The Brak Show
The Brak Show is one of Cartoon Network's 15-minute animated series that airs during Adult Swim. It is a spin-off of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast featuring recurring characters from that show and Cartoon Planet, both of which used stock footage from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon Space Ghost and Dino-Boy. The protagonist is a Space Ghost villain named "Brak", voiced by Andy Merrill, who developed a quirky persona for the character.
The Brak Show was produced by Williams Street Studios, and is akin to Sealab 2021 and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The show premiered in September, 2001. After unexpectedly being canceled in December, 2003, the show returned to the air in May, 2004.
The show is characterized by its crude animation, bizarre sense of humor, and a host with a voice that sounds like a "Muppet whose mother was a habitual crack user"[1].
The Brak Show could be thought of as a continuation of Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak, which spun two episodes. Both of the episodes aired once and only once in 2000, although clips of the show could be caught after the Space Ghost Coast to Coast time slot on a few rare occasions. But despite the similarities in the titles, the two Brak Shows have very little in common. Those who missed the first Brak Show can at least be tided over by Brak Presents the Brak Album Starring Brak, which features songs and segments from the original version.
Characters and premise
"What happens when two adults get together and have children? And what if those children grow up and go to school? That's the just-crazy-enough-to-work premise behind 'The Brak Show.' Also, Brak is in it." -Description of show from cover of Brak Show DVD.
The show is about Brak's suburban life with his alien mother and Cuban father. It originally started off as a parody of situation comedies, but just like its sister show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the plot dissolved over time and became increasingly bizarre. The setting is suburban with an extra-planetary hint. A Saturn-like planet appears in the background on occasion, and a lot of the extras are aliens.
Characters
Brak (voiced by Andy Merrill) is some sort of anthropomorphic space cat with an eccentric personality and a speaking lisp. He is quite unintelligent and seems to be a pre-teen adolescent. He still has attachments to stuffed animals ("Hippo", who is actually a lobster), yet nonetheless is starting to be attracted to girls (the episode "Poppy"). He often randomly breaks into (usually non-rhyming) song. The writers take care, oddly enough, to use a wide variety of musical styles for the songs--covering jazz, country, showtunes, rap, and rock and roll.
Brak's Dad (voiced by George Lowe) is a small human with a Cuban accent, who is extremely self-centered and nonsensical. Most of his time is spent sitting at the kitchen table and reading the newspaper. He is likely an homage to Desi Arnaz. An episode seldom goes by without him delivering a moral to the story that is completely incoherent and has no relevance to the situation. Occasionally, he displays prominent male-chauvinistic behavior, which is sometimes rebuked by Brak's mom. Brak's dad is about 4 feet tall, apparently due to a freak accident involving a shrink ray. A typical Dad quote: "Why don't you get your feet off your head, and your pants to your ears, and think about all the people of the world who have no feet! They can not walk around on their little non-footed areas... now can they? Hah! I don't think they can!" Another quote: "This is the future, where letters are the new numbers!"
Brak's Mom (voiced by Marsha Crenshaw for the first 13 episodes, and Joanna Daniel for the remainder of the series) is a creature of the same species as Brak, with the fashions of a matriarchal character on a 1950s sitcom. She is largely the only (semi-)sane character on the show. She displays little romantic or sexual interest in Brak's Dad, and often does not tolerate him. She is most likely an homage to June Cleaver and similar motherly characters.
Zorak (voiced by C. Martin Croker) is another character from Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, a human-sized mantis. On this show, he plays the role of an Eddie Haskell character, who's also a sociopathic, sadistic, morally-bankrupt misanthrope. He often hangs out with Brak, but usually only as a way to force him into doing something for his own benefit. Zorak considers himself "above" Brak and his entire family, and is constantly criticizing and insulting them.
He often gets killed off in the show, in the same way he did in Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. He has occasionally been known to have a "beautiful man-voice" ("Psychoklahoma", "War Next Door")
Sisto was Brak's brother who made cameos on the show in which all he did was flatuate and walk off screen, until they killed him off in season two by having cannibalistic aliens eat him.
