Writer of Pop Culture

Cool and refreshing news about pop culture and entertainment.

The Forgotten Space Spoof – May 7 in Pop Culture History

In 1977, NBC took another chance on another sci-fi space show which only slightly resembled “Star Trek”.

May 7, 2026

Creating sci-fi sitcoms can be hard work. That was the case on May 7 in pop culture history. Spoofs are difficult to create and keep an audience. Case in point: 1977’s Quark. Today it is only a distant memory.

It is also difficult to win a cooking contest with only a toy cooking device at your disposal, but one kid became a master chef in 2009 using one.

1977: ‘Quark’: The Un-‘Star Trek’

The cast of Quark, a space comedy TV show — The cast of *Quark (TVDB)*

The original Stark Trek series was not a huge hit and only ran for three seasons on NBC but look at the franchise now! On the opposite of the spectrum is the sci-fi spoof Quark which only ran for one, 8-episode season on NBC and nobody remembers it.

Set in the year 2226 (but released on TV in 1977), Quark was a mid-season replacement series that made fun of Star Trek and other shows. Three episodes were actually parodies of Star Trek (“The Deadly Years”, “Mirror, Mirror” and “The Ultimate Computer”). Quark centers around Commander Adam Quark (Richard Benjamin) and his crew aboard the “United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser” or as we have on our planet, a large garbage truck.

The crew on the ship includes Identical pilots Betty I and Betty II (Patricia Barnstable and Cyb Barnstable); Gene/Jean (Tim Thomerson) who is a humanoid engineer with a male and female split personality; O.B. Mudd (Douglas Folwey) who is an equipment specialist who spends too much time working on a robot; Andy the Robot (Bobby Porter) who is O.B.’s prized possession; Ficus Pandorata (Richard Kelton) who is a human-looking plant; Quark’s Boss, Otto Bob Palindrome (Conrad Janis); “The Head” (Allan Caillou) who is Bob Palindrome’s boss; Interface (Misty Rowe) who is a four-armed female operator; the hairy alien Dink and Quark’s multi-eyed pet Ergo.

Quark was created by Buck Henry, who had more luck when he co-created Get Smart. Although unappreciated, the show was nominated for an Emmy for costume design, so there’s that.

Other Pop Culture Moments for May 7

2009: The Easy-Bake Oven MasterChef

Three Betty Crocker Easy Bake Ovens — Early versions of the classic Easy Bake Oven. *(Wikimedia Commons)*

On this day in 2009, Chef Catherine Ralston made pop culture history. The 12-year-old received the title of “Baker of the Year” using an Easy-Bake Oven. Ralston competed against six other finalists, and her Queen of Hearts Strawberry Tart was a huge hit.

Created by Kenner (now Hasbro) in 1963, the Easy-Bake Oven, a toy oven that really bakes (using two lightbulbs) originally debuted in turquoise. It has been recorded that over 500,000 units of the pop culture appliance were sold during its first year.

The Easy Bake Oven was featured in the ninth season of Seinfeld. In the episode “The Merv Griffin Show”, Jerry dates a woman who keeps a vintage toy collection including the oven. Although he is instructed to not touch it, Jerry, George and Elaine use the toy to bake a treat while the owner is taking a nap.