Adam Quark (the wry Richard Benjamin), captain of a United Galactic Sanitation ship, leads a group of space oddities: first mate Gene/Jean, a "transmute" with male and female characteristics; the über-logical and highly-evolved plant-man (a Vegaton) science officer Ficus; Betty I and Betty II, identical cloned engineers who argue over who is the clone and who is the original; and Andy, a cowardly, depressing robot, eerily reminiscent of Douglas Adams' Marvin. The crew receives their orders from "The Head," who appears floating on a video screen, and his assistant, the self-absorbed Otto Palindrome (veteran actor Conrad Janis). Mork & Mindy and 3rd Rock from the Sun both revisited the "head" concept.

Developed by Oscar-nominated writer/director (The Graduate, Heaven Can Wait, Candy) and co-creator of Get Smart, Buck Henry wisely relied on smart parodies of Star Wars and Star Trek, even matching the sound effects for the proper spoof. The series ages well and offers numerous humorous, still-relevant cultural insights on inept bureaucracies, terrorism, war, and the role of technology.

The weakest episode, and the only one written by Henry, the pilot relates an inane tale about a potentially universe destroying space enzyme. Quark and his crew defeat the plague through a series of coincidences and well-timed ineptitude. The substitution of Dr. O.B. Mudd, an inferior Dr. McCoy parody, for Ficus further weakened the episode. Thankfully, Ficus joined the crew in the second episode ("May the Source Be With You") and Mudd faded into one-shot character purgatory.

The relationship between the emotional Quark and the logical Vegaton supplied much of the narrative backbone. The literal and often insightful Ficus, brilliantly portrayed by the late Richard Kelton, had some of the most memorable quotes and the best scenes of the series. A superior example occurs in "The Good, the Bad, and the Ficus," a re-imagining of the classic Trek "Mirror, Mirror." When the crew comments that the alternate Ficus was no different than their own science officer, Ficus observes "There are no good or evil plants; there are only plants." In "Goodbye, Polumbus," a satire of Star Trek's "Shore Leave" and a title spoof of the 1969 Richard Benjamin-helmed film Goodbye, Columbus, Ficus engages in what is best described as "orgasmic mathematics."

The series achieved its pinnacle with the two-part "All the Emperor's Quasi-Norms." This heady mix of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Flash Gordon introduced Zorgon the Malevolent, and his daughter Princess Libido (the sexy Joan Van Ark at her vampy finest). The Libido-Ficus sex-pollination scenes -- the pair laying next to each other, head to foot, with legs in the air uttering "Beebeebeebeebeebee" -- afford several interesting and humorous moments. The magnificent Ross Martin (Artemis Gordon from The Wild Wild West) successfully apes Ming the Merciless as he seeks out the mysterious It.

Sadly, the series ended with the next episode "Vanessa 38-24-36". The title refers to an experimental super computer that seizes control of the garbage ship.

Previously only available on poor-quality, bootleg videotapes, Quark: The Complete Series collects the entire cult show for the first time legally on any video format. While the disc includes all eight episodes, the set lacks any related extras. Inexplicably, episodes of I Dream of Jeannie and Fantasy Island constitute the bonus features. The compilation lacks documentaries reminiscing about Quark's origins and why the short-lived show continues to resonate with fans is missing as well as some of the original promotional material.