Google Calendar TV Times?

March 3, 2010 7:46 PM

Help me figure out how to (re-)add a TV show's schedule to my Google Calendar (specifically Good Eats)?

For a while, I've had Good Eats' schedule on my Google Calendar. I found it back when Google had a "search public calendars" button.
I didn't realize the button was gone until two days ago, when I accidentally removed the calendar.
Now that the feature is gone, to add a public calendar I need the URL of the iCal file/address/whatever.

The calendar was run by zap2it. As far as I can see, they have no link to this iCal thing.

So... what do I do now? Optimally, I'm hoping someone who has Good Eats set up on their calendar will just be able to copy and paste the iCal address for me.

But if not, how do I get the Good Eats schedule (with episode names and descriptions!) back onto my Google Calendar?

posted by CitrusFreak12 to computers & internet (6 answers total)

I use http://www.pogdesign.co.uk/cat/ for all things tv-schedule related. Set your shows / timezone, etc, and it'll tell you when new episodes are on. Complete with iCal support.
posted by jjb at 7:54 PM on March 3, 2010

And I've just noticed they don't list the show you're after, but if you email them, they're usually good about adding shows.
posted by jjb at 7:55 PM on March 3, 2010

Or they do have it and I'm in some fever-induced hallucination-state. I'll go to bed now.
posted by jjb at 7:56 PM on March 3, 2010

jjb, I tried that site and they do have it listed, but when I add it nothing shows up! Maddening.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:39 PM on March 3, 2010

I think the CAT iCal file you have is for downloading, not for importing. According to their FAQ:

If you copy the URL given to you from the 'Download iCal File' link and change 'download_ics' to 'generate_ics', you should be able to use the new link within google calendar and most calendar programs with an import-from-url feature. By telling the server to generate the ics rather than download it, the file is sent without an attachment header and can be read correctly by google.

If that doesn't work, the originating info from the CAT site seems to be TVRage.com. From what I can gather, they have the same calendaring functionality as CAT, with iCal support. But it looks like maybe their iCal support is wonky, but someone was able to figure out a workaround.
posted by gemmy at 8:51 AM on March 4, 2010

The problem I'm having with the CAT site is that Good Eats is not showing up on their site.

I added No Reservations and the show appeared on their site's calendar. So I don't know what's going on.

I seem to also be having the same problem with TVRage. The last episode of Good Eats it says played was January 25th and it has nothing listen in the "next episode" area.

The universe just doesn't want me to know what episodes of Good Eats will be playing.

I've joined TV Rage and set up a calendar with the workaround you linked, Gemmy, and we'll see how that goes. It says Google will "index" it and I don't know when that will occur. I'll report back if things start working, but given the fact that even on their site Good Eats isn't updating, I don't think it will...
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 2:13 PM on March 4, 2010