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Quark

Score: 78%
Rating: Not Rated
Publisher: Sony Pictures Home
                  Entertainment

Region: 1
Media: DVD/1
Running Time: 222 Mins.
Genre: Sci-Fi/Comedy/TV Series
Audio: English

Features:

  • Minisodes:
    • I Dream of Jeannie: "Anybody Here Seen Jeannie?"
    • Fantasy Island: "Island of Horrors"

I have to admit, I hadn't heard of Quark before this DVD release, but considering it's an eight episode long series, I don't think I can really be blamed. That being said, I wish there were a lot more episodes to this space spoof. For those unfamiliar with the show (of which I'm sure there are plenty), it can be best described as: Quark is to Star Trek like Get Smart is to James Bond, which is appropriate since Quark was created by Get Smart co-creator Buck Henry.

Quark (Richard Benjamin) is the captain of a space garbage ship. His crew consists of the depressed robot Andy (Bobby Porter), a plant-based humanoid ruled by logic (think Spock, but to an extreme) called Ficus (Richard Kelton), a "transmute" (a human with a full set of male and female chromosomes that causes him/her to have a split personality) named Gene/Jean (Tim Thomerson) and the Bettys (Betty and her clone), played by Cyb and Patricia Barnstable (also known as the Doublemint Gum twins). Interestingly enough, Quark is in love with Betty, but because he doesn't know which one is the clone, he can never confess his love. To make matters worse, both Bettys are in love with him, so neither will claim to be the clone.

Quark is given his missions (which are typically trash related, but he somehow ends up in strange adventures anyway) by middle manager, Otto Palindrome (Conrad Janis) and the leader of the alliance, "The Head" (Alan Caillou). And neither of them seems to respect the potential that Quark has at becoming the captain of a real spaceship.

Many episodes spoof specific parts of the original Star Trek series, like the time when an evil version of Quark and the crew appear to cause trouble (which is very similar to Star Trek's "The Enemy Within"). But Star Trek isn't the only thing Quark spoofs. One episode is devoted to Star Wars, when Quark must use the ever present and all pervasive "Source" to defeat the bad guys. The last episode in the series has a super computer being installed in the ship that seems to want to kill the crew. Needless to say, this episode has a very 2001: A Space Odyssey feel to it.

Quark's short lived series really is fun and has a bit of a Red Dwarf feel to it. While there aren't any special features beyond Minisodes of I Dream of Jeanie and Fantasy Island, it is still fun if you like the sci-fi genre and don't mind the very 70's feel of the show.



-J.R. Nip, GameVortex Communications
AKA Chris Meyer

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