Adam Quark (a deliciously dry Richard Benjamin) and his crew battle a race of evil aliens led by the ruthless High Gorgon (veteran bad guy thesp Henry Silva gleefully sending up his villainous persona). Quark is assisted on this desperate mission by an ancient power known as the Source (robustly voiced with impish verve by Hans Conried), who's a little rusty after spending two hundred years confined in a box. Director Hy Averback, working from a clever and inspired script by Sreve Zacharias, relates the amusing story at a snappy pace, pokes merry fun at "Star Wars," and maintains an appropriately tongue-in-cheek tone throughout. The cast have a field day with the wacky material: Tim Thomerson is in hilarious full-blown rough'n'tumble hyper-masculine form as Gene/Jean, who's overjoyed at the opportunity to kick some serious Gorgon butt; Tricia and Cyb Barnstable are sexy delights as endearingly vapid clones Betty I and Betty II, Conrad Janis frets up a storm as Quark's smarmy worrywart superior Palindrome, Alan Caillou cuts a suitably commanding figure as the formidable the Head, and Bobby Porter gets a majority of the biggest laughs with his craven antics as cowardly rustbucket robot Andy. The lively banter between the characters really keeps things buzzing (the heated exchanges between Quark and the Source in particular are simply priceless). Moreover, this episode is notable for introducing Richard Kelton as coldly logical and unemotional Spock-like humanoid plant science officer Ficus. A complete hoot.
2 Reviews
A definite improvement over the pilot episode.
planktonrules18 April 2024
The pilot episode of "Quark" is a great example of terrible TV. The comedy suffered from two major problems in the pilot....it wasn't funny and the laughtrack was omnipresent and even the unfunniest of things were accompanied by roaring laughter! As a result, I really hated the show. But I also know that pilot episodes often are very different from later episodes...so perhaps "May the Source Be With You" is better...something which is NOT hard to imagine!
The evil Gorgon has invaded and just like in the pilot, the only ship seemingly available is Quark's garbage ship! Though the mission seems impossible, the Head gives Quark 'The Source' to help with the mission. As for the source, it talks but is obviously making fun of the Force in "Star Wars". Do they stand a chance??
So is the show as bad as the pilot? No. While it's not great, some improvements are less use of the laughtrack (which still was overused) and getting rid of Professor O. B. Mudd and replacing him with the Spock-like 'Ficus'...who is mildly amusing. Overall, a poor episode which is a HUGE improvement over the prior episode.
The evil Gorgon has invaded and just like in the pilot, the only ship seemingly available is Quark's garbage ship! Though the mission seems impossible, the Head gives Quark 'The Source' to help with the mission. As for the source, it talks but is obviously making fun of the Force in "Star Wars". Do they stand a chance??
So is the show as bad as the pilot? No. While it's not great, some improvements are less use of the laughtrack (which still was overused) and getting rid of Professor O. B. Mudd and replacing him with the Spock-like 'Ficus'...who is mildly amusing. Overall, a poor episode which is a HUGE improvement over the prior episode.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
