PHPTVDB: Using PHP to Retrieve TV Show Information

I'm a bigtime TV/movie buff. If it's ever seen the light of day on HBO or BBC America, I've seen it (and quite possibly filmed my own made-for-TV-short-film). Unfortunately IMDB doesn't provide an official API for movies and TV shows but thankfully TVDB does.

Retrieving information from TVDB is a breeze using a small library called PHPTVDB written by Ryan Doherty. With a little PHP knowledge and TVDB API key, you can easily grab data about any TV show.

The PHP

/* include the library */
require 'phptvdb-1.0.2/TVDB.php';

/* get the office! */
$shows = TV_Shows::search('The Office UK');

/* get the first show */
$show = $shows[0];

/* a few shortcuts / formatted vars */
$firstAired = date('l, F j, Y',$show->firstAired);
$imdb_url = "http://imdb.com/title/$show->imdbId";

/* spit out the show information */
echo "<h2>$show->seriesName</h2>
		<div class=\"meta\">
		<strong>Rating:</strong> $show->rating •
		<strong>Debuted:</strong> $firstAired on $show->network •
		<a href=\"$imdb_url\">$show->seriesName on IMDB</a>
		</div>
		<p>$show->overview</p>";
		
/* my favorite episode info  */
$episode = $show->getEpisode(1,4);
echo "<div class=\"righty\">
			<h3>Favorite Episode:  $episode->name</h3>
			<p>$episode->overview</p>
		</div>";

/* spit out the actors */
echo '<h3>The Cast</h3><ul>';
foreach($show->actors as $actor) {
	echo "<li>$actor</li>";
}
echo '</ul><br />';

/* learn more link */
echo "<p><a href=\"http:/* imdb.com/title/\">Learn more about \"$imdb_url\" on IMDB</a></p>";

The above is just a sample usage of this great PHP library. You can find documentation here. Remember to try to be specific in your initial show search. I recommend going to IMDB or TVDB to get the show's "official" name to confirm you are being as specific as possible.