How do you know when to classify an episode is a special?

The episode policy states "For most shows, deciding whether an episode should be classified as special is fairly easy: if the premise of an episode significally differs from normal episodes and if you can skip it without missing out on any story arcs, it's a special."

Generally an episode that is presented in another format or is explicitly intended not to progress the storyline can be considered a special.

If the only difference is that it contains characters from another show then it wouldn't be a special.

If the network doesn't refer to the episode as special – it is not :) Event episodes usually are not specials, but rather distinctive or confined to some special event.

While the policy's description works for most of the cases, sometimes it is not. The good example would be Christmas Specials of Doctor Who. Despite being special episodes, they're significant for the story and not intended to be skipped :)

So would Thundermans in Paradise be a special or not? The network called it a 1 hour special But in every way it was a normal episode. It even continued a story arc from the previous episode where Phoebe gets possessed. The only thing special about it was the budget. That and that it was 1 hour.

dpratt wrote:
So would Thundermans in Paradise be a special or not? The network called it a 1 hour special But in every way it was a normal episode. It even continued a story arc from the previous episode where Phoebe gets possessed. The only thing special about it was the budget. That and that it was 1 hour.

sounds to me as a regular episode then but I am not familiar at all with the show.

IMO it's a normal episode, but if the policy states that if the network calls it a special then it's a special, then it's a special. The network promo called it a 1 hour special. That's usually what they call episodes that go longer than the normal half hour though. I wish the policy was more clear. Currently a lot of various episodes are categorized as specials for similar reasons but are not really specials. What bothers me about this is that it potentially ends up in an argument and to me it's just not worth it.

Also I just got through adding Haunted Thundermans as a special and to do that I had to renumber all of the Season 2 episodes of The Thundermans to remove it from the regular episodes. Now they're all grayed out so I can't reverse it without an admin. If the policy is that specials are specials as soon as the network says so, then I did the right thing. But if crossovers are not specials then it needs to be undone.

dpratt wrote:
IMO it's a normal episode, but if the policy states that if the network calls it a special then it's a special, then it's a special. The network promo called it a 1 hour special. That's usually what they call episodes that go longer than the normal half hour though. I wish the policy was more clear. Currently a lot of various episodes are categorized as specials for similar reasons but are not really specials. What bothers me about this is that it potentially ends up in an argument and to me it's just not worth it.

Also I just got through adding Haunted Thundermans as a special and to do that I had to renumber all of the Season 2 episodes of The Thundermans to remove it from the regular episodes. Now they're all grayed out so I can't reverse it without an admin. If the policy is that specials are specials as soon as the network says so, then I did the right thing. But if crossovers are not specials then it needs to be undone.

Do not sweat over it :) If the network is saying that it's special – add it as a special episode, simple as that.

As you can see from the Doctor Who example above, specials can be a part of story arc (even a significant part of it), while remaining a special episodes. The fact that now they are a stand-alone entities will change, when the http://www.tvmaze.com/threads/1888/better-handling-of-specials is incorporated :)

In the DW one of the key elements of the story, the regeneration of the Doctor (and change of the actor), is happening in the Christmas Specials. The specials could start right where the previous, normal, episode ends and the footage from the specials is widely used in the various flashback sequences during normal episodes.

I know exactly what you mean. I decided to take your advice and the episodes that were labeled as specials by the network promos are classified here as specials. IMO they're not specials because the network still gives them episode numbers, and they contribute to the story arc. But apparently that's the policy. I look forward to better handling of specials by TVmaze.

The episode that was promoted as a crossover event, I also took your advice and I decided not to add as a special.

JuanArango wrote:
sounds to me as a regular episode then but I am not familiar at all with the show.

I'd tend to agree. It sounds more like PR speak than anything else. Do these episodes normally air back-to-back? There are Special Episodes, and there is PR salesmanship. The Doctor Who episodes mentioned above are Specials because they air outside the normal run of the show, for example. It's down to looking at the press release and seeing if the word "special" is a noun or an adjective. Is it a Special episode for some reason or special because the network wanted a PR boost?

dpratt wrote:
I know exactly what you mean. I decided to take your advice and the episodes that were labeled as specials by the network promos are classified here as specials. IMO they're not specials because the network still gives them episode numbers, and they contribute to the story arc. But apparently that's the policy. I look forward to better handling of specials by TVmaze.

The episode that was promoted as a crossover event, I also took your advice and I decided not to add as a special.

The episode guide on the official site, is it listing them as a special or as a special event but with a regular season number?

Haunted Thundermans was listed on nick.com under both The Thundermans and The Haunted Hathways episodes as a regular episode. The only difference is that it was given multiple episode numbers but that's what they always do when an episode is longer than its usual length. It was listed as Haunted Thundermans ep 11/12 or something like that. It was a Halloween themed episode so it might not be there anymore now that Halloween is over but that's how it was yesterday. It also originally aired during its usual time slot.

The Thundermans - Thunder in Paradise is the same. On Nick.com it's listed as Ep 20/21 And there are lots of others like this.

I agree with LadyShelley that this is just hype. But to answer your question, special is used as a noun not an adjective. See for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MILLIDpMJI

To answer Juan it's only called a special in the TV promos. It still has a regular episode number.

