The Brak Show

The Brak Show is an American adult animated sitcom created by Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, and Pete Smith for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. "The Brak Show" serves as a spin-off of the animated television series, "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", for which the show's creators originally wrote, and featured recurring characters from "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" and "Cartoon Planet". Both programs used stock footage from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon "Space Ghost". The protagonist is Brak, voiced by Merrill, who developed a quirky persona for the character.
An earlier version of the pilot episode, "Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk", originally aired prior to the official launch of Adult Swim on Cartoon Network on December 21, 2000. The series made its official premiere debut during the night Adult Swim officially launched on September 2, 2001, and ended on December 31, 2003, with a total of 28 episodes. On May 24, 2007, a webisode for the series was released on Adult Swim Video, ending the series.
History.
"The Brak Show" was preceded by two specials, both titled "Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak". Despite the similarities in the titles, the two "Brak Shows" have very little in common. The specials parodied variety shows, while the series was a spoof of early sitcoms. Each of the specials aired in the United States only once (in February and March 2000).
The series premiered with a sneak peek unannounced in the early hours of December 21, 2000, along with the "Radio Free Sealab" episode of "Sealab 2021". This "stealth" pilot (titled "Leave it to Brak") featured hand-drawn backgrounds and different opening titles. The show's official showing was on Adult Swim's debut on September 2, 2001.
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 suburbia with an extra-planetary hint. A Saturn-like planet appears in the background on occasion, and many of the extras are aliens. Often, episodes parody stereotypical episodes of regular sitcoms (e.g. The son showing an interest in women, the dad being reconnected with an old passion, the mother temporarily leaving after a fight, "etc.").
The show was canceled in December 2003. However, Adult Swim announced in a bump on October 22, 2006 that "The Brak Show" would return to production as an internet cartoon on the network's website. On May 24, 2007, a single webisode premiered online, but no further webisodes were produced thereafter.
On August 1, 2008, Adult Swim had a retro night, an all-night marathon of shows featured on Adult Swim in 2001 and 2002. Two of the earlier episodes of "The Brak Show" were aired during the marathon. The series has since appeared in Adult Swim's "DVR Theater".
International broadcast.
In Canada, "The Brak Show" previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block, and currently airs on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.
Home releases.
The first 14 episodes were released on DVD on February 1, 2005, and the remaining episodes were released on August 8, 2006. In addition to being available on DVD, "The Brak Show" is also available on iTunes.
The series is also available on HBO Max since September 1, 2020.