Talk:Mad Men season 5

Episode number 1-2
The first, double, episode is called "Episode 1-2: A Little Kiss" by AMC at their page about the episode, not "1/2", as some might prefer. Barsoomian (talk) 12:53, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * You're going a bit overboard here, no offense. It's not like the dash is somehow the official designation of this episode, you're making this as if it's some big important detail that must be corrected. A slash was simply used because that's been common practice on other list of episodes page that have double episodes (see List of Lost episodes, List of The Office (U.S. TV series) episodes). Seriously, it's no big deal, we can leave it as the dash now. There shouldn't be any need for some big grand discussion here on such a miniscule detail. Drovethrughosts (talk) 12:58, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * It's not a big deal. It's just a TV show. If the network hadn't specified it we could make up our own number, but they specifically called it "1-2". So we follow that. I made the note because a couple of months ago I put it right, cited the web page, and it was just reverted a few days later with no reason. So I put the note back to explain why this form is used. Barsoomian (talk) 13:08, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Using the dash breaks the episode number field. Check the main list article between the edits to see what I mean. Besides, a hyphen technically means range (meaning episodes 1 through 2, rather than episodes 1 and 2, which is incorrect English in this context). A slash is more appropriate in this situation. SchrutedIt08 (talk) 13:04, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * Doesn't matter what you think is "more appropriate". AMC calls it "Episode 1-2". Barsoomian (talk) 13:08, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * And the rest of my argument? About how a hyphen's meaning is incorrect and how it actually breaks the episode number field so that it messes with the transclusion format? The slash wasn't just there to piss you off. It serves a practical function. SchrutedIt08 (talk) 13:11, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * What are you talking about? The transcluded table looks fine to me. You don't get to change titles of episodes because you think they're illogical or don't fit in your table. Barsoomian (talk) 13:16, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * I'm not talking about changing episode titles, no idea where you're getting that from. Like I said, take a look at the transcluded table between the different revisions and you'll see what I mean. The background colour of the episode entry would ordinarily be white, following on from the grey colour of the season four finale, but because this is a double episode, the transclusion format skips to grey again, which is why on episode lists like The Office you'll get blocks of the same background colour grouped together. Of course it may not seem like a big deal, and is a subtle difference, but surely if a dash militates against Wikipedia's formatting then it should be considered incorrect to use it in that context? And as I've repeated, and you've ignored, a hyphen means through not and. If it were a triple episode (i.e. episodes 1-3) then you'd be 100% right and I'd have no problem with it, but because it's just two a slash is more correct, in terms of the actual proper usage of the symbol. Also, constantly citing AMC as your primary evidence is kind of meaningless, their use of the hyphen is nothing more than happenstance, since it's not the source of the English language. I really don't know why you think it's so important to follow what their website says in this instance. SchrutedIt08 (talk) 13:27, 26 June 2012 (UTC)


 * If you want to argue grammar, the en-dash, which is what Drovethrughosts made it, signifies a continuous range. A hyphen signifies joining two things. So either of those makes sense. A slash generally means "or", not "and". So, not really appropriate, in my opinion. You seem to be thinking in analogy to the financial year usage. But again, it doesn't matter what you or I think, what other TV shows use; what AMC says trumps all that. If we could just ignore the producers' nomenclature, I'd prefer just "Episode 1" for "A Little Kiss" and "Tea Leaves" would be #2. See, for comparison, Talk:List of Terra Nova episodes, where there have been huge arguments and edit wars for the last year about the number of episodes, as the first, double-length episode was just called "episode 1" by Fox. And that's what prevailed, despite logic and arithmetic (the number of episodes is "11" not "13" as announced, because the finale was also a double episode), because that's what the producers called it. As for the striping in the transcluded table, sorry, but it's collateral damage. Ask at Template talk:Episode list if someone can fix it. You don't change information to make it look nice. Barsoomian (talk) 13:47, 26 June 2012 (UTC)