How to Cite a TV Show or Movie in MLA
To cite a TV show or movie you watched on a streaming service, follow the guidelines below. Remember, the key to making good citations is to give credit to the right people or organization. You can apply these MLA 9-style formulas to any TV or movie content you watch on any streaming service, including Netflix, Google Play, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc.
If you’d rather use a citation form, here is the citation generator form for citing a TV show in MLA.
Looking for APA guides? Here is the guide on how to cite a TV show in APA.
Looking for Chicago guides? Here is the guide on how to cite a TV show in Chicago.
Citing a specific TV episode in MLA 9:
“Episode Title.” TV Series Title, created by First Name Last Name, season #, episode #, Production Company Name, Original Air Date Month Year. Website/Streaming Service Name, URL.
“The Library.” Seinfeld, created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, season 3, episode 5, West-Shapiro/Castle Rock Entertainment, 16 Oct. 1991. Netflix, www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=70153373.
Citing an entire TV series in MLA 9:
Last Name, First Name, creator. Television Series Name. Production Company Name, Series Start Year. Website/Streaming Service Name, URL.
David, Larry and Jerry Seinfeld, creators. Seinfeld. West-Shapiro/Castle Rock Entertainment, 1989. Netflix, www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=70153373.
Citing a Film in MLA 9:
Include the name of the film, the name of the director, the production company or distributor, and the release year. If relevant, list performer names after the director’s name.
Film Title. Directed by First Name Last Name, Production Company, Year Released. Streaming/Website Name, URL.
The Sea Beast. Directed by Chris Williams, Walt Disney Studios, 2022. Netflix, www.netflix.com/browse/genre/783?bc=34399&jbv=81018682.
In-text Citations
When creating an in-text citation, the information in the parentheses should always match the first item in your full Works Cited reference entry. For a TV show or movie, this will likely be the episode name or the show or the movie title. If a title is long, it can be shortened to the first noun phrase in parenthetical citations.
Structure:
(“Episode Name”)
(TV Series Creator(s) Last Name(s))
(Movie Title)
Examples:
(“The Library”)
(David and Seinfeld)
(The Sea Beast)
(Beast)
*These examples are in MLA 9 format.
Looking for APA or Chicago guides for citing a movie? Here is the guide for citing a movie.
- How do I cite a movie, TV show, or video?
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To cite a movie, TV show, or video in APA and MLA styles, it is important that you know basic information, such as the director’s name, the title of the show, video, or movie, production company, and the publication date. The examples below show how to cite a movie in APA and MLA styles.
APA reference list entry template and example:
Surname, F. M. (Director). (Year). Title of the movie [Film]. Production Company.
Sant, G. V. (Director). (1997). Good will hunting [Film]. Be Gentlemen.
MLA works-cited-list entry template and example:
Title of the Movie. Directed by Name of the Director, Production Company, Publication date.
Good Will Hunting. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Be Gentlemen, 1997.
Use “Directed by” before the director’s name. Give the movie title in italics.
- How do I cite a TV show episode?
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To cite a movie, TV show, or video in APA and MLA styles, it is important that you know basic information, such as the director’s name, the writer’s name, the title of the episode, the title of the TV show, names of executive producers, TV channel, production company, and publication date. The below example shows how to cite a TV show in APA and MLA styles.
APA reference list entry template and example:
Director’s Surname, F. M. (Contributor Roles including writer(s) and director). (Year, Month Day). Title of the episode (Season #, Episode #) [Description]. In Names of Executive Producers (Executive Producers), Title of TV series. Production Company; Production Companies.
Noah, T. (Writer & Director*). (2021, September 16). LeVar Burton (Season 26, Episode 112) [TV series episode]. In T. Noah, J. Stewart, & M. Browning (Executive Producers), The daily show with Trevor Noah. Comedy Central; ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks.
*If one person performed multiple roles, combine the descriptions with an ampersand (&).
Include the writers and directors for the episode in each entry. Include the contributor’s role in parentheses after each name.
When there are multiple production companies, separate their names with a semicolon.
MLA works-cited-list entry template and example:
“Title of the Episode.” Title of the TV Series, created by Name of the Director, season #, episode #, Production Company/Production Companies, Publication Day Month Year.
“LeVar Burton.” The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, created by Trevor Noah, season 26, episode 116, Comedy Central/ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, 16 Sept. 1997.
When there are multiple production company names, separate their names with a slash (/).