Armin Shimerman as STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE's Quark and himself (inset).

It’s not often an actor gets to redeem an entire species, but that’s what Armin Shimerman did when he took on the role of Quark, the amenable but eminently self-interested Ferengi barkeep of STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE. Having been present for the Ferengi’s ignominious debut on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, when a race posited as being the next Klingons eventually devolved into cartoon irrelevancy, Shimerman took the character meant to be DS9’s comic relief and added enough credibility to his motives and depth to his personality that for the first time, a race centered purely on profit seemed not only possible, but actually appealing.

As a demonstration of the depth with which we intend to explore the worlds of science fiction, fantasy, and horror film and TV on our brand-new podcast,THE CFQ INTERVIEW, we probably couldn’t find a better guest than Shimerman. In the span of this extended interview, we discuss not only DS9, but also his work on BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, and, in a surprising, eye-opening sidetrack, his guest stint on SEINFELD, plus so much more. It’s an hour-plus of insightful talk — click on the player to get it started.