Woodyanders Created by the brilliant Buck Henry, this extremely hip, clever, and often sidesplitting sci-fi spoof series was quite simply too ahead of its time to catch on with a mass audience in the late 70's. Back then send-ups of big hit movies and various pop culture phenomenon weren't as prevalent as they are now, so this show's appeal was pretty much limited to mainly hardcore science fiction fans. Chronicling the misadventures of bumbling, but eager outer space garbageman Adam Quark (marvelously played to dry'n'deadpan perfection by Richard Benjamin) and his colorful crew of engaging misfits, the eight entertaining episodes of this sadly short-lived series cheerfully poked fun at such famous sci-fi fare as "Star Wars," "Star Trek," "Flash Gordon," and "2001: A Space Odyssey" with a knowing wink that was always good-natured and affectionate instead of smug or condescending. Benjamin's amiable low-key presence served as an ideal anchor for all the inspired lunacy happening around him. The rest of the top-rate cast likewise did well in their more off-the-wall roles: Tim Thomerson put his stand-up comedian skills to expert use as Gene/Jean, a wildly erratic "transmute" who switched from his macho and hyper-aggressive male personality to his more demure and passive female persona at the most inopportune moments; Richard Kelton was in fine stoical form as resolutely pragmatic and emotionless humanoid plant science officer Ficus (this character was clearly a neat caricature of Mr. Spock), gorgeous blonde real-life identical twin siblings Cyb and Tricia Barnstable were quite sexy, charming, and vibrant as two pilots named Betty (one's human while the other is a clone, but poor smitten Quark could never figure out which was which); Bobby Porter was an absolute hoot as abject coward robot Andy, a spineless and sniveling bucket of bolts made out of spare parts who turned into instant jello the moment things got even remotely hairy; and Conrad Janis was a deliciously smarmy treat as Quark's fretful and unctuous boss Otto Palindrome. The rinky-dink (not so) special effects and groovy disco theme further added to the considerable tongue-in-cheek charm. A highly amusing and enjoyable program.

robrosenberger QUARK, a sci fi spoof from the mind of Buck Henry, aired in the fall of 1977. It lasted only eight episodes, and understandably so. It wasn't good, particularly the first four episodes. Much of the humor was flat and groan-inducing. Yet there was lovely potential. With nods to both STAR WARS and STAR TREK (they used the same audio library), it was obviously a labor of love. The hero is Quark (a well-cast Richard Benjamin), the long-suffering commander of an interstellar garbage ship. His first mates are Betty and her clone Betty (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable, the Doublemint twins), both in love with him. He's in love with her too, but can never consummate because he can't figure out which one is the original (another beautiful moment lost to monogamy's insidious grasp, or just the ugly face of anti-clone prejudice?). Crewmember Gene/Jean (Tim Thomerson) is a transmute, whose personality shifts unpredictably between macho male and fey female. The snarky HQ supervisor Palindrome is well-played by Conrad Janis (MORK AND MINDY). There's a homemade robot who is (unsurprisingly) annoying. The greatest character is Vegeton crewmember Ficus (Richard Kelton), a plant-creature who looks exactly like a human. His dry debates with Quark (no slouch at dry himself) are beautiful, and he takes his place admirably in the emotionless Vulcan/android continuum. Guest stars include Henry Silva (BUCK ROGERS) in "May the Source be with You", and Joan Van Ark in "All the Emperor's Quasi-Norms", the greatest episode of a too-brief run.

cobblerjon 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.

Ursus CO This was an excellent satire program of Sci-Fi in general and traditional "Space Operas" in particular. Should you ever happen to run across the odd episode of Quark, be prepared for laughs in the extreme.Quark tells the tale of an inter-galactic garbage hauler and his crew of misfits as they find adventures well outside of their normal duties. The humor, though rooted in the cultural strangeness of the 70s, will be very entertaining to adults who remember the 70s as "the good old days". Quark poked fun at most popular culture of the era and the Science Fiction of the day was not spared. Star Wars and Buck Rogers were almost constant targets of jabs and pokes. Even the venerated Star Trek series was humorously taken to task on occasion.Tragically, it was cut short by circumstances of weather. The entire midwestern US was crippled by power outages during the worst ice storm in US history. The resulting loss of rating points cost it dearly.