Quark

I was a preteen when this show aired and I loved it, but I was savvy enough to realize that most people wouldn't get it. I wasn't surprised at the cancellation. As an adult, I couldn't find ANYONE else who remembered it, even my husband who is a huge SciFi Fan. I finally found a copy of a small film clip in the Television Museum in L.A. Based on the condition of that clip, I fear that there may not be surviving episodes, but I would LOVE a DVD of whatever episodes still exist. I know a great many of my friends who would enjoy it now, even though they missed it then. Perhaps with so much communication through the internet, there will be enough interest generated to get a DVD released, preferably before the turn of the NEXT century!

I long for this complete series (only 9 episodes, what was NBC thinking?) to be available on DVD. After 26 years I still laugh when remembering the Star Wars parody (Tatooine became PooPoo, so that the battle-cry of the planet's defenders was, "We must save our beloved PooPoo!"), and the pollination ritual of Richard Kelton as the plant man and guest star Joan Van Ark as the princess of an insect culture ("Bee bee bee bee bee beebeebeebeebeeBEEBEEBEEBEEBEE!"). See how well it fits with today's sense of humor? This material is just too good not to be shared with all the potential fans who weren't even born when it was first aired. In current jargon (and with the Barnstable twins in mind) it's like Farscape meets Eurotrip.

I was very sorry when "Quark" was taken off the air. The writing was brilliant, and ahead of its time. This is no wonder, with Buck Henry in charge. After all, Henry is the man that brought us "Get Smart", among others.

Richard Benjamin was very good as the idealistic galactic sanitation worker, Adam Quark, and Tim Thomerson, often seen as a heavy, was hilarious as "Gene/Jean", the male-female crewperson. Patricia and Cyb Barnstable carried on ably as the brainless blonds, Bettys I and II, arguing the question of which was the clone and which was the original. Bobby Porter as "Andy the Android", Conrad Janis as "Otto Palindrome", and Alan Caillou as "The Head" were very good in their roles. My favorite was Richard Kelton as "Ficus Panderata", the highly evolved plant man, a Vegaton. I would swear that his was the character in mind when they created the character of Data for Star Trek:TNG.

This show was witty, bright, and more than a bit sarcastic and cheesy. I have read in another comment that a winter storm that knocked out power in the Midwest was responsible for the demise of "Quark", but in my never-to-be-humble opinion, it was that the majority of viewers simply couldn't deal with the fact that it was so different from anything else on TV at that time.

Considering some of the stuff out on DVD today, I don't see why Rhino can't put "Quark" out for us, "Quark"'s small, loyal fan following.

Like "Police Squad" and "On the Air", "Quark" is another television series I caused to be cancelled. That's right, I'm responsible. Whenever I find a show I really really like, the series gets cancelled. So obviously it has to be my fault. I can't tell you to see it, there's no way you can. BUT... if you happen to somehow find it showing somehow, somewhere, then see it. If you don't, you'll never get another chance and your life will be poorer for it.

Buck Henry's 1978 Series "Quark" was one of those shows that will always be remembered by its' few fans as the one that got away. Most people don't really remember it since they were watching something else on Friday nights but those of who do know that Buck Henry should have had another "Get Smart" on his hands and didn't. The satire was VERY dry and a lot of the gags missed with those few viewers who weren't sci-fi fans. I don't blame NBS for cancelling the show I just wish there was a Sci-Fi channel back then because they would have immediately snatched it up. Richard Benjamin at least got a lot of exposure and this helped his career despite it being cancelled so soon.