S04E01 Drak Pack

In this premiere of DRAK PACK your Saturday Morning preservationist, Christopher Jay, takes a look at the origin of the show. We take a look at the talent behind the scenes, a rundown of the pilot, “Color Me Dredful”, and a look at the legacy of DRAK PACK after all these years.

It’s not just a look at DRAK PACK but also how the monsters-turned-superheroes show came to be. Explore the life and times of Jerry Dexter, Julie McWhirter, and the rest of the cast.   

Come along with Drak Jr, Frankie, and Howler all the way back to November 8, 1980. Take a trip back to the 80s, and explore Hanna-Barbera’s monster show! But this episode isn’t just about that. Explore the creation and legacy of Dracula, Frankenstein and the history of other genre giants!

Thanks for ‘tooning in.

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Featured Music:

“Nostalgic Happy Music” by AudioJungle - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtxSUR6MQhw&t=2s

“Happy Life” by Fredji - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzQiRABVARk

“I Feel You” by Kevin MacLeod” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uw8E3jjbUCE

“Nostalgic” by OrangeHead - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wExcRoNNzAc

“Breakfast Club” by Vodovoz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Spi22l3m5I

“Horizons” by Atch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-u53MADIag

“80’s Hijack” by Gee - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndVqzJ9Lk6M&t=26s

“Synthmania” by Vodovoz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6r20TKnA6M

“United” by Vodovoz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArjGQFCcHxA

“Cool Blue” by Vodovoz - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp5cxZWP-wc

Transcript

THE SATURDAY MORNING PODCAST

“Drak Pack”

0. OPENING (PRE-RECORD)

                   MUSIC: 80s SYNTH

ME:           [NEW] Wake up, it’s Saturday Morning. Let Mom and Dad sleep in and come with me back to the 80’s. Let’s grab a bowl of Corn Bran or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and flip on the tube. I’ve got the TV Guide and hours of nothing to do. 

              My name is Chris and I love all the Saturday Morning cartoons. When I was a kid, I lived for Saturday mornings. Now that I’m an adult, I want to relive all those great shows and see how they came about. 

Let’s take a deep-dive back to the 80’s and see what’s waiting. Rewind!

                   FX: REWIND SOUND

1A. TEASER

                   AMBIENT: SPOOKY (COMIC)

ME:           When I think back to the 80s, I think of slasher movies. The guy with the knife-y hands. The goalie. And, of course, the dude with the inside-out Captain Kirk mask. They were all great, and each made me laugh in their own way. But there was one set of monsters so terrifying, so creepy, that I couldn’t sleep after watching them. They haunted my nightmares. Watching Freddy Krueger was a cakewalk compared to the terrors I once saw. Was it any of Cronenberg’s body horror? Not even close. What made this scary wasn’t the blood and guts, or a stabbing knife. It was that one show I had to watch when I was being punished. It was the DRAK PACK! No, anything but that!

                   FX: HORROR SCREAM

                   MUSIC: SHOW THEME SONG

1B. INTRO

                   AMBIENT: SPOOKY (COMIC)

ME:           In the Fall of 1980, network CBS realized what was missing from the Saturday Morning lineup: Monsters! The Eye Network had cat and mouse Tom and Jerry, as well as Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner. They were set on human-like animals. Did they have super heroes? You bet! Filmation’s take on Mighty Mouse has been on the schedule since the late 70s. Fat Albert, a staple for more than six seasons, made it for another year. CBS even dug up nostalgia cartoons, airing a series themed around radio shows “Tarzan” and “The Lone Ranger”. Throw in Popeye, a character in our lives since the 20s, and the set was complete. 

              The ads that year that ran in comic books proclaimed the headline, “Tale Spinners From Out of the Sky!” There was a shield, or maybe a UFO in America’s patriotic colors, with CBS’ eye logo in the center. Each show got it’s own panel, as if the art was trying to trick the comic book reader into believing this was not an ad.

              In the center of it all was the 11:30 show, DRAK PACK. Against a purple background, the gang was all assembled, with the text, “Drak, Frankie and Howler are teenage descendants of some very popular monsters. Now they fight for what’s right in their bizarre mis-adventures with the nefarious Dr. Dred.”

              The end of the ad slated the new season to start September 6, but was delayed to November 8th. In July of 1980, the Screen Actors Guild wanted higher wages. Specifically, they wanted a better minimum wage for actors with daily and weekly rates. If SAG got their way, actors would see a 40% bump over a three year span. The strike was threatened, and then came to be. Heavy hitters like Dudley Moore, Burt Reynolds and Liza Minelli failed to report to their sets, causing time and work to be lost. 

              Deep down, the issue with SAG-AFTRA wasn’t just the day rate. With the rise of cable networks like HBO, and technological advances like home video, the actors were afraid of getting screwed in the long run.

              If the 1960s taught actors one thing, it was that you didn’t know what the future would bring. Casts of iconic shows like “Gilligan’s Island”, “Star Trek” and “Batman”, could not have foreseen the huge market for reruns and syndication. Those casts, and others just like them, found their studios selling a package of shows to syndication. They represented big bucks, and it all went to the studio. Actors were paid for the original airing, a rerun, and four reruns after that. With short-sidedness concerning fandom, the actors never dreamed there would be dollar signs in their own performances.

