Topic: DVD Profiler: How do you sort your TV Series (disc) profiles

[DJ Doena]

Just out of curiosity:

Even if you only buy in one locality (which I don't), there are a lot of ways to express that this is season 2 of series X. And even during the course of releases within the series it can happen that the structure of the title changes.

For example, there are

Series X: Season 2
Series X: Season Two
Series X: The Complete Second Season
Series X: The Complete Season 2
Series X: The Second Season
Series X: The Final Season

Then there are the half-seasons which come as

Series X: Season 2.0 / Series X: Season 2.5
Series X: Season 2.1 / Series X: Season 2.2
Series X: Season 2: Part 1 / Series X: Part 2
Series X: Season 2: Part I / Series X: Part II

And of course the discs which come in any variety described above (not to mention that the disc label might have a different way to describe the season than the fron cover has) and they add the disc number

: Disc 1
: Disc One
: Volume 1
: Volume I
: Volume 2.1


Especially the written numbers make problems because sorting ends up like this:

Disc Five
Disc Four
Disc One
Disc Six
Disc Three
Disc Two



So, what's your system to keep order. Do you simply translate the title into the sort title, no bothering with it at all? Do you have a special naming system?

I do. Aside from the fact that I also unify my titles (I always use "Season 2", "Season 2: Disc 1" no matter what's actually printed on the cover) I also have a system to keep my sort titles straight.

First I (naturally) use the series title in accordance with sorting rules (i.e. no "The" or "A" at the beginning).

Then a blank and an "S". Then the season number (single or double digit depending on the length of the show) then an underscore and then simply the disc number.

It works for the most part, except for half-seasons, where I include that info as well.

Here are a few examples:

Title: Star Trek: The Next Generation: 5. Season: Disc 3
SortTitle: Star Trek: Next Generation S5_3

Title: Xena: Warrior Princess: Season 3: Volume II: 1
SortTitle: Xena: Warrior Princess S3.2_1

Title: Firefly: The Complete Series: Disc One
SortTitle: Firefly D1
(Firefly, sadly, was a one-season show, no need to bother with a season indicator)

Title: Young Justice: Invasion: Destiny Calling: Disc 1
SortTitle: Young Justice S2.1_1

Title: Friends: Series 2: Disc 1 (Side A)
Friends S02_1A


Now I've encountered a new challenge. Publishers seem to begin release certain series on Blu-ray + DVD in the same package (like the multi-media movie releases). For example Person of Interest or Arrow.

And suddenly you have two "Disc 1" and "Disc 2" in the same season. And if you use the same sort title they sort themselves randomly depending on which DiscId comes first. So you end up with "BR, DVD, DVD, BR, DVD, BR, BR, DVD, DVD, DVD".

At first I went with it but then it started to bug me. Now I have found a system for that as well.

Depending on what's more important to you: "Disc 1" always comes before "Disc 2" or all Blu-rays come before the DVDs you can go with:

Arrow S1_1B
Arrow S1_1D
Arrow S1_2B
Arrow S1_2D

or

Arrow S1_B1
Arrow S1_B2
Arrow S1_D1
Arrow S1_D1


So, that's enough for today from the neat freak.

[hal9g]

I use a simple system:

Series Title: SXVYDZ

Where X= season number; Y=Volume number; Z=disc number

The complete collection profile is "Series Title: S0V0D0"

The Season level profile is "Series Title: S1V0D0" (for Season 1)

The Volume level profile is "Series Title: S1V1D0" (for Season 1, Volume 1)

The Disc level profile is "Series Title: S1V1D1" (for Season 1, Volume 1, Disc 1)

I use the "V" designators where applicable, otherwise they're not present.

[Tom]

No matter which locality, I use
“Title: Season One“ and “Sort title: Season 1“
for U.S. series.
For UK series I usually use “Series One“ instead. For German series I use “Staffel 1“.
 I don't use disc profiles.

[Dragonfire]

I leave the title whatever it is...but for the sort title, I use numbers instead of spelling out the numbers.

Example - Big Bang Theory: Season 1: Disc 1

With Simpsons, I had to change the numbers a little to get them to stay sorted in numerical order.  Before I did that, season 10 though whatever I had at the time - maybe 14 or so -  was showing up between seasons 1 and 2.  That annoyed me.

[Jimmy]

Nothing complicated: one profile for one season and the season ordered by season.

[DJ Doena]

No matter which locality, I use
“Title: Season One“ and “Sort title: Season 1“
for U.S. series.
For UK series I usually use “Series One“ instead. For German series I use “Staffel 1“.

So I assume you don't collect one series cross-locality? Happens to me all the time. My second season of Stargate Atlantis is actually Dutch, hence Seizoen 2

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

No matter which locality, I use
“Title: Season One“ and “Sort title: Season 1“
for U.S. series.
For UK series I usually use “Series One“ instead. For German series I use “Staffel 1“.

So I assume you don't collect one series cross-locality? Happens to me all the time. My second season of Stargate Atlantis is actually Dutch, hence Seizoen 2

But it is nevertheless an a US series, isn't it?
So Tom's sort title would be: "Stargate Atlantis: Season 2"

If I understood him correctly he doesn't differentiate where the DVD, but where the series originates.

[DJ Doena]

No matter which locality, I use
“Title: Season One“ and “Sort title: Season 1“
for U.S. series.
For UK series I usually use “Series One“ instead. For German series I use “Staffel 1“.

So I assume you don't collect one series cross-locality? Happens to me all the time. My second season of Stargate Atlantis is actually Dutch, hence Seizoen 2

But it is nevertheless an a US series, isn't it?
So Tom's sort title would be: "Stargate Atlantis: Season 2"

If I understood him correctly he doesn't differentiate where the DVD, but where the series originates.

Ah, I didn't notice the distinction. He bases it on the origin, hence having it unified for a single show. My fault.

[Tom]

Correct, I am doing it by country of origin and not locality. I have cross-locality collections. E.g. Being Erica (Canada, Netherlands)

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

My fault.

Wrong!
If in doubt, blame it on Jon. 

[MEJHarrison]

I simply go for consistency.  So if I have Cool Show: Season 1, Cool Show: Season 2, Cool Show: Season 3 and Cool Show: Season Four, I would rename the 4th season so it follows the same pattern as the rest.  It matters less to me what is actually printed on the box than how they look on the screen.  It's not like changing a "Four" to a "4" is going to cause me to be unable to find it on the shelves!  But I only aim for consistency within a season.  One show might have numbers while the next spells it out completely.  Sort titles are whatever they need to be so things sort correctly.  I don't give it much thought.

I also have kept my old system of using fake parent profiles to group things.  I used to have a TV profile that contained all my TV stuff.  Custom categories solved that of course.  But within my TV collection, you would still open Star Trek, then open Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to see all those shows.  It keeps everything nice and neat.  The only shows that don't have a parent profile to live in are shows that only lasted a season or less (Firefly, Lone Gunman, Nowhere Man, etc).

As for partial seasons, I don't know.  Never purchased one that I can recall.  I sort of have issues with paying for half of something, so I tend to avoid them on principle.  So until a Must-See show is released that way, I can't really answer that question.