ADD TV TAB AFTER THE FACT

You've got the answer right there. Go to http://thetvdb.com/ and look up the show and episode and name it to match their conventions. Specials are usually S00Exx. Duplicate show names are usually distinguished by using the year after the name of the second and subsequent ones such as Parenthood for the original series and Parenthood 2010 for the second parenthood series. Episode names on thetvdb don't actually contain ExxSxx but they are broken down into season folders and episodes are numbered, from that you can deduce the Season and Episode numbers.

Mike

PS> my episode names and the generally accepted convention look like this
Parenthood (2010) - S01E02 - Man Versus Possum

THANKS, Diligaf!

OK - on TVDB I see, for this one show's "special" (a prequel to the season), the following:

Year: 1998, Season 4

Episodes ........ Title

Special ............ xbcde
1 ......................ahllenrv
2 ...................... jv'oqn'qn
etc.

When I click on "Special" a new screen opens saying:

ABC
Specials
xbcde

Aired episode # : 9
Aired before: 04x01

...........................................

- makes me think there were 8 earlier "specials'
- The total episodes before season 4 were about 100, so when they said "aired episode 9" they were ONLY referring to specials ~~~ there were 8 prior SPECIALS.
- Then, how do i refer XBMC to the 9th special? maybe: "ABC.s04.s09" ? (i.e., use 's' for season and also 's' for special) Or, maybe: "ABC.S00.E09" (i.e., Season zero) ?

GOT IT!

Season zero .........