A production code number, also known as the production code (PC) or episode code is an alphanumeric designation used to uniquely identify episodes within a television series. It is also broadly used for other identification purposes where a unique production number is desirable; for example, automobile manufacturers use production numbers as part of the vehicle identification number. But since each studio can freely generate its own PC format, it cannot be used universally to identify the show and episode.
While, in general, television episodes are filmed in the order they are intended to be aired in, there are circumstances in which this is not the case. In these instances, the production codes can be useful in determining the writers' original intentions.
Some "stand-alone" shows, such as The Simpsons or Law & Order, may film episodes in radically different order to how they are aired, because character development and continuity are not major aspects of production. The airing order may in the end be decided by the network, based on ratings, sweeps months, or other network's competition.
Other, more serialized series, like Desperate Housewives, will air all of their episodes in order.
In some rare cases, shows will film episodes out of order to accommodate guest stars' schedules, or to work around main stars' movie schedules. A good example of this is The X-Files, which filmed episodes out of order in its fifth and sixth seasons to accommodate the shooting schedules of main stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny.
Famous quotes containing the words production, code and/or number:
“An art whose limits depend on a moving image, mass audience, and industrial production is bound to differ from an art whose limits depend on language, a limited audience, and individual creation. In short, the filmed novel, in spite of certain resemblances, will inevitably become a different artistic entity from the novel on which it is based.”
—George Bluestone, U.S. educator, critic. “The Limits of the Novel and the Limits of the Film,” Novels Into Film, Johns Hopkins Press (1957)
“Wise Draco comes, deep in the midnight roll
Of black artillery; he comes, though late;
In code corroborating Calvin’s creed
And cynic tyrannies of honest kings;
He comes, nor parlies; and the Town, redeemed,
Gives thanks devout; nor, being thankful, heeds
The grimy slur on the Republic’s faith implied,
Which holds that Man is naturally good,
And—more—is Nature’s Roman, never to be
scourged.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“In a number of other cultures, fathers are not relegated to babysitter status, nor is their ability to be primary nurturers so readily dismissed.... We have evidence that in our own society men can rear and nurture their children competently and that men’s methods, although different from those of women, are imaginative and constructive.”
—Kyle D. Pruett (20th century)