It was 30 years ago tonight that Henson's masterpiece debuted on HBO (and the CBC as well), and became in many ways a seminal influence on Generation Y. Through the show he hoped to bring about international peace and harmony, and even today, much of its lessons would do the world well. Not to mention it's still also highly entertaining and works well for adults as well--I can vouch for that.
Was anyone else on this forum a hardcore fan?
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
I liked Fraggle Rock, but I remember that my Dad hated it. He thought that it was too much sensory overload with all the movement (the Muppet heads bouncing around when they spoke) and singing and jumping around. My Dad's a weird guy...
[ 11. February 2015, 07:49: Message edited by: Crash ]
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
Fraggle Rock was one of my favorites!
Posted by J2ME (Member # 5728) on :
I loved watching Fraggle Rock as a kid. I wasn't aware of this at the time, but the UK version had a different opening/human wraparound segment to the American version.
"The British inserts were filmed at the TVS Television Theatre in Gillingham, Kent (since closed) and presents Fraggle Rock as a rocky sea-island with a lighthouse. It used as an actual shown location St. Anthony's Lighthouse located near Falmouth in Cornwall. The lighthouse keeper is The Captain (played by Fulton Mackay), a retired sailor who lives with his faithful dog Sprocket."
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
And unfortunately, due to short-sightedness by the British TV people, most of the master of the British version of the show were lost a long time ago; only about half the British Rock episodes, counting those taped by private viewers off the air, remain available in full today. Perhaps, however, they'll get lucky and find some additional tapes somewhere...
Posted by Chris the CandyFanMan (Member # 3197) on :
In correlation, it's worth noting that was Henson's plan to have different "home base" segments in each country to hook onto the Rock scenes so it could be a truly international show. For example, thus, the French version was set in a bakery and Sprocket was named Croquette, while the German version created their own version of Doc's workshop with a different actor.
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
You know, Chris, that's my big issue with the BBC: they never cared about the stuff that they aired. Look at how many episodes of Doctor Who are lost. I always get excited when the fine folks on the Doctor Who Restoration Team find a lost episode in some far off place. As I understand it, they don't get paid anything extra. They do it for the sheer love of finding lost Doctor Who episodes. Perhaps someone should put together a Fraggle Rock Restoration Team. Posted by Helen_S (Member # 5804) on :
And recording over episodes of Sherlock Holmes with Peter Cushing. Disgusting!
Posted by Crash (Member # 7484) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)