I’m trying to get three TV documentaries matched using .plexmatch files, since the library’s Plex Series agent does not show listings for them when I try to match and for some brain-dead reason, the match tool doesn’t allow us to use a different agent when the default agent cannot find the show (as it does with non-Plex Series agents.)
My documentaries are both Ken Burns’ shows, Mark Twain, and Brooklyn Bridge. Here’re the .plexmatch files for each:
Title: Mark Twain
Year: 2001
imdbid: 0306355
and
Title: Brooklyn Bridge
Year: 1981
imdbid: 0082106
I’ve done The Plex Dance ™ twice now, and both shows remain blank and unmatched. Apparently, the .plexmatch file may be ignored in some circumstances which are, apparently, beyond customer control. I really with this feature worked as documented. Any chance it might get fixed?
You have these in a “Movies-” type library, right? That’s the only type of library for which IMDB ids are relevant, and these particular ids are specific to the TV movie versions of these shows. “Mark Twain” has a series entry on TVDB (id 427166), so you can shoehorn that one into a TV library if you prefer (using that id).
It would’ve helped if the documentation for .plexmatch files made a note that some ID values were only used by specific media library types. I had tried tmdbid before trying imdbid, with no success with either. I gave up in frustration, since I was following the documentation and not seeing the promised results.
FWIW, I checked again this morning and the Brooklyn Bridge (1981) documentary did finally match, as Espy Awards (1993)! Considering that’s not even close to correct, since Plex didn’t use the hint due to it being for imdb and this being a TV library, that’s a rather remarkable mistake for the Plex Series agent.
When I get home from work I will look up the show ID values from TheTVDB and try those instead. Maybe I will finally get not only matches, but correct matches.
[EDIT] Well, I changed the problem shows to use tvdbid: and three of the four now match up fine. However, The Brooklyn Bridge documentary from 1981 is still identified as a 1991 sitcom. And although I try to change the description and poster manually, my changes are not appearing in the library or on my home screen – but they do show as saved when I open the show for editing! But still, Plex doesn’t allow me to edit many aspects of the meta data for a show, so without a correct match it is just stupid. Apparently the Plex Series agent is too arrogant to admit that it can make a mistake.
Can you tell I’m frustrated? I had far, far less trouble with the older agents, and I only upgraded because I got tired of being nagged to “upgrade” (?really?) to the new Plex Series agent – Every. Single. Time. I access the library.
