How to cite a TV episode in APA 7

A single episode of a series has its own APA format. It credits the people who made that episode and then names the series.

Reference list format

Writer, A. A. (Writer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year, Month Day). Title of the episode in sentence case (Season X, Episode Y) [TV series episode]. In E. E. Producer (Executive Producer), Title of the series. Production Company; Second Company.

Lindgren, K. (Writer & Director). (2023, March 9). The long night (Season 2, Episode 4) [TV series episode]. In D. Osei (Executive Producer), Harbor lights. Northern Frame Pictures; Westbrook Studios.

• Credits. The writers and the directors of the episode, each followed by their own role in parentheses. If one person did both jobs, combine the roles in one pair of parentheses, as in the example.
• Date. The date the episode aired, year first.
• Episode title. In sentence case, not italic.
• Season and episode. In parentheses after the title, with no period before the parenthesis.
• Description. [TV series episode] in square brackets.
• Series. After “In,” the executive producers with the role in parentheses, then the series title in italics. With several executive producers, list the names and add “(Executive Producers)” once at the end.
• Production companies. In the source position, separated by semicolons.

In-text citation

Use the surnames of the writers and directors and the year: (Lindgren, 2023). For two people, join the surnames with an ampersand: (Lindgren & Osei, 2023).

A film

A film is cited differently. See citing a film in APA 7. A whole series is cited at the series level, with the executive producers as the authors. APA’s film and television page shows the pattern.

Check before you submit

• Take the credits from the episode or its official page.
• A streaming service. APA’s examples don’t name the streaming service.