How to track progress through long series for series completion seekers in 2026

Learn how series completion seekers can track progress through long series with practical steps.

By VLClean · 2026-11-10

VLClean is published by the makers of Askarr and Watcharr, which are compared here alongside other tools.

Series completion seekers can track progress through long series by keeping one list of every show in the series, feeding that list to the programs that add titles to the library, and reviewing it on a set day each week. Watcharr turns a public IMDb list into one link for Radarr and one for Sonarr so the movies and shows on the list are picked up automatically.

Option	How titles reach the library	Cost details
Watcharr	Paste a public IMDb list and get one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1]	not published
List checked by hand	Each season is added to the library by hand as it arrives.	not published
Shared list	The series is held on a list that more than one person can read and update.	not published

What you need before you start

A long series that spans many seasons is easiest to track with one clear list of the shows it contains and where the watching currently stands. Before anything else, decide which shows belong to the series, and write each one down so no season or spinoff slips by.

Pick a single place to hold that list. A public IMDb watchlist can hold every show in the series in one spot. Keep that list as the one source of truth instead of scattering titles across messages and notes. Before relying on any reading tool, check which list types it accepts.

Have Radarr and Sonarr ready. Radarr and Sonarr are free helper programs that many Plex owners run to find and add movies (Radarr) and shows (Sonarr) to their library. They are the programs that read the list and add the next title when a season ends.

Decide who reviews the list and how often. Watching a long series means a title is added, watched, and crossed off, so agree on who updates the list when a season ends and who checks that newly added titles actually reached the library.

Step by step

Write down the full list of the series, with every show and season in order. This becomes the record of what has to be watched before the series is done.

Put that list in one place and make sure it is readable. An IMDb watchlist in public view lets a reading tool and any helper see the same titles you do.

Point the programs that add titles at the list. Set up Radarr and Sonarr so they check your list on their own, instead of adding each season by hand.

Add a check-in to a regular day of the week. On that day, look at what the programs picked up, confirm the titles reached the library, and mark what has been watched since the last check.

Mark completed shows off the list as you finish them. Crossing a finished title off keeps the remaining list short, so the next season is the only thing left to wait for.

Review the list again before a new season arrives. Re-read the list, confirm the newest season is on it, and fix any title that was skipped before the new episodes start.

Ask one other person in the household what still confuses them about the process, and adjust the list or the review day to fix it. A process only one person understands stops working the moment that person is away.

Tools that can do it

Watcharr is made by the team that publishes this site.

Paste one public IMDb list and Watcharr returns one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. ^[1] The links are built from the IMDb list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. ^[1]

Watcharr accepts any public IMDb watchlist or list from the desktop site, the phone site, or IMDb's other-language pages. ^[1] It looks up TheTVDB ids through TVMaze and TMDB, leaves out shows it cannot match, and tells you which ones it skipped. ^[1] The page shows the list's covers in a row, each opening TMDB's plot, genres, rating, backdrop, and trailer. ^[1]

A bookmark inside Radarr or Sonarr adds the list for you, using that app's API key without sending it anywhere else. ^[1] With a sign-in, Watcharr re-reads the list about every 15 minutes and warns when a list fails three reads in a row. ^[1] Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household, and a title on two lists is added only once. ^[1]

If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. ^[1] Watcharr runs as one Cloudflare app with a Cloudflare database, plus a GitHub job that reads IMDb. ^[1] Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence, and older versions remain under MIT. ^[1] Commercial use is not licensed, and no commercial licence is for sale. ^[1] The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1] You paste, copy, and browse from any screen in the web app, and the one-click sticker shows on bigger screens. ^[1]

What should be checked before choosing a tool? Before choosing a tool, check how it reads your watchlist, how often it updates, and how titles move into Radarr and Sonarr.

Common mistakes to avoid

Avoid letting the list fall out of date. A long series is easy to lose track of when finished seasons stay crossed off nowhere and the newest title is only remembered. Keep the list current at the same time each week.

Avoid adding each season by hand. Typing one title at a time into a library is slow and easy to forget. Let the programs that add titles read the list on their own.

Avoid choosing a tool without checking the basics. Look at how a tool reads a watchlist, how often it refreshes, and what happens when a read fails, before relying on it for the whole series.

Avoid skipping a review step. Titles can be skipped when a show cannot be matched, so check what was added and what was left out after each refresh.

Avoid deciding the process alone. If only one person understands how the list works, the household stops tracking the moment that person is busy.

Frequently asked questions

Can Watcharr turn an IMDb list into Radarr and Sonarr links?

Yes. Paste one public IMDb list and Watcharr returns one link for Radarr with the movies and one for Sonarr with the shows. ^[1] Each link acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server, so Radarr checks it every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. ^[1] The links are built from the IMDb list's id, so the same list always gives the same two links. ^[1]

How often does Watcharr refresh a watched list?

Watcharr's links are checked on a schedule: Radarr checks its link every 15 minutes and Sonarr every 5. ^[1] With a sign-in, Watcharr also re-reads the list about every 15 minutes and warns when a list fails three reads in a row. ^[1] If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. ^[1]

Does Watcharr work without an account?

The hosted version needs nothing to install and no account. ^[1] You paste, copy, and browse from any screen in the web app. ^[1] A sign-in adds extra features, such as re-reading the list automatically and combining several IMDb lists into one link for the household. ^[1] ^[1]

Can Watcharr combine more than one IMDb list?

Signed-in users can combine several IMDb lists into one Radarr link and one Sonarr link for the whole household, and a title that is on two lists is added only once. ^[1] Each link still acts like a small Radarr or Sonarr server. ^[1]

What happens when Watcharr cannot read a list?

If a read of the list fails, the links keep serving the last list that loaded correctly. ^[1] With a sign-in, Watcharr warns when a list fails three reads in a row. ^[1] Watcharr leaves out shows it cannot match to a TheTVDB id and tells you which ones it skipped. ^[1]

Its code is available to read under the PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0 licence; older versions remain under MIT. ^[1]

Try Watcharr

Sources

Watcharr's own description of itself (the product of this site's publisher)