How to cite a television series

Bluebook (22d ed.) citation format · B18 / R18.7.2 · Internet & electronic

Example

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix, accessed Nov. 7, 2024).

More examples

Each of these is checked against the rules on every change to the tool.

Community: Remedial Chaos Theory (NBC television broadcast, aired Oct. 13, 2011).

What the citation needs

Required

Series title — The series the source belongs to.
Access medium or service — The medium the work appears in.
Date — The date the rule for this source calls for, with the month abbreviated per T12 (“Nov. 24, 1978”).

When they apply

Episode title — The episode title, as it appears on the source.
Time stamp — The point in a recording or post you are citing.

In a brief and in a law review

The Bluebook sets citations two ways: the Bluepages for court documents and legal memoranda, the Whitepages for law review footnotes. Here is the first example above as each one prints it, in its typeface.

Court documents (Bluepages)

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix, accessed Nov. 7, 2024).

Law review footnotes (Whitepages)

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix, accessed Nov. 7, 2024).

The words are the same in both; only the typeface changes.

Common mistakes

Each of these is a citation the checker refuses, with what it says is wrong and the corrected form.

Wrong

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix, accessed November 7, 2024).

Why

Abbreviate the month: “November” should be “Nov.” (T12).

Right

The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix, accessed Nov. 7, 2024).

Wrong

Community: Remedial Chaos Theory (NBC television broadcast, aired October 13, 2011).

Why

Abbreviate the month: “October” should be “Oct.” (T12).

Right

Community: Remedial Chaos Theory (NBC television broadcast, aired Oct. 13, 2011).

Governing rules

B18 / R18.7.2

18 — the internet, electronic media & other nonprint resources.
18.7.2 — television and video series.

Build this citation with the generator, check one you have already written, or paste a whole list of footnotes to check them in order.

Related source types

Internet & electronic: