Wheeler Dealers Approximately 140 Episodes Have Been Changed

@tvm52237 wrote:
Does anyone know what has happened to the Wheeler Dealers episode list?

Approximately 140 (one hundred and forty) past episodes have had their series number and/or episode numbers changed?

I can't remember the exact episode (perhaps the end of the USA stint or thereabouts) but Mike Brewer gave the series number in the episode and from what I recall the series number was correct.  So unless TVMaze is tracking unofficial or other series numbers what they are now is certainly not correct.

https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/2903/wheeler-dealers

[originally posted in the Edit Requests thread a few days ago but thought discussion better in own thread]

Any idea what happened here @blackcat2021 please. 

The show has the seasons/episodes numbered as the official website ( https://www.discoveryplus.com/gb/show/wheeler-dealers  <<< needs UK VPN if you are outside UK )

Discovery Plus UK is the first to stream before Motortrend.

Thanks for the update.  It is great that numbering is matching the latest current source (I get why this is done I guess) but it is very confusing at least to me it is like rewriting fact / history! Just to be clear Discovery have drastically renumbered episodes to what they had previously published.  I guess that is why we have TVMaze though :)

@tvm52237 wrote:
Thanks for the update.  It is great that numbering is matching the latest current source (I get why this is done I guess) but it is very confusing at least to me it is like rewriting fact / history! Just to be clear Discovery have drastically renumbered episodes to what they had previously published.  I guess that is why we have TVMaze though :)

We definately should never rewrite history, it's in our site policies that we list the episodes as they originally aired. But I also don't think we can mass undo the changes @blackcat2021 has made, can we @david? 

@TomSouthwell wrote:
We definately should never rewrite history, it's in our site policies that we list the episodes as they originally aired. But I also don't think we can mass undo the changes 

Wheeler Dealers has always had an issue with numbering - just a quick search on the web for all the differences between sites proves that. 

It is funny thinking the presenter thinks it is one thing, the network thinks its correct, then wrong, then changes it again and then at some point in the future the network may change its mind again.

If it matches what the "official" broadcasting network is putting on their website it is hard to argue though - do not change for my benefit if this is the rule to stop disagreements when things like this happen I would rather the rules are followed this is what make TVMaze great - consistency.

If they are changed back it just takes someone else to post to say why do they not match the broadcasters numbering? :)

Well, sorry that I damaged TVMaze consistency, again. Will not happen again, time to take a break and value my free time.

Been a pleasure adding and altering data. 

@blackcat2021 wrote:
Well, sorry that I damaged TVMaze consistency, again. Will not happen again, time to take a break and value my free time.

Been a pleasure adding and altering data. 

@blackcat2021 As it appears that your reply may have been directed at me as you mentioned "consistency" I want to make it clear that the consistency remark was agreeing with you that perhaps the numbering should match the "official" data even if there are various scenarios where it may cause confusion (hence my original post).  I appreciate the changes you made it mustn't have been quick to do.  I just had a genuine question on why so many had changed and highlighted there is probably no perfect answer.

@tvm52237 wrote:
@blackcat2021 As it appears that your reply may have been directed at me as you mentioned "consistency" I want to make it clear that the consistency remark was agreeing with you that perhaps the numbering should match the "official" data even if there are various scenarios where it may cause confusion (hence my original post).  I appreciate the changes you made it mustn't have been quick to do.  I just had a genuine question on why so many had changed and highlighted there is probably no perfect answer.

 

Well if the original order was rewritten by the official site we do not do that, we are always trying to keep the order how the show was FIRST premiered. :)

I didn't dig into this specific situation, but indeed in general: history should not be rewritten. See https://www.tvmaze.com/faq/15/episodes:

Rewriting history after an episode has premiered is never accepted. For example, if a show's official website indicates that a certain episode belongs to season 1, but changes it to season 2 a year afterwards, it should remain listed as season 1.

Of course situations like this are always confusing, because at first sight it's impossible to determine from an official website that history has been rewritten (often, you can find out using https://archive.org). So if this is happening, please always make sure to create a note about it in the show's Edit Wiki. Or if you don't have permission to do so, request for it to be done.

I looked at the edit log and I think I could indeed revert these changes. Did someone dig into this and conclude that that is indeed the right course, because you found proof that the way we listed it previously is indeed how Discovery initially listed it too?

@david wrote:
I didn't dig into this specific situation, but indeed in general: history should not be rewritten. See https://www.tvmaze.com/faq/15/episodes:

I regret posting this query now.  

The negative outcome of a contributor @blackcat2021 deciding to quit as the time he invested was not appreciated was my last wish.  I do not know what could be done to help avoid these situations in the future but contributors feeling their time is being wasted or not appreciated is the last thing I or any user of the site wants.  It can't be good for the site.

I suspect the main confusion is whether a series/season should be split.  I can find recent other references that are using the new official show numbering, I can find references where the presenter contradicts this in an episode and on other media and also find general newspaper articles which also contradicts this and each other to some degree.

As previously noted the history of the season/episode numbering being wrong has always been an issue I have tried to find some definitive answers but I can't find it and I certainly do not want to be the one to contradict what is now on the show's official site.  

I know for sure in an episode in recent years a presenter said the season/series number and at the time I thought everything matched up but unless I see it again it is lost to time.  It might have been around when they left USA to move back to UK but I could be completely wrong.

@tvm52237 wrote:
I regret posting this query now.  

The negative outcome of a contributor @blackcat2021 deciding to quit as the time he invested was not appreciated was my last wish.  I do not know what could be done to help avoid these situations in the future but contributors feeling their time is being wasted or not appreciated is the last thing I or any user of the site wants.  It can't be good for the site.

I wouldn't worry about it. Networks like Discovery are notorious for making an absolute confusing mess out of everything. Dealing with that will inevitably lead to mistakes and wasted effort every now and then, that's not on you or blackcat but just something we have to accept.

I'll leave this open to see if anyone has more insights into how it should be listed before making any mass changes again.