              Bob Denver and the cast of “Gilligan’s Island” once learned that their show was playing somewhere around the world at any given time. After those first six airings, they got nada.

              In 1980, with VCRs hitting the shelves and a video market just beginning, the actors were concerned they were going to miss out as well. I’m sure Burt Reynolds was looking back on his hit movies and wondered if he might see any of the profits for “Gator” or “Deliverance”. 

              On September 25th, all parties in the strike entered into negotiations. By late October, they had come to a full agreement and the strike was over.

              The entire season of scripted shows were running behind that year. The kids of 1980 couldn’t start their new season of Saturday Morning adventures until early November. At that point, they likely had holiday breaks on their minds, and Christmas in their hearts.

              DRAK PACK itself explored the modern world through the eyes of teenage monsters. 

              Drak Jr was the great-grandnephew of Count Dracula, and acted as the leader of the pack. When starting a mission, he consults his great uncle Dracula. The legendary vampire acts as an annoyed mentor and gives the group direction. He’s also known by the nickname Big D.

              The secret lair of the Drak Pack looks like a creepy old mansion, but has rooms that can transform into a state-of-the-art computer center.

              Drak Jr’s other friends, Frankie and Howler, are descended from Frankenstein’s monster and the wolf man. They have a fairly normal appearance, but transform into their superhero personas when needed. They shout the word “wacko” and become the heroes of the Drak Pack. Frankie can channel electricity through his neck bolts and has super human strength. Howler has super strong breath and an ultra-sonic howl that can save the day.

              All good heroes need a cause, and the Drak Pack have the members of O.G.R.E to fight. OGRE stands for The Organization for Generally Rotten Enterprises… or Endeavors. It’s headed by the loathsome Dr. Dred, who is always trying to get the best of the Drak Pack. Dred himself is a little reminiscent of Vincent Price from his roles in the 50s and 60s. His minions include Fly, likely inspired by the 1958 horror movies. There’s Toad, who is a toad, and is channeling his best Peter Lorre. Mummy Man was the towering giant in bandages, straight out of Egypt’s past. And lastly, there’s Vampira. She appears to be a female vampire and has an unrequited crush on Drak Jr.

              No good hero would be complete without a roadster. After all, what hero gets around on the bus? The Dkak Pack travel in style, rocking a car called the Drak-ster. It’s amphibious and can fly.  

                   FX: TV STATIC

2. THE CREATORS & SERIES ORIGIN

                   MUSIC: HAPPY MEMORIES

ME:           To look at the origin of DRAK PACK is to explore the origin of the mythos itself. Hanna-Barbera’s animated monsters had their genesis in history, folklore, myth, and with a bet too good to pass up.

              The belief in lycanthropy, or wolf-people, is dated all the way back to 27 AD in Rome. It started in folklore and has survived until modern times. Throughout history, people have reported werewolves. As time has gone on, their mythology has grown. As recently as 1963, doctors have written about a medical condition known as congenital porphyria (por-firia), stating how the symptoms of photosensitivity, reddish teeth and psychosis could have been misconstrued, historically, as werewolf-ism.

              No matter the origin, the idea of a person being bitten by a werewolf, and then turning into the same creature at the full moon, has been a romantic notion for centuries. It’s been the stuff of legend and the basis for countless novels, and other works of art. 

              The written tales of the werewolf were first jotted down in 19th Century Germany. As with all great legends, readers of one work would improve on the mythos and add their own spin. The advent of silver bullets, changing with the moon, and other devices were added along the way. The 1935 movie “Werewolf of London” was the first time audiences saw the shapeshifters on the big screen. It wouldn’t be the last. I would be surprised if movie goers hadn’t seen films like “The Howling”, “American Werewolf in London” or even “Twilight”. And werewolves are even in the Harry Potter series!

              Back in 1897, Irish author Bram Stoker made reference to werewolves in his short story “Dracula’s Guest”. Of course, Stoker is famous for having created Count Dracula, a mysterious dweller in the Carpathian Mountains. 

              Where the idea of werewolves started in ancient Rome, the idea of vampires has been around for millennia. It, too, started as folklore that pervaded many cultures. From the Mesopotamians to the Greeks and Romans, vampires are the demons that have been around the longest.  

              Most of the lore we know today about vampires, however, originated in 18th century southeastern Europe. In the year 1725, Austrian police noted local Serbian customs of exhuming bodies and “killing vampires”. They used the term officially, though without context. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first English usage in print to 1734. 

              In folklore, vampires were described as ingesting blood, and being bloated. Their skin tone was often ruddy, purplish or dark colored, far from the pasty-skinned bloodsuckers of modern times. They are part of the undead.

              In China, it was feared a dead body would become vampiric if a dog or cat jumped over the corpse. It’s thought that the Ancient Greeks placed coins in the mouths of the dead so they could pay the toll on the River Styx. And also to weight the body from getting up and becoming undead.

              As the centuries passed, pieces of the mythology came together. Vampires were sensitive to light, and could only function at night. They turned into bats. They could be killed with a wooden stake through the heart. 

