Season/Episode Numbering

markus101 wrote 10 years ago: 1

I'm curious how season/episode numbering is determined, because most (if not all) of my users have strong ties to the numbering used by TVDB since they use TVDB in XBMC, Plex and Media Browser to name a few. I realize TV Maze isn't consuming data directly from TVDB in my conversation with Jan, but knowing how it will align will be a big factor in my decision.

Currently my application uses trakt, but I'm looking for alternatives for a few reasons, one of which is they are switching to TMDB for tv show information and that leaves this question up in the air as I'm not sure how they expect to map things back to TVDB and thats the most important thing at this time.

I don't want to compare TV Maze directly with other sources because there is something unique here, but ultimately existing files and media centers need to align with my decision.

david wrote 10 years ago: 1

First of all, our season/episode numbering is determined by the network or web channel where the episodes originally premiered. If a show originates in Japan and is later re-aired (dubbed or subbed) in the US, the Japanese airdates and numbering is what counts. If an episode premiered on Netflix and is later shown on TV, the Netflix dates are what counts.

For the season numbering, we use the network's designated numbering when it exists. If there is no official season numbering, for example for daily news or talkshows, the current year is used as season number. Within a season, the order in which the episodes are aired/released is used as episode numbering.

As far as I know, the same kind of rules are used on thetvdb, and as such for the vast majority of shows their and our numbering should match up. However, I'm aware that there are a few notable cases (such as American Dad) where the original network has been inconsistent in announcing the season numbering, causing some sites to list the same episodes differently.

I've been thinking about a system that allows us to create different sets of numbering for the same episodes. For example, besides a show's original episode ordering, we could list the "DVD order" or the "US order". For now, I haven't really encountered a situation yet that warrants creating and maintaining such a system, but as soon as someone would be interested in actually consuming such data, I'm all ears.

markus101 wrote 10 years ago: 1

Thanks for the info, I believe you are correct in that they follow the network in most cases, sometimes its the production order (as seen with The Transporter).

American Dad is the most public one, but there are a lot of others ones, sometimes the release groups agree on episode numbering, but disagree on season numbering and start at season 1, while the network intends it to start with a particular year.

Firefly is the one that comes to mind as one that DVD ordering is wanted, if not required. The Batman Animated Series has a similar need, but to me it wasn't mandatory.

Furen wrote 10 years ago: 1

On the topic of Firefly, (which is why I was searching the forum to place it somewhere) is the current order the order that is desired here, or is the actual order according to the show (Serenity 1 & 2 first for example) what you'd want?

I was going to edit that before, until I saw the site orders shows by air date.

Jan wrote 10 years ago: 1

Hi Furen. The second one. The order is determined by the network where the show originally aired. Firefly seems to be correct with the order, naming and dates. David explains it in more detail (in the second comment of this thread) how the order is determined. If things are a bit hazy, we can create a more detailed faq page. Cheers, Jan