Fraggle Blog - Sir Hubris and the Gorgs

Episode IIix, written by Sugith Varughese.

There's an odd shadow that passes on Junior Gorg in the opening as Gobo is flying through the air. Is it the shadow of Gobo, or of someone tossing a second Gobo to land in the well? If the latter, then I don't understand why they didn't do another take. We have to watch poor Gobo break his bones on the well in the opening song, every episode.

Yay, Kermit and Piggy Halloween costumes! What would happen if Traveling Matt discovered some Fraggle Rock merchandise out in Outer Space?

So this episode seemed to sort of try to do for the Gorgs what yesterday's episode did for the Doozers. We did find out a little bit about the Gorgs' backstory, such as it is. But somehow it didn't feel satisfactory to me. I don't mean to say that the Doozers are especially well-rounded characters, but the Gorgs still feel as nebulous to me as before. One thing that I think doesn't help at all is the performance of a Gorg character is necessarily split between two people. This always gives a feeling of outsized pantomime to the characters, and subtle expression is apparently impossible.

As Muppet Wiki points out, while it's pouring rain at Doc's, the skies are clear for the Gorgs, meaning that they don't share the same natural world as regular earth creatures.

Fraggle Blog - All Work and All Play

Episode IIviii, written by Jerry Juhl.

"Another letter from Duncan!" Another shout out to the Fraggle Rock staff.

Wow! We're inside Doozerland!

So this episode seems to be about wanting to be something you're not. I wonder how it will resolve?

Fun Doozer song!

Okay, that was a really significant episode. First, it confirmed what I thought had occurred earlier, which is that Fraggles and Doozers can communicate. But mainly, it was a very nice, sudden insight into the world of the Doozers. I'd say the episode's "moral" was that you have to accept who and what you are, but also celebrate your individuality.

While the Doozers look perfectly adorable, I don't feel they work nearly as well on film as regular hand puppets. There's just something about a puppet having a human hand inside of it that gives it a warmth. The rod mechanism puppets -- or especially the remote controlled puppets -- just don't have the same warmth. Interesting that they didn't decide to build "Fraggle-sized" Doozers for shots with just Doozers in them.

I can see why Jim Henson wanted to direct that episode, since it revealed a lot of new things about the world of Fraggle Rock. I also enjoyed the shots of Fraggle feet, and the full body shot of Red squatting to talk to Cotterpin.

Very good episode, with fun songs.

Fraggle Blog - Mokey and the Minstrels

Episode IIvii, by Jocelyn Stevenson.

Kathy Mullen really saves Mokey's wide-eyed expression for special occasions.

Interesting...how the other minstrels seem sort of disillusioned with Cantus. And Cantus seems more like a pompous windbag than before.

Okay, at least Cantus didn't end up as such a pompous windbag. Nice episode.

Fraggle Blog - Boober's Dream

Episode IIvi, by Jocelyn Stevenson.

Another onscreen title for this episode!

"All dreams are a little bit true," sayeth Marjory.

Okay, this is a fairly brilliant episode. A huge flowering and expansion of Fraggle life and culture, used to reveal a fascinating aspect of Boober's repressed character. Sidebottom is brilliant!

Plus, Doc having dreams about Fraggles as well!

Okay, Matt is watching The Dark Crystal. Cool.

Oh dear...I don't think we needed a soft slow song about dreaming...but it has nice harmonies...

The sudden flying from the usual cut-off-at-the-waist framing of the puppets is great.

One day, Doc says, he'll figure out why he dreamed about the silly creatures. One day he'll understand.

Okay, best episode evah. A hearty brava to Jocelyn Stevenson. Full of mystery, and possible meanings and connections, and a prolonged delving into the psyche of my favorite Fraggle. Awesome.

Fraggle Blog - Uncle Traveling Matt Comes Home

Episode IIv, by Jerry and Susan Juhl

Does the word "Traveling" belong in the title? Muppet Wiki says no.

Doc heard Gobo say "Whoopee". That counts as the first acknowledgement of the Fraggles' existence by Doc in the "real world".

I like this "Welcome Home" song!

Hmmm...this Gobo/Matt fight has escalated a bit beyond the level of believability....