              Abraham “Bram” Stoker heard about the Romanian ruler of Wallachia, Vlad III Dracula in 1881. The family name, Dracul, meant “dragon”, and the form of Dracula, meant “son of the dragon”. In modern Romania, it now means “son of the devil”.

              Stoker woke one night from a bad dream where a vampire king was chasing him. Taking the mythos of the vampire, and the name of Vlad the Impaler, he created a modern work of fiction that was well received, but far from ground-breaking. In fact, it wouldn’t be until the 20th century films about Dracula that the book would be revisited and revered. Russia was the first country to produce a Dracula film, and did so in 1920. It is certain that Stoker, with a background in live theatre, would have enjoyed the fact that his work was committed to film. Sadly, the author, who passed away in 1912, did not live to see the success of his creation.

              Hungry was the next country to catch vampire fever in 1921, but it would be the Universal movies that brought the Romanian vampire to America. In 1931, director Tod Browning and actor Bela Lugosi came together to scare the pants off of movie goers. 

              And it kicked off a movement in film that still remains to this day. The horror genre is one of the most enduring, with innovators looking for variations on how to deliver jump-scares and creepy tension.

              The Universal monsters became a genre onto themselves. After Dracula, came Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and, of course, The Mummy. Monsters on the big screen seemed to run their course through the 40s and 50s. And then the UK picked up the mantle in 1958 with “Dracula” by Hammer Films. The Hammer series of movies ran through 1974, a full sixteen years over three decades. While they were low-budget, they were much loved, and profitable for all involved.

              In 1815, a young woman by the name of Mary Shelley passed through Germany in her travels. While exploring Europe, she took in the sights of Frankenstein Castle and then ventured into Switzerland. 

              In 1818, the novel “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus”, was published anonymously. When the second edition of the book was published, Shelley’s name headlined the cover. It was also revealed she was just twenty when she wrote her masterpiece. 

              Shelley’s father, William Godwin, was a famous author. As such, young Mary was exposed to the writers of the time, many of whom were friends of her father. While Percy Shelley was visiting Godwin, young Mary and the author struck up a friendship. Mary’s father was uncomfortable with the relationship between his daughter and friend. After all, Shelly was married, but separated, and Mary was sixteen or seventeen at the time.  

              The two married out of sight of Mary’s father. In the Summer of 1816, the Shelley’s and Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont, went to Geneva to visit Claire’s lover, Lord Byron. Byron, also a writer, was sick at the time, and was restricted to his home. To pass the time and defeat boredom, Byron suggested a writing competition. He challenged his guests to write the scariest ghost story imaginable. 

              For Mary Shelley, the result was “Frankenstein”. Lord Byron declared her the winner of the competition.

              The story of scientist Victor Frankenstein creating life from lifelessness, and resulting in a misunderstood monster, captivated the reading audience. Critics were torn, with half bashing the novel for various reasons.

              At its core, the novel is about not belonging. It’s about being born into a world you never asked to be a part of, and then being discarded because of who you are. 

              Because of the popularity of the concept, Frankenstein was presented as a stage play in 1823, with Shelley and her father in attendance. The 20th Century saw many adaptations, starting in 1910 with an Edison Films presentation. While there were two more films by various companies, 1931 would be the year of the monster. If it wasn’t enough for Universal to release “Dracula”, they also released “Frankenstein” at the same time. The James Whale directed movie starred Boris Karloff as The Monster. It was a beautiful story of how misunderstanding leads to fear, and irrational mob mentality.

              The year after these two horror masterpieces were released, Universal would capitalize on Egyptian digs by releasing “The Mummy”. 

              A decade later, in 1941, Universal would adapt “The Wolf Man” into a big screen adventure. The formula behind creature features would be repeated over and over again in the years to come. Feeling left out, 20th Century Fox created “The Fly” in 1958, and a new kind of body horror was born.

              All these elements, spanning centuries and even millennia, were all brought together in the most logical way: Animation! 

              Kids loved horror movies, but protective parents may not have allowed their kids to see what they thought were disturbing films. 

              After all, the 1970s ushered in a more visceral, more realistic take on the horror genre. It was about cheap films with buckets of corn syrup blood. 

              In 1980, movies like “Alligator”, “Altered States” and “The Fog” were hitting theatres. There was money in those films, but they might have been a little too extreme for children.

              The solution: Bring horror to Saturday Morning! Which is what Hanna-Barbera did when they created DRAK PACK. While Drak Jr, Frankie and Howler are the descendants of Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster and the Wolf Man, they are far from scarry. And that’s a good thing. After all, they chose a life of doing good deeds to atone for the missteps of their ascendants. 

              The 1980 concept of monsters becoming superheroes was likely born out of the superhero craze of the late 1970s. Specifically, from the success of “Superman” in 1978, and the anticipated sequel slated to be released in 1981. 

              It is likely that Hanna-Barbera saw a chance to bring these classic horror monsters to Saturday Morning in a fresh way. Though, it may also have been due to the popularity of Filmation’s “Groovy Ghoulies”.

