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When network/streamer changes the episode titles

tnt wrote 6 years ago: 1

Recent example https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/26491/i-love-you-america/episodes

Initially the official episode titles were in format "Episode 1: Meghan Phelps-Roper." https://i.imgur.com/uXctfpH.jpg
wayback snapshot

Then at some point the name were changed to something like "10/12/17: Meghan Phelps-Roper," where the date is not the episode airdate, but apparently the date of the shooting https://i.imgur.com/y0sp14W.jpg
wayback snapshot

Later some episode titles were changed to something more "meaningful" than a simple guest name, like "10/12/17: Conservative Family Dinner." https://i.imgur.com/6GoxuUo.jpg
Hulu webpage

This leads to the constant re-editing of episode titles, locking etc.

Which begs the question, what do we do when network or streamer changes the episode titles during the season run? Do we change them to follow the changes in the official episode guide, or do we stick with the initial episode titles (which could be traced via the show's edit log).


Head
gazza911 wrote 6 years ago: 1

This would fall under the following from the Episode Data Policy

"Rewriting history after an episode has premiered is never accepted."

Once it has aired, we use the name that it had when it aired.

It gets more vague when it's essentially TBA but in an specific format, however this would normally be decided by the time it airs.

tnt wrote 6 years ago: 1

gazza911 wrote:
This would fall under the following from the Episode Data Policy

"Rewriting history after an episode has premiered is never accepted."

Once it has aired, we use the name that it had when it aired.

It gets more vague when it's essentially TBA but in an specific format, however this would normally be decided by the time it airs.

This rule came to my mind. However, it seems that it's main intent was to keep the season/episode numeration constant, as the example suggest.

In the above show, if no one was able to catch all episode names before they were changed, it is simply not possible to restore them. On the other hand, Hulu press site doesn't use titles at all, confining themselves to simple 101, 102, 103 etc.


Head
JuanArango wrote 6 years ago: 1

We should use this format:

Episode 1: Meghan Phelps-Roper

if the part after Episode 1 is not known I would simply leave it blank and name the episode Episode 1.

tnt wrote 6 years ago: 1

Ok, case closed. All that remains is to restore the original titles...

UPD titles reverted, thanks to wayback machine :)

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