I liked this episode pretty well; the Rock Clingers were a funny idea. But the one thing that bothered me was the disintegration of Gobo and Matt's relationship. It just didn't seem to follow a believable path of gradual disillusionment to get to the point of out-and-out anger that it had to reach. That could have been developed better. But it was still a fun episode.

Fraggle Blog - Red's Sea Monster

Episode IIiv, by David Young.

Yay, Marlon Fraggle!

Okay, not as good an episode. Those slow, sad songs just grind the proceedings to a halt.

And I'm pretty hard pressed to know what this show was about. So the best thing Red could do was to lie to the others about the sea monster? That was a good choice? I don't get it. Not a great episode.

Fraggle Blog - The Trash Heap Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Episode IIiii, written by Jerry Juhl.

Hey, there was an episode title graphic for the first episode of season two, but I don't think we've had it since.

The fabric seems to have come loose on Junior Gorg's jaw.

Ah, this is the first time we get a really clear view of where the Trash Heap is relative to the Gorgs' castle.

I liked Pa Gorg's "Hot cha cha" after the "Hey nonny nonny" blessing. Wonder if that was an ad lib.

Marjory had a sex change!

"Things don't disappear; they just change, and change, and change again." Thus spake Doc, providing us with the "moral" for this episode.

Fraggle Blog - Boober Rock

Episode IIii, written by B.P. Nichol

These "dream" sequences of Boober's are great! Multi-Boobers!

Oy, Dave Goelz is a great puppeteer.

Wow, Steve really doesn't overwork the eye-rolling mechanism on Wembley. It's kind of shocking when he uses it.

The remembering song was funny!

Wow, another really fun episode. And really funny! The whole "forgetting" concept was just great. And again, a very gentle moral.

Fraggle Blog - Wembley's Egg

II i, written by Laura Phillips.

So Muppet Wiki tells us a four-month period came between the end of season 1 taping and the beginning of season 2. Ma Gorg gets a new voice.

I'm not sure that we're getting the original titles as broadcast.

Ooh, a nice title name graphic. New for season 2.

I like Gobo wondering how a creature in an egg breathes. Good question!

This is part Dr. Seuss, part A.A. Milne!

The Baby Tree Creature is very cute.

Okay, now this flying lesson song is very nicely integrated into the plot. This is just what is needed. As for the first song, it was nice, but I don't understand why Wembley was telling the Baby Tree Creature to hush when it hadn't yet made a peep?

Seuss, Milne, and now Baum!

This may be my favorite episode yet. Charming, funny, full of good lessons yet without seeming at all moralistic. And having the flying song come right out of the plot and taking it over for a couple of minutes made all the difference in the world. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come. Season 2 is off to a great start!

Fraggle Blog - New Trash Heap in Town

Episode 24, written by newcomer Laura Phillips.

Ooh, Gobo actually got injured by Junior Gorg!

The Hairy Chested Batworm was amusing!

As was Wembley's Philo and Gunge impression.

Nice episode. And with that, season 1 draws to a close. Some overall thoughts:

Well, it's a really great, fun show. I'm enjoying it. I don't want to carp on some of what I perceive to be as problems, but here are some of my questioning thoughts.

The presence of Frank Oz is missed. Ditto for Henson, though we at least get him every now and then. All the performers are very good, and I'm especially enjoying Dave Goelz and Steve Whitmire this season. But the anarchic comedic spirit of Oz would really liven things up.

As I've mentioned before, I feel the Gorgs' role in the show is somewhat ill-defined. We follow the Fraggles, so most of our attention is on them. When we see Doozers, they're always working, so at least we know what they're doing. But the Gorgs kind of seem to hang out, waiting to be used as a plot device in the Fraggles' story. It seems the creators want things to be a bit "existential" with the Gorgs, for lack of a better word. Pa Gorg is a king, but of what and of whom is never made clear. I guess this is supposed to represent the folly of allowing power to go to your head, but it makes the whole Gorg storyline muddy. There's no sense of their life off-camera, as there is with the Fraggles and Doozers.

