What I'm suggesting is that if I want to add an advanced rule to record say movies with John Cusack, that the advanced search accept the text "John Cusack" even thought it doesn't have John Cusack in it's guide. Seems to only accept actors it knows of.
Could be a bug.. you should be able to ignore the autocomplete and type whatever you want.
Doesn't work for me either (TVE source)
EDIT: After reading your post again, I see what you're saying.
If John Cusack isn't listed in the current guide, you still want to add the name to your pass.
That doesn't seem to work as you can see above Directors == John Cusack gives No matches found and wont save. Just like using John Belushi
CONTAINS works, == doesn't
I can type whatever I want, but the "Add" button does not respond, just flashes.
Which browser
Answering for me it's Firefox v77.0.1 (64-bit) with Channels DVR v2020.06.05.1924
Pick an Actor not in the current guide
Create a new advanced pass with Cast == Actors Name
As you start typing it, notice the name doesn't appear
Complete typing the name and click Add, no matter how many times you click Add, it doesn't Add
Change Cast == Actors Name to Cast CONTAINS Actors Name
Now you can Add it and Save
Agreed == does not allow Add, but CONTAINS does. I'm using Brave(Chrome) browser. @chDVRuser, thanks for the work-around!
Which browser works?
I'm not aware of any browser working without the work around using CONTAINS instead of ==