Google announced that it has added info about specific episodes of TV shows to its Knowledge Graph results. Now when you search for a show, you’ll see episodes listed in the “knowledge panels,” with their numbers, titles and air dates.
Google explained in a Google+ post on Tuesday, “For example, say that you’re wondering when the next season of The Walking Dead starts. Try searching for [the walking dead tv show] and you’ll see all episodes listed along with their air dates. The first season kicks off with an episode called “30 Days Without An Accident” on October 13, which means you only have a few days to refresh your memory by watching last season’s final episode, ‘Welcome to the Tombs.'”
“Don’t have time to re-watch that episode but still want a refresher? Click on the episode title and you’ll see relevant results,” Google added. “This new episode information is in addition to details you can already find through the Knowledge Graph, like ratings, cast, characters and more.”
Interestingly, it’s already got up to the second episode of the upcoming season listed.
In addition to currently running shows, it works for old shows:
It even works with Netflix shows:
A few of them anyway. House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Arrested Development all have episode listings. Hemlock Grove and Lilyhammer do not. Nor does Derek, which originally ran in the UK, but later hit Netflix:
In terms of British television, however, it does fine with Downton Abbey (showing the original UK air dates). The feature is obviously not exclusive to U.S. shows.
It also comes up short on Mako Mermaids, which debuted on Netflix in July, and airs on Australian TV, though H2O: Just Add Water (for which Mako Mermaids is a spinoff) does have the listings.
It also fails on Bad Samaritans, which premiered on Netflix back in March:
Google’s feature obviously isn’t perfect, but as we’ve seen, that also goes for the broader Knowledge Graph. That doesn’t mean it won’t get better, and Google will certainly continue to add data to expand it. I do give the feature points for including Netflix shows at all. If they’re good enough for the Emmys, they’re certainly good enough for this.