"Recent" sorts videos by Date Imported. For me, and others who use JRiver MC to record, this is the same as Date Recorded.
Theater View is customizable. Take a look at the settings for "Recent", for example, you can either change it to Sort by "Date Recorded", or create a new view with that setting. I am not how it will work with shows recorded in WMC and imported into MC. You might need to try "Date Created"