# Short lived Sci-Fi show from the 70's **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453 "2000-10-10T19:36:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/1 "2000-10-10T19:36:16Z")
Waaaaay back in the mid to late 70’s there was a television program about space garbage men who have various and assorted missions and adventures. The name may have been something like “glorp” or some other such nonsense word. I had also heard that it was produced by Mel Brooks (but have been unable to find any connection on the various Mel Brooks pages I have seen). ``` Anyone else remember this show? I would love to hunt for tapes of it but w/o the real name of the show I am unable to do so. ``` Pax, zen101 D.F.A. ---
**Author:** ![scratch1300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@scratch1300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch1300)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/2 "2000-10-10T19:40:10Z")
Yeah! It was called “Quark” and it was my favorite show at the time. Didn’t last long, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Bottle\_of\_Smoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bottle_of_Smoke)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/3 "2000-10-10T20:30:09Z")
Wow, I had completely forgotten about _Quark_. This was one of my favorite shows at the time, too. I’m not sure if it was ever released on tape, but you could start at the IMDB site [here](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0077066) to find out more about the show. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/4 "2000-10-10T21:49:41Z")
By the way, Richard Benjamin has a HKP number of 2.5. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/5 "2000-10-10T21:54:45Z")
**Sofa King** , what’s an HKP number? It sounds like a connectivity index (similar to Kevin Bacon number or Erdös number), but connected to what, and in what manner, I cannot say. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/6 "2000-10-10T22:14:35Z")
Did it have a character who looked human but was a plant? I remember something like that from WAY back in my memory (I was born in 1972), but I could never figure out what show it was. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/7 "2000-10-10T22:15:00Z")
Chronos, I’ve been wasting WAY too much time in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=41620). I consider an association to the actor in question, but not the true “star,” to be a .5 penalty, thus 2.5. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/8 "2000-10-10T22:17:19Z")
Yeah, that was “Ficus,” played by Richard Kelton, who also has an HKP number of 2.5. Okay, that’s the last time I say that in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/9 "2000-10-10T22:22:16Z")
I already found out for myself, yes, that’s the show I was looking for. I found a page on it at [http://www.primenet.com/~luethy/](http://www.primenet.com/~luethy/). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2000, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/10 "2000-10-10T23:26:01Z")
And he fed the space pet helio-bits. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/11 "2000-10-11T00:02:01Z")
\*\*Badtz Maru wrote: Did it have a character who looked human but was a plant?\*\* You’re thinking of Ficus, the Vegaton. It was a wonderful send up of Spock from _Star Trek_. There was, also, the Bettys, one was a clone. Andy, the paranoid robot who pre-dated Marvin by years. Then there was Jean/Gene, the two-sexed character who alternated between being male and female. It lasted for some 6 episodes before the network in the infinitely small wisdom cancelled it. The show did some really campy sendups of the more serious SF shows. It was an “acquired” taste to say the least. ---
**Author:** ![ChromiumGrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e4f/32.png) [@ChromiumGrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChromiumGrin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/12 "2000-10-11T06:33:41Z")
Dang! I missed that whole series. It took me a few minutes, but I happened to recall that I was working the 3 to 11 shift then and never got to watch it! OK, try to find this one. It was back in the days when they used string puppets and miniature sets, no computer effects (no computers - at least any that would fit in a house). The series was called Rocket Ship X-L5. They even produced a not very good plastic copy of the space ship that I had. It probably showed before you all were born but it was great stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/13 "2000-10-11T07:04:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Freyr \* > It lasted for some 6 episodes before the network in the infinitely small wisdom cancelled it. The show did some really campy sendups of the more serious SF shows. It was an “acquired” taste to say the least. \*\* Actually, it was a summer replacement, and only supposed to last 6 episodes (there was a 7th, the pilot). The network actually considered re-upping it, but the stes had been destroyed, and everyones contract was up, so that went no-where. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/14 "2000-10-11T12:41:12Z")
You mean _Fireball XL-5_, Chrome. The British Dopers probably remember it better than those in the States. One of several Gerry & Sylvia Anderson “Supermarionation” shows (e.g., _Supercar_, _Thunderbirds_). ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2000, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/short-lived-sci-fi-show-from-the-70s/36453/15 "2000-10-11T13:42:30Z")
Wow, I’m surprised I remember it…7 episodes 22 years ago, when I was 5…