A black hole splits the crew into good and evil counterparts with the notable exception of science officer Ficus (the excellent Richard Kelton). Director Hy Averback, working from a sharp and witty script by Stuart Gillard, relates the entertaining story at a constant brisk pace and maintains a winningly smart tongue-in-cheek tone throughout. The able cast has a field day with the hip and crafty material: Richard Benjamin anchors everything with his deft dry'n'deadpan presence as Quark, Tim Thomerson does his trademark cool'n'funny thing as Gene/ Jean, Conrad Janis positively oozes smarm from every slimy pore as the oily Otto Palindrome, Bobby Porter is a complete hoot as unreliable abject coward robot Andy, and, last but certainly not least, the insanely gorgeous Tricia and Cyb Barnstable are both alluring and appealing as lovely'n'perky lookalike clone engineers Betty I and Betty II. Special guest star Geoffrey Lewis contributes a fine huffy turn as the hard-nosed and overzealous Admiral Flint. The regulars are hilarious as their hammy wicked alternative selves; the sneering nasty Quark in particular is sidesplitting and the climactic duel between the radically contrasting Quarks is highly amusing. The tacky (not so) special effects possess a certain lovably cheesy charm. A hugely delightful show.
Review of The Good, the Bad, and the Ficus
