Advent 25-door schedule and ident design; After Dark: The Naughty List; anthology awareness investigation

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-11-04 20:09:48 +00:00
parent d5efd5d526
commit e8e96bb26f
4 changed files with 193 additions and 0 deletions
@@ -89,3 +89,88 @@ It's a single video for all 24 doors, so the app stays small.
 - The time of each door.
 - Door 25's film, and whether It's a Wonderful Life stays in the Drive-In triple.
 - Whether grown-up Christmas films such as Krampus or Bad Santa have any place in Advent, or stay off it.
+
+
+## Paul's choices (4 November 2026, 20:05)
+
+Approved for proposal and development. Not approved for installation or booking.
+- **Channels:** option B, a trail across Wonder (612), VHS (306), Premiere (301) and BritX (309).
+- **Time:** 18:00 each day, and 17:00 on Christmas Day.
+- **Door 25:** The Muppet Christmas Carol, subject to exact verification.
+- **The Drive-In:** It's a Wonderful Life stays in the Drive-In Christmas triple.
+- **Adult Christmas horror:** kept for separately approved After Dark specials ("The Naughty List"), never in Advent.
+
+## The proposed 25 doors
+
+Every film was checked against the box's catalogue as of today (132,674 items). Each is one exact item with its IMDb ID. Where the library also has an unlabelled copy, the labelled one is listed.
+- **Not used:** none is in the Drive-In's events or its Christmas triple (It's a Wonderful Life, Home Alone, Elf), and none is an adult horror film.
+- **Repeats:** none within Advent.
+- **Ratings:** everything is U, PG, G or PG-13 by its metadata, suited to 18:00.
+- **Weekends:** crowd-pleasers.
+- **22 to 24 December:** the classics.
+
+| Door | Date | Channel | 18:00 film | Year | Min | Rating | IMDb | Item |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| 1 | Tue 1 Dec | Wonder | The Polar Express | 2004 | 99 | G | tt0338348 | 5688746 |
+| 2 | Wed 2 Dec | VHS | Scrooged | 1988 | 101 | PG-13 | tt0096061 | 5706930 |
+| 3 | Thu 3 Dec | BritX | Get Santa | 2014 | 102 | PG | tt1935940 | 5642871 |
+| 4 | Fri 4 Dec | Premiere | Fred Claus | 2007 | 115 | PG | tt0486583 | 6048904 |
+| 5 | Sat 5 Dec | VHS | Home Alone 2: Lost in New York | 1992 | 120 | PG | tt0104431 | 7416998 |
+| 6 | Sun 6 Dec | Wonder | Klaus | 2019 | 98 | PG | tt4729430 | 5847706 |
+| 7 | Mon 7 Dec | Premiere | The Christmas Chronicles | 2018 | 103 | PG | tt2990140 | 5848529 |
+| 8 | Tue 8 Dec | VHS | The Santa Clause | 1994 | 97 | PG | tt0111070 | 5684856 |
+| 9 | Wed 9 Dec | BritX | A Boy Called Christmas | 2021 | 106 | PG | tt10187208 | 6399934 |
+| 10 | Thu 10 Dec | Wonder | The Nightmare Before Christmas | 1993 | 76 | PG | tt0107688 | 5848040 |
+| 11 | Fri 11 Dec | VHS | Jingle All the Way | 1996 | 93 | PG | tt0116705 | 6062933 |
+| 12 | Sat 12 Dec | Premiere | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | 2000 | 104 | PG | tt0170016 | 5848691 |
+| 13 | Sun 13 Dec | Wonder | Arthur Christmas | 2011 | 97 | PG | tt1430607 | 5689513 |
+| 14 | Mon 14 Dec | VHS | A Christmas Story | 1983 | 93 | PG | tt0085334 | 6259980 |
+| 15 | Tue 15 Dec | BritX | Nativity! | 2009 | 105 | PG | tt1242447 | 6056877 |
+| 16 | Wed 16 Dec | Wonder | A Christmas Carol (Disney) | 2009 | 95 | PG | tt1067106 | 6035893 |
+| 17 | Thu 17 Dec | VHS | Santa Claus: The Movie | 1985 | 108 | PG | tt0089961 | 6933347 |
+| 18 | Fri 18 Dec | Premiere | Red One | 2024 | 124 | PG-13 | tt14948432 | 6948638 |
+| 19 | Sat 19 Dec | VHS | National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | 1989 | 97 | PG-13 | tt0097958 | 5848022 |
+| 20 | Sun 20 Dec | Wonder | The Grinch | 2018 | 85 | PG | tt2709692 | 5689633 |
+| 21 | Mon 21 Dec | BritX | Last Christmas | 2019 | 102 | PG-13 | tt8623904 | 6067366 |
+| 22 | Tue 22 Dec | Premiere | White Christmas | 1954 | 120 | NR | tt0047673 | 6048026 |
+| 23 | Wed 23 Dec | BritX | Scrooge (Alastair Sim) | 1951 | 86 | NR | tt0044008 | 7485376 |
+| 24 | Thu 24 Dec | Premiere | Miracle on 34th Street | 1947 | 96 | NR | tt0039628 | 5688583 |
+| 25 | Fri 25 Dec, **17:00** | Wonder | **The Muppet Christmas Carol** | 1992 | 86 | G | tt0104940 | 5847993 |
+
+**Balance:**
+- **Doors per channel:** Wonder 7, VHS 7, Premiere 6, BritX 5.