Thundercleese (voiced by Carey Means) is Brak's next-door-neighbor, a militant Killbot (with the visual appearance of a Gundam or a similar anime-style robot) who also is passionate about his lawn and garden. A short-lived shtick on the show involved Thundercleese blasting Zorak often (inherited from Space Ghost Coast to Coast, see above). He has little patience for Brak's idiotic questions. On the Adult Swim New Year's party it was shown that Frylock of Aqua Teen Hunger Force created Thundercleese, which is why they sound alike (both characters were voiced by Means).
Clarence (also voiced by Andy Merrill) is a chubby purple alien and schoolmate of Brak's at Learnmore High School (home of the Lowly Worms). He was a supporting character on the show who made more regular appearances towards the end of the series. Clarence is very socially akward, but idolizes Brak. His constant talking often annoys those around him.
Marlon the Magician was the original inventor of the double-beer hat and the golden showerhead. He was also called upon in a later episode to revive a slain Zorak (or at least the parts that Brak's family hadn't already eaten).
Headkicker is a game created by Brak. You can play an online version of the game here. This version is actually Headkicker II: The Final Kick (the first Headkicker does not exist). In the game, you actually play as Zorak, Brak's companion, who is the co-host on Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Zorak has to fight Clonebots in order to help Brak find his mother. He uses Fishpockets, one of his favorite snacks, as a health boost during the game.
DVD Boxsets
Season Releases
| DVD Name | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Volume 1 | February 1 2005 | This two-disc box set contains the first 14 episodes of the Brak Show (Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk through Pepper) |
| Volume 2 | 2006 | This two-disc box set will contain the final 14 episodes of The Brak Show (New Brak through Cardburkey) The release date is currently unknown but will most likely be released in the summer alongside Space Ghost Coast to Coast Volume 4. |
Episode guide
Season 1 (2001)
| Designation | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk | December 21, 2000 |
| 2101 | Goldfish | September 2, 2001 |
| 2102 | Time Machine | September 2, 2001 |
| 2103 | War Next Door | September 9, 2001 |
| 2104 | Hippo | September 9, 2001 |
| 2105 | Mobab | October 21, 2001 |
| 2106 | Expiration Day | November 4, 2001 |
| 2107 | Psychoklahoma | December 2, 2001 |
| 2108 | The Eye | December 30, 2001 |
Season 2 (2002)
| Designation | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2201 | Poppy | April 14, 2002 |
| 2202 | Bully | April 28, 2002 |
| 2203 | Mother, Did You Move My Chair? | May 12, 2002 |
| 2204 | President Dad | May 26, 2002 |
| 2209 | Brakstreet: Men in the Band | November 3, 2002 |
| 2207 | Feud | November 10, 2002 |
| 2208 | Runaway | November 17, 2002 |
| 2206 | The New Brak | November 24, 2002 |
| 2205 | Pepper | December 1, 2002 |
| 2210 | Dinner Party | December 15, 2002 |
| 2211 | We Ski in Peace | December 29, 2002 |
Season 3 (2003)
| Designation | Title | Airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 2301 | Braklet, Prince of Spaceland | October 5, 2003 |
| 2302 | Coma | October 12, 2003 |
| 2303 | Shadows of Heat | October 19, 2003 |
| 2305 | Splat | October 26, 2003 |
| 2304 | Enter the Hump | November 2, 2003 |
| 2306 | Sexy New Brak Show Go | November 9, 2003 |
| 2307 | All That I Desire You | November 16, 2003 |
| 2308 | Cardburkey | December 31, 2003 |
| Special | New Year's Eve Party at Brak's House | December 31, 2003 |
See also
Notes
Trivia
- In Episode 18 of The Brak Show Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force made 2 brief cameos riding a scooter in the street. Oddly enough his name was seen in the credits as a 'Special Guest". He is also seen riding this scooter (briefly) in an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
External links