              Whatever the case, the series was set to air in September 1980. With a close release date, all that was left to do was assemble The Perfect Cast.

                   FX: TV STATIC

3. THE PERFECT CAST

                   MUSIC: HAPPY MEMORIES

ME:           Jerry Morris Chrisman was born in mid-April 1935 in San Francisco, California. He started his career in radio, at the Las Vegas station KENO.  He was twenty-three at the time, and changed his name to Jerry Dexter. After Las Vegas, Dexter would work in Seattle, and later Los Angeles, with his show “The Dexter Affair” in 1962. Around the same time, he started his television career with shows like “McHale’s Navy” and “87th Precinct”. He’d score a recurring role on “Gomer Pyle, USMC” in 1964 as Corporal Johnson. In 1967, Dexter started his association with Hanna-Barbera, finding work on three of their shows. He was Aqualad on “The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure”, as well as Aquaman himself on his own show. He played Chuck on the Genie inspired series “Shazzan”. Hanna-Barbera would keep Dexter busy throughout the 70s on shows like “Josie and the Pussycats” and “The Funky Phantom”. By the end of the decade, he was on “The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show” for Ruby-Spears. When that show ended its run, Dexter landed the role of Drak Jr on DRAK PACK.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              William Callaway was born in 1940, and started his acting career at the age of 27. In 1967, he guest-starred on an episode of the Marlo Thomas series “That Girl”. His first voice role as in a 1969 episode of “Chattanooga Cats” for Hanna-Barbera. That same year, he became a regular on the anthology series “Love, American Style”. Continuing on in animation, he was Lieutenant Sparks on “Sealab 2020” and Aquaman on “Super Friends”. In 1980, while playing both Howler and Frankie on DRAK PACK, he was pulling double duty on “Richie Rich” as Professor Keenbean.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              Alan Oppenheimer was raised by his stockbroker dad, Louis, and his mother, Irene. Born in 1930, in New York, he attended Carnegie Tech, and graduated in 1953. In 1956, he started his acting career, quickly becoming a character actor, disappearing into the roles he was given. His career in the 60s was full of appearances on shows like “The Andy Griffith Show” and “I, Spy”. In the 70s, he played the Chief Supervisor in the movie “Westworld”. He also started his career in animation, providing additional voices on “Speed Buggy” and “The New Scooby-Doo Movies”. It wasn’t long before he was in demand at Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears. He was cast as Mindok the Mind Menace on “Thundarr the Barbarian” at the same time he was cast as the flustered Count Dracula.  

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              Hans Georg Conried Jr was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1977. His mother, Edith, was born in Connecticut and was a descendent of the Pilgrims. His father, Hans Sr, was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna, Austria. He studied acting at Columbia University, and appeared in classical plays on the stage. He started to appear in movies as early as 1938, usually in uncredited roles. At the same time, he started his career in radio.  His unique and slightly graveled voice made him perfect for radio. He was a part of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Players and would later work with Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy. He received favorable reviews from columnists like Hedda Hopper, who praised Conried’s versatility on the radio. 

              In September of 1944, with the US fighting World War II, Conried enlisted in the US Army and trained at Fort Knox. He was going to be a tank crewman, until the Army realized that the 6-foot-2 actor was too tall for the tank. He became a heavy mortar crewman and even an engineering laborer until he was recruited to work for the Armed Forces Network Radio.

              Early on in his career, even as a young man, Conried found himself playing older characters, and scholarly-types. They were usually pompous and arrogant. This came in handy when he was cast by Walt Disney to play Captain Hook in the 1953 film “Peter Pan”. In 1959, Conried found the role he said he was born to play, that of Sniddley Whiplash on “The Dudley Do-Right Show”. Jay Ward recognized his contribution, and included Conried on “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”, and as the Narrator on “George of the Jungle”. Through the 60s and 70s, the actor would appear in live-action shows like “The Brady Bunch” and “The Love Boat”. In 1980, he was cast at baddie Dr. Dred on DRAK PACK.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              Charles John Thomas McCann, known as Chuck, was born in September of 1934 in Brooklyn, New York. His dad was a singing bandleader, which helped to get his foot in the industry’s door. By the age of 11, McCann was already a personality on the radio. Growing up with the popular films of the day, McCann was an excellent mimic when it came to sounding like Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 

              In the early 60s, he recorded a parody called “The First Family”, a spoof on John F. Kennedy, then newly elected as the President. His first voice over work occurred in 1966 with the series, “Cool McCool” for King Features. The show was a James Bond spoof, created by King Features staple Al Brodax and Bob Kane, co-creator of “Batman”. Through the 70s, McCann primarily worked in live-action, but was on “Plastic Man” when he was cast as Mummy Man on DRAK PACK.

*   *   *

              Of all the people profiled on The Saturday Morning Podcast, Julie McWhirter’s name has come up the most… but usually as additional voices. It is my pleasure to finally delve into her life and career. She was born October 12, 1947 in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1966 she spoke about her future, saying she wanted to do something creative with her life. But she doubted she would go into the entertainment field. She graduated from  DePauw University in 1970, and had studied acting and improvisational comedy. That same year, she had a guest starring role on “Happy Days”, starting her career. It wasn’t long before she entered into voice acting, as Terry Barkley on “The Barkleys”. In 1973, she was the title character on “Jeannie” for Hanna-Barbera. Animation fans of the 70s may remember this as the show that co-starred Mark Hamill and Joe Besser. She would continue to provide additional voices for HB through the 70s, and end up as the title ghostly character on “Casper and the Angels”. 

