standard procedure.
Movie studios often resorted to old footage to save money. The most famous example is the short comedies of The Three Stooges which, from 1949 until 1957, borrowed lengthy sequences and often entire storylines from old shorts. Only a few new scenes would be filmed as a framework for the old footage. This practice was adopted because the studios could charge more money for "new" films than for old ones; this also allowed the series to continue producing shorts after Shemp Howard died, using carefully obscured body doubles to blend the old footage.
Animation studios were also known to periodically make cartoon shorts—often referred to as "cheaters"—made up primarily of clips for earlier cartoons in order to save money. Examples of this include Betty Boop's Rise to Fame (Fleischer/Paramount, 1934), What's Cookin' Doc? (Schlesinger/Warner Bros., 1944) and a regular yearly series of Tom & Jerry "cheaters" such as Smitten Kitten (MGM, 1952).
One variant of the modern clip show is the compilation episode, using clips from the most popular episodes, assembled together in one episode, sometimes without a frame story as such.
Another format is to have a host who describes various characters and characteristics of the show to introduce various clips from past episodes. For example, a special one-hour clip show episode of All in the Family featured actor Henry Fonda discussing the main characters on the show followed by relevant clips from previous episodes; a similar two-part clip show appeared on Three's Company, hosted by Lucille Ball. This format was parodied in a clip show for The Simpsons ("The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular"), in which fictional actor Troy McClure—a recurring Simpsons character—introduced the clips.
A third variation, used in a two-part clip show episode of Cheers featured the entire cast of the show, including former cast members, sitting on a stage while being interviewed by talk host John McLaughlin about their characters on the show, with clips of previous episodes mixed in. A similar clip episode of Barney Miller aired after the death of cast member Jack Soo, with flashbacks introduced by the rest of the cast highlighting Soo's character Detective Sergeant Nick Yamana.
In anime and tokusatsu series, a common type of episode is the recap episode, which presents clips from previous episodes in a manner to remind viewers of the story so far and help newer viewers catch up on the plot and details. In tokusatsu, the episode is often used to give the actors and crew a week off or a lighter load around the time of a holiday (typically in the summer or during Golden Week).