seasonNumber

Season number is a numeric indicator that identifies the ordinal position of a season within a serialized work, most commonly a television series. It is used to group episodes into a coherent collection and to support navigation, cataloging, and playback controls in media libraries and streaming services. In practice, season numbers are typically positive integers, with Season 1 representing the initial set of episodes and higher numbers indicating subsequent seasons. Some franchises also use Season 0 for pilots, specials, or prequel material, though this is not universal.

In metadata and data schemas, seasonnumber is stored as an integer field, sometimes with null or 0 to denote unknown or unaired content. In episode guides and databases, it is paired with an episode number to form a code that uniquely identifies a specific episode within a season. Some shows use variable-length season numbering in non-traditional release patterns, such as miniseries with a single season or anthology series where each season has a distinct self-contained story.

Naming conventions can vary by region or platform; some catalogs treat seasons as separate line items in a library, while others group all episodes under a single season for a series with unusual production structure. Reboots, remakes, or soft relaunches may reuse or reset season numbering. When building databases or user interfaces, designers typically rely on one-season-per-collection logic or allow deviations for special cases.

Season number is a fundamental concept in media management, facilitating episode ordering, search, and recommendations, and it intersects with related concepts such as episode numbers, air dates, and overall series metadata.