Server Version#: 1.16.5.1552 on a Synology NAS
Player Version#: 3.108.2 - web client
Generally I have no problem with TV Series and see the Episode Title/ Episode Number obtained from thetvdb.com - except where it uses a year for the series. Example - series id: 72860. Neither
TV_Series/Tom_and_Jerry/Season01/Tom_and_Jerry-S01E01 or
TV_Series/Tom_and_Jerry/Season1940/Tom_and_Jerry-S1940E01 pulls in the episode title.
I’ve checked Naming and Organizing Your TV Show Files | Plex Support but it doesn’t seem to address this specific format. Any suggestions? Thanks
What you have is dead wrong (underscores? really?) - this is dead right:
Tom and Jerry (1940)/
...Season 1940/
.......Tom and Jerry (1940) - S1940E01 - Puss Gets The Boot.XXX
...Season 1950/ <---in case you get another season
.......Tom and Jerry (1940) - S1950E01 - Episode Title Optional.XXX
FileBot can do that for you in a fraction of a second - if TVDB remains in working order. As of 10 minutes ago - TVDB website is almost dead. The API’s health is anyone’s guess. You may or may not get posters/text, but when TVDB is working the naming and structure above will work instantly.
Red: Where Local Media Assets was
Green: Where Local Media Assets goes
The default LMA position causes Plex to PREFER bogus embedded Title Fields in MP4/M4V files, even over a perfect file name (if you have any). Moving LMA to the bottom of the stack of active agents prevents that.
Thanks
The underscores? I started with computers way before GUIs and still do a lot of command line work - it just saves having to escape the spaces… I tend to flip between underscores and CamelCase . Just don’t get me started on the folder/directory indications “/”,"",">" - but at least operating systems got folders/directories
Good luck with that. Where file names are concerned better figure out a way to name files properly. Plex is expecting a space. TVDB is expecting a space.
Me? I just hit space. Like about 3 billion other people.
Plex can be perfectly happy 99.9% of the time with incorrectly named files.
When that 0.1% has issues, it’s because 100% of your files are named wrong.
The options are
To adhere to what Plex requires and then some kind soul will point you to the possibility that after renaming you may need to perform the Plex Dance.
Fight it. In which case I hope @JuiceWSA can get the wasted few minutes of his life back.
Finally I have a whole host of documentaries that used year based seasons. NatGeo, Discovery, BBC, History Channel etc…None of them have issues.
I’m sorry. You will notice that I started by thanking @JuiceWSA for his help and then went on to explain why I use an outmoded file naming technique. At no point have I suggested I was ignoring @JuiceWSA’s helpful advice.
Yeah I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to imply that you were planning to ignore Juice.
That said there was no real indication that you were gonna take his advice either.
Thanks - I first ran into this a few days ago and I’ve successfully downloaded metadata since on other things, so I suspect it’s just my screwy naming convention.
I operate under the ‘I can lead a horse to water…’ motto.
(sometimes the ‘I can wrestle a horse to the ground and drown him in 6 inches of water, but I can’t make him drink’…lol)
It’s not a big deal to me, but you may do well to use exact naming and structuring as is laid down by the support guide. With TVDB and Plex’s matching brains gone a little “flippin’ crazy” you’ll never know what’s happening if you don’t.
For instance:
If I use FileBot and Filebot can’t find Nature - S38E07.mkv I might as well wait on it - 'cause there ain’t no lights on at TVDB. If FileBot finds Nature - S38E07.mkv, but Plex can’t match it without a Fix Match - that’s on Plex.
I like knowing who to beoch at, at least.
Also, if I use FileBot generated naming and something goes horribly wrong - at least I KNOW it’s not my naming and structuring.
It’s cool - I have ‘The Palsy’ so bad I can’t write my name, but can still type 120WPM - how’s that for a cruel twist of fate (for you guys)?
Another possibility, although I haven;t checked is that you should have spaces around the -. Not sure if that applies when using the underscore instead of spaces. Have you tried
I simply would NOT go out of my way to name something wrong - or even suggest it. I would aim anyone naming a file like that to the support guide for file naming or show them the light - once.
Period.
Experiments are, of course, absolutely fine - then I would suggest naming it right and add it to the library - if I thought TVDB and Plex could actually do something with it. Right now - anything is possible. Most of it bad.
Using underscores is not necessarily wrong. They should get ignored, but the - needs to be identifiable which I believe requires it to be separated from the rest of the name.
In the end - we never know what is going to happen with Plex or TVDB one day - when a file named WRONG simply won’t work anymore. A proper file name is easier to troubleshoot a problem with - 'cause it’s a proper file name and should ALWAYS work.
How many times have we ALL heard:
“I’ve got 10 thousand files named the same way (wrong), but #10,001 won’t work”!
Well… we found the point of failure. It took a while, but we got here.
Following your comment, I did a metadata refresh and it picked up all the episode names - based on the:
TV_Series/Tom_and_Jerry/Season1940/Tom_and_Jerry-S1940E01 naming.
So I guess it was related to the TVDB technical issues. But, as @JuiceWSA pointed out - if the software has conventions you, can make your life easier by following them…
. Just don’t get me started on the folder/directory indications “/”,"",">" - but at least operating systems got folders/directories 
