2
(nothing substantial)
6
(cartoony violence, strong language, crude situations)
7
(hysterically funny animated comedy)
If there could be too much of a good thing "The Brak Show" would be it – solid wall-to-wall Brak for hours on end. But too much it is not. In fact, the more I watched the more I couldn’t wait for the next volume (though it failed to live up to my expectations, find out why in "The Brak Show Review Volume II")!
If you don’t know who Brak is, well, I’ll tell you, ‘cause that’s just the kind of guy I am. Remember those old Space Ghost cartoons? Even you young whippersnappers might remember since Cartoon Network, or maybe one of their offshoots like Boomerang now, plays them from time to time. He’s an intergalactic super hero with nothing to actually do with the "Brak Show…"
Wait, hold on there, before you moan and quit reading… HE doesn’t have anything to do with it, but his VILLAINS do! Brak was a space pirate, looting and pillaging. He had vaguely feline features the most prominent of which was a huge set of fangs (or perhaps a set of huge fangs). After drifting into some Piranhamite he disappeared until resurfacing years later as co-host of "Cartoon Planet." But in the past, which is the present in this show as opposed to the past show which was in the future, he was a lovable schoolboy.
Parodying the classic sit-coms, The B.S. (no, I mean the "Brak Show," does everything have to be so crude with you?) is all about Brak and his family living day to day. Mom is the consummate traditional sit-com lady: sweet and loving and on top of all that is happening in the family. Voiced in this season by Marsha Crenshaw she is syrupy sweet yet strong. Dad reminds me of Ricky Ricardo after maybe dipping into the cough syrup a little too much. Voiced by the talented George Lowe (also the voice of Space Ghost) Dad often has the funniest lines.
Also in the mix are Brak’s best pal Zorak (a giant, evil mantis that you may remember as Space Ghost’s band leader voiced by C. Martin Croker) and next-door neighbor Thundercleese (a huge doomsday robot with anime-style attacks).
Classic Brak yells a lot, which could easily become too annoying to watch if you don’t find it funny, but new Brak is toned down somewhat except that he breaks into song at the drop of a hat. He’s quite the lovable guy. Zorak is out and out nasty and offensive… in a funny way. He’d give your car keys to a shark just for the amusement of watching you try to get them back. They are still in high school and have to face some of the same challenges as regular kids such as homework and bullies, though they also have to face things like Brak’s mom being cocooned by a 4-tentacled blob with horns.
The songs and stories are consistently nonsensical: the "Carnival of Feet," feeding hams to a goldfish after singing about not doing that, playing “I steal your mail and keep it;” it’s all insanely crazy which will make you say either, “What kind of warped human being would find that funny?” or “You must unlearn what you have learned,” oh, wait, I meant to say, “I laughed so hard I threw up.” I’m of the latter persuasion.
The style of the show is odd. The characters are 2-D animated. They are stiff in a style that harkens back to "Cartoon Planet," though not to that extreme (they have much more precise mouth movements, more animation, and more mobility than that). What is really strange, though, is the background style. The sets are real, I mean they are mostly doll furniture and other miniatures, but however they were created, the important point is that they are a very different style than the character animation.
The props and sets look like composites of images, kind of like a stage set where some of the props might be real and others are painted on a partition. It creates kind of a puppet show feel just with cartoons rather than puppets. Despite being twisted and full of strange creatures, the sets carry a bright, even cheery, mood.
Think of the "Brak Show" doing for sit-coms what "Space Ghosts Coast To Coast" has done for talk shows, Harvey Birdman has done for legal dramas, Sealab has done for sci-fi adventure, etc. Incidentally, this is my favorite Adult Swim title beating out Space Ghost for the spot.
Morality
I would say this is the least controversial of the Adult Swim shows with the possible exception of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (particularly the earlier ones that actually bleeped out even the mildest strong language). This does have some strong language, pretty bad in some episodes, light or even absent in others.
The violence is of the type that leaves no one permanently injured. Most of the early episodes are clean enough to be kid-friendly except for a little language (excluding "War Next Door" which has probably the most profanity of any episode because of the vile songs Zorak sings).
Some of the later episodes have more adult content mostly in the way of less veiled sexual innuendo: Brak’s granddad wants him to grab a girl’s butt to get her to like him (he opts not to), Zorak dresses up like a pimp (and a “pro”), Dad wants to go to the mall because of an ad that says something to the effect of “all women’s clothes half-off” (only to be disappointed when Mom tells him that means the clothes are on sale), and Zorak has a wild fling with a strange alien that turns out SPOILER !! to be a guy.
