Brak (character)

Brak is a former supervillain on the 1966 Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Space Ghost", portrayed as a catlike alien space pirate trying to conquer the galaxy. Brak appeared alongside his twin brother Sisto in such episodes as "The Lure" and "The Looters", and was also a member of the Council of Doom (an organization of "Space Ghost" villains which originally consisted of Zorak, Moltar, Metallus, Creature King, Black Widow, and himself). He later appeared on the Cartoon Network's adult-oriented talk show "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", and then became the main character in its spin-off "The Brak Show" also on Cartoon Network.

"Space Ghost Coast to Coast" and "Cartoon Planet"

On the premiere episode of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" in 1994, Brak and his brother Sisto were first shown as a parody of Beavis and Butt-Head. Brak eventually made more frequent appearances on "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", often just yelling short phrases like "All hail Brak!!!" or "Hi my name is Brak!!", until the spin-off "Cartoon Planet" premiered on TBS in 1995 and his character developed more of a personality, as well as a vocabulary (to some extent). On an episode of "Cartoon Planet", when responding to a viewer's letter, Brak revealed that the cause of his sudden stupidity was the after-effects of being thrown into a space dust cloud by Space Ghost at the end of one of the original shorts titled "The Lure."

"The Brak Show"

In 2000, Brak had two hour-long "Sonny and Cher"-style variety specials called "Brak and Brak Presents a Brak studio and a Brak production introduces the Brak Show Starring Brak as Brak featuring with special extra guest star appearance Brak", which included celebrity guest stars and music numbers. In December 2000, "The Brak Show" premiered (unannounced at a very early hour in the morning), originally a parody of the sitcom "Leave It To Beaver", where Brak plays a suburban pre-teen living with his mom and dad and was usually hanging out with his friend Zorak. In September 2001 "The Brak Show" premiered on Adult Swim, with different sitcom parody names for every episode of the first season (e.g. "Diff'rent Braks," "All in the Brak"). Cartoon Network's writeup for Brak explained: "This toothy, mask-wearing former pirate made his first TV appearance on 'Space Ghost.' It was during this adventure that Brak was irradiated by Pirranamyte, releasing him from the burden of intelligence. Now armed only with his meager wits and the love of a peppy tune, Brak happily entertains fans and annoys his co-stars with equal aplomb. He will continue to do so as long as he receives a steady diet of pineapple and processed meats."cite journal | last = Jacobs | first = Chick | title = Citizen Brak an inspiration for us all | date=2000-02-18 | journal = The Fayetteville Observer Weekender]

Voice actors

Brak's voice was provided by Keye Luke in the original 1966 animated series and Sisto's voice was provided by Don Messick. In the premiere episode of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" (in the "Beavis & Butt-head" parody) Brak and Sisto were both voiced by C. Martin Croker. In all appearances after that episode, Brak has been voiced by Andy Merrill.

Discography

In 2000, a Brak album was released called "Brak Presents the Brak Album Starring Brak." The 30 tracks are taken in order from the two "Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak" specials, with the exception of the three bonus tracks one re-recording: "We're Buds" which was originally a duet between Brak and Jo Dee Messina, and appears on the album with Brak singing both parts.

Track Listing:
# Really Cool Song - Brakettes 2:50
# Franz Shoebert 6:07
# Dentist 0:58
# Magic Toenail 4:08
# Babbling Brook 0:35
# I'll Tell Me Ma - Brak, The Chieftains 5:43
# Rock Candy 1:29
# Big Fat Squid 8:57
# I Like Hubcaps - Brakettes 11:18
# Cowboy Buddy - Brakettes 4:59
# Highway 40 Revisited - Brak, Freddy Prinze Jr. 12:56
# Bananachek 3:28
# Smell You Later 4:19
# Store - Brakettes 6:38
# Brak Counterbrak - Brakettes 1:23
# Evil Is Only Skin Deep 4:56
# We Like Girls - Brakettes 7:58
# Brakiachi - Brakettes 9:00
# Beeflog 3:59
# Another Cowboy Buddy 8:58
# Barbecue 3:48
# Count Brakula 2:45
# I'm Forgettable 8:38
# News Bulletin 1:56
# I'm a Cucumber 3:45
# News Bulletin 4:58
# Molly Cule 4:47
# We're Buds 6:14
# Chili Today, Hot Tamale - Brakettes 5:48
# Ohio - Brakettes, Wally Gator 8:57
# I've Got You Under My Drawers - Brakettes 0:54
# Year of the Mantis 9:32
# Soup on a Stick 8:17

References

External links

* [http://epguides.com/BrakShow/ The Brak Show (a Titles & Air Dates Guide) by Dan Pawlak]
* [http://members.aol.com/essobmcc/brakbook/brakbook.htm Brak's Scrapbook]