Movies & TV API
The Movies & TV API returns film and television metadata as clean JSON.
🤖 Using an AI assistant? Copy this link into ChatGPT / Claude / Cursor — it reads every endpoint and parameter instantly and tells you if this API fits your use case.
The primary search endpoint returns title rows with cross-IDs (IMDb, TMDb, TVmaze), year and overview, and you can pull a detail, episodes, cast, crew, alternate titles and a schedule. It is built for entertainment apps, recommendation engines and media research that need unified movie and TV data without a scraper. One ReefAPI key, one shared credit pool, the standard { ok, data, meta, error } envelope.
Real request and response JSON
Captured from the indexed primary action, search, on .
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://api.reefapi.com/movies-tv/v1/search",
"headers": {
"x-api-key": "$REEF_KEY",
"content-type": "application/json"
},
"body": {
"query": "breaking bad",
"type": "tv"
}
}{
"ok": true,
"meta": {
"api": "movies-tv",
"endpoint": "search",
"mode": "live",
"latency_ms": 218.4,
"record_count": 8,
"bytes": 12220,
"cache_hit": false,
"completeness_pct": 100,
"requests": 1,
"license": "CC-BY-SA 4.0 (TVmaze)",
"attribution": "TV data by TVmaze.com (CC BY-SA); This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.; streaming via JustWatch"
},
"data": {
"query": "breaking bad",
"type": "tv",
"results": [
{
"ids": {
"tvmaze": 169,
"imdb": "tt0903747",
"thetvdb": 81189,
"tvrage": 18164
},
"type": "tv",
"title": "Breaking Bad",
"year": 2008,
"premiered": "[redacted-phone]",
"ended": "[redacted-phone]",
"genres": [
"Drama",
"Crime",
"Thriller"
],
"runtime": 60,
"status": "Ended",
"language": "English",
"show_type": "Scripted",
"overview": "Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White, a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife and teenage son who has cerebral palsy. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live. With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to secure his family's financial security, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world. The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White's releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follo",
"rating": {
"tvmaze": 9.2
},
"network": "AMC",
"country": "United States",
"schedule": {
"time": "22:00",
"days": [
"[trimmed-depth]"
]
},
"poster": "https://static.tvmaze.com/uploads/images/original_untouched/501/1253519.jpg",
"official_site": "http://www.amc.com/shows/breaking-bad",
"url": "https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/169/breaking-bad",
"source": "tvmaze",
"license": "CC-BY-SA 4.0 (TVmaze)"
},
{
"ids": {
"tvmaze": 27845,
"imdb": "tt2387761",
"thetvdb": 356427
},
"type": "tv",
"title": "Breaking Bad: Original Minisodes",
"year": 2009,
"premiered": "[redacted-phone]",
"ended": "[redacted-phone]",
"genres": [
"Comedy",
"Crime"
],
"runtime": 5,
"status": "Ended",
"language": "English",
"show_type": "Scripted",
"overview": "Watch Hank and Marie as they celebrate Valentine's Day in the bedroom in \"Good Cop, Bad Cop\". View a flashback to Hank and Marie's wedding as the groom discusses with Walt his last wild night as a bachelor in \"Wedding Day\". Go inside Jesse's band TwaughtHammer as he and Badger make a behind-the-music documentary, and sing along to the full music video for their song \"Fallacies\". Finally, watch Marie discuss politics and patriotism in her personal video diary, \"Marie's Confession\".",
"rating": {
"tvmaze": 7
},
"network": "AMC",
"country": "United States",
"schedule": {
"time": ""
},
"poster": "https://static.tvmaze.com/uploads/images/original_untouched/216/540867.jpg",
"official_site": "https://www.amc.com/shows/breaking-bad/talk/2009/02/original-minisodes#:~:text=Now%20you%20can%20watch%20five,and%20Matt%20Jones%20(Badger).",
"url": "https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/27845/breaking-bad-original-minisodes",
"source": "tvmaze",
"license": "CC-BY-SA 4.0 (TVmaze)"
},
{
"ids": {
"tvmaze": 1003,
"imdb": "tt3115468",
"thetvdb": 272219,
"tvrage": 36082
},
"type": "tv",
"title": "Talking Bad",
"year": 2013,
"premiered": "[redacted-phone]",
"ended": "[redacted-phone]",
"runtime": 30,
"status": "Ended",
"language": "English",
"show_type": "Talk Show",