Spirituality
I wouldn't say that this is a show with much of a message. It doesn't make enough actual sense to have a message most of the time. Zorak sings some vile songs in one episode that you probably wouldn't want stuck in your kid's head, but this is perhaps the most obvious social commentary in the entire series. The point is that it doesn't matter that he's insulting and threatening his listeners, it sounds pretty which causes audiences to treat him like a celebrity.
This definitely mimics real life. I mean have you actually stopped to listen to the lyrics to some of the pop songs on the radio? A lot of it is empty of any substance at best but is pure garbage wrapped in putrescence at worst. But because it has a peppy beat and a pleasant melody people give it a pass. The episode “War Next Door” is a humorous illustration of this kind of phenomenon.
“Mobab” might be the next most obvious message which is treat your wife right or she might get turned into a giant insect. Or something along those lines. You get the idea. What do you want from me?
Oh, also in “Poppy” we can infer that the nose does not make the man.
Final Thoughts
As much as I enjoy "The Brak Show" I can't promise it is a good fit for everyone. If you like your comedy a little silly, more than a little absurd, and more adult than a Saturday morning cartoon without being rated R then this is at least worth checking out. The DVD will give you some "Cartoon Planet" and "Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak" content, so if you are looking for more than just his appearance in this series alone you might want to go read up on the buying guide.
Buying Guide
There isn't much to buying "The Brak Show" volume 1 except whether or not it offers what you want in a purchase. To find out if it does, read on.
There is 1 and only 1 edition of this first volume of "The Brak Show."
Final Recommendation:
When I got my set it was kind of pricey compared to some that offered longer episodes and more bonus material. It's one of my most frequently watched cartoon TVD sets so I would have to say it was worth it. It's your best place to get a taste of "Cartoon Planet" on DVD. It's a lot of fun from the creative cover art to the character hosting of the menus, but you need to really love Brak to put up with this much of him.
The volume 1 TVD is a 2 disc release.
Video
1.33:
This is the TV standard ratio and is a very clean image. It's sharp and vibrant.
Audio
2.0 Dolby:
OK it's not surround sound, but a show like this doesn't really need it. The stereo is solid and clear. There's a little bit of fill coming in on the rear channels.
Packaging
I love this DVD design! Quite possibly one of my favorites of all time. Why is that? I'll get there. We’ll start from the outside because the packaging is unusual. It’s your standard cardboard folder in a box with a couple of DVD trays and an episode list, but the art scheme is a paint by numbers picture. The outer box is a partially painted scene. The back of the folder is a completely blank and funny image. The episode list is made up to look like the colors you would use (paintbrush not included!) Just out of curiosity I scanned the picture and the colors into the computer and painted part of the scene. It comes out looking pretty goofy, colorful, though. So that’s all fun.
The inside flap has a listing of the episodes but no other data.
I kind of wish the painting theme had carried over to the interface. Maybe they were afraid it would wear too thin, and I really can't complain. The visual presentation of the menus is laid out like a mini-tour of Brak's house. The main menu is the front yard, episode selection is pictures on the walls of the house, the extras menu is Brak’s corkboard, and the languages menu is the back yard. What makes the menus great, though, is that Brak sings the contents of each page! I kid you not, he names off all the episodes on the page, calls out the Easter eggs, even announces Zorak and Thundercleese’s presence on the main menu. Not since "Futurama" and "UHF" has character hosting of a DVD been done so well. I found myself going to each menu specifically hear the song. And when I say every menu I mean even the subtitles selection. I don’t believe "Futurama" or "UHF" went to those lengths!
There is very little mess to put up with before the episodes, no disclaimer about how the comments expressed by Brak aren’t necessarily the views of the company, its owners, their dogs, or the store clerk that rang up your purchase. And did anybody care that we weren’t expressly told Brak didn’t speak for the rest of the world in his commentary? NO!!
Extras
-Commentaries: There are 3 that I'll detail in the episodes section.
-Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak: This is something of a disappointment. I expected at least one full episode (there were 2 total). I rather hoped they would have one of them on this set and one on the next set. While both of them are included here it is only a few clips from each, and not even the parts I was most excited to get to see. The only guest appearance included is Freddie Prinze Jr. While it’s a funny clip I would much rather have had Jo Dee Messina (“I’m not like you/ And you’re not like me”) or Diamond Dallas Page (“Evil is only skin deep”).
-Dr. Shriek/Magic Toenail (2:39) Going to the dentist.
-Highway 40 Revisited (2:18) Freddie Prinze Jr. takes a ride with Brak with a song.
