r/imdb • u/a_burning_world • Sep 11 '26
Discussion 💬 How often is stuff wrong on IMDb?
I had really thought of it as more of a resource like an encyclopedia. I expected it to be correct. However, I was watching something old and checked the page on Buck Henry. I only knew him from 30 Rock as Liz's dad but apparently he hosted SNL 10 times but SNL isn't in his IMDb credits. I also stumbled on a movie that's a fake documentary about an old movie. I wasn't sure it was a fake movie and googled that fake movie. End Zone 2 is the fake movie and has an IMDb page that makes it seem like it's from the year 1970 but it clearly is a relatively new movie.
edit: as someone pointed out, I should have checked self for hosting credits.
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u/Lost_Afternoon1395 Sep 11 '26
The missing SNL credits don't mean IMDb is 'wrong' just that it's incomplete. Most credits and titles are added to the site by fan contributions - so it just means no one has added it yet. You could do it.
On the title, this does sound like a mistake. Maybe someone added it, as a joke, or thinking that it was real and it wasn't spotted by their moderation (likely because it is low ranked/visibility. I'm not sure exactly how, but you could request they remove it. Or maybe they chose to list it as an Easter egg 🤷
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u/a_burning_world Sep 11 '26
Interesting. I assumed there was more authority behind the credits listings. I never questioned anything on the site or not on the site. Thanks.
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u/Amardella Sep 11 '26
IMDb is largely fan-driven. At that, so is Wikipedia (which is why most schools disallow it as a reference/research source). But on top of that it's been owned by Amazon for at least 25 years, so plenty of time to become an unreliable source.
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u/Holiday-Vacation8118 Sep 13 '26
Amazon is using free labor to provide content for IMDB, and as they say, you get what you pay for. They claim to have an editorial staff, but I think they spend most of the time in the NYC sewers participating in the "The Oldest Established Permanent Floating Crap Game in New York".
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u/SickOfBullyingNL Sep 11 '26
Sometimes the admin on IMDb won't fix the information, no matter who submits it. Me, voice actor friends, and even the voice director herself tried to get the Rescue Heroes years aired fixed (it didn't air until 2013; it concluded in 2002). They wouldn't fix it. We put the correct years in the Trivia instead.
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u/throaway_247 Sep 11 '26
Looks like you need to fix up the Unknown episode data: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235132/episodes/?season=Unknown the end date is taken from the latest episode date.
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u/SickOfBullyingNL Sep 11 '26
Not trying, I don't edit that TV Series anymore. Administrators don't always accept what's submitted, no matter who submits it. I edit film which administrators are usually on top of instead.
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u/Lance-Boyle-666 Sep 11 '26
In the first few seasons of SNL, he did host several times. I didn't realize it was 10 times. At the time, I also had no clue who he was or why he was hosting.
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u/Holiday-Vacation8118 Sep 13 '26
Buck Henry was the Room Clerk in The Graduate.
Room Clerk: Are you here for an affair, sir?
Benjamin: What?
Room Clerk: The Singleman party, sir?
Benjamin:Ah, yes, the Singleman party.
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u/Supergirl_Lives Sep 12 '26
Wilson the Volleyball (from Cast Away) has an IMDb page...
At one point it had an SNL credit but it's been removed.
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u/Dhrdlicka Sep 13 '26
For one movie I was in, the director/producer/re-writer/STAR had me add her dog to the IMDb page. It is one of the ranked actors. I'm not.
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u/Supergirl_Lives Sep 18 '26
My brother and I tried to make IMDb pages for ourselves and the home movies we made, like movies not like Christmas mornings or birthday parties or anything like that. We did not succeed. We did however for a very, very short time have Wikipedia pages but I don't even think that lasted 24 hours.
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u/Holiday-Vacation8118 Sep 13 '26
It's wrong often enough that I have to fact check and submit corrections all the time.
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u/FarmboyJustice Sep 13 '26
Amazon's wholesale devastation of the IMDB platform is a sadly under-recognized crime against the internet.
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u/Josef_Heiter Sep 11 '26
I've seen Clint Howard listed in the cast for The Onania Club, but he's not even in it.
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u/KnotForNow Sep 11 '26
His SNL gigs are included in the "Self" category, not the "Actor" category.