When it made it to the schedule as a weekly series in Spring of 1978, it did not find much of an audience on Friday nights and was quickly cancelled after only seven episodes were produced past the the pilot. I’m not certain what the ratings were for the pilot, but as mentioned above, I’m guessing the series was given the greenlight mostly as an attempt to ride on the wave of the Star Wars phenomena. Don’t expect to find a hidden, and give it some leeway for dated jokes, but there are some laughs to be found from this one.Ĭancelled Too Soon? Yes. It’s worth a look, especially for fans of sci fi from that era. But it had promise and a great cast and could have developed into a decent series if given some time and if the characters were allowed to be more than just caricatures. This one has also not stood the test of time very well and could likely fall flat with modern-day viewers. But it had as many misses as hits and Buck Henry did not appear to be closely involved with the show after the pilot phase.
The series had its moments, and could be spot-on with its parody at times. Those familiar with the humor from that show will know what to expect from Quark, just blasted off into outer space. The show was created by Buck Henry who had previously co-created the spy spoof Get Smart with Mel Brooks back in the 1960’s. A year later, NBC decided to bring it back as a series as the networks scrambled to get sci fi entries on their schedules to capitalize on Star Wars-mania. The Skinny: The pilot for this series aired in May of 1977–just a little over two weeks prior to the debut of Star Wars in the theaters–and offered a fun sci fi comedy that drew heavily on Star Trek as its source of parody. Is It Must Watch Sci Fi? No, but it’s a fun little sci fi romp, especially for lovers of genre television and movies from the 60’s and 70’s. Starring: Richard Benjamin, Tim Thomerson, Richard Kelton, Tricia Barnstable, Cyb Barnstable, Conrad Janis and from time to time, saving humanity from imminent threats.Īired: NBC, 1977-78, 1 Season Totaling 8 Episodes
What Is It? Adam Quark is the commander of United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser which boldly travels around the galaxy with its crew of misfits collecting trash. Sci Fi TV Obscurities: A look at sci fi and fantasy TV shows that made it to the air only briefly before getting cast to the television wasteland.