Plex mixing my shows

Server Version#:v1.2.16
Player Version#:
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Plex Media Server Logs_2025-10-10_23-46-25.zip (3.8 MB)

Hello,

I saw quite similar issues on different topics, but none exactly like mine.

I have a plex install on TrueNAS SCALE, and even though it works fine for my movies, it mixes up completely my TV Shows.

Here is a look of my ‘tree’, I tried to respect the naming convention : https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-movie-media-files/

Example for Stranger Things :

└── Stranger Things
├── Season 01
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E01.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E02.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E03.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E04.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E05.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E06.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - S01E07.mkv
│ └── Stranger Things - S01E08.mkv

my movies and TV shows are on different repositories :

And they’re used as is in Plex, TV Shows are looking in ‘TV_Shows’ repository, and movies in Films.

Yet, everything is mixed up (and as you can see, I only have 4 episodes for stranger things even though I have 8, named correctly).

And as you can see, it ‘detects’ shows that I don’t have.

Here is what I have :
ll
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 23:06 .
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 23:22 ..
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 23:35 Euphoria
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 09:35 ‘Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood’
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 9 21:34 Malcolm
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 16:51 ‘Monk (2002)’
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 23:34 ‘Stranger Things’

Does anyone have an idea ?

Thanks

For the shows you don’t have that are showing up click on the pencil icon and check the Get Info section for what the file is it’s finding. If it is matching the Stranger Things video files wrong add the TVDB tags to the files to correct the matches or use the fix match option.

For example this is a filename I have for the show Blake’s 7:

Blake’s 7 (1978) - S01E01 - {tvdb-75565}.mkv

I would be very careful right here:

The top directory is Films. It is easy to make a mistake here.

If you named it Media then the paths:

  • Media/Data/Films would make sense for movies
  • Media/Data/TV_Shows would make sense for TV Series

Check each library section’s directories listed in the definition for the section.

I agree but I can’t change my DATASET name except by formatting it now.

However, TV_Shows are looking for :

Films/Data/TV_Shows

and movies for :

Films/Data/Films

Other than monk your naming schema is less than ideal.

I would recommend throwing in the TVDB id in the name of the folder: Monk (2002) {tvdb-78490} since I started using this format I have not had issues with matching. FYI a show called Malcolm without more context is never going to be matched correctly.

EDIT:
@NetizenZ no problem your dataset name, Chuck was just highlighting a common error where people with similar structures use the top level Films directory instead of the correct subdirectory: Films/Data/Films

You’re right !
I renamed everything like so :

drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 23:35 ‘Euphoria (2019)’
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 11 11:47 ‘Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (2009)’
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 11 11:48 ‘Malcolm in the Middle (2000)’
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 16:51 ‘Monk (2002)’
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 0 окт 10 23:34 ‘Stranger Things (2016)’

And episodes are named like so (example with Malcolm in the Middle) :

root@kronotsky:/mnt/truenas_smb/TV_Shows# ll Malcolm\ in\ the\ Middle/Season\ 01/
total 39564152
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2555665713 сен 23 02:24 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e01.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2533349091 сен 23 02:20 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e02.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2510016911 сен 23 02:19 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e03.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2503982579 сен 23 02:22 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e04.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2577247862 сен 23 02:23 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e05.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2414535596 сен 23 02:22 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e06.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2543692993 сен 23 02:19 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e07.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2491031200 сен 23 02:23 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e08.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2572296385 сен 23 02:20 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e09.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2576544650 сен 23 02:20 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e10.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2489099881 сен 23 02:24 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e11.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2595293494 сен 23 02:23 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e12.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2539364137 сен 23 02:24 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e13.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2479837891 сен 23 02:23 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e14.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2540424031 сен 23 02:23 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e15.mkv’
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 2571162775 сен 23 02:20 ‘Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s01e16.mkv’

Another example, for Stranger Things :

root@kronotsky:/mnt/truenas_smb/TV_Shows/Stranger Things (2016)# tree
.
├── Season 01
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E01.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E02.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E03.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E04.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E05.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E06.mkv
│ ├── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E07.mkv
│ └── Stranger Things - {tvdb-305288} S01E08.mkv

I respected this scheme with all TV Shows, and now here is what I have :

You don’t see it here but my apple TV says 1 episode only for Stranger Things, FMA Brotherhood disappeared, Malcolm in the Middle disappeared, and I don’t have Gravity falls, Iczer-onee and Lois and Clark.

All episodes of FMA and Malcolm seem to be in Monk…

I don’t really know what happens here.

Please review https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

+---Malcolm in the Middle {tvdb-73838}
    +---Season 1
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E01 - Pilot.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E02 - Red Dress.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E03 - Home Alone 4.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E04 - Shame.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E05 - Malcolm Babysits.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E06 - Sleepover.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E07 - Francis Escapes.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E08 - Krelboyne Picnic.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E09 - Lois vs. Evil.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E10 - Stock Car Races.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E11 - Funeral.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E12 - Cheerleader.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E13 - Rollerskates.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E14 - The Bots and the Bees.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E15 - Smunday.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E16 - Water Park.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E17 - Traffic Jam.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E18 - Halloween Approximately.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E19 - Lois's Birthday.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E20 - Dinner Out.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E21 - Casino.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E22 - Convention.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E23 - Robbery.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E24 - Therapy.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E25 - High School Play.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E26 - The Bully.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E27 - Old Mrs. Old.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E28 - Krelboyne Girl.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E29 - New Neighbors.mkv
    ¦       Malcolm in the Middle - S01E30 - Hal Quits.mkv

This is how shows should be named.
Please plex dance one of these shows after fixing the naming, show a screenshot of your add folders section of your library and a copy of your server logs.

I thought I respected the naming convention !
I can change the names !

And here are my logs !

Thanks a lot man, I’m new to plex but I already love this community.

Everyone seem pretty nice !

Plex Media Server Logs_2025-10-11_13-01-41.zip (3.7 MB)

@NetizenZ Please do me a favor and fix your naming on Malcolm in the Middle

  • your file is /data/TV_Shows/Malcolm in the Middle (2000)/Season 02/Malcolm in the Middle - {tvdb-73838} s02e25.mkv
  • should be /data/TV_Shows/Malcolm in the Middle {tvdb-73838}/Season 02/Malcolm in the Middle - S02E25 - Flashback.mkv or Malcolm in the Middle - S02E25.mkv

remove these from plex, scan your library, empty the trash, clean the bundles, restart the server and then re-add and rescan the library. This is the Plex Dance, and then post a current copy of your server logs.

EDIT:
By placing the tvdb in the file name I do not know what side effects that is creating, Plex only supports that in the directory name.

Hey man, thanks ! it seems to be working just fine !

Thanks a lot, have a good weekend !