TV Series 'Shuffle' Not Random

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 4.136.1
Player Version#: Apple TV 4K

The TV Show ‘Shuffle’ option is not random and chooses the same 15-20 episodes every single time. The girlfriend likes to watch The Big Bang Theory (and other shows until I get sick of the same 15 episodes) before bed and falling asleep to them for the white noise aspect. I usually stay up a little bit later in the same room watching/listening.

For the past two months, Plex has played the same 15-20 episodes of The Big Bang Theory on repeat. Before anyone tries to say “true random isn’t possible” or “you’re just recognizing patterns” is plain wrong. I have been in IT for over ten years and have an actual understanding of how programming and electronics work along with a Bachelors in Cloud Computing.

The same episodes have been playing over and over so many times that the second the cold intro starts, I can map out the plot, recite multiple jokes, and even guess EXACTLY which episode is playing when I can barely hear it in the other room.

This specific TV show has 279 episodes throughout 12 seasons. I have seen the following episodes multiple times to where I can just google a small part of the plot to get the episode title and this is just the four I can name off the top of my head with how often they’re chosen.

  • S2.E17 The Tangerine Factor
  • S5.E24 The Countdown Reflection
  • S6.E04 The Re-Entry Minimization
  • S9.E22 The Fermentation Bifurcation

Unfortunately, I don’t have the statistics to prove it at the moment, but I have just spun up a Tautulli instance will start logging the non-random shuffle episode plays and will return in a week or so with actual proof. It drives the girlfriend crazy because I will sit there and recite lines with the show or explain the plot. We hit shuffle again and repeat until she decides to swap shows because the ‘random shuffle’ isn’t actually random. This has been an issue for several years based on my Googling and the blatant cop outs trying to say people are “just recognizing” the same shows is infuriating and unhelpful. I will be back by the end of October with my Tautulli statistics.

2

I simulated shuffling The Big Bang Theory 100 times using the Plex Media Server API.

Plex Media Server Version 1.41.1.9057.

Here is the code I used:

from plexapi.playqueue import PlayQueue
from plexapi.server import PlexServer

plex = PlexServer("http://localhost:32400", token="XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX")
show = plex.library.section("TV Shows").get("The Big Bang Theory")

with open("plex_shuffle.csv", "w") as f:
    for _ in range(100):
        queue = PlayQueue.create(plex, show, shuffle=1, continuous=1, repeat=0)
        f.write(",".join(i.seasonEpisode for i in queue.items) + "\n")

Here is my data and results showing the frequency any episode shows up in the first 1, 5, and 10 items in the queue.

3

Apologies it took me a little longer to get back to this than I thought it would, but it allowed for additional data to be gathered anyway. I’m willing to secede my initial position on the shuffle feature as it does appear to be working, but it has not chosen 94 episodes (roughly 1/3rd of the series) and two thirds of that number are replays.

As a quick glance, quite a few episodes have been played twice more often than not.

Total Plays 319
Played 1x 95
Played 2x 59
Played 3x 19
Played 4x 11
Played 5x 1
Played 6x 0

I will continue to monitor the playback now that I have the API source setup to auto update my own Excel sheet. Linked below is the data I used and exported from Tautulli.

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