Make Jellyfin use original air date?

[Backwoods Genius]

I have the files labeled SxxExx according to their original air dates. But the info in the nfos is filled out according to TVDb's "absolute order". This is only happening on one show, that I can tell. The actual order of the episodes doesn't really matter since there's no story to follow. I just like to preserve the "history" of the show, if you will. I thought there was a setting that allowed me to specify what order episodes followed, but I couldn't find it. I plopped in an ".ignore" file and started manually altering the nfo files to match the original order, but that's going to take 17 weeks for 80+ episodes. I could probably work out a Powershell script to automate the fixes and then lock the files to prevent Jellyfin from reverting them later. Obviously, I'm hoping I just missed an easy solution. How do I force Jellyfin to write nfos that match original air dates?

[Reetin]

Hello,

If you click on the particular show and then the three dots on the top right you should have the option to "Edit Metadata". Once you click on that then you can scroll down and it will say "Display Order" where you can choose whether it was the aired date or the Absolute, DVD, Digital, etc.

[TheDreadPirate]

What show is this?

The episode order option is in the "Edit metadata" menu for the show. About halfway down is an episode ordering drop down.

[Backwoods Genius]

That's why I was missing it. I was looking over in the dashboard and settings, not under the individual metadata. Thanks.

---

What show is this?

The episode order option is in the "Edit metadata" menu for the show.  About halfway down is an episode ordering drop down.

It is the old Muppet Show. So nothing critical about the order. Just my OCD.

[Backwoods Genius]

It's still not cooperating. It was already set to "Aired" in the metadata menu. Refreshed the series from the top menu, season one got fixed. Checked on season two and it's still FUBAR.

This is the order they were aired:
   


And this is how everything is named:
   


But this is how it shows up in the player:
   


And when I click on an episode, it plays the correct video instead of the one suggested by the thumbnail and description. Playing "2. Madeline Kahn" starts the Rich Little episode, which is the correct video.

The nfo is clearly confused. I deleted the existing ones, made sure it was set to "Aired", and refreshed it. But it still gets the info wrong. That isn't even the right aired date for episode 2.

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<episodedetails>
  <plot>Sketches/Songs: "Happy Feet", "Feet", "Drum Solo by Animal", "Swedish Chef", "New York State of Mind", "Pigs In Space", "The Pig Got Up and Slowly Walked Away", "Sunny Day", "Muppet Newsflash", "Up and Away", "Wishing Song"</plot>
  <lockdata>false</lockdata>
  <dateadded>2024-09-09 01:40:44</dateadded>
  <title>Madeline Kahn</title>
  <originaltitle>Madeline Kahn</originaltitle>
  <rating>0</rating>
  <year>1977</year>
  <mpaa>TV-G</mpaa>
  <imdbid>tt0653173</imdbid>
  <tvdbid>87089</tvdbid>
  <runtime>26</runtime>
  <genre>Comedy</genre>
  <genre>Family</genre>
  <genre>Musical</genre>
  <tvrageid>198249</tvrageid>
  <art>
    <poster>M:\Jellyfin\Data\metadata\library\94\9442a2f464dc1359ac27e28317532d1a\poster.jpg</poster>
  </art>
  <isuserfavorite>false</isuserfavorite>
  <playcount>1</playcount>
  <watched>false</watched>
  <lastplayed>2024-09-12 21:55:59</lastplayed>
  <resume>
    <position>0</position>
    <total>1563.008005</total>
  </resume>
  <actor>
    <name>Madeline Kahn</name>
    <type>GuestStar</type>
    <thumb>M:\Jellyfin\Data\metadata\People\M\Madeline Kahn\folder.jpg</thumb>
  </actor>
  <showtitle>The Muppet Show</showtitle>
  <episode>2</episode>
  <season>2</season>
  <aired>1977-09-30</aired>
  <fileinfo>
    <streamdetails>
      <video>
        <codec>h264</codec>
        <micodec>h264</micodec>
        <bitrate>1428523</bitrate>
        <width>720</width>
        <height>576</height>
        <aspect>5:4</aspect>
        <aspectratio>5:4</aspectratio>
        <framerate>23.976025</framerate>
        <language>und</language>
        <scantype>progressive</scantype>
        <default>True</default>
        <forced>False</forced>
        <duration>26</duration>
        <durationinseconds>1563</durationinseconds>
      </video>
      <audio>
        <codec>aac</codec>
        <micodec>aac</micodec>
        <bitrate>192002</bitrate>
        <language>und</language>
        <scantype>progressive</scantype>
        <channels>2</channels>
        <samplingrate>44100</samplingrate>
        <default>True</default>
        <forced>False</forced>
      </audio>
    </streamdetails>
  </fileinfo>
</episodedetails>

[TheDreadPirate]

You have to make sure that your library metadata providers are ordered so that the provider that has your desired order is the top.

And you may need to "replace all metadata" when refreshing.

[Backwoods Genius]

You have to make sure that your library metadata providers are ordered so that the provider that has your desired order is the top.

And you may need to "replace all metadata" when refreshing.

Done that. Even disabled everything but TVDB. It still gets it wrong. I tidied up the file names by removing "Guest" so that didn't clutter the search. That made a difference, it pulled in all the correct thumbnails. But it still mixed up the names and plots in the player. And looking at the nfos, it was somehow pulling in the wrong episode id despite having the correct SxxExx and guest name.

So the only way I was able to fix it was by deleting all the nfos and manually adding the correct tvdbid to every video title.

[TheDreadPirate]

You should have been able to just "replace all metadata" after removing the NFOs. Next time, you can also try removing the folder from your library, scan to remove it, re-add the folder, scan to re-add. Sometimes metadata becomes "sticky" for no explainable reason.

[Backwoods Genius]

You should have been able to just "replace all metadata" after removing the NFOs.  Next time, you can also try removing the folder from your library, scan to remove it, re-add the folder, scan to re-add.  Sometimes metadata becomes "sticky" for no explainable reason.

I don't know what to tell you, I tried every variation I could think of. I deleted everything except the video files, I corrected nfos manually to see if it would update correctly, I removed other metadata sources, I "replaced all" metadata... everything came back mixed up. If you look at the nfo I posted above, that is not the correct tvdbid for that episode. Jellyfin clearly knows what episode it's searching for since it pulled in the correct thumbnails. So maybe something's wrong on the backend of tvdb and it's spitting out the wrong ID number. Or maybe the listing on the webpage is wrong. I promise you that manually editing 100+ file names was not my first thought.

I will try removing the folder before I continue the editing process. I'd been wondering if it wasn't some sort of cache issue and that seems like a good way to clear any caches. Thanks.

[Backwoods Genius]

SOLVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure enough, pulling the folder out and scanning did the trick. Awesome! All five seasons are correctly ordered now.