Production code number
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A production code number, also known as the production code (PC) or episode code, is an
alphanumeric Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are any collection of number characters and letters in a certain language. Sometimes such characters may be mistaken one for the other. Merriam-Webster suggests that the term "alphanumeric" may often ...
designation used to uniquely identify episodes within a
television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...
series. As each studio can freely generate its own PC format, it cannot be used universally to identify the show and episode. While, in general, television episodes are filmed in the order they are intended to be aired in, there are circumstances in which this is not the case. In these instances, the production codes can be useful in determining the writers' original intentions. Some "stand-alone" shows, such as ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', ''
Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...
'' or ''
SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'', may air episodes in radically different order to how they are produced, because character development and continuity are not major aspects of production. The airing order may in the end be decided by the network, based on ratings,
sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rati ...
months, or other networks' competition. Other, more serialized series, like ''
Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American mystery comedy-drama television series created by Marc Cherry, and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on ABC from October 3, 2004, until May 13, 2012, for a tota ...
'', will air all of their episodes in order. In some rare cases, shows will film episodes out of order to accommodate guest stars' schedules, or to work around main stars' movie schedules. A good example of this is ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction on television, science fiction drama (film and television), drama television series created by Chris Carter (screenwriter), Chris Carter. The original series aired from September 10, 1993, to Ma ...
'', which filmed episodes out of order in its fifth and sixth seasons to accommodate the shooting schedules of main stars
Gillian Anderson Gillian Leigh Anderson ( ; born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, writer, and activist. She is best known for her roles as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the sci-fi series ''The X-Files'' (1993–2002; 2016–2018), Lily Bart in the dr ...
and
David Duchovny David William Duchovny ( ; born ) is an American actor, writer, and musician. He received his breakthrough with the role of Fox Mulder in The X-Files franchise, earning Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards a ...
.


Format examples

* General format for network and cable shows produced by both
CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a re ...
and
Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...
is SYEE, where S is the variable-letter show identifier, Y is the season number and E is a two-digit episode number during that season. The production code is only used on both
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
and
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. *
20th Television 20th Television, Inc. (formerly known as TCF Television Productions, Inc., 20th Century-Fox Television and 20th Century Fox Television) is the television studio arm of 20th Century Studios, owned by Disney Television Studios, a division of the Di ...
format for free-to-air network produced shows is YSSSEE, where Y is the season identifier from 1 to Z, S is the three-letter show identifier and E is a two-digit episode number during that season.
Off-network Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
produced shows after May 2011 is SSSYEE, previous codes were only numerical values in the form of S-Y-E. These are burned in on the end copyright slate; the letters I, O, Q, and U are not allowed to be used in the production code; however, ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'' defeated this rule in late 2020 as its 32nd season predominantly uses the letter Q, because it has already cycled through every other digit. *
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
format for picked up weekly produced shows is SSSSEE, where S is the combined four-character
alphanumeric Alphanumericals or alphanumeric characters are any collection of number characters and letters in a certain language. Sometimes such characters may be mistaken one for the other. Merriam-Webster suggests that the term "alphanumeric" may often ...
show and season identifier and E is a two-digit episode number. Daily produced shows use YYYEEE, where Y is a three-digit yearly count and E is a three-digit episode count during that year. Pilots use a six-digit episode number. These are burned in on the end copyright slate. During 2016, the weekly produced and pilot formats were retired from the end slate for just the tape/reel location format of US.SSSEE, where S is numeric only. *
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
format for weekly produced shows is SSSSS-EEE, where S is a five-digit show number and E is a three-digit episode number. Daily produced shows use SE, where S is the variable-letter show identifier and E is a variable sequential-digit episode count. Only the episode portion is used on internal marketing material and feed slates. * ''
The Price Is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is an American television game show where contestants compete by guessing the prices of merchandise to win cash and prizes. A 1972 revival by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman of their The Price Is Right (1956 American game ...
'', which is from
RTL Group RTL Group S.A. ("Radio Télévision Luxembourg") is a Luxembourg-based international media conglomerate, with another corporate office in Cologne, Germany. The company operates 56 television channels and 36 radio stations in Germany, France an ...
's Fremantle brand, has used in daytime episodes a code WWWEx, where W is the week, E is the episode number for that week (1 of 5), and "D" for daytime episodes from September 4, 1972 to May 24, 1996, "K" for daytime episodes from May 27, 1996 to November 23, 2022 (after the 1,000th week of production), and "L" for daytime episodes after the 2,000th week of production (episodes produced since October 3, 2022, broadcast since December 5, 2022)
/REF> * A number of Canadian, Australian, French, Korean, Italian, Irish, Singaporean, Indonesian, Malay and Middle East produced shows use the
ISAN Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan language, Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thai ...
format, which is burned in on the end copyright slate. * A variables and numbers of British, Filipino, Japanese, German, Spanish, Swiss, Thai, Indian, Chinese and Taiwanese produced shows use the ITU and
ISAN Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan language, Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thai ...
format, which is burned in on the end copyright slate.


References

{{reflist Television terminology Names