-Rock Candy (0:59) Zorak rocks.
-Beeflog (1:05) Brak sings about food.
-I'm Frogettable/I'm A Cucumber (1:53) A song parody and more food tunes.
-Brakula (1:23) A taste of horror.
-Bananachek/Smell You Later (2:41) Brak goes undercover while Zorak sings about stinks.
-The Umpire Strike Brak (0:37) Some Star Wars parody elements but not much to it.
-Cartoon Planet: A very minor disappointment here with the Cartoon Planet clips. Cartoon Plant was made up of short segments that were only used to introduce and fill in between other cartoons meaning that there will likely never be a DVD set because there aren’t any episodes per say. If you don’t know what I meant by the stiff animation I mentioned in the review, here is your chance to get a taste. This is not the first, or even the second, incarnation of Brak, but it is the one that most of us really fell in love with. It boosted him up to be a fan favorite. So it is fitting to have them on a set devoted to Brak. As far as content, they did a much better job than Brak Presents… These clips cover many of the best moments I can recall. That much is nothing but awesome! However, there are two 15-minute segments, 1 chapter apiece. I would love to have had each clip divided and put in an index like the Brak Presents… clips are. Instead you have to search for any favorite bits you may have by scanning through the compiled groups. Still, it’s a minor complaint since I’m happy to have such a collection at all.
-Segments (6:49) Brak is Hot, Minky Boodle, Don’t Touch Me, Zorak’s Pet, Brak’s Poem, Scat Sandwich, Fluffy, Toe Spread, Puppy Poem, Pants, Brak Rocks.
-More Segments (12:49) The Cartoon Planet Story, What, Scorpio Horror Scope, What Day Is It, Never Trust A Monkey, Mashed Potatoes, Brak’s Story, Lunchtime, Italian Lesson #4, Coffee, I Love Beans, Bad Jokes.
-Adult Swim News (I am not terribly impressed by these segments. They aren’t as funny as the show or the other features. Content warning: strong language, it's mild but some of it comes from Brak which is so unlike him):
-Birdkiller (1:02) Helping an injured bird.
-Chicken (1:02) An impersonation.
-Wake Up (1:02) A bunch of yelling.
-Puppet Party (1:02) This one's not animated and features some classic toon characters.
-Russian Killers (1:02) Getting into some trouble with criminals.
-Radio Play: The “radio play” was never released. I think it may actually be the original pilot episode and just never made it past the audio stages. I really don’t know what the story is behind it (a look at the history of the show would have been an excellent additional feature to have). To find the play activate the episode “Bawkbagawk” and activate the commentary. The episode will play through but with the different audio. This is a strange way to have it play because the audio has nothing whatsoever to do with the video.-Web & Copyright Page: It's just a web address and copyright info, but Brak hosts even this page making it worth visiting. The link is in a weird spot. I'm not going to tell you where it is. 'Cause I'm evil. Even Space Ghost said so.
Easter Eggs:
-Alternate Scenes: There are 2, but since they apply to specific episodes I'll detail them in that section. The eggs are obvious once you're on the correct page.
-Today's Menu Information (0:52) Andy in character in the studio talking about food. On disc 1 on the languages menu there's an obvious egg to select.
Episodes/Extras continued
There are 14 episodes from just over 11 minutes to just under 12 minutes long. Each one is a single chapter but being so short with such a brief intro that doesn't matter as much as it might with other shows.
A play all option reduces returns to the menu between episodes. You can’t listen to any of the commentaries this way.
1) Goldfish
-Commentaries:
-Brak: It’s kind of funny at times, but contains no information and does get old.
-Brak and Kim McFarlane: She is, I think, the president of a Brak fan club in or near Atlanta. It’s better than the other commentary with some actual info and intelligent (semi-intelligent maybe) dialogue. Only about half of it deals with the episode, though, the other half or so deals with Brak in general. Andy does a good job staying in character though he can’t help but crack up a few times.
2) War Next Door
-Commentary: Jim Fortier, Pete Smith, Andy Merrill: It’s informative and enjoyable except for the phone that keeps ringing.
5) Bawkbagawk
-Commentary: While there appears to be a commentary, it’s actually the radio play I've already mentioned.
-Alternate Scene (0:41) This is a different version of the fight song they sing. It's “hidden” on disc 1 Episode Selection Menu page 1.
8) Psychoklahoma
-Alternate Scene (0:42) Go to the disc 1 Episode Selection menu page 2. It’s an alternate version of Zorak’s Psycho song.