Quark: The Good, the Bad and the Ficus
The cult classic TV show Quark is now available on DVD which is great news for fans of the talented Buck Henry who was co-creator of the original Get Smart show along with Mel Brooks. The 70s were a good time for both science fiction and sitcoms — and Quark put the two together in a very clever way. Now to be fair Woody Allen tackled the genre with the film Sleeper, but Quark was more of a parody of existing shows and movies from Star Trek to Star Wars which made the show a fanboy favorite years before Spaceballs:
“The cancellation of Quark after a mere eight episodes makes us ponder yet again the existence of intelligent life in the television universe. Created by Buck Henry, who with Mel Brooks, sent up the spy genre with Get Smart, this quite funny 1978 series spoofs space operas like Star Trek and Star Wars. Richard Benjamin stars as Adam Quark, an “ordinary human,” who commands a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol ship. His mission: “To boldly seek out grime and grit, to collect the uncollectible space baggie, and to always leave the area cleaner than when I found it.” His eccentric crew includes Ficus (Richard Kelton), a Spock-like Vegeton; Gene/Jean (“Timothy” Thomerson), a male/female “transmute”; the gorgeous, hot pantsed navigators Betty I and Betty II (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable, who gained commercial fame as the Doublemint Twins), one of which is a clone; and Andy; the cowardly robot.”
Here’s the start of the first episode, although it’s important to note that the show improved as it developed: