Quark is an American science fiction situation comedy starring Richard Benjamin broadcast on NBC. The pilot first aired on May 7, 1977, and the series followed as a mid-season replacement in February 1978. The series was cancelled in April 1978. Quark was created by Buck Henry, co-creator of the spy spoof Get Smart.
The show was set on a United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser, an interstellar garbage scow operating out of United Galaxies Space Station Perma One in the year 2226. Adam Quark, the main character, works to clean up trash in space by collecting "space baggies" with his trusted and highly unusual crew.
In its short run, Quark satirized such science fiction as Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Flash Gordon. Three of the episodes were direct satires of Star Trek episodes.
The series won one Emmy Award nomination, for costume designer Grady Hunt's work in the episode "All the Emperor's Quasi-Norms, Part 2".
The complete series was released on DVD on October 14, 2008.
Has targeted appeal — designed for a specific demographic segment.
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Advocacy
Entertainment (11/100) — content choices prioritize storytelling over messaging.
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Representation
notably high white (72) representation, with lower hispanic (28) and black (26) representation.
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LGBTQ+
Significant LGBTQ+ representation (54/100).
Demographic Position
Gender: 40 — leans male Age: 30 — leans younger
0 = Male / Youth100 = Female / Mature
Primary audienceYoung Men
targeted
Quadrant Scores
Young Men
80
How strongly this title appeals to males 18–34. Based on genre, cast, action/violence levels, pacing, and marketing signals. Higher = stronger appeal.
Young Women
60
How strongly this title appeals to females 18–34. Based on genre, romance centrality, cast composition, lead demographics, and tone. Higher = stronger appeal.
Older Men
40
How strongly this title appeals to males 35+. Based on theme maturity, pacing, complexity, genre, and production style. Higher = stronger appeal.
Older Women
20
How strongly this title appeals to females 35+. Based on drama elements, character complexity, genre, cast, and emotional themes. Higher = stronger appeal.
Advocacy11
Entertainment
Audience Representation
White
72
Measures deviation from the expected White representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Black
26
Measures deviation from the expected Black representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Hispanic
28
Measures deviation from the expected Hispanic representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Asian
38
Measures deviation from the expected Asian representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
South Asian
46
Measures deviation from the expected South Asian representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Middle Eastern
48
Measures deviation from the expected Middle Eastern representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Indigenous
48
Measures deviation from the expected Indigenous representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Mixed
42
Measures deviation from the expected Mixed representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
Other
48
Measures deviation from the expected Other representation based on this title's production origin. 50 = baseline for its country. Higher = more representation than typical.
LGBTQ+
54
LGBTQ+ representation score based on character centrality, cast percentage, lead representation, and source fidelity. 0 = no representation, 100 = central to the story.