diff --git a/source/net/filebot/format/ExpressionFormat.java b/source/net/filebot/format/ExpressionFormat.java
index 0c3dfb7c..f8a60b67 100644
--- a/source/net/filebot/format/ExpressionFormat.java
+++ b/source/net/filebot/format/ExpressionFormat.java
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ public class ExpressionFormat extends Format {
 	}
 
 	protected String normalizeResult(CharSequence value) {
-		return replaceSpace(NEWLINE.matcher(value).replaceAll(""), " ").trim();
+		return replaceSpace(value, " ").trim();
 	}
 
 	protected void handleException(ScriptException exception) {
diff --git a/source/net/filebot/similarity/Normalization.java b/source/net/filebot/similarity/Normalization.java
index de178400..9f8c55b6 100644
--- a/source/net/filebot/similarity/Normalization.java
+++ b/source/net/filebot/similarity/Normalization.java
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public class Normalization {
 		return name;
 	}
 
-	public static String trimTrailingPunctuation(String name) {
+	public static String trimTrailingPunctuation(CharSequence name) {
 		return TRAILING_PUNCTUATION.matcher(name).replaceAll("").trim();
 	}
 
@@ -46,22 +46,22 @@ public class Normalization {
 		for (Pattern it : brackets) {
 			name = it.matcher(name).replaceAll(" ");
 		}
-		return name;
+		return name.trim();
 	}
 
-	public static String normalizeSpace(String name, String replacement) {
+	public static String normalizeSpace(CharSequence name, String replacement) {
 		return replaceSpace(WORD_SEPARATOR_PUNCTUATION.matcher(name).replaceAll(" ").trim(), replacement);
 	}
 
-	public static String replaceSpace(String name, String replacement) {
+	public static String replaceSpace(CharSequence name, String replacement) {
 		return SPACE.matcher(name).replaceAll(replacement);
 	}
 
-	public static String replaceColon(String name, String ratio, String colon) {
+	public static String replaceColon(CharSequence name, String ratio, String colon) {
 		return COLON.matcher(RATIO.matcher(name).replaceAll(ratio)).replaceAll(colon);
 	}
 
-	public static String getEmbeddedChecksum(String name) {
+	public static String getEmbeddedChecksum(CharSequence name) {
 		Matcher m = EMBEDDED_CHECKSUM.matcher(name);
 		if (m.find()) {
 			return m.group(1);
@@ -69,12 +69,12 @@ public class Normalization {
 		return null;
 	}
 
-	public static String removeEmbeddedChecksum(String name) {
+	public static String removeEmbeddedChecksum(CharSequence name) {
 		// match embedded checksum and surrounding brackets
 		return EMBEDDED_CHECKSUM.matcher(name).replaceAll("");
 	}
 
-	public static String removeTrailingBrackets(String name) {
+	public static String removeTrailingBrackets(CharSequence name) {
 		// remove trailing braces, e.g. Doctor Who (2005) -> Doctor Who
 		return TRAILING_PARENTHESIS.matcher(name).replaceAll("").trim();
 	}
diff --git a/source/net/filebot/similarity/SeriesNameMatcher.java b/source/net/filebot/similarity/SeriesNameMatcher.java
index 0fd388ec..53e633da 100644
--- a/source/net/filebot/similarity/SeriesNameMatcher.java
+++ b/source/net/filebot/similarity/SeriesNameMatcher.java
@@ -237,13 +237,8 @@ public class SeriesNameMatcher {
 	}
 
 	protected String normalize(String name) {
-		// remove group names and checksums, any [...] or (...)
-		name = normalizeBrackets(name);
-
-		// remove/normalize special characters
-		name = normalizePunctuation(name);
-
-		return name;
+		// remove group names and checksums, any [...] or (...) and remove/normalize special characters
+		return normalizePunctuation(normalizeBrackets(name));
 	}
 
 	protected <T> T[] firstCommonSequence(T[] seq1, T[] seq2, int maxStartIndex, Comparator<T> equalsComparator) {