# quick question about preparing TV shows **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [April 17, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/quick-question-about-preparing-tv-shows/142585 "2016-04-17T13:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fodbrothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@fodbrothers](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fodbrothers)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:20pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/quick-question-about-preparing-tv-shows/142585/1 "2016-04-17T13:20:43Z")
I know how to prepare the tv shows but have one question about the naming side. if I have a tv show lets call it heroes for example if I was naming them it would be Heroes S01 E01 Heroes S01 E02 Heroes S01 E03-E04 the last one being 2 episodes in one but what if episode 5 had a part 1 and part 2 how would I name that for plex to be able to register it many thanks in advance ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 3:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/quick-question-about-preparing-tv-shows/142585/2 "2016-04-17T15:56:18Z")
contains almost all answers to your questions, including the multi-episode one: [https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/200059498-Naming-and-Organizing-TV-Shows](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/sections/200059498-Naming-and-Organizing-TV-Shows) no ‘space’ character between season and episode code! The ‘Part 1 and Part 2’ question about ‘episode 5’ depends on whether it was originally aired in 2 parts or if it is just separated into 2 files. You can find that out too by looking it up on TheTVDB. If episode 5 is there only as one episode, then you have a “stacked” episode, which is also explained in the link above. Here is the principal approach to naming tv shows: 1. Look up your show on [TheTVDB](http://thetvdb.com/ "TheTVDB") 2. Take the title as it is used on TheTVDB. If there is something in parentheses, take that too. If the title contains invalid characters (depends on your file system), like `§ : % *`, simply leave them out. 3. Check the [naming and the folder structure](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200220687-Naming-Series-Season-Based-TV-Shows "naming and the folder structure") of your show. Name the top folder of the show exactly after the title on TheTVDB. No abbreviations. No additional subfolders. No aliases. 4. Name the episode files according to the above linked naming guide. Use the same title as for the top folder. `Show's Title - s01e01 - additional info.ext` (’- additional info’ can be left out) 5. After you corrected the naming and folder structure, perform the [Plex Dance](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/908454/#Comment_908454 "Plex Dance") with all files for this show. If you want to avoid multi-episode files or stacked episodes (because they have drawbacks) here are possible ways to avoid them: > **[\[HowTo\]: splitting multi-episode files with MKVtoolnix GUI](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/173648/howto-splitting-multi-episode-files-with-mkvtoolnix-gui)** > > The purpose of this HowTo is to split videofiles which contain more than one episode of a tv show into single-episode files. So they show up individually within plex, can be played individually and don’t produce any of the weird things that... > **[\[HowTo\]: joining multi-part movies files with MKVtoolnix GUI](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/178888/howto-joining-multi-part-movies-files-with-mkvtoolnix-gui)** > > The purpose of this HowTo is to join videofiles, when a movie was ripped and split into two or more files. (This happens usually with very long movies \[i.e. LOTR\] or more often back in the day when we had Video CD or DIVX CDs) The ultimate goal is... ---
**Author:** ![AsphyxNYC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9e8a1a/32.png) [@AsphyxNYC](https://forums.plex.tv/u/AsphyxNYC)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/quick-question-about-preparing-tv-shows/142585/3 "2016-04-17T16:09:04Z")
In cases where there are Two Episodes in one file I usually skip the E01-E02 convention and simply use the E01. But mostly because it makes for better compatibility in media listings for other programs outside of Plex. E02 is skipped in my listings but then again there is usually no reason to see E02 in a listing since it has no open and in many cases will simply play from the E01 start anyway. The second Episode only exists contractually for syndication purposes. The E02 is not needed unless your file is actually broken down into two file parts from a Syndicated version of the series. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2020, 9:19pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/quick-question-about-preparing-tv-shows/142585/4 "2020-01-07T21:19:47Z")