+- **Weekend doors:** Home Alone 2, Klaus, the Jim Carrey Grinch, Arthur Christmas, Christmas Vacation and The Grinch.
+- **Fit with each channel:** BritX's are all British (Get Santa, A Boy Called Christmas, Nativity!, Last Christmas and the Alastair Sim Scrooge). VHS's are all 80s and 90s. Wonder's are family and animation. Premiere carries the big studio films and the two great classics.
+
+**Door 25:** The Muppet Christmas Carol is in the library as one item, 5847993, with IMDb tt0104940, 86 minutes, rated G, and no second copy. The box's decoder check is the one step still to come; it runs on the box when booking, as for the Drive-In events.
+
+**Things to watch:**
+- **Door 19, Saturday 19 December:** Christmas Vacation at 18:00 on VHS runs to 19:37, while the Drive-In's Christmas triple opens at 19:00. There's no film clash, but they overlap for viewers. My suggestion is to move Door 19 to 16:30, so it ends before the Drive-In opens. Otherwise it stays at 18:00, as you set.
+- **Films already on their channel's list:** Klaus and The Nightmare Before Christmas are in Wonder's pool, and Home Alone 2 and Christmas Vacation are in VHS's. The implementation would hold every Advent film back from all rotations, the Drive-In's included, for 14 days either side of its door, as the Drive-In events do. Home Alone 2 is also in the Drive-In's hand-picked Home Alone Double Bill.
+- **Committed bookings:** channels book only 7 days ahead, so nothing in December is booked yet. Each door must be fixed before its channel's booking reaches 1 December, which means installing by about 23 November.
+- **Not used, available as swaps:** Prancer, Ernest Saves Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street (1994), The Santa Clause 2, Noelle, Four Christmases, Christmas with the Kranks, Holiday Inn, The Bishop's Wife, Scrooge (1970) and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.
+  - **Not offered:** Love Actually (rated R) and The Holiday (135 minutes), which are both on Orbit Romance's list already. Gremlins goes to The Naughty List instead.
+
+## Door-ident design (proposal)
+
+**One shared clip for doors 1 to 24:**
+- **Length:** 4 seconds, 1280x720, the same spec as every block ident.
+- **Look:** a wall of 24 numbered doors in Orbit's deep navy, each framed in gold, with snow drifting past and a soft glow from behind the doors.
+- **Motion:** the camera eases towards one door, which lights up and swings open with warm light spilling out. The last half-second holds still.
+
+**What the app draws over the clip,** as the Ring X and PPV overlays already work:
+- **The door number:** the day of the broadcast date, in local time, worked out at play time. It's never stored, so it can't drift.
+- **Inside the opened door:** the film's title and artwork, read from the confirmed booking.
+- **Below:** "ADVENT ON ORBIT · DOOR 12" in gold.
+
+**Door 25 has its own clip:** a large double door with a wreath. It opens onto a golden glow and heavier snow, with "MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM ORBIT" and the film's title. It's the same length and spec.
+
+**Sound:** a soft sleigh-bell shimmer and one chime, silent unless Special ident sound is on.
+
+**Fallback:**
+- **Unbooked or failed:** with no confirmed booking, or if verification fails, the channel's normal ident plays, never an empty door.
+- **Missing artwork:** if the artwork is missing, the door shows the title in gold only.
+
+**Making it:** the existing Blender block-ident pipeline, with about 2 minutes of rendering per clip. I'd show previews of both clips before any of it goes into the app.
+
+**What's On:** a confirmed door appears as "ADVENT ON ORBIT · DOOR N" with its channel. Nothing appears before it's booked.
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+# After Dark: The Naughty List (proposal, read only)
+
+4 November 2026. Paul's seasonal block for After Dark (305): Christmas nightmares, the grown-up counterpart to the family Advent on Orbit. It's a recurring seasonal identity the Living Network can bring back every December with different films. **Not implemented or booked.** It needs its own approval.
