This page documents an English Wikipedia topic guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts: WP:EPISODE WP:TVEP

This page in a nutshell: Stick to the Manual of Style—specifically writing about fiction—when writing pages to keep an "out-of-universe" perspective. Articles for individual episodes should assert their notability and be fully verifiable. Check with the image use policy before adding images to any article. Avoid creating lists of trivia; instead, incorporate relevant information into the body of the article.

Wikipedia contains many articles on television episodes. The following guideline aims to promote the creation of high-quality articles about television shows and their episodes. This includes lists of episodes, television series/season articles, and television program articles.

Contents 1 Process for creating articles on television episodes 1.1 Process 2 Dealing with problem articles 3 Examples of good pages 3.1 Program pages 3.2 "List of" pages 3.3 Season pages 3.4 Episode pages 4 See also

[edit] Process for creating articles on television episodes

All articles on Wikipedia must meet notability guidelines, which state that:

A topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject.

It is important to bear this in mind when creating articles, and it is likely that each individual episode of a television series will not be notable on its own, simply because there are not enough secondary sources available. Wikipedia:Manual of Style (writing about fiction) explains further:

When an article is created, the subject's real-world notability should be established according to the general notability guideline by including independent reliable secondary sources — this will also ensure that there is enough source material for the article to be comprehensive and factually accurate.

While each episode on its own may not qualify for an article, it is quite likely that sources can be found to support a series or season page, where all the episodes in one season (or series) are presented on one page. (See examples listed below). Such pages must still be notable, and contain out-of-universe context, and not merely be a list of episode titles or cast and crew: Wikipedia is not a directory.

Over time, you might find that some episodes or story-arcs have enough real-world information to warrant their own article. Such an episode can be broken out into its own page.

[edit] Process

• Create page for the television PROGRAM.

Once there's enough verifiable information independent of the show itself, then:

• Create a page for each series/season, or a "List of episodes" page with every season/series.

Only if there is enough verifiable information from secondary sources about individual episodes, then:

• Create pages for outstanding episodes.

[edit] Dealing with problem articles

If the article(s) contain little content, consider merging or redirecting them into another article (e.g. an article about the show itself, an article that is a list of episodes of the show, or an article that summarizes the plot for one season of the show).

To start this process, tag the article(s) with {{notability|episode}} on the page. (An essay discussing the review of problem articles can be found at: Wikipedia:Television article review process.) If the same editor appears to have created a large number of problematic articles, please refer them to this page. Avoid listing episodes for AfD unless they are completely unverifiable and original research.

Note: Stubs are allowed on Wikipedia and many articles are stubs. It may be inappropriate to merge or redirect an article about a television episode just because it is a stub. Before executing a merge, ask yourself:

• Will the merge reduce the quality or coherence of the target article?
• Are more sources available? (Do some basic looking for additional source material that could be used to improve the article.)

If the answer to either of these questions is "yes", it is probably better to avoid merging or redirecting. Instead, consider improving it, or offer suggestions for its improvement on the talk page.

[edit] Examples of good pages

Below are examples of each type of article that have all reached featured article or featured list status.

[edit] Program pages

• Only Fools and Horses
• The Wire
• Doctor Who

[edit] "List of" pages

• List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes
• List of Heroes episodes
• List of 30 Rock episodes

[edit] Season pages

• The Simpsons (season 8)
• Lost (season 3)
• Smallville (season 1)

[edit] Episode pages

• "The Stolen Earth" - episode of Doctor Who
• "A Streetcar Named Marge" - episode of The Simpsons
• "Meet Kevin Johnson" - episode of Lost

[edit] See also

• Wikipedia:Notability (fiction)
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (television)
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Television/How to write an episode article - WikiProject guidelines and tips for articles on television episodes
• WikiProject Films guidelines on plot summaries