Plex is not correctly matching TV series, no matter what I do

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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Server Version#: 1.41.5.9522
Player Version#: 1.108.1 Plex for Windows x64

I have the following media that I am trying to organize in my TV Shows library:

Battlestar Galactica (1978) series
Battlestar Galactica (2003) mini-series
Battlestar Galactica (2004) series

Currently Plex is grouping all media under the 1978 Battlestar Galactica series, and not showing the 2003 mini-series two-parter, nor Season 1 of the 2004 series.

I asked for help on Reddit and it was suggested that adding the IMDb ID would resolve this (it didn’t). I would not be opposed to creating custom metadata to force Plex to properly split these into 3 different “shows”, but I’d rather not go that way if I don’t have to do so.

Plex is also incorrectly putting a date of 2003 on the revival series, when in fact it aired in 2004. The mini-series from 2003 acted as a backdoor pilot for the new series.

If someone could give me a hand figuring this out, that’d be great. I can supply whatever data you require.

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I don’t think Plex TV series agent will consider IMDb references – only those from TMDb and TheTVDb.

Would you mind sharing how those shows are currently organized inside your library folder (incl. episode names)?

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Of course, currently:

/plexdata/television/Battlestar Galactica (1978)/Season 01/Battlestar Galactica (1978) - s01eXX.mkv (episodes 1-34)
/plexdata/television/Battlestar Galactica (2003)/Season 01/Battlestar Galactica (2003) - s01e01.mkv, s01e02.mkv
/plexdata/television/Battlestar Galactica (2004)/Season 01, Season 02, etc. for all four seasons, and named the same as above - Battlestar Galactica (2004) - s0XeXX.mkv

4

I take it, your library is pointing at /plexdata/television?
In that case, the structure looks ok.

If Plex is giving you a hard time, you can indeed include a matching hint in the folder names, e.g.

  • plexdata/television/Battlestar Galactica (1978) {tvdb-71173}/...
  • plexdata/television/Battlestar Galactica (2003) {tmdb-71365}/...
  • plexdata/television/Battlestar Galactica (2004) {tmdb-1972}/...

If you want to go with TheTVDb episode ordering, keep in mind that they’re treating the Mini Series as extras of the main show (s00e01 and s00e02)!

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This did help to fix it.

Is there a guide somewhere on writing custom metadata to force Plex to display certain media in the manner in which I want it displayed? I thought I parsed through the documentation, but maybe I’ve missed it.

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You can use a matching hint file to point Plex to how to match those files.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/plexmatch/

Plex had announced they’re working to add a new agent framework that’ll also allow adding local metadata (e.g. nfo files) – though that’s still on their roadmap and not yet released.

As of today you’re best sticking with the available episode orders currently supported by Plex:

  • TMDb (aired order)
  • TheTVDb (all available orders)
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