              In 1977, she married radio DJ Rick Dees, and the two had one child, Kevin. 

              In 1980, when McWhirter was cast as Vampira on DRAK PACK, she was in demand on Saturday Morning. She worked on “Strawberry Shortcake”, “Richie Rich” and “Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels” all at the same time.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

Honorable mention to Don Messick, who played both Toad and Fly. For a better idea about Messick’s career, take a listen to our episode about “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!”. He was the original voice of Scooby, and so much more.

After these messages, we’ll be right back with the premiere of DRAK PACK.

                   VINTAGE COMMERCIALS #1 (1:30)

4a. THE PREMIERE

                   MUSIC: “ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST”

ME:           If you watched the premiere of DRAK PACK, the date was November 8, 1980. The Number Four song on the American charts was “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen. The Number One album on the charts was “The River” by Bruce Springsteen. The nation was reading “Shelley: Also Known as Shirley” by Shelley Winters, the number one non-fiction book in the country. Alfred E. Neuman was on the cover of “Mad Magazine”, Issue 217, with the caption “Alfred E. Neuman for President”. His face was formed from the names of the presidents and other pop culture icons, and also read, “Why Not? We could do a lot worse”. The cover price was 75 cents. Cheap!

              On CBS, the other cartoon that premiered that day was: “The Tom and Jerry Comedy Show”.

              If you were a kid in 1980, maybe you got up early and got yourself breakfast. Maybe you had a new cereal, like a bowl of Powdered Donutz or Golden Puffs.

                   AM: SPOOKY (COMIC)

              The opening starts with a spooky theme, and a narrator telling us the entire back story. The spookiest thing about the opening, is that shot of Frankie, Drak and Howler in the car. To show that they’re good guys, the animators made them all smiling. I guess it’s to keep kids from getting scared. But they look like plastic, psychotic smiles, and so this trio looks freaky. Especially Drak Junior, and those Jack Nicholson eyebrows. Give him an axe and a weekend at the Overlook Hotel, and you’ve got a sure fire path to a “Here’s Johnny”.

              Also, let’s address Count Dracula’s nickname. They call him Big D. In the years since this show came out, I believe Big D has come to mean something else. It’s a euphemism for the size of something, and I’m not talking about bat wings. This may be the most giggly thing on Saturday Morning since Eggplant Wizard on “Captain N”.

              The opening goes on to introduce the DRAK PACK, shows us what their super car can do, tells of the villains and OGRE. That’s a hell of a lot of info for the first minute. I don’t need to see the show, I’m spent. And seeing Frankie give flowers to a little blonde girl makes me want to shout, “Run for your life!” I saw “Frankenstein”, this shouldn’t end well for her.

              The episode, “Color Me Dredful”, starts with the shot of a full moon and a spooky castle. I half expect the Mystery Incorporated gang to show up and debunk this. Would have been the best team-up of 1980.

              In a foggy patch in the middle of nowhere, a bird sits on a branch and sings to itself. When Dr. Dred yells at it, the thing falls off the branch. Starting a story about good monsters with a bird joke doesn’t give me a lot of confidence in what I’m about to see.

              Inside the castle, Toad and Vampira talk about how Dr. Dred could be a better human being. She’s got a stack of books on self-improvement. Toad, channeling his best Peter Lorre, dusts the mansion. From this point on, I’m confused by the role Toad plays in this. Is he a house keeper? A cursed amphibian? A partner in crime? Oh, I know, he’s the comic relief. 

              While dusting, he knocks over a knock-off of the Maltese Falcon. I guess he’s channeling his best Joel Cairo. Toad bumbles his way into Dr. Dred’s study and manages to piss him off by breaking the Transylvanian statue. If you take a look at the world globe Dred has in here, that is definitely not our world. Sure, one of the continents looks like Australia, but the rest is completely off. Maybe Hanna-Barbera is establishing this is an alternate universe. Maybe they were trying to set up their Dark Cinematic Universe. Oh, wait, 1980 was too soon for that kind of nonsense. See, when a movie came out, there was usually just one of them. Two, if you were lucky. Four, if you were “Jaws”. 

              Vampira tries to give Dred the stack o’ books to give him a more colorful personality. And what would that have accomplished? Imagine if, in this first episode, they altered Dred to be a good guy, and he was always trying to go on missions with the Drak Pack.

              Instead, Dred says he’s good as is, and that the world needs less color. Dr. Dred sounds like he’s trying to be one of the good ol’ boys.

              Dred whips out his color collector, and turns his colorful globe to monochrome. And then Toad gets a load to the face when he looks through the business end of the color collector. The color rushes out for a rainbow facial. 

