Does Plex TV Series agent have a database?

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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Server Version#: 1.26.0.5715
Player Version#: 1.45.0.3013-1676042f

I am using the Plex TV Series agent and have a question about episode numbers.
Example

  • Series: Nova
  • Season: 49
  • Episode Title: Ice Age Footprints

IMDB says it’s episode number 23 ("Nova" Ice Age Footprints (TV Episode 2022) - IMDb)
TVDB says it’s episode number 24 (NOVA - Ice Age Footprints - TheTVDB.com)
Plex TV Series says it’s episode number 14 (discovered by guessing)

I don’t really care which is right. I only care what the Plex TV Series agent is going to use as that’s the agent I have it set to.

Is there a website that I can go to to see what the Plex TV Series has in its database? Having to guess what the agent thinks it is is sort of annoying.

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Plex defaults to the episode ordering of The Movie Database.
You can configure this in the library options (⋮ > Manage Library > Edit... → Advanced > Episode ordering) and override it for individual shows (:pencil2: > Advanced > Episode ordering).

Usually you can find the consolidated default used by Plex on their homepage → https://watch.plex.tv.
NOVA · Season 49 - Watch Full Episodes Online - Plex

This seems to be a bit tricky for this particular show as TMDb only knows 10 episodes of season 49. Plex is however already considering information available elsewhere (no idea how their algorithm works to consolidate all that).

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I find defaulting to the tvdb works best for me, so I set that at the library level.

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Interesting. So something isn’t working right.

I already had the library set to use TVDB for episode ordering. TVDB clearly states it’s S49E24. However Plex won’t match it there. It just lists it as Episode 24 in my library. If I change it to episode 14, it does match it there. PBS lists it as Episode 9. Cambridge TV actually lists it as Episode 14 though. Watchnow lists it as S51E14. So clearly there is some craziness going on with the numbering.

But I guess the crux of the issue is, why doesn’t Plex use TVDB as I have it set to instead of whatever else it’s using?

FWIW I also edited that series and set it to TVDB aired order and rescanned and still had the same results. Plex really wants that to be episode 14 for some reason. LOL

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it also depends on when the info was added to tvdb, there is often up to a 72+ hour lag between edits to tvdb and seeing them reflected in plex

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We’re way past the 72 hour mark for some of these errors. An older example.
Season 49
Episode Title: Butterfly Blueprints

Both IMDB and TVDB list it as S49E12. TMDB lists it as S48E24.
TVDB was last modified March 16 2022.

Yet for some reason the Plex server wants it to be S49E02 when using the Plex TV Series agent.

To test, I’ve set the agent back to TheTVDB agent. and it’s rescanning now. So I’ll post how that goes when it finishes. It really wants me to upgrade back to the Plex TV Series agent though. LOL

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Ok. Using TheTVDB agent works correctly and the data is matched against thetvdb.

However when using the Plex TV Series agent with episode ordering set to The TVDB the episode numbers are mixed up.

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Are you also setting the series order to tvdb while using the plex agent?

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I have tried with the series set to library default and setting it to thetvdb. same results

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I haven’t found any other shows this is an issue for. Only Nova as far as I can tell.

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I should also add that the issue seems to start after S48E16.

Everything after that point has this problem.

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Afer making the tmdb/tvdb have you tried plex dancing the affected files?

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I’ve looked at the data for this show and it all seems to match correctly with theTVDB (when the ordering is set so).

Also make sure that you don’t have the episode ordering overridden at the show level (Edit Show → Advanced → Episode Ordering), it should either be set to “Library default” if you have this set to TVDB on the library or “TheTVDB (aired)” which will then override any library setting.

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I don’t have that option in Episode Ordering in the series. The options are: Airing order, DVD order, or Absolute numbering.

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That fixed it. Plex dancing. I’ll have to remember that trick.

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Yeah the Plex Dance is a known trick :slight_smile: It has to deal with how plex caches information in order to optimize/maintain records. By plex dancing it, you clear out any lingering records, then allow plex to re-index the media without the context of the previous information.

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