Is it possible to use IMDb.com scraper for TV Shows and TV Show Episodes?

Cant believe there is no other TV option then TVDB. Its just brutal. And I'm not talking about odd shows. It messes with lots. I cant get a straight read on Family guy or American dad to save my life for example. DVD order or not, it skips tons of episodes and miss labels

Anyone here that defends tvdb as good just doesn't have a serious TV library. Period.

I've seen suggestions to rename them, etc. Thats just not a solution. XBMC is fantastic. Best out there. But this is a major shortcoming

I have about 4000 shows in my library and tvdb is a joke. IMDB is far far better and to suggest otherwise is foolish, sorry

And the guys at tvdb are just total tits. I read a dozen threads on various shows that people pointed out were wrong [and they were] and they just got jumped all over and called stupid. Was only on there maybe 30 minutes and clearly one of the worst run forums i have seen. After reading 3 or 4 posts from mods calling omeone an idiot, when they were actually right was just crazy. They seem to get off on calling people fools, but have little time to make an accurate site..

dakotapod Wrote:Anyone here that defends tvdb as good just doesn't have a serious TV library. Period.

That is a little harsh to say IMO
I have never had any issues with tvdb and I have a very serieus TV library


I also heared they are 'not nice' to users. I have never needed them though myself so can't judge on that.

The mods for TheTVDB are, frankly, assholes. Specific some tool named hikaricore who has a tendency to lock every thread that dares to question one of his decisions.

The latest example is the upcoming Legend of Korra. He refuses to accept any other option than listing it as a fourth season of Avatar The Last Airbender. He asked for examples of Nickelodeon calling it a standalone new series so I did. Then he locked the thread with a smartass comment and refused to make a change. He relies on a years-old policy document, that he pulled out of his ass of course, that argues semantics of "sequel" and "spinoff" instead of common sentiment and official network and producer determinations.

Same problem with series that use mini-episodes bundled into one episode. Like Animaniacs or Beavis & Butthead. He insists TVDB be the one source that goes against convention. He's on a power trip.

It's scary that so many wonderful systems like XBMC rely on such a single point of failure. Having to manual fix needless problems caused by a guy with the ego the size of Texas really clouds the entire HTPC ecosystem.

I suggest that if you have an issue with a moderator on thetvdb that you take it up with the thetvdb admins.

^_^

I'm not overly concerned that they run the site like 13 year old brats. Thats the only world people like that have so no point in even trying to communicate. I'm not a member and was only on there less then an hour. But that was more then enough time to see how they run it

I dont even care that they run it like power tripping children. I do care that its wrong and inaccurate. A lot. Sadly when ever someone tries to point that out the tweens running it flip out. So there is no hope whatsoever that it will ever be a reliable and accurate site. And I dont want to argue that it is. I have many shows that it screws up. So I dont need some clown from there telling me what I actually have on my hard drive is in fact, wrong. If a show is mislabeled and missing episodes that's that...

But since its such a poorly run site it would be so great to be able to access the much more accurate IMDB. I dont have the skill set to code a scrapper or I just would. Is there anyway to modify the current IMDB scraper used for movies to also do series?

Again, I'm not skilled enough to code it ground up, but since the site is already accessed maybe it would be easier to alter it for TV?

(2012-03-30 23:21)dakotapod Wrote:  I'm not overly concerned that they run the site like 13 year old brats. Thats the only world people like that have so no point in even trying to communicate. I'm not a member and was only on there less then an hour. But that was more then enough time to see how they run it

I dont even care that they run it like power tripping children. I do care that its wrong and inaccurate. A lot. Sadly when ever someone tries to point that out the tweens running it flip out. So there is no hope whatsoever that it will ever be a reliable and accurate site. And I dont want to argue that it is. I have many shows that it screws up. So I dont need some clown from there telling me what I actually have on my hard drive is in fact, wrong. If a show is mislabeled and missing episodes that's that...

But since its such a poorly run site it would be so great to be able to access the much more accurate IMDB. I dont have the skill set to code a scrapper or I just would. Is there anyway to modify the current IMDB scraper used for movies to also do series?

Again, I'm not skilled enough to code it ground up, but since the site is already accessed maybe it would be easier to alter it for TV?

Actually, I find it to be a problem with users on the site. Every anime I've seen on there has been great. And seeing as the ones that get locked are ones that I've seen have "Posting Wars."
As with your Avatar: The Last Airbender example, InuYasha: The Final Chapter was read as season 8 of InuYasha ( Thank god, because it is the continuation of InuYasha). To me a direct continuation of story (sequel not spin-off) should be apart of the original (Saiyuki, Saiyuki: Reload, and Saiyuki: Reload Gunlock)
Spin-Offs need to stay in different series (Star Trek:TOS,TNG,DS9, and VOY)

I understand there will be some discrepancy when it comes to obscure shows or as you point out terminology. Not a perfect world. And naturally if it turns into an argument it needs to be locked down. That isn't actually how the site is run. Users suggest changes, mods tell them they are stupid, thread is locked.

My problem is episodes completely mislabeled or missing on very standard shows. And when users try and fix the error they are told they are stupid and to shut up. Or whatever power trip crap they do over there to grab a tiny bit of what they perceive as importance...

I'm sure the site at one point was great. It was designed to be open. But that's long gone now with moderators getting thrills out of showing their control [How very sad, but I could care less]

The site is not open. And errors will never be fixed because its run by an infantile mentality

IMDB however is run well and is much more accurate.

I've looked at the xml files and was hoping I could add or alter it to work with TV, but nothing jumps out. I'm sure to a coder it could just be a few extra lines to make it also work with TV. But again, above my pay grade

I would also love to see an IMDB TV scraper. For the most part thetvdb works fine, but then there are numerous problems that crop up, as many people have mentioned above.

The main problem I have with thetvdb is that for older shows, like Star Trek TOS and The Twilight Zone, there's very few episodes that have been rated. These are exactly the type of shows I'd like to view in order of rating, but can't because the majority of episodes have a blank rating, or have only been voted on by a few people. Meanwhile, imdb has ratings for every episode, usually supported by hundreds of votes.

I too would love to se the IMDB ncluded as a scraper for TV sows, not just because the TVDB is often wrong (my latest example is with the BBC art show Imagine where one episode is simply not listed and because of that their numbering is all wrong, i.e. there is no room to list it), but also because of the problem of what to list where. The Gruffalo is clearly a TV program (not a film) and so is Wallace and Gromit - A Matter of Life and Bread. Yet the first is not listed by TVDB (presumably because they only do series), but it does appear on IMDB.