              On his way out of the castle, and on his way towards world domination, Dred stops at a dart board with a picture of the Drak Pack on it. He zaps the color away and vows to defeat them. Nice to see that Dred got a model sheet from the show to trash on the dart board. The Drak Pack was meta.

              After these messages, we’ll be right back.

                   COMMERCIALS #2 (0:30)

4b. THE PREMIERE

                   AM: SPOOKY (COMIC)

ME:           The Drak Pack find themselves in a Men’s Wear store, picking out some loud post 1970s clothing. If this were to happen today, they’d probably just stroll into a Target for a t-shirt. But Frankie’s looking to get a new suit. I know when you’re a hulking bachelor with neck bolts, it’s important to dress to the nines so you can get the girl. But he will not blend in at Studio 54 wearing that red and orange thing. You know what I think? I think that coat is the real monster.

              In his blimp, Dred and company locate the Drak Pack so they can collect all the color from them.

              The tailor tells Frankie that, to truly appreciate this suit, you have to see it in the daylight. Not once have I ever thought this about a piece of clothing I own. Except maybe for a pair of blue and pink Bermuda shorts. But I was looking to obnoxious, so…

              Going outside, Dred turns on his color collector and zaps the hell out of that suit, fading it to gray. The tailor tries to bargain with them, but the Drak Pack take off.

              With the Drak Pack driving away from the store, Dr. Dred unleashes his diabolical plan and zaps the color away from the stop light. Frankie drives through a red light. So, Dred’s plan is to bog the Drak Pack down in moving citations until they’re broke and can’t fight him anymore? And then the world will be dominated by Dr. Dred? That is the most roundabout way to take over the world. Why not build a satellite that can zap all the color from space, and hold it ransom? While it’s a get rich quick scheme, that doesn’t even let you take over the world. Cartoon villains need better plans, these are all so, so, cartoony.  Also, for a man hell-bent on taking over the world, his plan only seems to screw over the Drak Pack. That will not put you in charge of the planet.

              Because the street lights are now colorless, Frankie drives onto the steps of the art museum because it’s the safest place. Did we fall for this logic back in the 80s? What does that even mean?

              The Curator of the museum appears, holding priceless works of art that are all now gray. And worthless. The Curator is pissed off that his paintings are colorless, and he takes it out on the Drak Pack like it’s their fault. So, wait. The paintings lose color, the curator gathers them up, wanders outside, and yells at the nearest people he can find like it’s their fault. That guy has some serious issues.

              Back at the Drak Pack’s whack shack, they get a call from Big D. The elder vampire is super pissed that all of his belongings are now colorless. Again, why are so many people upset at the Drak Pack over this? They’re all acting like Drak Jr and the rest caused this. 

              The color collector gets turned on Big D, and he gets white-washed. Though, he was already pasty and ultrawhite. You can always tell who’s ultrawhite by their dance moves at the disco.

              As the gang ponder what to do, Toad secretly places a bunch of blue flowers with a card. Drak Jr reads the poem, and the color fades from the flowers. The poem also tells them that Dr. Dred is behind it all. What crook leaves behind a card confessing? Then again, maybe I should have done that after I shoplifted a video cassette back in the 90s. Can you imagine the K-Mart security guy who found the card reading, “I took the tape, and what can I say? I love ‘Look Who’s Talking’, signed Christopher Jay.” 

              Every time this show has a change of scene, a red theatrical curtain squeaks across the screen as a transition. But it happens twice in ten seconds, and it’s a little annoying.

              Toad and Dred watch as the Drak Pack rush off to somewhere to do something. Toad is eager to blast the Drak Pack, channeling his best Ugarte. Dred berates him for almost pushing the color restorer. 

              Meanwhile, to solve this problem, the Drak Park are literally loitering, leaning on a building. This show has less action than an early Kevin Smith movie. The sound of the color ray is heard, and the white barbershop pole is now red and white. Was that supposed to happen? I thought Dred was stealing the color? Did the animators do this backwards? Drak Jr sees the color ray device on top of a building. Cue the curtain!

              At Dred’s secret hide out and chicken take out restaurant, Dred sees that the Drak Pack are closing in. He tells the troops to mobilize for attack. The Fly flies out the window. Mummy Man repels down using his bandages. And Vampira, her powers a little unclear, turns into a pterodactyl. Because vampires are notorious for turning into dinosaurs. 

              Toad says he’ll drop out of the window after Dred, channeling his best Mr. Moto. 

              On the street, the Drak Pack and Dred’s gang come face to face, and I brace for a fight. Here it is, some movement in the story.

              No, wait. There’s no fight because this is Saturday Morning in 1980. Instead, Dred appears as a red-outlined drawing on a wall, and tells Drak to follow flashing green arrows on the ground to find out what this is all about. For a guy who’s stealing color, he sure is using an awful lot of it. 

              Drak goes off to find answers. Mummy Man swoops down and snatches Howler, and dinosaur Vampira carries Frankie away, heading to the top of Dred’s tower. 

              Meanwhile, Drak Jr is led all around the city, and into a building where he ascents a butt-load of stairs. He’s exhausted, and so am I after watching all this filler. For the first twelve minutes of the show, there’s about four minutes worth of story. 

