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Quark

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NBC (ended 1978)

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Show Summary

Premiered: Feb 24, 1978
Status: Ended

This short-lived comedy focused on the crew of a intergalactic garbage truck.

6.8

Average Rating: Fair

70 votes

Your Rating: 10

"Perfect"
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"Great"
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"Good"
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"Fair"
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"Fair"
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"Mediocre"
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"Mediocre"
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"Poor"
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"Poor"
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"Bad"
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Episode Guide

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S 1 : Ep 7	Vanessa 38-24-36	Aired 4/7/78
S 1 : Ep 6	All the Emperor's Quasi-Norms (2)	Aired 3/31/78
S 1 : Ep 5	All the Emperor's Quasi-Norms (1)	Aired 3/24/78
S 1 : Ep 4	Goodbye Polumbus	Aired 3/17/78
S 1 : Ep 3	The Good, the Bad and the Ficus	Aired 3/10/78

Cast & Crew

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Conrad Janis

Otto Palindrome
Tim Thomerson

Gene/Jean
Richard Kelton

Ficus

Fan Reviews (6)

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A take off on the then hot Sci-Fi space epics, but unfunny scripts and an unenthusiastic cast doom Quark to the intergallactic rubbish tip.

2.8

"Terrible"

By The1Factotum1i1, Jun 16, 2008 Report Abuse

Buck Henry at one time knew how to write good TV comedy. for instance he really shined in the early years of GET SMART, and even had some magic left in the ill-fated superhero spoof CAPTAIN NICE.
But by 1978, he had become as tired and predictible as a Carol Burnett Show skit. Lead Richard Benjamin is as unlikable an actor as he ever was. He seems to think an unemotional, sleepy-eyed contempt for everyone and everything at all times is a laugh riot. He seems to be trying to say, "look, I'm really cool and I'm above this junk I'm in". When Don Adams played Maxwell Smart, he was a professional comedian/actor playing an overconfident character who never realized how incompetant or stupid he was. Benjamin seems to be that character in real life, playing the part of a professional comedian. Others are similarly unenchanted with what they're doing. Nobody rises above the star power of Conrad Janis, the annoying father on "MORK AND MINDY". The biggest failure is in the production, the dopey lines are ruined by slow pacing. You can make even the worst gags funny if only they were delivered in a fast back-and-forth style as seen in GET SMART. The look of QUARK is that underlit, cheap grade film that one found on live-action Saturday morning junk and porno flicks in the 70's.moreless

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Buck Henry's parody of the Science Fiction genre was hit and miss. Beginning as a Star Wars parody it soon evolved into a Star Trek parody, but too late to save it. The short lived series lasted only eight episodes, but has become a cult favorite.moreless

6.8

"Fair"

By Sotaria, Apr 10, 2007 Report Abuse

Following Get Smart and the short lived Captain Nice, Buck Henry attempted to make a quality science fiction parody but his attempt was mixed. Hit and miss to be sure, Quark has earned itself a cult following and many have begged for its release on DVD, but to no avail.

The pilot episode was a pure Star Wars parody with a character called O.B. Mudd. The pilot was also the weakest of the entire series. Fortunately the series replaced O.B. Mudd with a Mr. Spock parody named Ficus. His character was clearly the best in the series.

Quark was one of those few shows which improved with time. Unfortunately, it was the mediocre beginning which largely killed the show. The last few episodes were actually quite good, but not good enough to make up for bad beginning which led to the cancellation of the series despite rave reviews from some critics.

The two part episode All the Emperor's Quasi-Norms was clearly the best of the series with Goodbye Polumbus and Vanessa 38-24-36 in a close second.

If you get a chance to see the show, try to not judge it too quickly. After all, it only lasted eight episodes.moreless

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All I can say is that it was better than HOMEBOYS IN OUTER SPACE.

3.9

"Bad"

By SoylentYellow, Dec 28, 2006 Report Abuse

Space garbage truck? Well the vehicle suited this mess.

The whole thing was ridiculous. Amazed it last as many episodes as it did. I only remember Richard Benjamin in it and not much else. I think they stole the garbage truck model from the Space: 1999 episode where the Moon was going to collide with a huge planet and this spaceship swallowed an Eagle spacecraft whole. Of course this was in turn stolen from a James Bond movie where a Chinese built spaceship swallowed other spacecraft.

Well, I suppose some people like it but I really did not care for it at all. It was rather forgetable and I only remembered it because of Homeboys In Outer Space. Ciao.moreless

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Not for mainstream audiences, but is a terrific (if not low budget) parody of the sci-fi genre.

9.2

"Superb"

By HypnoToad72, Jun 12, 2006 Report Abuse

From Star Trek to Star Wars and everything subtle inbetween.

Definitely '70s.

But definitely fun.

It is brilliant stuff!

For geeks.

Like you and me. :D

Quark is the Captain, the Captain of a garbage scowl! Naive but loveable.

Ficus is the anthromorphic plant creature, ala Spock.

Gene/Jean is a character with both male and female personalities.

And then you've got the twins... Gorgeous babes. One is a clone of the other. The problem is, nobody knows which one is the original! This show was incredibly ahead of its time. And for a niche audience; to merge genres is never easy, particularly when one of them is sci-fi. Not when you have a mainstream audience to entertain; an audience that often doesn't understand anything that isn't just like them. After all, that's why 80% of programming is dedicated to some boring, everyday family.

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Quark was alright, but nothing special

6.6

"Fair"

By gilliganfanatic, Mar 31, 2006 Report Abuse

I only wanted to see Quark because it is a short lived series. I got a hold of all 8 episodes and so far have only watched one or two. I choice this series to watch because I like Buck Henry's (The Creator) other work. The show had some neat effects to it like interesting characters but the concept was boring, there was no attempt at jokes. Some parts of it were kind of fun to watch, but I don't know If I will watch the other episodes I have. If you want to watch it just because it is short lived, try another show.moreless

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