Horrors! Scary Hammer films on DVD

Quark's zany crew includes blond scantily clad twins (one is a clone, though even they don't know which is which), a first officer who is half-man/half-woman with wild mood swings, a science officer who's really a plant and a robot built from spare parts. They get their orders from Pallindrome (Conrad Janis, who would play Mindy's father on "Mork & Mindy" six months later) and a giant floating head.

"Star Wars" had come out the previous year, and there are some allusions to that film (as in the episode "May the Source Be With You") but "Star Trek" is the obvious primary inspiration — right down to the theme music.

Henry wrote the pilot, then others took over, and it's all rather hit and miss, a mixture of smart and silly — but some of the gags do hit the mark. (And there's the ever-present obnoxious laugh track.) Guests include Henry Silva, Ross Martin and Joan Van Ark.

Extras: full frame, eight episodes, five-minute minisodes of "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Fantasy Island"

"Back to You: Season 1" (Fox, 2007-08, three discs, $39.98). This traditional sitcom stars Patricia Heaton as an anchorwoman unwillingly reunited with former boyfriend Kelsey Grammer when he becomes her co-anchor. And he eventually discovers that he is the father of Heaton's 10-year-old daughter.

This show starts off wobbly but does get better as it goes along, and the two stars are good — all of which is moot since the show has been canceled.

Shouldn't this DVD set be "The Complete Series" instead of "Season 1" ?

Extras: widescreen, 17 episodes, featurettes, bloopers

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E-mail: hicks@desnews.com