              When Drak gets to the end of the one-sided chase, he finds himself face to face with Mummy Man, and he’s easy pickings. He ends up in a big vat, tied with rope, and next to an equally tied Howler and Frankie. The team is down for the count.

              After these messages, we’ll be right back.

                   COMMERCIAL #3 (0:30)

4c. THE PREMIERE

AM: TBD

ME:           Dred checks on the DRAK PACK, still tied up, still in a large vat for some reason. Toad laughs at a dry and witty remark Drak makes, and channels his best Baron Ikito. 

              Toad takes to the color robbing computer, and sets out to extract all the pink in the world. And it gets collected in the tank the Drak Pack are being held in. Dred’s dreadful plan is to smother the gang in pink, drowning them in what looks like liquefied flamingoes. Or cotton candy butter. Or Nickelodeon’s gak.

              The pink disappears from around the world. From balloons, from flamingoes, from a house that’s just been painted in Pepto-Bismol. I have no way to check, but will this drain nipple color as well? 

              The Drak Pack crack wise as their vat gets flooded. Toad asks Dred for his lunch break, and Dred tells him to keep working. If Toad gets a lunch break, does he also have to keep a punch card? Are their benefits? Medical? Dental? He should fight for vision, and hold out for profit sharing. 

Toad plays with the color restorer, bathing himself in various colors, including rainbow, which he describes as “too flamboyant”, and solid blue. 

              As Toad plays with the colors, Drak realizes that their death color stopped rising. Frankie says he hates pink, and gets mad enough to break his bonds. Now the pack can Drak wack. I was once in a group wacking, and now I can never look anyone in the eye again.

              Their Drak Wack transforms them into their monster personas. Drak gets even paler, and sprouts longer canines and a cape. Frankie gets tall, green and now has neck bolts. And Howler, of course, wolfs out. You get the feeling that Hanna-Barbera is going to recycle this footage every episode.

              The wacked out Drak Pack manage to defeat Dred’s foot soldiers in non-violent ways. The Mummy Man goes out after an intense game of jump rope. Vampira transforms into a lobster, and I want her to be defeated by a pot of boiling water and a vat of butter. Instead, Drak disappears and the Fly splashes Vampira with yellow, and that defeats her… somehow?

              Howler uses his super breath and blows Toad. I mean, blows him across the hideout. Toad hits Vampira, who hits Mummy Man, who all crash into Dred as a big ball of misguided villains. 

              With Dred and company defeated, the Drak Pack can restore the color to the city. The villains are all sorts of colors, and Dred himself is pink. This is when Frankie should have pummeled him out his already-established pink hatred. Then the show could have ended instead of lingering on for fifteen more episodes. 

              All the color has been restored to the city. In the skies above, we see Dred’s blimp is now polka dotted.

              Back at the pack’s shack, the gang dial up Big D, and find that the vampire is wearing an orange suit, with multi-colored wings. It’s so stressful that he crawls back into his coffin to sleep off this technicolor nightmare. The end.

*   *   *

After these messages, we’ll look at the impact, aftermath, and explore the legacy of DRAK PACK.

                   COMMERCIALS #4 (1:30)

5. WAS IT A PHENOMENON?

MUSIC: I FEEL YOU 

ME:           Was it a phenomenon? It was an interesting attempt to take known villains and recast them as ancestor-atoning superheroes. Seeing a Frankenstein’s monster, a werewolf and a vampire fighting crime was a refreshing change. 

              In a season filled with the usual talking dogs, wisecracking cats, pre-historic families, superheoes and Godzilla monsters, the DRAK PACK was a change of pace and unique even now.

              As far as it being a hit… There wasn’t really any merchandise. No toys or shirts, or even a comic book to keep to adventures going. The type of characters found on the show would have been perfect for action figures. Add a playset of their command center with computers that flip around, as well as a cool looking Drakster, and an 80s kid would have been in heaven.

              Maybe the timing for such a thing was just off. Back in 1980, while there were action figures, the market at that time was being dominated by Kenner’s “Star Wars” figures. Putting out a line of toys against the beginning of the world’s biggest fantasy franchise may not have panned out. It’s possible that Drak Jr figures would have ended up in the discontinued dump bin. But I would have wagered that would have been a great collector’s items now. Maybe if the Drak Pack had hit in 1985, and a toy line was commissioned, it would have been a hit. Imagine a Howler figure that, at the touch of button, would flip around into the werewolf persona. Remember the old “Power Lords” toys? They could have been like that! They would have been in demand, and might have improved the ratings of the show.

              As it happened, the kids who tuned it didn’t have a real connection to the monsters. So, DRAK PACK never really took off. The monsters of the 40s and 50s were just as old fashioned as the characters on DRAK PACK. And kids of the 80s weren’t really interested in the monsters that scared their grandparents. With the rise of Michael Myers, Freddy Kruger and Jason Voorhies, it’s not surprising that Dracula left them cold. The show ran sixteen episodes and was gone at the end of 1980. 

              So a phenomenon? No. But it was a good attempt at something different.