But I think the main problem I have with the show lies unfortunately in the music. The best of Philip Balsam's songs are very good, but there are plenty that are not near his best work. Perhaps the style hasn't aged particularly well. But really, I think the task of writing something along the lines of 50 songs for a season is too much for anyone. I take Bear in the Big Blue House as an example of children's television done almost to perfection. And that show had great music, much better than Fraggle Rock's in my opinion, and it was written by several different composers. Heck, they had David Yazbek, who's written a couple of great Broadway scores! They should have had several different songwriters, just as they had several different screenwriters.

But an equal problem to the songs themselves is how they are integrated into the stories. Far too often -- really, almost always -- the action grinds to a complete halt while a character sings about their feelings. Watching the special DVD features, it seems that the songs were sometimes assigned when there was only a vague idea of what they were to be about. So they left a hole in the script for the song, then they got the song, and perhaps it didn't quite fit the needs of the changing script, but they shoehorned it in anyway. Really, the scripts and songs need to be developed side by side, which would necessitate using different composers and lyricists, which I feel is what they needed anyway. That way the music could be used to advance the plot, rather than to slow it down.

Okay, enough carping. It really is a great, brave, noble, charming, funny show. And this was only the first season! There's much more to come, and I'm quite eager to see how things changed and grew. Bring on Season Two!

Fraggle Blog - The Beast of Blue Rock

Episode 23, written by newcomer Sugith Varughese.

Unclear whether it's "Blue Rock" (according to the Muppet Wiki) or "Bluerock" (according to the DVD menu). I'm a stickler for these things. I suppose I'll watch the episode anyway, even with this important issue unresolved in my mind.

Okay, Gobo is saying "Blue Rock" with equal stress on both syllables/words, and perhaps even a bit more stress on the second. So I think it's two words.

Mokey just hugged Gobo. They in love.

Ooh, I think we had our first marionette action on Wembley when the Doozer bridge collapsed.

Hmmm...so they're not in Fraggle Rock anymore? Gobo just commented that Wembley had come all the way from Fraggle Rock.

The extent of Marjory's powers is revealed to be larger than previously thought! It seems she's the grand puppetmaster, controlling events and creating situations through her magic powers in order for the Fraggles to learn and grow. A fun, well-written episode, and a nice message of which F.D.R. would approve.

Fraggle Blog - Mokey's Funeral

Episode 22, written by Jerry and Susan Juhl!

Doc is trying to get rid of his hiccups...but he just went about 30 seconds without hiccuping.

Am I too critical?

Even of myself?

Um...Mokey's dancing and singing with an effigy of herself. Weird.

Junior's distraught because he thinks he killed a Fraggle. Wasn't he just swinging clubs at them and trying to smash them a few episodes ago?

The White Bird reminds me of Pogo and Friends' little rowboat with the ever-changing name.

This episode seemed to be more about "incident" than a real furthering of the overall story arc of the series. Unless we were really supposed to pick up on a burgeoning Gobo/Mokey romance? Stay tuned!

Fraggle Blog - Gobo's Discovery

Episode 21, written by Jocelyn Stevenson.

Ooh, I liked the little recitative number Wembley and Boober did! I guess that was "What If". Unlike a lot of the Fraggle Rock songs, this one developed quite naturally out of the dialog, and didn't slow down the plot.

A nice episode. It's okay to question choices and decisions that you've made about what you want to do with your life.

I believe I remember hearing that the cast of Fraggle Rock developed a sort of encyclopedia of the Fraggle world. There certainly are a lot of interesting non-Fraggle creatures in that world, such as the Invisible Garboil and the Belching Boulder.

Fraggle Blog - The Garden Plot

Episode 20, written by Canadian poet B.P. Nichol. What an interesting fellow, judging by his Muppet Wiki page!

Hmm...how does Sprocket know the word "Fraggle"?

Pa Gorg's eyes are great!

Wow, this is not the time for a slow sad ballad from Red. She's panicked about Junior attacking the Fraggle hole, but suddenly she's all introspective. Doesn't work.

What's the story with Gobo's parents? Why does he call out for his Uncle Matt instead of them?

Cute! Baby Junior Gorg!

If they're anticipating Junior's first kiss, then clearly there must be other Gorgs somewhere.

So Doc rents, not owns.

