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TV tracking notes
How to keep episode progress, rebuild a watch history, and decide what to watch next after a tracker shuts down.
TVmaze episode lists after a show is remade or retitled
Season numbers drift when a series is remade, split, or retitled for a region. Mapping your old row onto the current TVmaze list is the whole import problem.
Read articlePaused, dropped, and up-next: three shelves, not one list
A single watchlist that mixes abandoned pilots with tonight’s episode is why people stop tracking. Shelves keep up-next short.
Read articleRebuild a TV watchlist from memory after a shutdown
If you never exported, you still know the five shows you were mid-season on. That is enough to start a tracker that works this week.
Read articleReturn dates versus what is on tonight
A return date is a future episode that does not exist yet. Tonight’s queue is the first unwatched episode that does. Mixing them makes a tracker feel broken.
Read articleMark TV episodes without a social feed
The core loop is check off an episode and see the next one. A feed of other people’s ratings is a different product and a different cost.
Read articleSubtitles do not change watch progress
Watching with subs is still watching. A tracker that treats dubbed versus subbed as two shows will split your count and your household peace.
Read articleMarking a finale when a reunion special airs
A reunion is not season 9. If you tick it as the next episode, your ‘finished’ shelf lies and your up-next queue grows a ghost.
Read articleWhen a show disappears from TVmaze or TMDB
Licensing fights and takedowns hit metadata too. If the row vanishes, your ticks should not. A tracker that 404s your history is repeating TV Time’s worst day.
Read articleEpisode runtime versus credits padding
A 22-minute comedy is not 30 because the stream padded credits. Your watch tick is the episode, not the platform’s container. Do not let runtime shame you.
Read articleRegional titles in TV search
The show you watched as The Office UK is The Office on one database and a different ID on another. Search has to try both names or you will tick the American one by accident.
Read articleA calendar view versus an up-next queue
A calendar is for return dates. Up next is for the episode you can play tonight. After TV Time, most people needed the second one and got the first.
Read articleTV Time comments you cannot bring over
Episode comments, badges, and the social feed did not survive the shutdown. Your ticks can. Do not delay a rebuild waiting for the jokes.
Read articleA rewatch is not a new-season tick
Rewatching S01 for a friend should not mark S02 as unwatched. Keep rewatch state separate from the first-time progress you rebuilt after TV Time.
Read articleWhen the streaming service dropped the show
Your progress is not the licence. A tracker should still know you are on S03E04 after the title left Netflix. Availability is a different field.
Read articleSpecials and episode zero in the watch count
A 0x00 bonus and a Christmas special are not automatically ‘next.’ Tick them on purpose or they will sit in up-next forever after a tracker rebuild.
Read articleLive sports are not an episode list
A tracker built for scripted episode progress will make a mess of a season with 82 games and postponements. Do not import sports as if they were a drama.
Read articleWhen two TV exports disagree, pick a winner
TV Time, Trakt, and a CSV you made at 1am will not match episode numbers, show IDs, or that anime split cour. Merge by hand for the shows you still watch.
Read articleDropped shows you might actually resume
Paused, dropped, and up-next are different shelves. If everything abandoned sits in Up Next, you will never trust the next episode button.
Read articleWatching on two profiles in one house
One login and two brains is how spoilers and wrong next-episodes happen. Separate progress if you do not actually watch together.
Read articleTrakt scrobble versus a manual tick after TV Time
Automatic scrobble is convenient until a paused episode marks watched. A simpler tracker that you tick on purpose will disagree with Trakt — pick a source of truth when you import.
Read articleNotifications for returns, not every air date
A ping for every episode of a four-night-a-week show is how you disable alerts and miss the thing you cared about: the return after a gap year.
Read articleThe forgotten show you already finished
After a tracker dies, people re-add titles they completed years ago and then get told to watch episode one. Search your export before you rebuild from memory.
Read articleMovies versus episode progress in the same tracker
A film is one check-in. A series is a cursor. Mixing them as if a movie were season 1 episode 1 of itself is how lists get weird after a shutdown rebuild.
Read articleSpoiler-safe titles on a shared screen
A laptop on the couch should not advertise the finale name in 60-point type. Use a poster and a season number when someone in the room is behind.
Read articleBinge-marking a season in one night
Checking off twelve episodes at 1am is valid progress. It should not fire twelve “still watching” pings to a household list. Mark the season, then stop.
Read articleTime zones and midnight air dates
A show that “airs tonight” in one country is tomorrow in another. Up-next should follow your progress, not a timezone you do not live in.
Read articleLimited series versus ongoing shows on the same shelf
A six-episode limited series that might get a second season is not the same object as a network procedural. Your shelves should say which wait you are in.
Read articleCatch up without spoiling the household
A shared living room and a private up-next list can coexist. Mark your episode. Do not turn the tracker into a feed that shouts the ending.
Read articleWatch order versus air date in a TV tracker
Up-next should follow the order you intend to watch. Return dates should follow the calendar. Mixing them is how you “miss” a show that is not back.
Read articleAnime episode numbers after a split cour
Part 2 is not a new show and not always episode 13. A tracker that follows TVmaze still needs you to check which pile you meant.
Read articleHousehold TV progress without a social graph
Two people on a sofa need one next episode, not a friend graph. Keep a shared list or accept two profiles — do not build a network for a household of two.
Read articleCSV export: a TV tracker you can leave
If the next owner pivots, you should still have show, season, episode, and status in a file other tools can read.
Read articleThis tracker is for scripted and episodic TV first
Live sports and “what is on Netflix” are different jobs. GetTVTime is for people who forget the next episode of several series.
Read articleAfter the season finale: track the gap year
The finale is not the end of the show in a tracker. It is a state change: wait for a return date, or drop it.
Read articleWhy an ad-free TV tracker is paid from day one
TV Time died when subscriptions covered a sliver of servers. An ad-funded watchlist turns your progress into inventory. GetTVTime charges so the list stays the product.
Read articleBring a Trakt export into a simpler TV tracker
Trakt already treats episodes as first-class rows. That is the cleanest file to rebuild with after TV Time. You do not have to live in Trakt’s full social product to use the export.
Read articleTV Time shut down: what actually survived
The servers went dark on 15 July 2026. What survives is a file you exported, a Trakt sync you already had, or the shows you can still name.
Read articleExport your TV tracker before it closes
The lesson from TV Time is mechanical: if you cannot download your history this week, you do not own it. Here is what to export and keep.
Read articleTrack episodes across streaming services without a spreadsheet
Episode progress belongs to the show, not to Netflix or a Plex library. Mark watched episodes once and keep the next one visible.
Read articleWhat to watch next, from the shows you already started
A what-to-watch-next queue should start with unfinished series and the first unwatched episode, not a recommendation engine guessing your taste.
Read articleHow to rebuild a TV watch history after TV Time shut down
TV Time closed on 15 July 2026. Here is how to reconstruct episode progress from an export, a Trakt file, or the shows you still remember.
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