Currently Plex TVDB Agent pulls the aired order (which works for most shows). However there are some that the Aired Order is off and DVD Order is the correct order (Firefly probably being the greatest known example). TVDB already has this order by clicking the DVD Order link, however currently there is no way to have Plex pull this order without an additional plugin:
Would like to have this feature built into Plex.
Please up-vote (by ticking “Like This”) this post if you agree. DO NOT just +1!
@tindivall said:
Currently Plex TVDB Agent pulls the aired order (which works for most shows). However there are some that the Aired Order is off and DVD Order is the correct order (Firefly probably being the greatest known example). TVDB already has this order by clicking the DVD Order link, however currently there is no way to have Plex pull this order without an additional plugin: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/193459/dvd-order-agent-theme-music-fix
Would like to have this feature built into Plex.
Please up-vote (by ticking “Like This”) this post if you agree. DO NOT just +1!
It seems odd to me too. I would think that you would want DVD order on all your shows vs aired order which is set to whatever some network people decided.
The new Supergirl is another example, episode 4 & 5 are out of order… the show aired #5 then went back and did #4, but on the DVD they are in correct order.
The problem with exclusively relying on DVD order is that we’d lose the functionality of plex sticking the specials in some chronological order (at least if the special was released in the right order). This doesn’t work at all for shows like DW where the specials came out all over the place, but it does help in a lot of other shows.
What would be best is if they incorporated some kind of “smart ordering” system where plex would go mostly by airdate but switch things around to match DVD order if the DVD order varies from the airdate order.
EDIT:
Of course, everything would work even better if there were some database of chronological viewing orders for TV shows but god damn could you imagine the hardcore fans bashing each other over the head arguing about what the viewing order should be for -some special-. That database would change every hour.
As for the rest I guess I am confused and this could be where my lack of Plex knowledge comes into play. As I understand it now, specials don’t show up in the order of the season because they aren’t “episodes”…
So say you have season 1 with 20 episodes but a special aired between 10 & 11 … you can’t name it TVSHOW - s01e10 or e11 it is a special and shows up either in a season 0 folder or you have to put at the end and name it yourself.
How would this be any different in DVD order vs Aired?
On the dashboard, there is a section titled “On Deck”. The episode that is suggested here is COMPLETELY based on the airing date as far as I’m aware. Simply put: if you watch an episode of a show, the suggested “On Deck” episode will be whatever unwatched episode in that series has the next airdate. This is why it’s not very good for shows like Doctor Who with a ton of specials (half of which never aired or aired months after it’s chronological place. So for example, with the current system of ordering by airdate, if you were to watch season 3 episode 3 of Sherlock, it’d then place the chistmas special on deck. The on deck system is completely independent from episode ordering. If you use the DVD order agent to “fix” Firefly, it’ll still suggest the episodes by order of airdate.
Now the problem is, if plex were to implement a DVD ordering natively, it wouldn’t make sense to do so without fixing that behavior. The whole reason for wanting this is so that plex presents the show in the order it was meant to be watched. Presumably that should extend to the “On Deck” feature. The question is how do you accommodate that with specials that don’t have a DVD ordering number?
I should add, I was taking another look at TVDB and they seem to already suggest a viewing order independent of the airdate. If plex could somehow take advantage of that, it may work (see: http://thetvdb.com/?tab=season&seriesid=78804&seasonid=139221&lid=7). It looks like it’s determined by two fields: “Airs after season ___” and “Airs before episode ____”.
Of course the other option would be to just display the show based on DVD numbering and leave the on deck feature going by airdate, but that would (and does) really bother me for shows like Firefly where almost everything is out of order.
I’m also very confused of the mismatch of many tv shows. Firefly is the perfect example how not to do it :))
Also Futurama is quite bad. The first few episodes are okay but later nothing is what it should be.
My only “workaround” is to leave the files in the correct order and plex should do its thing with the bad naming. A way to select DVD order instead of aired order would be great. Maybe within the “fix match” feature…?
Thanks!
@wneubauer said:
I’m also very confused of the mismatch of many tv shows. Firefly is the perfect example how not to do it :))
Also Futurama is quite bad. The first few episodes are okay but later nothing is what it should be.
My only “workaround” is to leave the files in the correct order and plex should do its thing with the bad naming. A way to select DVD order instead of aired order would be great. Maybe within the “fix match” feature…?
Thanks!
@wneubauer said:
I’m also very confused of the mismatch of many tv shows. Firefly is the perfect example how not to do it :))
Also Futurama is quite bad. The first few episodes are okay but later nothing is what it should be.
My only “workaround” is to leave the files in the correct order and plex should do its thing with the bad naming. A way to select DVD order instead of aired order would be great. Maybe within the “fix match” feature…?
Thanks!
wneubauer this is due to the execs at a company like Fox choosing what order to show the episodes but they are different than the order intended and put on the dvd. My original post contains a link with a plugin to fix this, I am trying to get the power that be with Plex to just include this feature rather than have to add a 3rd party plugin. It would make it easier for the less tech savy and allow that feature to be available to Shield users.
Not sure when, but it seems like this was added. If you go to the series, click Edit -> Advanced -> Episode Ordering -> DVD Order, it seems to be working! I’ve tried it with Firefly with no issues, now to try some others. I guess this will remove the need for me to have the TheTVDBdvdorder Agent installed.
Edit: Tested with a bunch of other shows and it seems to be working for all of them!
@Roquemore92 Thanks for the information, didn’t recognize yet. This is great! Love it!!! But I don’t see the right pictures for each episode. How about you?
Everything looks right to me. After selecting the option in the series settings, I then went to “Fix Incorrect Match” and rematched the shows with TheTVDB rather than with TheTVDBdvdorder agent. Maybe try that?
@Roquemore92 I have tried this and it didn’t work. So I have removed the complete series and added it fresh. Now everything is correct. Thanks!
PS: Is there a way to find the release notes for the PMS updates? Would be interesting…
