TVDB episode ordering for Specials

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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Server Version#: 1.23.2.4566-85f0adf5b
Player Version#: 1.31.1.2262-74fdc6b7

UPDATE: For now I’ve created a playlist which allows me to sort the titles in the correct order.

Hi everyone, I’m very new to Plex and this is my first post. I apologise if this has already been asked and I haven’t been able to find the relevant topic. I have a problem with episode sorting for the TV series Top Of The Pops. Specifically the Specials which are the only episodes I have.

The TVDB page for Top Of The Pops is here:
https://www.thetvdb.com/series/top-of-the-pops-uk/

The Aired Order “All Seasons” list is here:
https://www.thetvdb.com/series/top-of-the-pops-uk/allseasons/official

The Aired Order “Specials” list is here:
https://www.thetvdb.com/series/top-of-the-pops-uk/seasons/official/0

This is information for two of the episodes I have:
episode number: s00e51
episode name: The Story Of 1976
aired: 1 April 2011
episode number: s00e41
episode name: The Story Of 1978
aired: 4 January 2013

I have them on disk at:
TV\Top Of The Pops\specials\sxxexx The Story Of xxxx.mp4.

Plex is finding the episodes with all the correct details but they’re being sorted by episode number not aired date. I guess it’s because the information being used is from the “Specials” list (incorrect aired order) and not the “All Seasons” list (correct aired order). So 1978 appears in Plex before 1976 even though 1976 aired first. Is there any way to get around this? Or am I doing something wrong? TIA

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Welcome to the forum.
Plex will display those items based on the episode sequence… usually this is also the order how the episodes aired. It’s weird they put that upside down in this case.

While you can manipulate how Plex is displaying your library to some degree (e.g. display items by show/season/episode, sort by title/release date/date added/…, filtering of items…) that won’t touch the underlying order itself.

You could create a smart collection for those episodes (display as episodes, filter by that show name, sorted by episode title). That won’t change the order/structure of the show itself but it’ll give you an episode collection that’ll automatically update if you add new episodes matching the filter criteria.

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Thanks tom80H, yes they’ve certainly numbered those episodes strangely. These are not the only two from the TOTP “The Story Of” specials that are not in sequence. I guess it’s not the worst problem I could be having but it is a little frustrating :slightly_smiling_face:

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