Product Details

• Actors: LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden
• Directors: LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Gabrielle Beaumont, Robert Becker, Cliff Bole
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English, French
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: May 31, 1995
• Run Time: 46 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6303201032
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,776 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

"Shades of Gray" was one of the weakest episodes of TNG's first two seasons and proved a particularly flat finale for season 2. It's hard to believe that, in only two seasons, the writers had come up so dry that they cobbled together a kind of greatest-hits show, in which much of the episode consisted of filler from earlier programs. The nominal plot involves Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), who is scratched by a thorn on an unfamiliar planet while doing a geological survey. The thorn injects him with microbes that begin to infiltrate his nervous system, and it's up to Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) to figure out how to stop the organism from killing Riker. She discovers that stimulating Riker's memory with electricity has an effect, but happy memories strengthen the invading organism--so she must find a way to provoke Riker's worst memories to negate the organism's hold.

Frakes spends much of the episode flat on his back, simulating sleep, while director Rob Bowman cuts to a collection of clips from earlier episodes. The positive memories all have to do with his prowess with women, as he cuts a swath through the known universe. The negative vibes come from clips of the death of Tasha Yar and the few episodes in which Riker was the crew member in the most jeopardy. Mostly the clips serve as a survey of the various facial-hair fashions Frakes sported in the first two seasons. --Marshall Fine

From the Back Cover

While Riker (Jonathan Frakes) is conducting a geological survey on Surata Four, his thigh is pierced by a small thorn which kills all feeling in that leg. Aboard the Enterprise, Dr. Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) determines that the thorn contains a mysterious organism that is coursing through Riker's nervous system. Pulaski tells Picard (Patrick Stewart) that she cannot kill the organism without also taking Riker's life.

In order to keep Riker's brain functioning, Pulaski begins to electronically stimulate his memory and notices that positive memories seem to feed the growth of the organism. Pulaski surmises that negative emotions might destroy the organism...but could they also destroy Riker?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Riker's Greatest Hits!, May 17, 2002

By 

Zagnorch (Terra, Sol System) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 48: Shades Of Gray [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Are you sick and tired of NextGen episodes that actually make efforts to be original, and not rely on stock footage? Are you a big fan of Commander Will Riker? If you said, "yes" to both of these questions, then "Shades of Grey: Riker's Greatest Hits" is just the thing you've been looking for! Be amazed by the desperate measures a TV/movie production studio will take to pad out the episode total of a writers'-strike-shortened season! Be relieved by the fact that this show marks Dr. Pulaski's final NextGen appearance!

A few of Number One's more memorable (so to speak) recycled moments in this eppie include:

- The exploding-head scene from `Conspiracy'!
- The death of Tasha Yar (`Skin of Evil')!
- Getting dragged into and submerged in a nasty pool of black sludge (`Skin of Evil')!
- his first encounter with Data on the Holodeck (`Encounter at Farpoint')!
- Disciplining a Klingon subordinate (`A Matter of Honor')!
- Ordering the activation of the Enterprise's self-destruct function (`11001001')!
- Helping in the rescue of a couple of Klingon renegades (`Heart of Glory')!
- Reconciliation with his dad (`The Icarus Factor')!
- The bevy of babes he's seduced (`Angel One', `Up The Long Ladder', etc.)!
- ...and many more amazing Riker scenes!

SPECIAL BONUS: Less than 2 minutes of Wesley Crusher footage overall! That's right- you need endure only a minute-and-a-half of NextGen's most reviled teen prodigy in this Greatest Hits collection! Or you can just fast-forward right through it to save you the pain and annoyance!

But wait, there's more! Act now, and Amazon™ will include a handsome illustrated single-ply cardboard slipcase and soft temporary lamination absolutely free of charge! What a deal!

So don't delay-- get "Shades of Grey: Riker's Greatest Hits" today! (Hey-- that last sentence kinda rhymed and stuff!)

`Late!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Low-budget fiasco of necessity, February 12, 2000

By 

Lars Knudson (Plainsboro, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 48: Shades Of Gray [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This episode was the result of a very low budget and an uncertainty at the time about the future of the series. Almost half of the episode is scavenged from former episodes. The limited budget that the studio had imposed on the writers and the rather extravagent special effects used during the second series meant that the episode had to be made on a shoestring. This is a ploy used in many different TV series; Star Trek: TNG is certainly not unusual in this. However, for dedicated fans, such episodes end up in their "most disappointing" category. As far as the limitations of flashback episodes go, and considering the questionable quality of the first two seasons, this is not a bad result. However, being what it is, it is certainly one of the lower points of the series. I would, however, rank it somewhat better than such episodes as "The Last Outpost" and "Justice."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Necessity is the Mother of a whole bunch of flashbacks, November 1, 2000

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Star Trek - The Next Generation, Episode 48: Shades Of Gray [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It is pretty ironic that the third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation ends with the classic "Best of Both Worlds" cliffhanger, because the second season ends with this particular tribute to the art of montage. The show might have been a success in syndication but it was still expensive, and "Shades of Gray" is what they came up with the money for special effects ran out. The justification for the flashbacks is that Riker gets stabbed by a plant while on a survey of this week's unexplored planet. The plant infects him with microbes that will kill him once they reach his brain. Apparently the microbes are not traveling via his circulatory system, otherwise the episode would be over at this point. Dr. Pulaski, in her last episode, has fun putting long rods into Riker's head so she can stimulate Riker to have various memories of all the fun times he has had aboard the Enterprise (e.g., the death of Tasha, fighting his father, etc.). This is because "bad" memories hurt the invading microbes. Consequently, this is an atypical "flashback" episode because usually a television series celebrates the good times on the series, not the bad ones. So, if you do not like Riker, "Shades of Gray" has to be your top choice of an episode that puts him through the wringer. Fortunately, the Next Generation never comes close to ending a season on so low a note ever again.