The TV show has a fairly recognizable cast and very well respected writers and directors. It was created by the great Buck Henry best known for The Graduate, Get Smart and Saturday Night Live. Director Hy Averback also worked on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., F Troop and the classic 1st season of M*A*S*H. The costume designer who I don't expect anyone to know, Grady Hunt, actually won an Emmy for his work on this TV show. Commander Adam Quark was played by Richard Benjamin who has done many shows and movies as both an actor and director, but I think he'll always be remembered as the lead in 1973's Westworld where he was pursued by Yul Brynner. The main sex appeal is courtesy of the lovely Barnstable twins who didn't do a lot of acting before Quark or since, but they were the Doublemint twins and apparently these days they are very active raising money to fight diabetes. The most recognizable face belongs to Tim Thomerson. Even if you don't know his Trancers movie series, I guarantee you know him from his 100+ other supporting roles that covered every genre of film and television. There are other actors you'd know from more famous projects especially when it comes to the villains in Quark's universe. It seems like they were hoping for that Batman like "special guest villain" formula, but the show didn't last long enough for that to pan out.
So just how short lived was this series? Well, there are officially 8 episodes of Quark, but the pilot would air almost a full year before the rest of the series and 2 of the episodes are actually just parts 1 and 2 of a long episode. The pilot itself is not quite up to par with the rest of the series, but it's not a bad place to start. However, if you want to witness the series true greatness I highly recommend the second episode which for some reason was an hour long (with commercials) while every other episode is the normal 30 minutes. This episode eliminates the very cliché Doctor of the pilot with a hilarious Spock knock off Ficus who is a sentient plant in human form. All of the episodes are worth watching but skipping the pilot allows us to see the series for what it truly is. We have the full cast, the cheap yet terrific looking Star Trek like aliens and action packed plots which would thankfully help lessen the use of the annoying laugh track. If this series had lasted a few seasons I honestly believe NBC would have shifted towards a more serial like format and Quark would be remembered as one of THE classics of science fiction, but as it is now it should still be considered a classic of sci-fi comedy. Unfortunately prior to the 21st century TV shows were cancelled without reason and without notice. There was so much more quality programming to battle against as when there were only 3 networks instead of 103 every damn TV series better be top notch. Professional critic Donald Liebenson said "the cancellation of Quark after a mere eight episodes makes us ponder yet again the existence of intelligent life in the television universe". If you watch the show I think you'll agree with that assessment as Quark had so much unrealized potential to last for years and finishing up with Commander Quark finally getting off that garbage scow and commanding his own star cruiser with all of his wacky crew mates joining him would have been wonderful to see.
*if you have any interest or ideas on a TV, internet or radio project, email me allnewsux (at) gmail.com
*if you have any interest or ideas on a TV, internet or radio project, email me allnewsux (at) gmail.com
