BEWARE DVD RIPOFFS!

I recently was a sucker and purchased a two-box, 24-disk set of DVDs advertised as the complete 77 Sunset Strip series from thedvdplanet.org.

This set is the worst case of defective DVDs I have ever seen.

Out of the total of 24 disks, only ONE disk has no significant problems.

One disk will not play or even display a menu.

There are at least 17 episodes missing. The exact number is not ascertainable, because one of the disks, which probably contains six or more episodes, will not play or even open to the menu.

There are 62 episodes that have picture and sound quality so poor that they are unwatchable. I understand that, given the sources of these recordings, pristine image quality is not to be expected. However, when I say an episode has "unwatchably poor quality," I mean that objects and people are blobs of light and dark, and you can't read the on-screen titles. You can only tell Stu from Jeff by their voices, except that often the sound quality is equally bad. The remaining episodes have fair to poor quality. None have good quality.

Below is a detailed description of the defects on each disk:

Disk 1:

Casualty is not accessible from the menu, only by fast-forwarding.

Casualty is recorded on the disk three times.

The Bouncing Chip is missing from the disk.

The other titles on the menu do not correspond with the episodes that play when they are selected.

Disk 2:

Hit and Run is not accessible from the menu, only by fast-forwarding.

Disk 3:

THIS IS THE ONLY DISK THAT DOES NOT HAVE ANY SIGNIFICANT DEFECTS!

Disk 4:

Strange Girl in Town is recorded on the disk twice.

Mr. Paradise is missing from the disk.

Disk 5:

Menu titles do not correspond to episodes that play when they are selected.

Sing Something Simple, and The Treehouse Caper are both unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 6:

Menu titles do not correspond to episodes that play when they are selected.

The Widow and the Web, Secret Island, The Texas Doll, and Created He Them are all unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 7:

Publicity Brat is not accessible from menu, only by fast-forwarding.

Menu titles do not correspond to episodes that play when they are selected.

Who Killed Cock Robin, and Safari are both unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 8:

Fraternity of Fear, and Spark of Freedom are both unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 9:

The Duncan Shrine is unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 10:

The Rice Estate is unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 11:

Mr. Goldilocks, Face in the Window, and The Space Caper are all unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 12:

The Legend of Leckonby, The 6 Out of 8 Caper, and The Celluloid Cowboy are all unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 13:

Caper in E Flat, Hot Tamale Caper (Part 1), Hot Tamale Caper (Part 2), and The Positive Negative are all unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 14:

The Unremembered, Big Boy Blue, and The Missing Daddy Caper are all unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 15:

None of the episodes are accessible from the menu, only by fast-forwarding.

The Inverness Cape Caper is recorded on the disk twice, and its visual quality is unwatchably poor.

The Rival Eye Caper also has unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 16:

All episodes on the disk, consisting of The Turning Point, The Navy Caper, Bullets for Santa, The Chrome Coffin, The Down Under Caper, and Mr. Bailey's Honeymoon, have unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 17:

The Steerer, and Baker Street Caper are both missing from the disk

Menu titles do not correspond to episodes that play when they are selected.

Twice Dead, Jennifer, The Long Shot Caper, Violence for Your Furs, and The Lovely American all have unwatchably poor quality.

Violence for Your Furs is recorded on the disk twice, and is missing its opening scene and title.

The Lovely American, and The Gemologist Caper are on the disk, but are not on the menu.

Disk 18:

None of the titles on the menu correspond to the episodes that play when they are selected.

Framework for a Badge, Pattern for a Bomb, Upbeat, and Nightmare are all on this disk, but not on the menu.

The Lovely American, and The Gemologist Caper are on this menu, but they are on another disk (Disk 17).

Flight From Escondido, Pattern for a Bomb, and Nightmare have unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 19:

This disk will not display a menu, and will not play. All of the episodes (titles unknown) that should be on this disk are missing.

Disk 20:

None of the seven titles on the menu are on the disk (or on any other disk). All seven episodes are missing.

Five of the episodes that ARE on the disk, consisting of The Snow Job Caper, Terror in Silence, Dial S For Suspense, Nine to Five, and The Man Who Wasn't There have unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 21:

Target Island, Our Man in Switzerland, and Never to Have Loved all have unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 22:

"5" (Part 3), and "5" (Part 4) both have unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 23:

White Lie, Don't Wait for Me, and By His Own Verdict all have unwatchably poor quality.

Disk 24:

All seven episodes on the disk, consisting of The Fumble, Bonus Baby, Paper Chase, Lover's Lane, Alimony League, Not Such a Simple Knot, and The Target have unwatchably poor quality.

I have attempted to contact thedvdplanet.org several times, but have had no response. I am not hopeful of obtaining a refund.

If we are lucky, there will be an official studio release of 77 Sunset Strip, sooner rather than later. In the meantime, please don't throw your money away on this set from thedvdplanet.org!