Saturday Morning Cartoons: THE DRAK PACK

The opening credits to DRAK PACK make the show sound a lot more complicated than it really is. Then again, the show is about how the descendents of the Universal Monsters travel around the world in a flying car solving mysteries, so perhaps that convolution is warranted. Don't be surprised if you get a contact high from watching this cartoon.

DRAK PACK was a marvelous mess of a television series, which ran only one season in 1980 on CBS. Count Dracula, known in the show as Big D (snort), has set about cleaning up the image of his monstrous brethren. Or, at least, making his son do it for him. Big D (tee hee) is the major domo of the Drak Pack, which is made up of  his son, Drak Jr., Frankie and Howler. They travel around the world in a flying car, doing battle against the agents of O.G.R.E. — the Organization of Generally Rotten Enterprises. O.G.R.E is led by Dr. Dred, whose henchmen are Toad, Fly, Mummy and ... oh, who gives a shit. This is a weird show. If you're looking for coherence, you're in the wrong place.

Exhibit 1: The summary for today's episode, "Happy Birthday, Dr. Dred," which first aired Sept. 20, 1980:

"It's Dr. Dred's birthday and he's upset. It seems that the birthday cake that Toad baked was a bit too small: a cupcake! Dred is determined to celebrate his day in high style, letting everyone know that it's his birthday."

Because we're a culture that doesn't know how to throw anything away, the entire series of DRAK PACK is available on DVD. And it's pretty damn cheap, too. As I write this, you can get the 3-disc set for $6.99.