The Movie Database Support
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cant find tv show details by imdb id
posted by dhiogoacioliSTAFFMOD on July 30, 2021 at 11:58 PM
in the movie detail api, if I pass the imdb id in the id parameter, it gives me correct information. but if i do the same with the tv api, it says it didn't find anything.
Reply by talestalker
on July 31, 2021 at 2:34 AM
Can you give us an example of the API query that doesn't work?
Reply by superboy97
on July 31, 2021 at 9:36 AM
This is only working for movies. /movie/{movie_id} is working with the IMDB Id (but is undocumented), but /tv/{tv_id} is not.
You need to use /find/{external_id} to always get a result.
Reply by dhiogoacioli
on July 31, 2021 at 11:00 AM
it works: https://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/tt3554046?api_key=xxx&language=en-US
it doesnt: https://api.themoviedb.org/3/tv/tt9140554?api_key=xxx&language=en-US
Reply by dhiogoacioli
on July 31, 2021 at 11:01 AM
yeah, i know about this. but wouldn't it be better if I just make one api call instead of two?
Reply by superboy97
on July 31, 2021 at 11:02 AM
As indicated in my previous answer, this is normal.
Reply by dhiogoacioli
on July 31, 2021 at 11:03 AM
as the structure of the two apis are very similar, I believe it would be a simple improvement to be made.
Reply by superboy97
on July 31, 2021 at 11:08 AM
There is a big difference:
For movies, there is only one type of external Id : the IMDB Id, that can be easily differentiate from a TMDB Id.
For TV shows, there are multiple external Id types: IMDB Id, TVDB Id, ... and so on... Some of them can't be differentiate from a TMDB Id.
Reply by dhiogoacioli
on July 31, 2021 at 11:11 AM
well, I don't know the other types, but does the imdb id always start with tt?
Reply by superboy97
on July 31, 2021 at 11:13 AM
Yes, but we can't give a privilege to one type of external Id against the others, especially for an undocumented feature, which can be removed at any time.
Reply by dhiogoacioli
on July 31, 2021 at 11:17 AM
well, it could have different parameters for different ids. I'm just thinking on the server side, the fewer calls you have, the better.
Reply by superboy97
on July 31, 2021 at 11:19 AM
The correct usage of the API is by using find for the external Ids.