The Brak Show (2000-2003) was a
very surreal
Quarter Hour Short on
Adult Swim,
parodying Dom Coms, set (sort of) in the
Space Ghost Coast To Coast universe. The show starred Brak and Zorak as
high school students in a suburban neighborhood.
It was animated by Wild Hare Studios, which animated
Aqua Teen Hunger Force for its first two seasons. Clay Martin Croker, who played Zorak, was also the animation director for both series. It ran for two fourteen-episode seasons before it was unexpectedly cancelled, with viewers not finding out till the end of the episode.
Tropes:
- Aliens and Monsters: The inhabitants of Brak's planet.
- The Cameo: A blink-and-you-missed-it Meatwad riding a scooter/moped.
- The Chew Toy: Zorak, and he deserves it.
Zorak: Nobody likes me. That's the way I like it.
- Darker and Edgier: Season two compared to season one, justified in that season one aired before Adult Swim had "officially" split from Cartoon Network.
- The Ditz
- Everyone Calls Him Barkeep: Everyone calls Brak's parents "Dad" and "Mom". Including campaign advertisements and newspapers.
- In an Adult Swim New Year's Eve bumper, he revealed his name to be Javier.
- Free the Frogs: Brak tries to get out of dissecting a clam. The clam eventually manages to free himself.
- Furry Confusion: Used in the pilot.
- Grounded Forever: In an episode, Dad grounded Brak for 3 years.
- Heroic Comedic Sociopath: Zorak, somewhat muted by the fact that he is The Chew Toy.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: George Lowe, who played Space Ghost, plays Dad. He also used his regular voice once. Carey Means, who plays Frylock, also plays Thundercleese.
- Hey Lets Put On A Show: Psychoklahoma!
- Humongous Mecha: Averted in that Thundercleese is based off one, but he's certainly not as tall.
- Ice Cream Koan: Dad has a lot of these.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Not the official titles, but episodes from early in the show's run started with a parody of a Dom Com, but with Brak's name, much like Ed Edd N Eddy.
- In Case You Forgot Who Wrote It: Parodied with the original pilots, Brak Presents The Brak Show Starring Brak.
- Jerkass: Zorak.
- Dad also, though a bit more passive-aggressive about it.
- Large Ham: "I AM RHONDA, FROM THE SEVENTH LEVEL OF YAR!"
Thundercleese: "Is that the best you can do?"
His Adversary: "... yes."
Thundercleese: "THEN PREPARE TO TASTE MY RAGE!"
- Musical Episode: A majority of the episodes in the first two seasons. But Psychoklahoma especially.
- Same goes for Brakstreet.
- Negative Continuity, caused by Snapbacks.
- No Indoor Voice: Rhonda of the Seventh Level of Yar.
- No Name Given: Brak's parents. In an Adult Swim bumper during New Year's, his name is Javier and he's not Brak's dad.
- Once an Episode: Brak sings, and Thundercleese blows up Zorak.
- The Other Darrin: Very apparent with Mom.
- Spin-Off: From Space Ghost Coast To Coast.
- Stock Footage: From Space Ghost & Dino Boy. One episode used Stock Footage from Huckleberry Hound.
- "So you're saying that Huckleberry Hound, a dog who has held several jobs and can tie his own bow-tie, has somehow, for reasons unknown, reverted to a primal doglike state... and he's taken to eating noses."
- Talking to Himself: When Space Ghost visits Dad.
- Too Dumb to Live: Subverted in that Zorak always dies.
- Whole Plot Reference: Braklet, Prince of Spaceland is a take on Hamlet. Of course, this is still The Brak Show so everything is completely insane. For example, there is a lightsaber battle at the end, and a plug for The Powerpuff Girls.
- Widget Series: Also parodies this very trope in "Sexy New Brak Show Go".
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