Valid Sources
Please note that IMDB should never be used as a source for Guest Cast, Guest Crew, Cast Appearance or Crew Appearance information.
Guest Cast
A Guest Cast entry specifies a guest starring role in the episode. It links an actor ("person") entry that played or voiced the role, with the character entry that was portrayed. A Guest Cast entry can be created for all appearances in an episode, regardless of whether they were actually credited or not. It should never be created for an actor that's already part of the show's Main Cast in the given episode.
Since a Guest Cast entry is tied to a single character, separate Guest Cast entries should be created if one person has multiple credits in an episode. This can happen for example in animated shows, if one actor voices multiple characters.
On TVmaze, a dedicated character entry (and thus a character page/guide) is created for each guest role. This may sound like overkill for small and insignificant characters, but it allows for much greater consistency in our data model, site and API; so bear with us.
In some shows, the credits make a distinction between different kinds of starring roles, like "Special Guest Star" or "Co-Star". If this information is available it can be entered, otherwise simply leave it at the default of "Guest Star". If a character does appear in a certain episode but is specifically not credited for it, the "Uncredited" type can be used.
If the person does not appear in the episode but only his or her voice is heard, the "voice of" property should be checked. This is common in animated shows, but also in some scripted shows in the form of a narrator.
If a person is not portraying a character role in the episode but merely being him- or herself, the "him/herself" property should be checked. If this happens, there are several options on how to name the character:
- If that person is known under a specific nick-name on that show, use that as character name. For example, in "Snooki & JWoww" we would credit "Nicole Polizzi as Snooki".
- If that person has a specific role in the episode, use that as character name. For example, in "The Tonight Show" we would credit "Jimmy Fallon as Host" and "Steve Higgins as Announcer". Or, in "Survivor" we could credit "Greg Buis as Pagong Tribe leader".
- If that person has no particular role, simply use the person's name as character name. For example, if Nicole Kidman appears as a talk show guest, we would credit "Nicole Kidman as Nicole Kidman".
Mind to apply these choices consistently within a show. Unless a person has two very different roles on a show, all the Guest Cast entries for a person should refer to the same character.
Mystery guests (like on The Masked Singer) can be credited as Guest Cast as of the episode where they are revealed. They should never be added ahead of their actual reveal (based on e.g. leaks), nor should they be retroactively credited in the episodes where they appeared prior to their reveal.
Guest Crew
A Guest Crew entry specifies a person working on the crew for a specific episode. The four possible crew types (Writer, Director, Story and Teleplay) were chosen because those crew positions commonly vary between each of a show's episodes.
Credits for "Screenplay" should be added as "Teleplay" instead.
Cast Appearances
A Cast Appearance can be used to indicate which of the show's Main Cast members actually appeared in the episode.
Crew Appearances
A Crew Appearance can be used to indicate which of the show's Main Crew members were actually credited in the episode.
Gallery
Images in the episode gallery should be an actual scene from the episode. Official promotional images may be used, provided they have exactly the same composition as shown in the public release. That means "behind the scenes" images cannot be used. An episode's main image should be free of major spoilers - suitable for people who have not yet watched the episode.
Since gallery images must be taken from the actual episode, their aspect ratio has to be the same as on the show itself. This is usually widescreen, e.g. 16:9. The image should have a resolution of at least 720p (1280x720), unless the episode was never aired or released in 720p. But please upload the highest resolution that's available for any particular picture. The site will automatically generate thumbnails in various smaller sizes; and the higher the source resolution the better quality they'll be.
Screencaps are allowed to contain a network/webchannel logo, but may not contain any third-party logos or watermarks. Images must not be blurry or have visible compression artifacts (most noticeable in dark scenes) such as in this example.
Any number of images can be added to the episode's gallery, but since only the main image is prominently used, adding more than a few images is not very fruitful. When episode data is likely to be contended because on-screen data conflicts with one of the other valid sources, screengrabs from the episode's title card or credits may be permanently added to the episode gallery to prove the data's validity.
Videos
Episode videos can be used to add a trailer to an episode. Currently, the only allowed source for Episode Videos is Youtube. To add a Youtube video to an episode, enter its ID in the youtube field.
Recap
A recap is a detailed description of the events in an episode. It will almost definitely contain spoilers, and should be a substitute for actually watching the episode.
As opposed to the other data listed here, recaps are not a piece of data that can be edited by anyone. Instead, recaps are the property of the user who created them, and can only be edited by their original author or Head Contributors.
Please take note of our copyright policy. Recaps may not be copied from official sources, unless the source's license explicitly permits it.
Notes
Notes are freeform text that can be added to episodes to provide background information or clarification. Notes can only be created if they fit into one of the categories listed below; and should never contain information that's already available elsewhere on the episode page. Currently, Notes can only be created by Supporting Contributors and higher.
- Episode Types: Some shows will hold special event episodes, which lead to them having an "unofficial" title. Although it may not be used by the network in any official capacity, these "unofficial" titles recognise which episodes fall into a specific episode type. For example, 'Eviction' episodes of Big Brother.
- Network Move: Sometimes one episode may air on a different network or source to its regular network or source. In this instance, an episode note can be added to that episode to highlight which network this episode aired on instead. For example, 'The One Show' airing episodes on BBC Two instead of BBC One occasionally or 'The Talking Dead' premiering a special episode on AMC+ instead of on AMC.
- Episode Title English Translation: An English-language show may occasionally air a series where all episodes are given names in a foreign language. For example, the entire run of 'Hawaii Five-0' episodes.
- Episode Specific Crossovers: Shows may run a storyline over numerous programs, in which case these episodes can be linked together with this note type. For example, an episode of 'Hawaii Five-0' continues a storyline in an episode of 'NCIS Los Angeles'.
- DVD Premiere: An episode of a show that airs exclusively on DVD and not on the show's original source. For example, 'Batman: The Animated Series' released a direct-to-DVD movie that meets all the criteria to be added to the site, but the movie was released on DVD before airing on television. Some shows may release DVD episodes that initially premiered as a cinematic release. These are still classed as cinematic releases, so they cannot be added here.
- Various Characters: Often in sketch shows, cast members may be credited as just playing 'Various' characters. This note type allows for those 'Various' roles to be specified if the information is obvious when watching the episode, and a list of characters can be provided for the actor playing that role. For example, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton play different characters in every episode of 'Inside No. 9'.
- Production Inconsistencies: Sometimes something isn't right when a show airs. A character name is spelt differently from one episode to the next, or a crew member's name is misspelt. For example, Roddy McDowall is credited as Mad Hater in one episode of 'The New Batman Adventures'; however, the character is actually called Mad Hatter.
- Late Episode Changes: A way to note last minute changes to an announced episode of a program. Such changes would include: last minute guest changes for chat/talk shows, episode title changes, or airdate/time changes. These changes can be included with a note for the specific episode if said changes are made within 24 hours of the episode airing and if there is a source confirming the change.