Interesting episode. Fraggle Rock gets attacked from both sides, and Junior gets away with a lie. I have to say I wish the Gorgs' story was fleshed out a bit more. It feels like they're always just waiting around to have some sort of unconscious interaction with the Fraggles, and I have no idea how they spend their time. It's easy to imagine how the Fraggles fill their days, but not so with the Gorgs. Perhaps this develops as the series progresses.

Fraggle Blog - The Great Radish Famine

Episode 19, by Jerry Juhl

Is this the first episode where we hear Ned Shimmelfinney's first name?

Ooh, Marjory is a magical trash heap!

I wonder why they tend to write one of the Fraggle Five out of an episode from time to time? Why isn't Gobo in this episode? Because Jerry Nelson had more to do with Marjory this episode?

The Doozers are all knitting! That's hilarious.

Does Marjory think Mokey is a "he"? That's how she referred to her.

No Traveling Matt postcard at all!

Well, that was a neat episode, a real "world-building" episode. Jerry Juhl really expanded upon our knowledge of the Fraggle/Doozer/Gorg universe, all in the service of making a very nice statement. When circumstances affect all the creatures, their innate instinct is to blame each other. And when they do all get together to solve a problem, things aren't all "perfect harmony"...but at least sometimes they do get together!

Fraggle Blog - The Minstrels

Episode 18, written by Jocelyn Stevenson

I like how it was established right off the bat that Red doesn't "hear the music".

Wow, Henson was great as Cantus.

This is definitely Red's/Karen's best episode so far. Was the puppet rebuilt? She does look a little different, but the puppetry and characterization seem to have a newfound confidence too.

Okay, Junior Gorg really does seem to be trying to kill Red and Mokey, even though he's just saying he wants them to "dance". I feel like the writers were a bit vague about the exact threat that the Gorgs pose to the Fraggles.

Ooh, so Doc can read Traveling Matt's postcard too! Will Gobo ever get the postcard?

Seems like during the season 1 break, the writers decided it was too limiting to always have to include Gobo venturing into Doc's workshop to nab the postcard. I'm not sure that's happened once in the last 6 episodes.

A great episode, but then Henson seems to enliven every episode he's in. "Sometimes you just have to let things come to you", I would say was the message.

Fraggle Blog - Marooned

Episode 17, written by David Young

Ooh, a nice Indiana Jones moment! And quite au courant at the time of shooting.

Sprocket's little charades game was quite wonderful. Bravo, Whitmire and Prell!

"What do you think it's like to die?" Wow.

An interesting episode. I almost feel like it was written to see how far they could venture into real, serious emotion with the characters. And I have to say, I think they succeeded. Things never felt forced or labored. Sensitively done.

Fraggle Blog - Capture the Moon

Episode 16, by another one-time-only Fraggle writer, David Brandes.

Okay, it keeps bugging me that Gobo hits the edge of the Gorg well before falling in. That must have hurt! Couldn't they have done one more take, for the opening sequence which they knew would be seen again and again?

Ooh, weird graphics at the beginning of that episode! Was that supposed to be a realistic view of the clouds and moon?

Where's Boober?

So, are the Fraggles used to the Gorgs dropping a bucket down into their pond to get their water? Have I missed that part?

Is the Gorg moon the same as the human moon? The Fraggles seem to be a long way underground from where Doc and Sprocket are. Is there a sizable uphill walk for the Fraggles to get to the Gorgs?

Ooh, there's those cutout clouds and moon again. Seriously, couldn't they have used stock footage? Seeing that in juxtaposition with the "reality" of Doc and Sprocket's world really doesn't work.

If Dave Goelz was performing Gonzo instead of Traveling Matt, he would have given that live chicken the eye!

Okay, I really liked this episode. Although it was never explicitly stated, it's clear that the Fraggles are completely clueless about "their moon", that it's just a reflection of the Gorg's (the real?) moon. And so they've made up a ceremony to celebrate it. And I feel we humans are equally clueless about how our world actually works, and so we make up stories and ceremonies and rituals to make us happier about it all. Hard for me to believe that wasn't the motivation for this episode, but as I say, I really appreciate how that parallel was entirely unstated. Just the kind of thing that would set a thinking kid to thinking. For himself.