Then you can list it as a normal episode, it was just a special event then like the dc crossovers. :)

I have some edit requests directly related to this discussion. In order of importance:

This is episode 19, not episode 5. The number is grayed out:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/56970/the-thundermans-2x05-shred-it-go

These two episode numbers need to be swapped. (Blue Detective should be 7, Cheer and present Danger should be 8) They're grayed out:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/56973/the-thundermans-2x08-blue-detective

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/57246/the-thundermans-2x07-cheer-and-present-danger

This episode is titled You've Got Fail. The title is grayed out:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/141779/the-thundermans-2x14-the-neverfriending-story

This episode's airdate should be 2-23. It's grayed out also:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/124052/the-thundermans-2x12-meet-the-evilmans

Finally Haunted Thundermans Pt I should be moved to Season 2 Episode 5. I would do that part myself but slot 5 is currently filled.

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/142305/the-thundermans-s02-special-haunted-thundermans-pt-i

I was trying to save you some trouble by editing the titles and airdates myself rather than asking you to edit the numbers that were grayed out. But that proved to be a mistake. I won't do that again. But if you do all of these edits, things will be set right again.

Thanks

dpratt wrote:
I have some edit requests directly related to this discussion. In order of importance:

This is episode 19, not episode 5. The number is grayed out:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/56970/the-thundermans-2x05-shred-it-go

These two episode numbers need to be swapped. (Blue Detective should be 7, Cheer and present Danger should be 8) They're grayed out:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/56973/the-thundermans-2x08-blue-detective

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/57246/the-thundermans-2x07-cheer-and-present-danger

This episode is titled You've Got Fail. The title is grayed out:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/141779/the-thundermans-2x14-the-neverfriending-story

This episode's airdate should be 2-23. It's grayed out also:

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/124052/the-thundermans-2x12-meet-the-evilmans

Finally Haunted Thundermans Pt I should be moved to Season 2 Episode 5. I would do that part myself but slot 5 is currently filled.

https://www.tvmaze.com/episodes/142305/the-thundermans-s02-special-haunted-thundermans-pt-i

I was trying to save you some trouble by editing the titles and airdates myself rather than asking you to edit the numbers that were grayed out. But that proved to be a mistake. I won't do that again. But if you do all of these edits, things will be set right again.

Thanks

All done :)

Thanks tnt :)

Re: The Haunted Hathaways, Season 2. Please advance all the episode numbers between episode 3 and 20 by 1. The numbers are grayed out and Season 2 Episode 3: Mostly Ghostly Girl (60 minutes) needs to be added to the list.

https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/8645/the-haunted-hathaways/episodes

Thanks :)

dpratt wrote:
Re: The Haunted Hathaways, Season 2. Please advance all the episode numbers between episode 3 and 20 by 1. The numbers are grayed out and Season 2 Episode 3: Mostly Ghostly Girl (60 minutes) needs to be added to the list.

https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/8645/the-haunted-hathaways/episodes

Thanks :)

Done :)
Just checking out, is this a right name of the episode? It just looks a bit awkward, considering that the name of every other episode (except pilot) starting with the word "Haunted" :)

tnt wrote:
Just checking out, is this a right name of the episode? It just looks a bit awkward, considering that the name of every other episode (except pilot) starting with the word "Haunted" :)

The name is correct, but is it officially an episode/s?

As while some other epguides refers to it as "Mostly Ghostly Girl Part 1 and Part 2" (S02E03, or S02E03-E04), Nickelodeon says this on the pages for the Youtube trailers: "one-hour Haunted Hathaways special on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm/7c"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZSxhj69R1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxelt9jjias

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjlEumcHn54

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikXvblSfYA

-

There is also this Nickelodeon blog: http://nickalive.blogspot.com/2014/08/british-band-rixton-to-guest-star-on.html

"British Band Rixton To Guest Star On New "Haunted Hathaways" Special "Mostly Ghostly Girl", Premiering 8/16 on Nickelodeon USA"

momijigari wrote:
The name is correct, but is it officially an episode/s?

As while some other epguides refers to it as "Mostly Ghostly Girl Part 1 and Part 2" (S02E03, or S02E03-E04), Nickelodeon says this on the pages for the Youtube trailers: "one-hour Haunted Hathaways special on Saturday, August 16 at 8pm/7c"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZSxhj69R1o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxelt9jjias

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjlEumcHn54

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikXvblSfYA

-

There is also this Nickelodeon blog: http://nickalive.blogspot.com/2014/08/british-band-rixton-to-guest-star-on.html

"British Band Rixton To Guest Star On New "Haunted Hathaways" Special "Mostly Ghostly Girl", Premiering 8/16 on Nickelodeon USA"

I'm not familiar with the series at all, so I wouldn't know, is it "special" special or just extended length special... The couple sources I checked were listing this episode as regular, that's all I know :)

I watched it and Mostly Ghostly Girl was an extended length episode. This episode was 60 minutes which is double the usual length. Other than that it was a normal episode in every way including being assigned an episode number by the network. Episode numbers 3 and 4.

tnt wrote:
Done :)
Just checking out, is this a right name of the episode? It just looks a bit awkward, considering that the name of every other episode (except pilot) starting with the word "Haunted" :)

Thank you. :) You're right about the episode title not following the pattern. I didn't notice that before. But that is correct.