How to fix episode numbers with Filebot after TVDB changes the order

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I found a solution to a problem and simply wanted to share it with the class.

I have a series where TheTVDB’s episode order was not only clearly wrong, but also locked. A while back, I gave up and re-numbered the episodes to match TheTVDB, even though it was, again, clearly wrong. Well, they finally fixed the order recently. Now, the order is listed correctly in the Plex interface, but it plays the wrong episodes due to the file numbering now being wrong.

So I was in a state where all the titles were correct in the file name, but the episode numbers were wrong.

I loaded the episodes into Filebot to fix them, but unfortunately that doesn’t work. Filebot bases the scan on the season/episode information, not the episode title. So it would have renamed the episodes to the wrong titles, instead of keeping the titles and renumbering them. I considered using a batch renamer to remove the number info, but didn’t have to.

If you run into this problem, here is the solution:

  1. Load the series into Filebot.
  2. Click the Match button, but go down to bottom and click on Preferences.
  3. Change the preferred order to Absolute Airdate Order. That option ignores the episode numbers.
  4. Scan the collection. You should see that the episode names stay the same, but the numbers are replaced with the original airdate. Spot-check accordingly.
  5. Click rename.
  6. Start over with Filebot and load the renamed series.
  7. Go to preferences and change to your preferred order (Airdate, DVD, or Absolute)
  8. Scan again. It should properly show your names correct, and the episode numbering right too. Spot-check again!
  9. Click rename.
  10. Scan Plex and be happy.

[One additional note: If run into a situation where TheTVDB order is clearly wrong and they won’t fix it, go check TheMovieDB. It wasn’t yet a good option when I originally ran into this problem, but it’s often fine now]

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2

Can I ask what series this was? I’d like to correct it if I have it as well! Thanks!

3

It was The Jetsons!

The 60s episodes (season 1) were always correct, but season 2 had been wrong for a while. Some episodes in that season were accidentally dated as exactly 1 year later to the day (1986 instead of 1985). It probably originated as a typo. So those episodes were pushed down to the end of the season instead. Even with a standalone show like The Jetsons, that led to some timeline problems (Elroy adopts his new pet after he’d been there for the whole season prior). No idea when it was fixed, which is a frustration as well.

It’s the second time it happened recently, TVDB also changed the numerical order for the Garfield and Friends specials, so the Thanksgiving and Christmas ones were improperly listed in Plex. But since it was just a few episodes, I manually fixed it. The Jetsons was going to be a much bigger fix.

4

Don’t have that one yet. Amazon keeps tempting me though.

I’ve always wondered how this would be handled in Plex if the metadata source changed. I wish Plex would alert the Administrator of these changes so they could adjust appropriately.

5

Here’s some more in-depth explanation for translating Absolute Order to Airdate SxE Order:
https://www.filebot.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2769

You can use the dynamic {order} binding and Presets to combine these operations into a a single one-click task:
https://www.filebot.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3228

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