Tiles, not Numbers....

[mhadley]

I just wanted to get something out in the open so I could gage how others feel about this.

Sometimes, when people are looking for specific episodes of shows they say things like "I need Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes 144, 158 and 190". Well, how the hell am I going to know what episodes those are? I assume most people label tapes/discs by title rather then number (if I am wrong please correct me). Also, the number can be very wrong depending on who you talk to. Here are 2 main examples of how what you think is episode 4 of a show is not what I think is episode 4.

If a show has a 2 hour pilot, some people (like episode guides) count that as episodes 1 and 2, where I count that as episode 1. So then all of the numbers between you and I are off by 1.

Another thing is that alot of shows are aired out of the intended order on network TV and aired in the correct order on cable/syndication so that means what originally aired as episode 4 on say ABC, might be episode 9 on cable or a DVD set. The Practice would be a great example of this as the middle of season 2 aired 6 or so unaired season 1 episodes, this was corrected on FX and in syndication.

I lable all my stuff by title and it just irks me when people ask me for episodes by number rather then title.

[Lamont]

i have found some ep guides do not match up
so its best to post BOTH the ep # and name so that we all know for 100% sure

[RedWhine56]

And to muddy the waters further, sometimes episodes are referred to by season. So if season 1 was eps 1-38, they are S01- EP 01-38 and the next episode is S02 EP01. I think most of the time, the main guides are tv.com (if you click 'print ep guide' on the right hand side, after calling up the show, you get them all in numerical order, rather than having to look up each season & it's easy to print out.) Epiguide (I think) & digiguide are a couple more. But like Lamont says, I always try to refer to the episode number AND the title.

And actually, I normally label my disc generically ("Farmer's Daughter" or "MIX" if it's a conglomerate or sometimes no verbiage at all) but the crucial thing is the disc number (for me). I try to keep all my shows cataloged in an Access database & have a table that maps the show/episode with the disc number. I set up a query "Locate Episode" that is VERY easy for me to find an episode (listed alphabetically by title/episode title) that shows me which disc it's on. The database contains other information about each show, such as episode number and any names of famous guests. This way, if I run across someone who collects say, Redd Foxx shows, I can easily find what I have. ;-)

[loren]

thats the main reason i stopped messing with single eps

the truth is most people havent a clue what they really want

i dont know how many times i filled the request, exactly as they asked, and i get the old--thats not what i wanted

a also have found many guides are different

im doing a ironside set

seems i have 4 seperate lists that dont match up

some count 2 hour shows as one, soem as two

some count the crossover eps and other dont


the safest way--would be to get ep number, and the title

[savageamusement]

I also go by title on my own list-

With unaired episodes, two parters, overseas airing incorrect guides

Numbers to me are useless.