# TVmaze Shows — Titles, Genres, Network and Ratings (`alaudinburki/tvmaze-shows`) Actor

Search TVmaze for television shows and get flat rows — name, type, language, genres, network, premiere date, rating and status. Free public API, no key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/tvmaze-shows.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.50 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## TVmaze Shows — Titles, Genres, Network and Ratings

Search TVmaze for television shows and get flat rows — name, type, language, genres, network, premiere
date, rating and status. Free public API, no key.

### What you get

`name`, `type`, `language`, `genres`, `status`, `runtime`, `premiered`, `ended`, `rating`, `weight`,
`network`, `country`, `officialSite`, `url`, `matchScore`, `id`.

### Sample output

```json
{ "name": "Girls", "type": "Scripted", "country": "United States",
  "genres": ["Drama", "Romance"], "premiered": "2012-04-15", "rating": 6.6 }
```

### Limitations

- **`rating` is a TVmaze user average**, not a critic score, and it is `null` for a show with too few
  votes.
- **Streaming-only shows have no `network`** — they may have a `webChannel` instead, which this Actor
  does not map, so `network` and `country` come back null for them.
- `genres` is an array and is joined into one string, because a dataset row must be flat.
- `matchScore` is search relevance, not quality.

### Pricing

Pay per result.

### Fields

| Field | Type | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| `name` | string | Display name as the source writes it. |
| `language` | string | Language code for this record's text. |
| `genres` | string | Genres the work is classified under, as the source tags them. |
| `status` | string | Outcome recorded for this row. |
| `runtime` | number | Runtime in MINUTES, as the source records it. Absent for works with no fixed length. |
| `premiered` | string | Date the show first aired. |
| `ended` | string | When the item ended or was archived, where the source records it. |
| `rating` | number | Average rating as reported by the source. |
| `weight` | number | Ranking or popularity weight the source assigns. Not comparable across sources. |
| `network` | string | Network or channel that broadcast the show. |
| `country` | string | Country name as the source writes it — sometimes 'Norge' rather than 'NO'. Not an ISO code unless the README says so. |
| `officialSite` | string | Official website the source lists for the work. Not always still live. |
| `url` | string | The URL this row describes. |
| `matchScore` | number | How well this row matched the query, on the Actor's own scale. |

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Show title to search for, e.g. girls, breaking bad.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many rows.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many pages.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxPages": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per item, with the 14 fields listed under Views.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxPages": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/tvmaze-shows").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxPages": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/tvmaze-shows").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxPages": 5
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/tvmaze-shows --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/tvmaze-shows"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Mxcbudy6oVe0iqCbC/builds/Sk2NRkt3T8u0ysNUr/openapi.json