GWMJedi Review of Fraggle Rock

Fraggle Rock (1983–1987)

Why, oh why, isn't this series available on home video/DVD?

[9/10 · 6 February 2001]

To folks at companies like [Lucasfilm and] Henson Productions: WE WANT THE LEGACY OF JIM HENSON on CD and DVD in our home stereos! Think of the money that Henson Productions is not making, by not releasing all of their back catalog on DVD and the soundtracks on CD! Oh but right, I'm supposed to be reviewing the product, not slamming the marketing idiocy of the company that owns it. What to say about Fraggle Rock... It's a good show, and it's the type of material that I would want my children to watch -- when I have kids, that is. Power Rangers just doesn't cut it. Fraggles are COOL. Period. And Doozers too! And we all know that Gorgs wouldn't *really* kill a Fraggle. Many muppet fans lambast this show because "it's just not as good as the Muppet Show or Sesame Street." Ok, fine. But it's a totally different show and is worthy of note. It was fun, and it featured a theme song that still pops into my head 18 years later. The show could have some educational value; of course, everything Jim Henson ever did could have educational value if parents would sit together with their kids and talk about what they're seeing when they watch TV. I guess the best way to summarize how I feel about this show is to state that I was 12 years old when it came out, and it provided a beautiful safe "kiddie" retreat from an otherwise bleak time in my life. There was always something about this show... the idea that just beneath your feet there might be a beautiful world with amazing creatures in it, who all learned somehow magically to JUST BE NICE TO EACH OTHER -- and who also learned some wisdom from listening to a heap of trash. "Metaphysics 101 For Kids"? If only the real world were as safe as Jim Henson's visions... but then again, that always *was* his magic -- expanding your mind, letting you have fun, but keeping you basically safe. We should all be so lucky. It's one of my greatest regrets that according to Henson Productions statements, my children will probably never have the joy of watching this show. If the misguided marketers at Henson Productions ever read any reviews such as this one, then know this: you have let your fans down, and tainted the memory of Jim Henson. Your marketing decisions have denied Mr Henson's legacy from an entire generation of fans -- and their children. All that money, which we will spend on other companies, whose products are undoubtedly inferior... such a shame. RELEASE THE BACK CATALOG ON DVD.