"overview": "Talking Bad features Hardwick spending time with fans, actors, producers and tv enthusiasts, recapping the most recent Breaking Bad episode, and taking questions and comments from viewers. Fans may continue to engage with the after-show following the on-air conclusion, online, at amc.com for more videos, weekly polls and photo galleries of the guests featured on the series.",
"network": "AMC",
"country": "United States",
"schedule": {
"time": "23:05",
"days": [
"[trimmed-depth]"
]
},
"poster": "https://static.tvmaze.com/uploads/images/original_untouched/6/16586.jpg",
"url": "https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/1003/talking-bad",
"source": "tvmaze",
"license": "CC-BY-SA 4.0 (TVmaze)"
}
]
}
}What the Movies & TV API does
| Action | Description | Concrete use case | Key params |
|---|---|---|---|
| search | search titles (type=multi|movie|tv|streaming) | Content platforms call search to search titles (type=multi|movie|tv|streaming). | query, type, limit, year, country, ... |
| detail | unified title detail (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB depth + JustWatch offers) | Research tools call detail to get unified title detail (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB depth + JustWatch offers). | id, type, id_type, country, include_streaming, ... |
| episodes | TV episodes (optionally one season) | Community analysts call episodes to get tV episodes (optionally one season). | id, id_type, season, specials |
| cast | cast (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB) | Media monitors call cast to get cast (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB). | id, type, id_type |
| crew | crew (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB) | Content platforms call crew to get crew (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB). | id, type, id_type |
| akas | alternative titles (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB) | Research tools call akas to get alternative titles (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB). | id, type, id_type |
| schedule | TV broadcast (kind=tv) or streaming-premiere (kind=web) calendar | Community analysts call schedule to get tV broadcast (kind=tv) or streaming-premiere (kind=web) calendar. | country, date, kind |
| streaming | where-to-watch offers via JustWatch (query/node_id/imdb/tmdb) | Media monitors call streaming to get where-to-watch offers via JustWatch (query/node_id/imdb/tmdb). | query, id, id_type, node_id, country, ... |
| people | person search or detail (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB) | Content platforms call people to get person search or detail (tv→TVmaze, movie→TMDB). | query, id, type |
| lookup | cross-resolve imdb↔tmdb↔tvmaze ids | Research tools call lookup to get cross-resolve imdb↔tmdb↔tvmaze ids. | imdb_id, tmdb_id, tvmaze_id, id, id_type, ... |
| genres | TMDB genre reference (movie|tv) | Community analysts call genres to get tMDB genre reference (movie|tv). | type |
| countries | streaming services available in a country (JustWatch) | Media monitors call countries to get streaming services available in a country (JustWatch). | country |
| new_titles | recently added/changed on streaming (≈ catalog changes) | Content platforms call new_titles to get recently added/changed on streaming (≈ catalog changes). | date, country, limit, object_types, packages |
| charts | Ranked title charts: most-popular / top-rated / upcoming / now-playing / on-the-air / trending — for movies, TV or both. A `language` filter turns top-rated/popular into the per-language charts (e.g. top-rated Tamil/Telugu/Hindi); `region` localises upcoming/now-playing. | Research tools call charts to get ranked title charts. | chart, language, region, page, limit |
| similar | Titles similar to / recommended for a given movie or TV show (TMDB recommendations, falling back to similar). Accepts a TMDB id or an IMDb tt… id. | Community analysts call similar to get titles similar to / recommended for a given movie or TV show (TMDB recommendations, falling b…. | id, type, limit |
| credits | A person's full filmography (combined movie + TV credits) by TMDB person id or by name — every title they were cast or crew on, newest first, with their character/job. | Media monitors call credits to get a person's full filmography (combined movie + TV credits) by TMDB person id or by name. | person_id, name, limit |
