So I’m trying to add a BBC TV Show to my Plex library. If I add it to Movies, it’s matched and all is fine.
But if I add it to TV Shows, it will not match.
How do I give Plex a kick to help it to correctly match/list it when it’s in my TV Shows?
Note: It’s this - The New Romantics: A Fine Romance (TV Movie 2001) - IMDb
You can’t.
If it’s a one-off, it’s a movie.
The fact that it was originally shown on TV doesn’t make it a “TV show”.
“TV shows” libraries in Plex are only for “episodic” content – i.e. a series.
The same applies to the metadata sources which Plex uses. If it’s listed there as a movie, you won’t get metadata for it in a “TV shows” type of library and vice versa.
imdb.com, thetvdb.com, themoviedb.org
The only exception to this rule is, if the movie has been listed as a special episode in an existing tv show.
Example: “Serenity (2005)” is listed as a special episode of “Firefly (2002)” on TheTVDB. Firefly - Serenity - TheTVDB.com
That’s really annoying 
It’s a TV program. Not a movie…
So I get a blank entry in TV Shows, and then have to pointlessly enter in the meta data and cover image instead of just pointing it to say the IMDB entry? Hmmm…
You can do this just fine (with caveats)
BBC Documentaries (1936) >
Season 2001 >
BBC Documentaries (1936) - S2001E06 - The New Romantics.ext
Its right there on TVDB. BBC Documentaries - The New Romantics: A Fine Romance - TheTVDB.com
The caveat being… Storing them that way make things far harder to find. It will however show the synopsis just fine.
Personally Im heading in the other direction and actually adding the missing BBC Documentaries to TMDB so they’re much easier to find in my library.
That’s really just semantics.
As far as Plex is concerned, all non-episodic content is a movie. Which means the library organisation follows the same structure, and the metadata sources are the same.
Create an additional library in Plex of the type “Movies”, but name it “TV programmes”. https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/plex-media-server/libraries/
Point it to the folder where you have collected other non-episodic tv programmes. Done.
So that will mean I will have a TV Show called “BBC Documentaries (1936)”? Which I then have to go into to find this and other such documentaries?
Why can’t I just link the TVDB entry as suggested I can with {tvdb-5150320}. As defined by Plex here - Naming and Organizing Your TV Show Files | Plex Support
BUT, that does not seem to help
So the best option seems to be is create:-
The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001 >
---- S01E01
-------- The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001.mp4
I then have to manually enter in all the meta data.
If the folder name method Plex suggested actually worked that would be nice. ie:-
The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001.{tvdb-5150320} >
Exactly and it’s painful. Hence I’m now making mine all movies as much as possible.
I see no point in having something with a single episode as a TV show.
From where are you drawing this ID number?
Is it not from the URL? - BBC Documentaries - The New Romantics: A Fine Romance - TheTVDB.com
Have I misunderstood?
Well, for me a bunch of BBC TV programs, be they two+ episode affairs, or one episode affairs should live side by side. I shouldn’t have to think, if it’s only one episode I need to go to a different folder 
OK, I must have missed that. As you can see if you follow this link, this is an episode of the series “BBC Documentaries”.
So, in order to be recognized by Plex and to get metadata (only in a library of the type “TV shows”), you name it as follows:
/TV Shows
/BBC Documentaries
/Season 2001
s2001e06 - The New Romantics A Fine Romance.mp4
Failing all else, that may be the best compromise. Just create a “Documentaries” library (defined as Movies) for them…
Shame you can’t just put a tag in a TV Show folder, to earmark it as to be treated as a movie
eg:-
TVShows >
– The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001 {movie} >
---- The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001.mp4
But then you have to keep in mind that there are also documentaries which are organised as episodes.
And thus need to go into a library of the type “TV shows”…
Like the above “The New Romantics A Fine Romance”.
Yes, which is why the current mechanics aren’t great. I have BBC TV Shows where plex wants you to put them in different libraries for no other reason than the number of episodes.
I should be able to denote a TV Show in such a way Plex simply treats it like it does a movie. ie: This would be ideal:-
TVShows >
– Everything.And.Nothing.2011 >
---- S01 >
------ Everything.And.Nothing.2011.s01e01.mkv
------ Everything.And.Nothing.2011.s01e01.mkv
– The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001 {movie} >
---- The.New.Romantics.A.Fine.Romance.2001.mp4
And voila! Everything is in TVShows and Plex simply realises “The New Romantics” is to be treated as a one off “movie”…
Rather than the current bodge approach.
Yep… Another example today.
Want to add Michael Caine’s 3hr 1988 Jack The Ripper film to my movies library.
Problem is, although it’s IMHO basically a movie, it was a two part TV special, so I have no way to add it (properly) to my movies library, and have to create a TV series with one episode in it.
Again would be FAR better if you could define Plex to treat a movie folder as a TV show or a TV folder as a movie.
ie a folder in your movie library of: Jack.The.Ripper.1988 {TVseries} ← So Plex treats it as a TV show instead of a movie in this one off case.
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