Product Details

• Actors: Richard Benjamin, Tim Thomerson, Richard Kelton
• Directors: Hy Averback
• Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles for the Hearing Impaired: English
• Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
  PLEASE NOTE: Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click .
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: September 2, 2008
• Run Time: 222 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001DHE9GA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #59,001 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• Learn more about "Quark - The Complete Series" on IMDb

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The cancellation of Quark after a mere eight episodes makes us ponder yet again the existence of intelligent life in the television universe. Created by Buck Henry, who with Mel Brooks, sent up the spy genre with Get Smart, this quite funny 1978 series spoofs space operas like Star Trek and Star Wars. Richard Benjamin stars as Adam Quark, an "ordinary human," who commands a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol ship. His mission: "To boldly seek out grime and grit, to collect the uncollectible space baggie, and to always leave the area cleaner than when I found it." His eccentric crew includes Ficus (Richard Kelton), a Spock-like Vegeton; Gene/Jean ("Timothy" Thomerson), a male/female "transmute"; the gorgeous, hot pantsed navigators Betty I and Betty II (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable, who gained commercial fame as the Doublemint Twins), one of which is a clone; and Andy; the cowardly robot. The hapless Quark yearns for greater adventures, but gets no votes of confidence from bureaucrat Otto Palindrome (a pre-Mork & Mindy Conrad Janis), who administers Space Station Perma One as the behest of the behemoth The Head (Alan Caillou). Proceed with warp speed past the pilot episode. The series really takes off with the second episode, "May the Source Be With You," featuring the voice of Hans Conreid as the galaxy's supposed greatest weapon, but, that, after 200 years of inaction, is a little rusty. The Force may not be entirely with the cheesy-looking Quark, but, like Mel Brooks' When Things Were Rotten, this dimly remembered curiosity rates rediscovery. May it live long and prosper on DVD. --Donald Liebenson

Stills from Quark – The Complete Series (click for larger image)

Product Description

A spoof of science fiction films and TV series, these are the adventures of Adam Quark, captain of a United Galactic Sanitation Patrol ship. His cohorts include Gene/Jean, a "transmute" with male and female characteristics; a Vegeton (a highly-evolved plant-man) named Ficus; and Andy the Android and Betty and Betty (who always argue over who's the clone of the other). Based at Space Station Perma One are Otto Palindrome and The Head. Though Quark is supposed to stick to his sanitization patrols, he and his crew often meet adventure with such colorful space denizens as the evil High Gorgon (head of the villainous Gorgons), Zoltar the Magnificent, and Zargon the Malevolent.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is What George Lucas Really Intended To Write :) August 16, 2008

By J. Penrose VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Verified Purchase

Truly a bit of comic SF genius! It poked fun at every current SF blockbuster out there at the time...the take -off on Star Wars with Hans Conried as the voice of "The Source" is worth the price of the series by itself as it is one of the best of the early parodies of the movies.

The series is hokey, it *knows* it's hokey and revels in it. Like the equally little-known "Wizards and Warriors", it mercilessly impales and lampoons an entire genre with a few well-written quips.

If you enjoy good parody, buy this baby. We need to encourage the studios to both bring these gems out of the vaults and to create more.

39 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars At Long Last! Quark On DVD! August 4, 2008

By M. SHIELDS

"It" hit the television world on February 24, 1978 like a galaxy-class starship slamming into a Quasi-norm. Quark, NBC's fantastic science-fiction spoof from the mind of Buck Henry, was released about the same time as Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century and Battlestar Galactica were making their impact on the science fiction community. The short-lived series featured Richard Benjamin as Adam Quark along with his crazy crew aboard a spacefaring garbage scow. Well ahead of it's time, the series has become a cult classic with precious few original copies available -- until now! Buck Henry's oddball creation will easily bring you back (and forth) in time. Although Amazon briefly covers what the series is all about, here's a little more information on the crew...

Our hero, Adam Quark (Richard Benjamin) commands the United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol ship. Quark's mission? To collect space baggies from United Galactic spacecraft. His other mission? Always getting himself into (and out of) trouble.

Quark's love interests are Betty I and Betty II (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable, the Doublemint twins of the 70s). The Betties co-pilot and co-co-pilot the 23rd century starship. The pretty one is the clone.

Ficus Pandorata (Richard Kelton) is a Vegeton. He is the ship's half-man, half-plant, Spock-like science officer. Wait until you see how he mates!

Gene/Jean (Timothy Thomerson) is a transmute. He/she has an equal number of male and female chromosomes (i.e., he's half-man, half-woman). His male half is never around when Quark needs it -- typically during a fight.

Quark's bosses are Dr. Otto Palindrome (Conrad Janis from Mork and Mindy) and an entity simply known as The Head (Alan Caillou). The head is a disembodied head floating through space. Together, they rule the galaxy! Well, not really. They rule Quark, and that's good enough for constant laughs. You'll see...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Another TV show that got lost...in space September 27, 2009

By Jeremy

Amazon Verified Purchase

I like TV shows on DVD because it lets you whatch what you want whenever you want. It doesn't matter if any channel airs it in syndication or not, and most channels pick from the same pool of shows to air in syndication anyway it seems. I really like discovering obscure and short-lived series on DVD. I like seeing something that I never knew of, or only vaguely remember. This short-lived series "Quark" falls into the "Never Knew Of" category, but I'm glad DVD has let me find out about it.
This show is a space adventure spoof, kind of like "Spaceballs" but from years earlier. This show is about the crew of a garbage collecting spaceship who end up saving the galaxy from dangers other that just overflowing waste-baskets and dumpsters. I love the low-budget, quirky design of the props, sets, and costumes. The ship itself is hilarious when they show it collecting garbage, which itself is in a gigantic garbage bag! I also like how the costume department was inconsistent with the insignia patches on everybody's uniforms. I'm glad that they included the pilot episode, even though it includes the old ship's engineer as the one who built Andy the nervous robot instead of Quark himself as stated in the other seven episodes. I like the rest of the crew - the non-emotional plant-man Ficus (spoof of Spock) who replaced the old guy, Gene/Jean the tough guy/sensitive woman, and Betty & Betty who argue about which is the clone and which is real. I also like the crew from the space station headquarters - Otto Palindrome the sniveling bureaucrat, his assistant who was introduced in episode two and looks and sounds like a cousin of Cousin It, and The Head the main guy in charge of the galaxy who is a big floating head, and of course the other ships' captains who each episode are given exciting assignments while Quark is sent on a suicide mission or a mundane garbage collecting run that somehow turns into a suicide mission.
I wish there was more of this series made, but at least I'm glad that I got to see what there is.