405 Messages
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9.6K Points
How to handle skipped seasons?
A long running USA television series has decided to skip a couple of seasons in their numbering system (presumably to make the series look older than it is?).
A couple of seasons/years ago, the seasons were numbered correctly in the end credits, and on their web site.
Last season/year the season was numbered 3901, 3902, 3903, etc... in the end credits, but they were calling it Season 41 on their web site.
This season/year, the episodes are numbered 4201, 4202, 4203 etc... in the end credits, and calling it Season 42 on their web site.
They have skipped forward a couple of seasons in their numbering since last season/year.
How should this be handled in IMDb? Should the current season be #42 (to match their numbering, skipping 40 & 41), or #40?
I have been attempting to add the episodes as Season 40, but this is causing confusion, and others have been adding episodes in Season 42. Not sure how to proceed.
Michelle
Employee
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18.2K Messages
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321.3K Points
5 years ago
Hi Ron -
Can you post the related IMDb title link for this series here for our staff to take a look?
Also, any additional online links related to this series (ie. network webpage, official website for the show, etc.) will be helpful.
Cheers!
4
ron3
405 Messages
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9.6K Points
5 years ago
I started adding cast data for the episodes about 13 years ago. Shortly after FES (Full Episode Support). Obviously not many of the previous seasons have been fleshed out.
The problems all started two years ago when TOH announced their "40th Season" (or maybe it was "40th Year") - up until then, everything always matched up. Or at least I thought it did.
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ron3
405 Messages
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9.6K Points
5 years ago
Not sure why this is marked solved, but the current episodes are now being loaded into Season 40 on IMDb. So no gaps in the numbering on IMDb.
I guess at some point, some interested party(ies) will need to go back over the 40 years of broadcast history to fill in the early IMDb gaps.
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ron3
405 Messages
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9.6K Points
5 years ago
Twice since then I've have to correct a couple of seasons of episodes again. In February 2021 there was this set of corrections:
210223-145349-321000
210223-145242-785000
210223-145204-473000
210223-145112-038000
210223-145012-650000
210223-144921-221000
210223-144838-861000
210223-144755-929000
210223-144636-256000
210223-144550-979000
210223-144337-364000
210223-144225-541000
210223-144129-926000
210223-144036-585000
210223-143854-333000
210223-143810-470000
210223-143718-469000
210223-143639-029000
210223-143537-433000
210223-143443-046000
210223-143320-103000
210223-143202-620000
210223-143103-548000
210223-142457-163000
210223-142409-095000
210223-142318-907000
210223-131317-083000
210223-131246-245000
210223-131209-511000
210223-131124-271000
210223-131050-976000
210223-131014-747000
210223-130936-623000
210223-130855-920000
210223-130708-983000
210223-130628-592000
210223-005750-472000
210223-130451-711000
210223-130436-986000
210223-130412-985000
210223-130358-444000
210223-130343-394000
210223-130311-653000
210223-130256-515000
210223-130241-470000
210223-130221-215000
210223-130203-023000
210223-130146-774000
210223-130127-376000
210223-130112-036000
210223-130052-996000
210223-130033-566000
and in April 2021, I had to do the same thing all over again.
210402-150804-602000
210402-150746-301000
210402-150728-091000
210402-150706-524000
210402-150649-717000
210402-150632-349000
210402-150604-743000
210402-150548-098000
210402-150529-670000
210402-150346-328000
210402-150317-066000
210402-150258-570000
210402-150239-145000
210402-150221-399000
210402-150202-164000
210402-150142-842000
210402-150127-183000
210402-150106-559000
210402-150046-977000
210402-150030-012000
210402-150015-272000
210402-145958-624000
210402-145941-459000
210402-145909-480000
210402-145849-564000
210402-145834-398000
210402-144835-331000
210402-144746-787000
210402-144659-734000
210402-144605-786000
210402-144513-920000
210402-144412-968000
210402-144310-631000
210402-144222-440000
210402-144127-699000
210402-143839-762000
210402-143754-795000
210402-142743-833000
210402-142649-435000
210402-142231-341000
210402-142050-107000
210402-141945-719000
210402-141606-944000
210402-141433-810000
210402-141344-659000
210402-141239-990000
210402-141146-561000
210402-135737-661000
210402-135636-922000
210402-135531-466000
210402-134333-324000
210402-134228-335000
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ron3
405 Messages
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9.6K Points
5 years ago
Well, it didn't take long for the seasons to get messed up again. Another set of corrections today:
210413-133047-114000
210413-133034-166000
210413-133021-340000
210413-133005-265000
210413-132950-004000
210413-132934-749000
210413-132912-663000
210413-132858-188000
210413-132842-151000
210413-131926-370000
210413-131910-314000
210413-131855-470000
210413-131838-980000
210413-131821-434000
210413-131807-845000
210413-131753-671000
210413-131735-437000
210413-131721-622000
210413-131707-457000
210413-131648-818000
210413-131634-842000
210413-131618-629000
210413-131557-782000
210413-131544-149000
210413-131529-120000
210413-131511-811000
210413-122044-912000
210413-122029-460000
210413-122007-475000
210413-121952-239000
210413-121928-277000
210413-121906-431000
210413-121848-666000
210413-121830-039000
210413-121809-956000
210413-121754-372000
210413-121739-118000
210413-121715-689000
210413-121701-233000
210413-121644-200000
210413-121609-177000
210413-121552-995000
210413-121536-536000
210413-121519-646000
210413-121504-407000
210413-121444-972000
210413-121426-391000
210413-121408-190000
210413-121352-112000
210413-121331-967000
210413-121315-025000
210413-121113-490000
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Michelle
Employee
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18.2K Messages
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321.3K Points
4 years ago
Hi Ron3 -
My sincere apologies for such a delayed reply. I can confirm that all the updates you referenced above were approved and the changes are reflected on the series.
In these situations, the numbering system on IMDb is meant to categorize what season follows another, so it is correct to list these categorically in a chronological way, despite how the network is categorizing their seasons.
If there are any outstanding issues with this series title, let me know!
0
ron3
405 Messages
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9.6K Points
4 years ago
Unfortunately the changes don't stick. As it stands currently, 6+ seasons all need to be renumbered (again). It takes a considerable amount of time to do this, so it hasn't been high on my list, especially since it needs to be re-done every couple of months (or so).
0
ron3
405 Messages
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9.6K Points
4 years ago
First off, much thanks to bderoes for the detailed research and chart presented a year ago.
With a new season kicking off a couple of weeks ago, I decided to sign up for the This Old House Insider program, which allows access to all past seasons of episodes in order to try and figure this out. You will find my updates to bderoes’ chart below.
I was able to determine that the production numbers at the end of current seasons are indeed correct. The production numbers in the end credits have been off for over 20 years!
Without more in-depth research, I don’t know when the problems began, but in the middle of Season 19, (in 1998), production numbers were added to the end credits, and they started with 17xx. They remained off by two seasons until they were corrected in the fall of 2020.
In the below chart, (which was how things looked in early Oct. 2021), I have added columns to indicate how many episodes were in each season, the start and end dates of each season/segment, the production number I found in the end credits (both start and end production numbers of recent seasons), and some notes.
Based on the research I did, I have submitted corrections to re-align the IMDb seasons to match reality. (A few changes/additions are still pending)
I may continue to pick away at a few things in the early seasons, as I still have access to the Insider program for a few more weeks, but otherwise, I feel much better knowing what happened (but unfortunately not why).
NOTE: I wouldn’t necessarily trust the air dates attached to the first 16 (or so) seasons of episodes on the This Old House Insider site without more research.
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