My Plex server cannot figure out how to properly scrap and label the new TV series Magnum P.I.
The IMDB data base for the original series from 1980 is: “Magnum, P.I.” The new series does not have the comma in the name and is called “Magnum P.I.”.
I know that does not seem like much of a difference but Plex can’t figure the difference. The new series is being scrapped as the old one. The online data bases are correct and up to speed.
All my file names are straight out of “thetvdb.com” and are 100% accurate.
The TVDB is tagging the file as “Magnum P.I. - S01E01 - I Saw the Sun Rise”
Do I have to manually change each file as it comes in? So Plex can catch a clue?
I don’t think you read the post. The new series “reboot” has no comma. The old one does. That is what is in the public database. Not the year of the show.
I have seen reboot series that do tag the year. But for some reason CBS decided to just omit the comma and not add a year to the name.
For fun… I am going to add (2018) to the file name and folder to see what it does with it. Will report back in a few.
Plex is currently busy scanning the movie database. I tried to cancel that scan but it keeps restarting it. I will have to wait to test this.
Adding 2018 to the folder and the file fixed it. I am going to drop the 2018 on the file but leave it on the folder to test. I really don’t want to have manually rename all the inbound files.
Plex wants the show name in the main folder and in the episode files to be the exact same.
What system (OS) are you on? On macOS you can quite easily mass-rename your files – I believe in Windows you’ll need a separate app such as FileBot if you want to automate things.
I don’t want to have to manually edit file names in the future. This won’t be the last episode of this new series. It is the first one. I checked FileBot and it names the file exactly as I have it without the comma and no “(2018)”.
I added “(2018)” to the folder but left the file name exact as the tvdb database indicates. It is now properly scrapping the file as the new series. The software may not be capable of reading punctuation for file scrapping purposes which is causing this problem.
This is the current structure.
“\Magnum P.I. (2018)\Magnum P.I. - S01E01 - I Saw the Sun Rise.mkv”
I am familiar with the quirks of Kodi but I am very new with Plex. So far I am very pleased with it’s scrapping. I really like that it pretty much takes care of the database on the fly and that I don’t have to run a Sql server to manage the other televisions on the property. I have absolutely no regrets to switching. I wish I did it a long time ago!
Thanks so much for your help!
Hopefully this continues to work moving forward. For all I know Kodi could easily have the same problem with this file. I no longer use it.
I just watched the first episode. I would give it 4 stars.
The new magnum is no Tom Selleck but I am sure he will grow on me. I am sure it will appeal to new audiences. I must say I really like Higgins.
Half correct. Plex ignores punctuation, and searches bare words only (with a 4 digit number in parenthesis added as a year to the query). The other half of that equation is that thetvdb (and tmdb/imdb) also ignore punctuation in their apis.
Some (most?) software get around this by assuming you want the most recent search hit with high certainty, plex also used to behave in this manner. A while back plex reversed that logic, probably because the standard at the time was for the database providers (tvdb etc) to append the year as in “MacGyver (2016)” and as such, it would be more difficult to automatically match the original series by simply naming it “MacGyver” because its assuming you want the most recent. Switching it to prefer oldest worked in both cases, as the new one had the year in it already. It’s not perfect, but works in more cases than the alternative.
As a side note, you can fix match at the show level to change it to the 2018 show. Assuming you follow the ShowName>Season>File folder structure it “should” stick in the future. By that same logic, your current renaming of just the top folder (and having plex match it correctly now) should work as well going forward. But take the “should” with all due amounts of salt.
In matching TV shows Plex has a STRONG bias toward the folder naming. In fact if the folder is named wrong then Plex very often does not name the file correctly no matter how well said file is named.
If the folder is named correctly then the filename is much less important. I have tested and get perfect naming on the shows I have tested that have correct folder naming and structure when just naming the shows “s01e01” “s01e02” and so on with no episode name at all.
I do not recommend that as it is always better to be fully compliant but it has worked in my testing.
Bottom line is that you are probably OK with just naming the folder correctly (with the date) and leaving the date off the file name. That how I have things set up and we will see what happens when the next episode gets aired and recorded and moved into the structure.
Have you checked to see if next weeks recording is going to record or not?
One of the problems with Plex and reboots is that it wants to match the EPG info to the old series. So if S01E02 is there it won’t record if you don’t change default options.
Then you need to make sure it doesn’t replace an old series episode. So check carefully and if in doubt make a backup of the old series episode that could conflict just in case.
Mine is defiantly going to record BUT I use a DVR at another location (I get zero OTA signal at my house. The DVR is on the other side of a nearby mountain) and transfer the recording to my home.
Of course (or maybe not of course) I do not use Plex for any recording. I use NetxPVR and, since it works flawlessly for me, I just have a nightly job that goes out and gets the recordings and then places them where Sonnar will import them into Plex for me. It is a little convoluted BUT it works and I will continue to use it until it does not work or something happens to allow me to record locally.