| discover | Browse the catalog with filters — find movies or TV by genre, year range, minimum rating, runtime, original language, cast/crew, keyword and where-to-stream provider, sorted however you like. The 'explore like a real user' surface. | Content platforms call discover to get browse the catalog with filters. | type, genres, year, year_gte, year_lte, ... |
| reviews | User reviews for a movie or TV show (author, star rating, full text), paginated. | Research tools call reviews to get user reviews for a movie or TV show (author, star rating, full text), paginated.. | id, type, page |
| images | All artwork for a title — posters, backdrops and (TV) episode stills with resolutions and language tags. | Community analysts call images to get all artwork for a title. | id, type, limit |
| videos | Trailers, teasers and clips for a movie or TV show (YouTube keys + ready-to-play URLs). | Media monitors call videos to get trailers, teasers and clips for a movie or TV show (YouTube keys + ready-to-play URLs).. | id, type |
| watch_providers | Where to stream/rent/buy a title (TMDB/JustWatch data) — pass a country for that region's offers, or omit it to get every region. | Content platforms call watch_providers to get where to stream/rent/buy a title (TMDB/JustWatch data). | id, type, country |
| season | Full episode list for one season of a TV show — episode titles, overviews, air dates, ratings and stills (TMDB). | Research tools call season to get full episode list for one season of a TV show. | id, season, type |
| episode | One TV episode in depth — overview, air date, rating, guest stars and crew (TMDB). | Community analysts call episode to get one TV episode in depth. | id, season, episode |
Call search from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/movies-tv/v1/search \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":"breaking bad","type":"tv"}'import requests
r = requests.post(
"https://api.reefapi.com/movies-tv/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
json={
"query": "breaking bad",
"type": "tv"
},
)
print(r.json()["data"])const res = await fetch("https://api.reefapi.com/movies-tv/v1/search", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"x-api-key": process.env.REEF_KEY,
"content-type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"query": "breaking bad",
"type": "tv"
}),
});
const { ok, data, meta, error } = await res.json();Ask your MCP-connected assistant: call reefapi.movies-tv.search with {"query":"breaking bad","type":"tv"}.Who uses this API and why
- Recommendation engines call search and detail to build catalogs cross-linked to IMDb and TMDb.
- TV apps use episodes and schedule to track seasons and airings.
- Media research uses cast and crew to assemble filmographies.
Questions developers ask before integrating
What is the Movies & TV API?
Movies & TV API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for film and series details, cast and ratings. It returns live JSON through POST requests under /movies-tv/v1.
Is the Movies & TV API free to try?
Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. Movies & TV calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.
Do I need a Movies & TV login or account?
No login to Movies & TV is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.
How fresh is the Movies & TV data?
The page example is captured from a live search call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.
How many credits does the Movies & TV API use?
Movies & TV actions currently cost 1-2 credits per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free, and all APIs draw from one credit pool.
Can I call Movies & TV from an AI assistant or MCP client?
Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call movies-tv actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.
Is the Movies & TV API a Movies & TV scraper?
It is the managed alternative to a DIY Movies & TV scraper. Instead of building and maintaining your own scraper — proxies, headless browsers, captcha and constant breakage — you call one ReefAPI endpoint and get the same film and series details, cast and ratings back as clean JSON.
Why does my Movies & TV scraper keep getting blocked?
Most Movies & TV scrapers break on anti-bot defenses, rate limits and IP bans that need rotating residential proxies and browser fingerprinting to clear. ReefAPI handles all of that for you — no proxies, no captchas, no maintenance — and returns live JSON. Blocked or failed calls are free.