Fraggle Blog - I Don't Care

Episode 15, the one and only episode written by Canadian playwright Carol Bolt. How interesting!

Whether Gobo is saying "Wowee" or "Now me" in the opening, it always bugs me that his voice trails on long after his mouth has closed.

So whose trash is Marjory the Trash Heap made of? Boober has a bottle cap stating "No deposit, no return", which sounds like a human bottle cap to me. So the Trash Heap is maybe a place where Fraggles and humans might have interacted before.

Wow, there are some weird creatures in the Rock!

Don't put too much store in objects? I think that would have to be the lesson in this episode. It's people that count, not things.

Actually it was a very good episode. Too bad Ms. Bolt didn't write more.

And I marvel again at Dave Goelz's great puppetry. I remember how stiff and timid Gonzo was when Goelz was starting out. He certainly blossomed into a terrific puppeteer.

And I just noticed that this is director Stephen Katz's only episode. Odd that this episode would feature two one-time-only Fraggle collaborators.

Fraggle Blog - The Challenge

episode 14, written by Jerry Juhl

Doc's got an Apple monitor! I wonder what it was, exactly?

Ooh, he's got 64KB of RAM!

Okay, so here Jerry Juhl is carrying on the Gobo/Red rivalry.

Hmm, I think this is the first time Gobo hasn't actually retrieved the postcard of the day; it was a recollection.

Wow, Ma Gorg looks a lot better now!

Hasn't Junior sung this "Dum-de-dum" song before?

Okay, I think the greenscreen was definitely done live so the puppeteers could see it in their monitors. Boober did a very funny reaction to Junior Gorg that was timed perfectly.

Rivalry was indeed the theme of the episode. Traveling Matt's bit didn't really seem to tie into the theme.

Fun episode!

Fraggle Blog - We Love You, Wembley

episode 13, by Jocelyn Stevenson

So Muppet Wiki tells us that 6 months passed between the tapings of episodes 12 and 13.

Wow, Gobo did get a hair cut!

Mokey thinks Wembley is in love. Do Fraggles fall in love? Get married? Have baby Fraggles? How old are the Fraggle Five?

Muppet Wiki also tells us that from this point onward, the Fraggle episodes will be less "didactic". I can't say I found them particularly didactic before, but that episode did indeed seem to be a bit less focused on a "message". It was just about love and friendship, and how things can go overboard, but there didn't seem to be any particular takeaway points. A fun episode, which raised some interesting questions about Fraggle relationships.

Fraggle Blog - The Finger of Light

Another by David Young.

Episode 12.

Again, David Young has the Red/Gobo rivalry going. Interesting to see if any other writers pick up on it from here on out.

Ooh, Marlon Fraggle is dark!

I wonder who the marionettist is?

Ooh, we saw Doc's porch!

A very nice episode about power and control. Mokey's last song sort of seemed to bring things to a halt, but I liked the conclusion of the Fraggle storyline.

Okay, Marlon is hilarious. Another negative character. Henson knew how valuable they were to have around.

Fraggle Blog - Catch the Tail by the Tiger

A new writer, Canadian playwright David Young!

The 11th episode.

Okay, does Gobo say "Wowee" or "Now me" in the opening? ("Now me", meaning he wants to dive into the water next?)

Gobo sounds especially Canadian this episode.

Interesting that in this episode, Gobo reads the first postcard he ever got from Traveling Matt. That might do odd things to the continuity...

I wonder why Gobo took off his vest? And it looks like he sort of has eyebrows...

"If you conquer your fears, you might find there was nothing to be afraid of after all." That would have to be the moral of today's show. Gobo faced up to heading out into the world (again), and lo and behold there was a postcard from Traveling Matt. And Sprocket discovered that he actually liked walking in the rain.

A nice episode. The Red/Gobo relationship seemed a little different to me, and I wonder if that's the result of having a new and different writer. I hadn't noticed Red particularly being doubtful of Gobo's courage before, but David Young emphasized that strongly here. I guess the characters' relationships were still in a bit of flux...after all, we're not even halfway through the first season yet.

Fraggle Blog - Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk

Episode 10, written by Jerry Juhl

Hmm, Gobo seems to have some sort of eyebrow/hair mechanism. Haven't noticed that before.

