The Brak Show - Volume 2

Don Kennedy

Director

Pete Smith (II); Jim Fortier

The Brak Show Volume 2 compiles the final 14 episodes of this truly offbeat Cartoon Network series (2000-2004), which spun the dim-witted space pirate Brak from Cartoon Planet and Space Ghost: Coast to Coast into a very skewed sort of family sitcom, albeit one with aliens, killer robots, dissolute magicians, and an insectoid best friend who wants nothing more than to kill the star of the show. As in the first volume of The Brak Show, our hero (voiced by Andy Merrill) lives with his mom (Joanna Daniel, who replaced Marsha Crenshaw) and miniature dad (George Lowe) in a picture-perfect suburban town somewhere in deep space; this time around, Brak's adventures include entering a rap contest to win a trip to a spa resort ("Brak Street," with guest star Cee-Lo of Danger Mouse), discovering exactly what Dad does with his time ("We Ski in Peace"), and winning his own TV show in Japan ("Sexy New Brak Show Go"). It goes without saying that The Brak Show is an acquired taste for those that aren't already fanatical about Adult Swim titles, but for those that can roll with the surreal stories and humor, there are a lot of quirky laughs to be found here, especially from Merrill's performance as the slow-witted but eager Brak. Note to fans: the two-disc Volume 2 set includes no supplemental features (unlike the previous set), and also excludes the second-to-last episode, "New Year's Eve Party at Brak's House," which not only explained the future of the show's characters, but included guest appearances by the casts of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, and Sealab 2021. --Paul Gaita