@eherberg wrote:

Item: This Is Us
Language: en-US
Type of Problem: Incorrect_content

Thanks for your report!

Extra Details: It appears that somebody has renumbered the episodes on season 5 (as the 1st episode is the 'double' episode that aired) so that the numbering matches the 'scene' numbering. Season 5 starts with episode 1 (the aired 2 hour episode) but then jumps to episode 3. Looking at old discussions - there was a link to a conversation a mod posted in January - however that link now is broken due to a suspended user. Should the episodes be renumbered back to sequential?

It's unfortunate that you can't access the old thread anymore due to a suspended user. What I can do is to copy my old post from the other thread here again -> the post is from January 21st, 2021:

Hello @all,

this reply is for your general information!

The issue was discussed in the moderator section a few days ago by 4 moderators and Travis, but we still couldn't find and didn't make a final decision. The main problem for us here on TMDb is:

There are 2 different existing versions of the content, which complicates our decision based on our current TMDb rules and the priority when it comes to adding the episode(s) to TMDb.

Let me explain this very shortly. There are 2 versions of the content:

1.) NBC version:

This version aired on NBC as 1 single episode on October 27th, 2020; ca. 1:27:27 min in total (without commercials - screenshot). I also assume you'll watch this version when you stream it from the official NBC website. In this version, there's only one pair of opening and end credits, and you can spot the break between the two parts in the middle at 44:29 min -> there's a black screen for 3 to 4 seconds.

2.) Amazon version:

This version streams on Amazon (and probably other streaming devices) as two single streams; ca. 45 min for part 1 and 43 min for part 2 (both without commercials - screenshots ONE and TWO). In this version, each single part has separate opening and end credits like a "normal" episode of the show (part 2 has no "previously on," though).

These are the 2 different versions of the content.

Since TMDb does not allow both versions to be added at the same time (which is also tricky to implement), we have to make a decision for one version - or the other version. In our internal dicussion in the moderator section we had the following 3 different opinions about how to handle this. These 3 opinions basically differ in regards to what should be prioritized in our decision - let me explain this again very shortly:

1.) Contribution Bible is king!

In this opinion, the priority lies on our current main rule from the Contribution Bible:

"Episodes should be added exactly as they first aired on the original network (title, date, order, season)."

Original network is NBC -> TMDb should use the NBC version according to this rule. This means it is a double episode and should be added and named - again - according to our current rules:

"If two episodes originally air as one, a slash can be used to separate the two episodes titles: Title One / Title Two."

Also, we usually add all episodes of any tv show without any gaps in our TMDb numbering. I can't find the quote from the Contribution Bible right now - but it's somewhere in there (if I'm not mistaken...). This is the current way of how the content is/was added.

2.) Original Network is king!

This opinion is the same as no. 1.) above with 1 major difference -> the priority should be the order on the original network NBC. Meaning, we should acknowledge that NBC left episode 2 out intentionally on their website, and TMDb should reflect that gap by skipping the episode 2 in the TMDb order (that's basically what you suggested above as an alternative, @wherrera).

3.) Original Content is king!

In this opinion, the priority lies on the content itself, taking into account that the on screen credits of the NBC version make a difference between part one and part two when it comes to the guest cast, co-stars, editors, footage that was used, and even product placement (screenshots). There are also 2 separate production codes for both parts (#5azc01 vs. #5azc02), which signals that both parts were originally planned and produced as single episodes (and most likely aired together on NBC because of the US election on November 3rd). Which means that both parts should be added separately as episode 1 and episode 2 the way they are/were planned to air (that's basically what you suggested above, @maxshiz). This would violate our current main rule from the bible - but in this opinion the original content should be more important than our rule, meaning the rule should be changed/adapted for these rare cases.

These are the (current) 3 different opinions of how we should add this to TMDb.

Now, you might ask: "What are you waiting for, then?" A final decision! So far, Travis, who usually has the last word in all things TMDb considered, did not decide on this. At the same time, the discussion in the moderator section is dead since 7 days now - so, we're still waiting and nobody moves...

Last note: For anyone of you who argues that other data bases like Wikipedia, IMDb, or TVDb decided in one way or another and TMDb has to follow suit! These websites have their own rules, and those rules differ from TMDb. For example, when you think of IMDb -> IMDb belongs to Amazon, so it's obvious that they use the Amazon version because they can easily link to their Amazon Prime website to sell the stream. IMDb has a commercial interest - so it's obvious they won't use the NBC version. But TMDb does not have a commercial interest - we make decisions based on our rules in the Contribution Bible. And this decision is complicated - as explained above.

I hope that helps.

The re-numbering of the episodes was done on March 18th, 2021, by moderator @Banana -> so it seems that now the original network is king! I can't remember any discussion about the re-numbering among Travis and the other moderators - I guess that's the official decision for TMDb now. I can't say more about it - because I don't have any more information about it.