Hasn't Mokey sung that song before?

A letter from Kermit! Love or the Frog?

Okay, I gotta ask, why don't the humans in the outside world seem intrigued by Traveling Matt?

Boober gets catapulted out into Doc's workshop, freeing Gobo, and then a few moments later he just pops up, back in Fraggle Rock? That seems to missing out on some great opportunities for Boober's reactions at being in the outside world. We could at least see him being pursued by Sprocket!

Interesting that the Fraggles didn't ask the Doozers if they could borrow the catapult, or ask them to help. They just waited until the Doozers' lunch break, and took the matter into their own hands. I'm guessing that shows there's a lot of room for the Fraggle/Doozer relationship to grow.

Fraggle Blog - The Lost Treasure of the Fraggles

writer - Jerry Juhl

episode 9

Besides Fraggles, Doozers and Gorgs, I wonder if anyone has ever documented all the other strange creatures that live in and around Fraggle Rock?

It looks like Traveling Matt is throwing Canadian coins in the fountain.

I wonder if the old music box is supposed to be a human relic?

I guess this one had so much plot in it that there was no time for "songs", per se. Yet the ultimate treasure was essentially a tune.

Fraggle Blog - The Terrible Tunnel

episode 8

written by Jocelyn Stevenson

Oh, I guess Gobo does come back up from his opening dive, but his hair is wet and he's almost unrecognizable.

I wonder how Wembley's swiveling eyes work?

Cool songs in this one.

Wow, that terrible tunnel is pretty scary!

This is probably my favorite episode so far. But if it's trying to "say" something, I'm not sure what it is. I've felt we're supposed to laugh at Boober's superstitions, and the legend of the terrible tunnel seems like nothing more than just a legend, yet we find out it really is real. And I'm not sure how the Doc/Sprocket storyline ties in...the horseshoe is a symbol of good luck, and so I can't help but feel the theme is "reality versus superstition". Of course, maybe the idea wasn't so much to have an obvious "moral" as it was just to tell a good story. In that, it succeeded nicely.

Fraggle Blog - I Want to Be You

written by Jocelyn Stevenson

An episode about wanting to be someone other than who you are. Doc and Sprocket are trying to figure out who to dress up as for a costume party, and Red decides she wants to be just like Mokey.

Ooh, the Traveling Matt puppet got his hands dirty in the mud! I'm thinking you couldn't just wash that out...

So even though there was a bit of communication between the Fraggles and the Gorgs, this episode mainly focused on interpersonal relationships between the Fraggles, rather than the relationships between the different groups of characters.

Fraggle Blog - The Preachification of Convincing John

writer -- Jerry Juhl

Am I seeing things right, or does Gobo never emerge from his dive in the opening credits?

Hasn't there already been Fraggle/Doozer communication in earlier episodes? Why doesn't Mokey just ask the Doozers if they mind Fraggles eating their constructions? She can obviously understand them, as we see towards the end of the episode.

Doc gets a phone call from Steve. Whitmire?

Wow, Convincing John is great! Love the faint at the end of his big number.

This episode underscores the basic lack of understanding between Fraggles and Doozers, and shows Mokey taking an important step towards that understanding. I do think it's already been mentioned that Doozers don't mind Fraggles eating their constructions...and I also think there's been actual communication between the two groups...but I'm sure continuity issues like that were difficult to maintain. They probably didn't know exactly what order the episodes would air in, as they were writing them. A really nice episode, enlivened enormously by Henson's performance!

Fraggle Blog - The Thirty-Minute Work Week

A Jerry Juhl episode.

How does Gobo pick up those postcards? Magnets?

Muppet Wiki tells us this was the first episode filmed. Gobo's and Wembley's voices seem to be pitched a bit higher.

When Mokey and Wembley are green-screened in front of the Gorgs, I wonder if that's all done live. It would be hard to synchronize otherwise. It definitely has a live "feel".

Fun seeing Dave Goelz riding the roller coaster! I remember there's a similar roller coaster scene in "Muppets on Wheels".

My, Firechief Fraggle's eyes are on crooked!

If there was a "moral" to this episode, I'd say it was "do what makes you happy". Sort of the "You Can't Take It With You" philosophy, and a good one.