+
+## The ident (Paul's concept)
+
+- **The scene:** a cosy Christmas living room. Snow falls outside, the fire crackles, and a beautifully wrapped present sits under the tree.
+- **The move:** the camera slowly moves towards the present. It starts to shake, the lights flicker, the wrapping tears open, and everything goes dark.
+- **The title:** in blood-red lettering, AFTER DARK, then THE NAUGHTY LIST, with the line "Not everyone makes the nice list."
+- **How it's made:** the existing Blender block-ident pipeline (a room set, firelight and a flicker), 4 seconds at the shared spec, with the last half-second still. It would be previewed before any of it goes in the app.
+- **Sound:** a music-box note that sours, then a thud. Silent unless Special ident sound is on.
+
+## Slots
+
+After Dark's own events already own Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 21:00 to 01:00 (B-Movie, Joe Bob's Drive-In and Cult Classics). So The Naughty List takes weeknights at 23:00 and leaves those alone. Six screenings are proposed:
+
+| Date | 23:00 film | Year | Min | IMDb | Item | Note |
+|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
+| Thu 3 Dec | Gremlins | 1984 | 106 | tt0087363 | 5669960 | The warm-up. It's on VHS's list, so it would be held back there |
+| Thu 10 Dec | Krampus | 2015 | 97 | tt3850590 | 6387682 | |
+| Thu 17 Dec | Better Watch Out | 2016 | 89 | tt4443658 | 6398602 | |
+| Mon 21 Dec | Saint (Sint) | 2010 | 87 | tt1167675 | 7317412 | Dutch; the library has two labelled copies of the same film |
+| Tue 22 Dec | Anna and the Apocalypse | 2017 | 108 | tt6433880 | 6045853 | A Scottish zombie musical; the labelled copy is used |
+| Wed 23 Dec | Black Christmas | 1974 | 97 | tt0071222 | 6053560 | The original, on the last night. It's on Orbit Horror's list, so it would be held back there |
+
+**Rare Exports isn't in the library.** Other films for later years include Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), Christmas Evil, A Christmas Horror Story, Inside (2007), Dead End (2003), All the Creatures Were Stirring, Christmas Bloody Christmas, Violent Night and P2.
+
+**The same rules as the Drive-In events and Advent:**
+- **Identity:** each film is verified by exact item, IMDb ID and playability.
+- **Rotation:** each film is held back from every other rotation for 14 days either side.
+- **Clashes:** no clash with any channel.
+- **Promotion:** What's On promotes only confirmed bookings.
+- **Existing bookings:** nothing already booked changes.
+- **Separate from Advent:** none of these films is ever in Advent.
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# Anthology awareness: first investigation and the rule (roadmap, read only)
+
+4 November 2026. Paul asked for anthology detection and editorial handling in the director layer, starting with Tales from the Crypt for After Dark, and Black Mirror for Paradox or Love, Death & Robots for Vortex Afterburn. **Nothing is changed or booked.** Shows are proposed only, with evidence, for approval.
+
+## What the box's data shows (read only: the catalogue as of today and the channels' pools)
+
+| Series | Verified identity | On a channel now | Episodes read | Evidence so far |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| Tales from the Crypt (1989) | TVDB 73029, HBO, TV-MA; one copy | **Already on Orbit 2 (102)** | 93, seasons 1 to 7, 20 to 39 min | No part-numbered titles and no repeated titles. Each episode has its own title |
+| Black Mirror (2011) | TVDB 253463, Netflix, TV-MA; **three copies** (4295898, 7536213, 7861130) | None | Not read yet | Known exceptions (below) |
+| Love, Death & Robots (2019) | TVDB 357888, Netflix, TV-MA; **two copies** | None | Not read yet | Very short episodes (about 6 to 20 min); known linked episodes (below) |
+| The Twilight Zone (1959) | No provider ID on the series | Paradox (106), Orbit 2 (102) | 154 | No part markers. One item is 1 minute long, probably an extra, which needs a look |
+| The Outer Limits (1963 and 1995) | TVDB 71699 | Paradox, Orbit 2 | 152 and 154 | No part markers |
+| Inside No. 9 | TVDB 276840, BBC Two | Orbit Three (103) | 53 | No part markers, 28 to 31 min each |
+
+**Other anthologies in the library:** Tales from the Darkside, Masters of Horror, Night Gallery, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Tales of the Unexpected, Hammer House of Horror, Monsters, Creepshow (2019), Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities, Room 104, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Into the Dark and American Horror Stories.
