Although I am a little too young to have first watched the fraggles back in the 80s, I grew up watching the episodes on tape, and they will always have a special place in my heart. So finally owning all of the episodes from the first season (and hopefully all the box-sets after that) is brilliant.
Since there has already been a good summary of all the episodes posted, I'm going to do a general review of the series so far...
Fraggle rock is a wonderful, musical slice of fun for anyone, regardless of whether or not you're a fan of jim henson's muppets (although it probably helps if you are). Although its storylines and morals are technically aimed at under 10s, it rides along with a very witty, thoughtful script that adults should be alble to enjoy and relate to as much as kids. Nothing is "dumbed-down" the way things so often are in kids shows; the characters deal with some rather complicated issues and they themselves are deceptively complex. However, this is all played over a fuzzy, colourful, and downright cute fantasy underground world where everyone eats radishes and sings all day.
The story sets off with young Fraggle Gobo's uncle leaving the underground safety of Fraggle Rock to explore the human world (or "outer space" as it has been christened by the fearful Fraggle community), and he leaves Gobo with the task of collecting his postcards every week in order to learn more about the strange outside world. But in each episode the real action takes place not in our world, but the colourful fantasy world of the Fraggles, full of wonderful and terrible creatures, massive caves, and lots of music. And this action mostly revolves around five young fraggle friends and their relationships and adventures.
The main character, Gobo, never appealed to me at first, since at first glance he comes accross as the standard "brave, does-everything-totally-right leader" cutout type, but as the episodes progress, it becomes obvious that even he has doubts about himself and his abilities, and his difficulties with overcoming these problems give his character a great deal more depth. Gentle, thoughtful, and empathetic Mokey is the most mature of the fraggle characters, and usually acts as the parent/sister figure to the younger fraggles. Red, the other female fraggle, will probably prove alot more popular with younger veiwers because of her childish energy, and her brashness makes for some very entertaining episodes as well, as do her turbulent relationships with her fellow fraggles. These characters are all very likeable once you get to know them, and they are played with a great deal of energy and obvious enjoyment by their puppeteers (who also provide their voices with great skill), but the spotlight really has to go to the fraggles Wembley and Boober; if it wasn't for their respective "wembling" (Fraggle for "indecisiveness") and worrying, FR just wouldn't be the same. They provide the majority of the comic relief, and the episodes involving them usually prove the most absorbing. Other great recurring characters worth a mention are Marjorie the tash-heap-oracle-who-isn't-really-an-oracle and her two wisecracking shrew-like assistants, Gobo's Uncle Travelling Matt who wanders the human world outside Fraggle Rock in what seems to be a permenant state of confusion and wonder, and of course the human Doc and his amazingly human-like dog Sprocket, whose problems often mirror the problems faced by the Fraggles beneath them.
Since this is an episodic, Saturday kids show, with another four seasons to go, the characters don't develop a great deal across the episodes, but within each story they each learn important lessons about life and prove again and again just how close they are and how much they care for each other, and this makes for some sweet and even genuinely emotional moments such as in the episodes "marooned", "I don't care", and "catch a tail by the tiger". But it never becomes preachy or melodramatic, and there's always enough comedy, colour and music to keep the series very lighthearted.
Since Fraggles love to sing, the songs featured in the series are very important. Although sometimes I did feel the writers just shoved a song in rather awkwardly at the last minute, all the music is of a very high quality considering there's generally more than one song per EVER episode. This will delight younger kids, but older veiwers may find themselves skipping the songs so they can get on with the cute, funny storylines uninterrupted.
The Gorgs, the "bad guys" of the series, are also certainly very well-done (a mix of people in costumes and animatronics that can be seen the the later Jim Henson production DINOSAURS) but I found the episodes centered around them just weren't as fun or interesting, but thats just my opinion. Its ironic that the basic puppets managed to keep my attention far better than the technically advanced, more over-the-top gorgs, but thats just the way it is.
This DVD boxed set is of very good quality, with a few extra goodies such as an original Documentary, new interviews with the cast and writers (one of whom, Jerry Juhl, tragically died shortly after filming these interviews), which should please all the die hard fans that cult success has brought this excellent show.
Fraggle Rock is genuinely smart and funny, with wonderful, well-played, throughly likable characters, catchy music and a large, diverse world that both reflects and opposes our own. Okay, so it never really captures Jim Henson's original vision of being a show that "creates world peace", but lets face it, nothing could have done that really, and why complain when the end result is so good anyway?
Good bits:
+ A colourful puppet-world that is still showing very few signs of age over two decades on
+ Tons of songs that the little'uns will sing and dance along to
+ Surpisingly three-dimensional characters and a disarmingly sweet storyline that can be very moving at times.
+ Its just downright funny, more so than so many "adult comedies" out there
Bad bits:
- The gorgs probably just won't prove as interesting to older veiewers as the Fraggles and Doc will
- Could have done with a bit more character development across the whole series. I KNOW the writers could have done that if they'd tried.
- A few plot inconsistencies, but you'll spot them if you're careful
- A little too many songs, and not always at the right moments
Bear in mind all these bad points aren't particularly important at all, and Fraggle Rock definately adds up to more than the sum of its parts. I give it a very deserving 5/5.
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