Quark, the Quirky Sci-fi TV Series That Premiered Right Before Star Wars

I don't know if Quark was actually the best show on TV, but way back in early May of 1977, even before the premiere of the very first Star Wars feature film (on May 25th, '77), it sure as heck was a lot of fun to watch. Especially if you happened to be a big fan of science fiction and fantasy in a day and age when the genre was as yet almost completely ignored and unappreciated by most TV networks and major motion picture studios.

Richard Benjamin & the babealicious Barnstable Twins

Then again, maybe the real reason why Quark was such a sight for sore eyes was because of "The Bettys," the scantily clad clones, Betty I and Betty II (Cyb and Patricia Barnstable - and don't ask me which is which in that photo!), that shapely pair of blond, disco-era hotties that any self-respecting heterosexual, pubescent American boy would eagerly ogle every time the show graced the NBC airwaves - though perhaps clandestinely, especially if your parents just happened to be watching too - right there in the very same living room....

Ahem.

To be more accurate and fair though, one of the Bettys was supposedly a clone, while the other was the original. Either way, they were the pilots/navigators of the United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser commanded by Adam Quark, played by the sly, wisecracking, ever grinning like a cat in ye olde catbird seat Richard Benjamin, whose character, hilariously enough, claimed to only be in love with one of the Bettys - though he was never quite sure which girl was which....

To be honest though, as a kid, I couldn't quite figure out how a guy like Richard Benjamin even got the starring role in the first place, but then, the rest of the cast was pretty comical (and some even came off as downright miscast) too, come to think of it. It sure wasn't cerebral-minded Star Trek fare, that's for darned sure! This, despite the fact that several of the episodes were direct parodies of the aforementioned Original Series.

And given that the short-lived (mid-season) replacement comedy was the brainchild of Buck Henry, who is perhaps most famous for co-creating the original Get Smart comedy TV series, the sometimes stale humor set against the backdrop of sci-fi themed sets and scenarios makes a whole lot more sense. Well... even though a lot of times, it still didn't make all that much real sense at all. But hey! I was still elementary school at the time, so what did I know?

So maybe I just need to find that wonderful old show and watch it all over again. Because, hey! I still have incredibly fond memories of Quark, and even of Richard Benjamin's cheesy lead performance. But then... maybe it's just mostly that I miss ogling the Barnstable twins. Hmm. Maybe! Just maybe.

Further Reading:

* The Super Saturday Short-lived Showcase

* RetroPhaseShift

* Space:1970