Episodes incorrectly being added to wrong TV show

General Discussions
1

Hello, apologies if this has been asked before but I couldn’t find anything for this exact issue.

I have added several shows to Plex but some of them are being added to the wrong TV show and it’s showing as 2 versions of 1 episode. All my shows are in their own folder with sub folders with each season. An example of one of the episodes that is grouping are:

The Catch / Season 1 (2016) 1080p HD / Episode 01 - Pilot.m4v
The Exorcist / Season 1 (2016) 1080p HD / Episode 01 - Chapter One.m4v

The only thing that is the same is the subfolder for the season. The main folder is the name of the show. Even when I remove the files and add them again, I can match the first one I do, but when I add the other, it just gets merged straight to the first as another version of the episode. I have tried removing and adding, matching etc. but nothing seems to work. Any help would be great… :slight_smile:

2

You’re out of compliance with your TV Show Folder Structure and File Naming:

There is some buggy behavior regarding (YEAR) in TV Shows as they’re listed at TVDB, but checking TVDB I find there is no reason to add (YEAR) - it is only required for Shows that are remakes/reboots. The Catch falls into this category, The Exorcist does not.
http://thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=311816&lid=7 - The Exorcist
http://thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=295696&lid=7 - The Catch
http://thetvdb.com/?tab=series&id=300009&lid=7 - The Catch (UK) (No artwork there at all)

As such the proper structures and correct naming is:

A TV Show Library/
…The Catch/
…Season 01/
…The Catch - S01E01 - The Pilot.m4v

or (there is a UK ‘version’)

A TV Show Library/
…The Catch (UK)/
…Season 01/
…The Catch (UK) - S01E01 - In at the Deep End.m4v

and

A TV Show Library/
…The Exorcist/
…Season 01/
…The Exorcist - S01E01 - Chapter One And Let My Cry Come Unto Thee.m4v

Note: ‘Episode Names’ are optional:
‘The Exorcist - S01E01.m4v’
is perfectly acceptable.
All ‘Extra’ information that is NOT part of the Standard File Name should be put in [Brackets] in the file name so Plex will ignore it:
‘The Exorcist - S01E01 [I.Can’t.Feel.My.Legs.1080p.Zulu.Nation.Subs.Forrest.Gump.Release.Groop].m4v’
is also fine.

Public Enemy Number One is poor naming and structuring:


Pay particular attention to TV Show Naming and Structuring.

FileBot (link in my signature) can handle that for you automatically or manually in seconds.

What FileBot can’t do is remove possible embedded metadata in the Title Field of MP4/M4V files. Plex will read this info and prefer it over a perfect file name/structure, but you can combat that situation by moving Local Media Assets to the bottom of every agent list you can find. All tabs in TV Shows and Movies here:


Just drag LMA to the bottom of the list and drop it. If you do have embedded metadata this will cure the issue, if you don’t it won’t matter. LMA will do what it has to from the bottom.

Renaming/restructuring is best performed OUTSIDE the library and you may need to write a new bundle for the show or movie so The Plex Dance® was invented:

The Plex Dance®:

  1. remove show/movie from library
  2. rescan library files
  3. empty trash
  4. clean bundles
    https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <— scan library files, empty trash, clean bundles
  5. bring names and structures into compliance/Move LMA/etc
  6. replace corrected show/movie into library
  7. rescan library files

All Steps. In Order. No Shortcuts.

Still No Joy?

Log Files:


Drag zip file to message window and drop it.
Provide the name of the articles that refuse to show up.

3

I am fairly certain it’s because of your odd naming conventions. I would suggest you take out the (2016) 1080P HD for each of the series and that should clear it up you will have to do a plex dance (see my sig block), also it’s always best to label the episode like below. You can use filebot to rename them in bulk if you need it to. Right now as you have it you have a couple things setup that I think are confusing plex , changing one or the other may help but I suggest fixing both.

TV Shows/ShowName/Season XX/ShowName - sXXeYY - Optional_Info.ext

/TV Shows
/The Catch
/Season 01
The Catch - s01e01.avi

4

Thanks for the replys, I have only recently started using Plex, i use iTunes for the most part but Plex would be handy for remote access etc. iTunes has never had an issue with folders and file paths so I assumed Plex wouldn’t either, all the episodes have meta data including the TV show name, episodes, air dates etc. before adding to Plex, does none of this carry over? Unfortunately I have thousands of episodes to rename if this is the case… but Filebot can help with this :\

5

All that metadata in those m4v files is not only useless, but also a hazard to navigation, life and limb in the Plexiverse. You absolutely, without a doubt and no uncertain terms need to move Local Media Assets to the bottom of every Agent list you have for TV Shows and Movies. No exceptions.

There is virtually ZERO wiggle room for a TV Show’s Structure and TV Show File Naming in Plex. What you see above is what you must do.

Given your current file names and structure I feel confident if you use ‘The {Plex} Profile’ in FileBot it will handle not only naming your files correctly, but also your folder structures. You’d just pick up an entire show (outside the library, of course) and drop in on FileBot, click a few buttons and it’s all done in seconds.

Everything you need to know about that is linked in my signature.

You will become very familiar with The Plex Dance® very shortly.

6

Ok… so I purchased Filebot from the app store, best $20 i’ve spent in a long time, renamed 1,000’s of tv shows in no time and started the library from scratch. Everything worked perfectly,

Also, by moving the local media assets to the bottom of the list, it has given me the episode thumbnails by default, i manually changed so many the first time round! Testing it out, these now work with both Plex and iTunes :slight_smile:

Thank you so much for your help guys!

7

@phoenixXx87 said:
Ok… so I purchased Filebot from the app store, best $20 i’ve spent in a long time, renamed 1,000’s of tv shows in no time and started the library from scratch. Everything worked perfectly,

Also, by moving the local media assets to the bottom of the list, it has given me the episode thumbnails by default, i manually changed so many the first time round! Testing it out, these now work with both Plex and iTunes :slight_smile:

Thank you so much for your help guys!
Dont forget to check out a plex pass, it may give you some extra stuff that you may find useful, also it never hurts to send the plex devs a little cash for all their hard work :). I bought a lifetime 5 years ago, never looked back.