Buck Henry, co-creator of Get Smart, developed the short-lived series Quark as one of the first primetime parodies of Star Trek. The show aired in 1978 following the success of Star Wars and featured an eccentric crew on an interstellar garbage ship.
Richard Benjamin starred as Adam Quark, captain of the United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol. Supporting cast included Cyb and Patricia Barnstable as navigators Betty I and Betty II, Tim Thomerson as the gender-flipping engineer Gene/Jean, and Richard Kelton as the plant-like science officer Ficus. Conrad Janis played supervisor Otto Palindrome and Alan Caillou appeared as the disembodied boss known as The Head.