by James Wallace Harris, 9/24/26
I recently bought Barney Miller on DVD. I got it on eBay. It was advertised as brand-new, in the shrink wrap. It was $8 cheaper than the set on Amazon, so I ordered it. The box looked mint. It was in the cellophane, with stickers. But when I went to rip it to my NAS, I had all kinds of problems.
Ripping DVDs is seldom straightforward. I use both Windows and a Mac. I have three different DVD/BD drives. I have three different ripping programs. Usually, switching combinations of these three factors will eventually rip a problematic disc. But some of the Barney Miller discs resisted all efforts.
I asked my AI. It informed me that bootlegs are common. It said to check the disc with MakeMKV. If the DVD was a single-layer disc, it was probably a bootleg. They were. Evidently, bootleggers try to save a few cents per disc by buying the cheaper single-layer discs rather than dual-layer discs. Look for Data capacity under Disc Information using MakeMKV. Under 5GB is single-layer; above is dual-layer.
This means they compress the files, reducing the playback bitrate. That means inferior picture quality. Even when playing the Barney Miller discs on my Blu-ray player, the picture quality was somewhat fuzzy. I thought it was because the TV show was old.
While ripping the discs with MakeMKV, it warned me that the discs were probably bootlegs made with DVD Fab Mac Ripper. That gave me an idea. I downloaded the free trial of DVD Fab Mac Ripper. It ripped the bad discs. I then paid $55 to buy the full version. I’d been wanting an alternative to MakeMKV for ripping Blu-ray discs on the Mac anyway. And the rips made with DVD Fab Mac Ripper didn’t look that bad. They were watchable.
I reported my findings to the seller. He said he’d give me a refund. I let him off the hook. I figured that after working so hard to rip the discs, I would keep them. I could have sent Barney Miller back and kept my files, but I didn’t want to be a ripoff artist too.
The lesson here is to be leery of great deals on eBay when buying complete TV series on DVDs sold as new. I noticed the DVD set I got was the 2011 edition – the one pictured on the right above, with the door. Amazon still sells that edition, but it ships from a 3rd party. Amazon also sells and ships a 2019 edition, the one pictured on the right. Both are $40. Even buying from Amazon might get you a bootleg if it’s from a 3rd party.l
I’m curious: if I had spent the extra $8 and bought the newer set, the one sold by Amazon. Is it legit and recorded on dual-layer DVDs? If anyone bought that set from Amazon and uses MakeMKV, let me know.
I really enjoy great picture quality. I hate to think Barney Miller could be sharper.
Checking some recent buys:
- Barney Miller – Single-layer (eBay)
- Downton Abbey – Dual-layer (Amazon)
- Quantum Leap – Dual-layer (eBay)
- Hazel – Single-layer (eBay)
- The Loner – Dual-layer (Amazon)
- Frasier – Dual-layer (Amazon)
- MASH – Dual-layer (Amazon)
I guess I need to stick with Amazon. Two out of three sets from eBay were probably bootlegs. However, they were from sellers who had multiple copies to sell, all labeled new. Individuals selling “used” copies might be safe.
I’ve also seen people online say they are willing to buy bootlegs if no one else is selling the series. That might be true for me too. I’d love to find the second season of Mr. Kovak.
I still wish the publishers of old TV shows would sell them as digital files. See my essay about this. Messing with discs is a pain.
JWH