                   FX: STATIC
 

6. AFTERMATH

MUSIC: NOSTALGIC 

ME:           After DRAK PACK, Jerry Dexter became a superhero. He went on to play Sunfire on “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends”, and then provided additional voices for “Paw-Paws”.  His last voice role was at the end of the 80s on “Fantastic Max”. Dexter retired from acting all together. In June of 2013, Dexter took a fall in his home and was hospitalized. He died on June 21 due to head injuries sustained in his fall. He was 78 years old, and is survived by his two children.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              William Callaway’s career took him into both live-action and animation. After DRAK PACK, he’d appear in “Trollkins” as Slug, and originated the role of Clumsy on “The Smurfs”. He worked steadily though the 80s and 90s, retiring in 2000. His last role was as Aquaman in “Cartoon Cartoon Friday’s Halloween Party”. At the age of 80, we hope he’s enjoying his retirement, wherever he is.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              After DRAK PACK Alan Oppenheimer went on to “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” as Skeletor. He remained in animation, voicing Colonel Troutman in “Rambo”, the President in “Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandoes” and a ton of others. In 1959, Oppenheimer married Mariana Elliot, a make-up artist, but the couple eventually divorced. In 1984, he married pro tennis player Marilyn Greenwood, but ended their marriage in 1990. Two years later, Oppenheimer remarried first wife Marianna, and the two remained together until her death in 2003. Oppenheimer is still active in voice work at the age of 90. He plays Moss Man in the Netflix series “Masters of the Universe: Revelation”. 

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              Hans Conried continued to split his time between live-action and animation. He even made an appearance on “Fantasy Island” as Dr. Van Helsing, famous for hunting Count Dracula. He provided the voices for the Red Skull and the Chameleon on “Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends”. Healthy problems had plagued Conried through the 70s. He had suffered a stroke in 1974, and a mild heart attack in 1979. On January 5, 1982, he passed away the day after suffering a major heart attack. He donated his body to science for further study. He was survived by his four children and Margaret, his wife of 40 years. He was 64 years old. 

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              Chuck McCann was married three times, and had three kids. He worked steadily in his remaining decades. He was the Innkeeper in the Mel Brooks farce, “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”, in keeping with his vampire theme. In animation, he was Duckworth the Butler on “DuckTales” and Mayor Grody on “Toxic Crusaders”. In modern animation, he was Bossman on “The Powerpuff Girls”, and appeared as Moe on several episodes of “Adventure Time”. In 2017, he was a writer and voice on the spoof, “Trump: The Last Family” on the Kevin Sean Michaels podcast. That special was a send up of the Kennedy influenced LP “The First Family”. On April 3, 2018, McCann passed away from congestive heart failure at the age of 83. He was survived by Betty, his third wife, and his two daughters. His son Sean, from his first marriage, passed away in 2009.

                   FX: SWOOSH

*   *   *

              Julie McWhirter appeared on some of the most well-known cartoons of the 1980s. She was on “The Smurfs” as Sassette, and provided additional voices on “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. She was also Wilma Slaghoople on “The Flintstone Kids”. After “The Pirates of Dark Water” in 1993, she was in the holiday special “The Town Santa Forgot”, and then semi-retired. She acted once again on the short “The Babe and the Kid”, and has vanished from professional life. Wherever she is, we wish her well. She and disc jockey Rick Dees are still together, and McWhirter is currently 74 years old.

                   FX: TV STATIC

7. LEGACY

MUSIC: HORIZONS 

ME:           It’s hard to tell what the legacy of DRAK PACK is. I can’t say that because the kids of 1980 saw this, that they clamored for more vintage monster movies. I can’t say that the vampires and werewolves of this show resulted in the “Twilight” series.

              I can tell you that there are now many t-shirt available that celebrate the series. The show is available on DVD, and has been since 2008. 

              DRAK PACK fits in well today, as Universe Studios is insistent on creating a cinematic universe for their classic monsters. That’s why we got Tom Cruise chasing a mummy as the start of the Dark Universe. Universal Studios had ambitious plans to connect all their monsters together. 

              I don’t know that there is a direct connection, but after the DRAK PACK went off the air, a certain 1987 film filled the void. Those familiar with Fred Dekker’s “The Monster Squad” will know what I’m talking about. The movie took a cool kids approach to reintroduce the classic monsters to a new generation. The kids who had watched DRAK PACK would be familiar with the monster types and might have been excited to see Dracula and the gang. Or to learn that the Wolfman’s got nards.

              DRAK PACK may not have a full legacy. Their drop in the pond may not have any real ripples into the entertainment of today. If rebooted today, the DRAK PACK could find mild success alongside Vampirina and other goth-tinged shows.

              Was DRAK PACK a favorite of yours? Listen until the end for our contact information, and let us know.

              Until next time, thanks for ‘tooning in.

                   MUSIC: SHOW END THEME 

8. FOLLOW & END (PRE-RECORD)

                   MUSIC: HIJACK

ME:           Thank you for joining us at THE SATURDAY MORNING PODCAST. If you like what you hear, please subscribe. If you could do us a favor, leave a Five Star Review wherever you get your episodes from.

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              Do you have any vintage Saturday Morning memories? Email us your story and we could read it on the next episode.

FADE OUT.

THE END