Replacing IMDB

The Internet Movie Database, better known as IMDB, traces its origins back to 1990 on Usenet. The web version of IMDB began in 1993. Since then it has become a resource often used by movie fans, bloggers, writers, and historians. Unfortunately, IMDB's usefulness as a resource for information about film and television may have decreased this year, at least with regard to the filmographies of actors, directors, and so on. It was last month that IMDB entirely did away with the Full Text (Credits Only) version of their Name Pages (the pages listing the credits of individual actors, directors, writers, editors, and other creatives), leaving only the unpopular redesign of the Names Pages introduced in December 2022. To say many IMDB contributors were unhappy would be an understatement.

The problem with the New Name Page is that it is more difficult to use than the old Full Credits (Text Only) Name Page. To wit, on the old Full Credits (Text Only) Name Page, if an actor appeared on a television show, all of the episodes in which they appeared would be listed beneath the show's title. On the New Name Page, beneath the show's title, it simply gives the number of episodes in which they appeared. One has to click on the number of episodes in which they appeared to see the specific episodes, and even then one has to go season by season. Sadly, this is not the only way in which the New Name Page is much less user-friendly than the old Full Credits (Text Only) Page. Because the New Name Page is so difficult to use, I can only think that many IMDB users will be seeking alternatives when it comes to looking up the credits of actors, writers, directors, and other creatives (for now, at least, IMDB is still useful when it comes to looking up movie and TV show credits).

Of course, one alternative to IMDB is positively ancient: books. In fact, a good biography of an actor would be much more detailed than their IMDB profile would be. As much as other classic film buffs and I love books, they do present a few problems. The biggest problem is that books can be expensive and one cannot always depend on them being available at their local library or on Hoopla (a streaming platform that has E-books, audiobooks, movies, et. al. available). As much as many of us would love to read every classic movie or television book out there, the fact is that it simply isn't feasible for most of us. Now one can access some books on Google Books, but it can be hit or miss. There may be no preview for a particular book or, if there is a preview, the pages one may want to read may not be part of the preview.

Another alternative for filmographies is Wikipedia. I have used Wikipedia for my last few eulogies on this blog. Of course, Wikipedia also presents some problems. First, Wikipedia can be hit and miss with regard to filmographies. Sometimes Wikipedia will have only a partial filmography available for an actor. Other times it might list an actor's film work, but not their television work. Sometimes there might not be much in the way of a filmography at all. Now I know some people will point out that one should always double-check the information on Wikipedia, and I must admit that is true, but then that is also the case with IMDB.

Another alternative to IMDB is The Movie Database. It was launched in 2008 to collect movie posters and has since become a rival to IMDB. The Movie Datable is where social cataloging service Letterboxed gets its information on movies. The problem with The Movie Database is that its actor, director, writer, et. al. profiles suffer the same problem that IMDB's New Name Page suffers from. That is, when an actor has appeared on a television show, it simply lists the number of episodes in which the actor appeared. One has to click on it to see which episodes the actor was in. That having been said, unlike IMDB, once one has done that, one can see every single episode of a TV show on which an actor has appeared.

Yet another alternative to IMDB is TCM's Database. It's probably best known for its entries on movies, but it also has entries on individual actors. The problem with the TCM Database is that it concentrates primarily on movies (whether they were theatrical or TV movies doesn't matter and often does not list television shows. Even though Robert Conrad is best known as Jim West on The Wild Wild West, it isn't listed on his profile in TCM's database. My dearest Vanessa Marquez is best known for the movie Stand and Deliver (1988) and the TV show ER, but neither ER nor any of the other television shows on which she appeared are listed.

There are a few other alternatives to IMDB out there, but most of them are unsatisfactory. TV Guide has profiles for actors, directors, editors, and so on, but those profiles often have two problems. The first is that their credits are not shown in chronological order, For example, the first credit on Vanessa's TV Guide profile is Twenty Bucks (1993), which was the fourth feature film in which she appeared. The other problem is that TV Guide's profiles can be hit or miss. Vanessa's profile does not list Wiseguy or Culture Clash, even though she had a recurring role on the former and was a regular cast member on the latter. Rotten Tomatoes is not satisfactory either. Vanessa's profile on Rotten Tomatoes lists only her work on television and none of her feature films. That's right, it does not even list Stand and Deliver, the movie for which she was most famous.

While there are many alternatives to IMDB, many of them have at least a few problems and a few simply are not usable in research. It would seem film and television buffs' only hope is that IMDB comes to its senses and replaces the New Name Page with the old Full Credits (Text Only) Name Page or someone develops a new alternative to IMDB that includes all of an actor, director, writer, or other creative's credits in a format that displays all of the information in an easy to read format.