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).
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.
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.
While clip shows do reduce production costs, they were originally employed in an era when there were far fewer program outlets and it was less likely that episodes from previous seasons would be aired again.
However, the episodes were subject to some ridicule due to their forced or "corny" framing devices (such as a family sitting peacefully around a fireplace) and the frequently awkward transitions between the frame story and the clips (such as characters staring into space while the screen blurs to represent "remembering").
One example was an episode of As the World Turns in which seven of the longest running characters were stranded in a forest and remembered some of their best moments, all in honor of AtWT's 50th anniversary.
However, Paramount cut that show's budget to make up for an episode earlier in the season that had gone over budget—and, similarly, over schedule, leaving only three days for principal photography.
A show might also defuse the awkwardness by indulging in self-parody, such as intentionally acknowledging or over-playing the device (including flashbacks with deliberate changes to the footage for comedic purposes).
[4][5][6][7] The clip show has been employed more seriously as a means to bring viewers up to date on highly serialized dramas, such as on Lost, Once Upon a Time and the reimagined Battlestar Galactica.
The annual Scottish New Year special Scotch and Wry was condensed into four feature film-length episodes for home video release.