What happened to the info on Season 8 & 9 of Columbo

Visible but no cast information, no comments, no anything. compare that to the last episode on Season 7 .  or any other episode before season 8. .   it's nearly blank. It wasn't always like this. 

Visible but no cast information, no comments, no anything. compare that to the last episode on Season 7 .  or any other episode before season 8. .   it's nearly blank. It wasn't always like this. 

@bderoes​ 😀

??

Columbo (1971-1978)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466074/reference/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1466074/movieconnections/

Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)
 06 Feb 1989 (USA)  TV Movie
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097083/reference/

Cast verified as complete
- - -
 
Columbo (TV Series)
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine
Season 8  Episode 1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30869797/reference/

It looks like we don't have any Cast and Crew for this title yet

- - -

The Columbo Podcast (Podcast Series)
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (2015)
15 Oct 2015  Podcast Episode Season 1  Episode 46
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12491938/reference/

Gerry and Iain look at the start of Columbo's revival
and how Columbo Goes to the Guillotine
fits in with what came before.

- - -
  

Find -Columbo Goes to the Guillotine

.

Ah, so apparently IMDb moved the last two seasons to individual TV movies it looks like. 

@mousepaws​ 😀

??

Columbo (TV Series)
Murder by the Book (1971)

Season 1  Episode 1
1h 16min  Crime, Drama  15 Sep 1971  TV Episode  

    (90 minute Episode with ads??)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066932/reference/

- - -
  
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)
1h 38min  Crime, Drama  06 Feb 1989 TV Movie

   (120 minute Movie with ads ??)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097083/reference/

.

.

@mousepaws​ That's how they were aired.

The "episodes" for those years are shell episodes to help create the links.

(Look up "shell episodes" in the Help guides.)

I don't see why the episodes under season 8 and 9 should be listed. Someone probably just added them again after they were changed to TV movies. I suspect they will be removed, but no doubt they would be submitted again in the future.

@Peter_pbn​ 😀

So, the Movies are 30 minutes longer than the Episodes
Why not list them as Episodes??
Peter Falk ...   Columbo  (44 episodes, 1971-1978)    AND Movies??

There were a bunch of these mystery shows 

with different detectives way back when

.

Streaming complicates things. Columbo is likely streaming somewhere with all the episodes and tv movies combined, which gives the impression that it is (now?) one series.

That seems analogous to American Masters or Great Performances, which air pre-existing documentaries as an episode under their umbrella. Hence the use of Shell Eps could be appropriate for Columbo too.

@ACT_1​ The later TV movies were occasional, not regularly scheduled. Each was truly a one-off movie, except with a very familiar character portrayed by the same actor.

@jay_spirit​ I agree. They recommend adding a Trivia item to indicate it's a shell, but I think that needs to be in the Plot Outline, so that it's right up front, and include a link to the original there.

@bderoes​ 😀

??

Add 

Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989)
06 Feb 1989 (USA)  TV Movie
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097083/reference/

Cast verified as complete

to 

Columbo (TV Series)
Columbo Goes to the Guillotine
Season 8  Episode 1
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30869797/reference/

It looks like we don't have any Cast and Crew for this title yet

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30869797/plotsummary/

.

@Bethanny​ That doesn't make sense to me. If IMDb feels this is a good idea, IMDb should put in on their internal roadmap/wishlist/whatever you call it. If IMDb doesn't feel it's a good idea, IMDb should say so (and tell us why) and not do it. I fail to see why it would be useful if an Idea post was made.

And if Idea posts for ideas that (also) help protect the data in the database are necessary to escalate matters to the appropriate teams, it seems to me IMDb has a problem that us contributors can't solve no matter how many Idea posts are being made.

Could you tell me a bit more about what that means?  Like what is a ticket number? Or where can I look it up (if, indeed, it's something I'm supposed to look up)?

@awhatrick​

Save the ticket number for your own reference. That way if you want to follow up on this issue later, you can show the staff the number and they'll know what project you're talking about.

Thanks!  

AWH

I have collected three contemporary newspaper accounts generically classifying these events as movies, the strongest being the announcement of the ABC Mystery Movie (emphasis mine) with the premiere of Columbo Goes to the Guillotine (1989).  I also have included contemporary newspaper TV guides showing Sex and the Married Detective (1989) as a movie as well as Murder, a Self Portrait (1989). 

Hi @awhatrick​ -

Thanks for for providing these media clippings with the additional information.  I filed a new ticket (#P140600879) with the team to take another look at these title listings given the evidence you uncovered.  As soon as I have an update on the investigation and decision of how we will handle them, our community staff will post those details here.

Thank you. 

For similar example, I would also point the team to the 26 Perry Mason movies that aired between 1985-1993.  IMDb recognizes these events as television movies rather than as episodes of a continuation of Perry Mason (1957-1966).  

Hello all,

I can confirm that this issue has now been resolved. We have decided to turn every 'episode' from Seasons 8, 9, and 10 into standalone TV movies. We have added 24 shell episodes (one for each TV movie) under the appropriate season, we have now replicated what was once live on the site.

We have also taken extra steps to prevent this from happening again.