For example
Season 4 Episode 5 (I_LOVE_LUCY_S04_E05.m4v) in theTVDB is “Mr. and Mrs. TV Show” while Plex is listing it as “Ricky’s Movie Offer” which is actually episode 6.
Season 4 Episode 6 is “Ricky’s Movie Offer” while Plex is naming it “Ricky’s Screen Test” (which is actually Episode 7)
Season 4 Episode 7 is “Ricky’s Screen Test”, Plex is naming it “Lucy’s Mother In Law” (which is episode 8)
first if that is really the way you have the files named then it is little wonder that Plex has problems matching them. The correct way to name and structure files is:
TV Shows <–The TV library points here
_______ShowName (year)
____________Season 01
__________________ShowName (year) - s01e01 - Optional Name.ext
_________________ShowName (year) - s01e02 - Optional Name.ext
__________________and so on for the shows in season 01
____________Season 02 ? just like Season 01
____________Season 03 ? and so on for each season
____________Season 00 ? or “Specials”
__________________ShowName (year) - s00e01 - Optional name
__________________ShowName (year) - s00e02 - Optional name
__________________and so on for each special
Note 1: the eXX part of the specials must match EXACTLY what is found in TheTVDB
Note 2: The (year) may be omitted for shows that do not have more than one occurrence throughout the years.
There are many other structures and naming systems that work but this is the one I use and it just works.
For a mass rename I use FileBot with this format string {n.replaceTrailingBrackets()} - {s00e00.lower()} - {t}
If your structure and naming fit that standard then it could be that you need to choose a different ordering like “DVD order” or something like that.
I have had a few (very few) shows that I simply could not get to match in the correct order so I simply renamed the various files to what Plex seemed to expect. With shows like “I Love Lucy” where the episode order does not matter it is best to not even try to find a way to force the episodes into an order rather it is best to name them as Plex expects and go from there.
Do not fight the great Plex-i-sourus it is doomed to failure.
BTW: To Plex the only things that matter is the structure, the series name and the SxxEyy part. Plex does not use the “Episode Name” part of the file name for anything at all.
Assuming you’re using the Plex TV Series agent, it defaults to using TMDB’s episode ordering, which matches what you’re seeing. You’ll have to edit the show to use TVDB if that how you’ve named them (Edit Show > Advanced > Episode ordering > TheTVDB (Aired)). You can also set the default to TVDB library-wide under the similar Manage Library > Edit > Advanced > Episode ordering.