+
+## Why different episode titles aren't evidence
+
+Every series has different episode titles. The library's metadata has no "anthology" tag: no series in the catalogue's tags carries one. So the rule has to build its case from several signals, and say when it's unsure.
+
+## The proposed rule (reusable, not per show)
+
+A series is treated as an **anthology** only when all of these hold. Each one is recorded as evidence:
+
+1. **No continuity in the data:**
+   - no part-numbered titles;
+   - no "previously" or "continued" markers;
+   - no two-part runs found by Stage A's story rule.
+2. **Changing casts:** most episodes' leading cast, from Emby's People data per episode, isn't shared with the next episode. A host such as the Cryptkeeper or Rod Serling is recognised as a host, not a lead, because he appears in nearly every episode.
+3. **A second source agrees:** the provider's metadata describes the series as an anthology (TVDB or TMDB genre or keyword), or you mark it so. If no second source agrees, the series is flagged as *possible anthology* and is never treated as one.
+
+**What it changes when approved:**
+- Standalone episodes may shuffle freely, so a channel needn't play an anthology in order.
+- **Exceptions stay protected:** multi-part stories (Stage A), and linked episodes found by matching titles or casts, play in order. Linked episodes are proposed as pairs for approval, as for the Batman case. Examples:
+  - Black Mirror's USS Callister, followed years later by its sequel episode;
+  - Love, Death & Robots' Three Robots, followed by Three Robots: Exit Strategies.
+- **Duplicate copies:** one copy is used, as everywhere.
+
+**Proposals, never automatic:**
+- New additions (Stage C signals) and anthology findings become Stage D suggestions, each with:
+  - its evidence;
+  - a confidence;
+  - its channel fit (tone, rating, runtime against the channel's slots);
+  - the lifecycle Detected → Verified → Proposed → Approved → Booked → Aired.
+- Nothing is added to a channel, and no committed booking changes, without your approval.
+
+## The three you asked about
+
+- **Tales from the Crypt → After Dark:**
+  - **Fit:** strong. It's late-night cult horror at TV-MA, and its 20 to 39 minute episodes suit After Dark's late slots between films, or a "Crypt after midnight" strand.
+  - **Watch out:** it's already on Orbit 2's list. The two channels' existing clash rule stops it airing on both at once. You'd choose whether it moves or is shared.
+  - **First step:** read its 93 episodes' cast data to confirm the anthology rule.
+- **Black Mirror → Paradox:**
+  - **Fit:** good. It's science-fiction dread, beside The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits.
+  - **Watch out:**
+    - the three copies must be settled to one;
+    - USS Callister and its sequel are a linked pair;
+    - Bandersnatch is interactive and is excluded if it's in the series;
+    - it's TV-MA, so it would only suit Paradox's later hours.
+- **Love, Death & Robots → Vortex Afterburn:**
+  - **Fit:** possible, as adult animation at 21:00 to 23:00.
+  - **Watch out:**
+    - it's TV-MA, harder than Vortex's anime, so it needs your call on tone;
+    - the episodes are very short, so they'd run as a cluster;
+    - two copies, and the Three Robots pair.
+
+**Next step, if you approve it:** read-only episode reads for these three, with each episode's cast, runtime and playability, through the existing diagnostic hook. Then a proposal per show, with its evidence and confidence.
+
+## The director layer
+
+Programming character stays Familiar, Balanced or Surprise Me, with **Balanced as the starting default**. Surprise Me (and Balanced, now and then) brings genuine opportunities for unfamiliar cinema and animation, always within each channel's identity and only from verified, playable records.
@@ -261,6 +261,8 @@ Paul's development order (13:38):
 | F | Drive-In intelligent curation, starting with read-only recommendations, then a separately approved calendar replacement | Proposal |
 | F1 | Curated Drive-In events: ten approved concepts as fixed, verified bookings | Built as 0.108.0, not installed (needs Paul's approval) |
 | Advent on Orbit | 1 to 25 December, one confirmed Christmas film a day with a numbered door ident; Door 25 special. Design in `docs/advent-on-orbit-proposal.md` | Read-only proposal; not implemented or scheduled |
+| After Dark: The Naughty List | December weeknights at 23:00, adult Christmas horror with its own ident; returns each year. Proposal in `docs/after-dark-naughty-list-proposal.md` | Read-only proposal |
+| Anthology awareness | A reusable rule: anthologies shuffle, while stories and linked episodes stay protected; evidence-based, proposed for approval. Investigation in `docs/anthology-awareness-investigation.md` | Roadmap, read only |
 | What's On | Confirmed broadcasts and cinema events together | After D and F |

 Then the Vortex Prime and Afterburn ident package, as agreed.