A recap episode is a type of illegitimate episode that were only used in Seasons 10 and 11 of the Maury Show. Recap episodes are composed of several segments from episodes that sometimes aired years prior to the creation and airing of the "new" episode. These are different from hybrid episodes because hybrid episodes never acknowledge that they are not real episodes, while recap episodes, although they never add any content, at the very least, implicitly state that they aren't real episodes.
Characteristics
Recap episodes will feature Maury talking directly to the viewers with the audience in the background, similar to an update show. Maury will state information about each guest and why they were on the show, and the show will cut to footage of the original episode as it would have appeared when it originally aired, not adding any new title cards or information graphics. The episodes used are usually modified due to time constraints, but generally, decent portions of the original episodes are shown. Usually, the original episode will cut back to footage of the original episode, and then the results of a DNA test or lie detector test would be read. Due to extremely long passages of time after the original episode aired, Maury will sometimes use incorrect names to refer to guests.
See also