History Series / FraggleRock

* TricksterMentor: Cantus again, mostly by virtue of being terribly mysterious.

* UnconventionalFoodUsage: In one episode, Red and Mokey use radishes as earplugs so they won't fall victim to the MindControlMusic of the [[CactusPerson Singing Cactus]].

* UnexplainedAccent: Gobo has a Canadian accent complete with [[CanadaEh "eh"]] at the end of many of his sentences, and pronounces words such as "again" the Canadian way (he does not, however, say "aboot"). His Muppeteer, Jerry Nelson, was American; the accent is a reference to the show's Canadian home, as it was shot in Toronto. Nelson also used Canadian pronunciations for Pa Gorg and the Trash Heap on occasion, as did Dave Goelz with Uncle Matt, though none of those characters sported actual Canadian accents.

* CanadaEh: Not surprising given this was a CBC production. Most of the major characters were played by Americans, but there were many Canadians on the production staff, the songs were written by Canadians, and Doc and many secondary characters (including Ma Gorg) were played by Canadians. Also, Jerry Nelson gave Gobo a Canadian dialect, complete with "Eh"'s and pronunciation of certain words such as "again" (though he never said "aboot"). Traveling Matt visits Toronto's CN Tower in one postcard segment.
** The 2022 reboot, ''Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock'', continues the Canadian ties, as it was made in Calgary, Alberta.
** Completely averted with the animated adaptation, as it was planned and produced in the U.S. and animated in Korea.

** Baby Fraggles could occasionally be seen in the background in early episodes; this concept was dropped as the creators didn't want to get into the issue of Fraggle reproduction. Like Gobo and Ma Gorg's designs, some baby Fraggles could still be seen in the opening.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: "The Thirty-Minute Work Week", although the fifth episode, was the first to be filmed and features an early, somewhat different version of Sprocket, who was redesigned before more episodes were shot. Ma Gorg was also drastically redesigned after the first dozen or so episodes, and Gobo's wardrobe changed (from a red jacket to his trademark vest and scarf) and hair got shorter, although their early designs retained a presence for the entire series run, as they were featured in the opening and ending.
** Some of the earlier episodes are a bit weird in general, particular in regard to the characterization of the five leads. For example, in "You Can't Do That Without a Hat", Mokey bangs Doozers on the head with a stick for fun... and just a few episodes later she's suddenly a SoapboxSadie campaigning for Doozer rights. Similarly, Wembley has little personality in the earlier episodes, with his agreeability and indecisiveness being his only real traits. Later seasons would flesh him out a bit more.

* GRatedSex: Pa and Ma Gorg are still ''very'' amorous, to the point that Junior has to be banned from the creek when Pa and Ma go there very obviously to skinny-dip and have sex.

** This may be inconclusive or just inconsistent; Storyteller Fraggle mentions a fraggle hatching in "The Terrible Tunnel", but none of the Fraggles knew what an egg was in "Wembley's Egg" - yet Uncle Matt spoke of a chicken egg in "Capture The Moon".

* AntiVillain: The Gorgs are Type IV. While the Fraggles see them as cruel ogres, they just see the Fraggles as pests - and they actually have a valid reason to see them that way, seeing as the Fraggles steal vegetables from their garden. (The Fraggles don't consider this stealing; of course, they have a skewed view of many other beings, including humans.)

* TheCatCameBack: Young Nephew Matt is this (minus the teleportation) to his long-suffering Uncle Gobo.
* {{Catchphrase}}. Many.
-->'''Junior Gorg:''' OOOH! A FWAGGLE!
-->'''Rats:''' You are in the presence of the all-knowing, all-seeing Trash Heap! Nyeaah!

** On a more personal level, all the Fraggle Five went through some CharacterDevelopment over the series. It's most notable with Wembley, who at the beginning of the series has no opinions of his own and just agrees with whoever spoke last, but as the series progressed, he learns to think a little more for himself and even stand up for himself when a situation requires it - to the point where Junior Gorg actually mistakes him for the leader of the Fraggles in the penultimate episode - but without losing his flexibility and gist for seeing everyone's point of view.

* ChristmasEpisode: Fraggles of course don't celebrate Christmas (although of course Doc and Sprocket do in the same episode); instead, they enjoy The Festival of the Bells.

** "Walking through the cave" scenes were composed using a variant of the MatteShot called the.... [[IncrediblyLamePun traveling matte]].

** It's in Doc's name, too - his real name is Jerome[[note]]Which is also head writer/creative producer Jerry Juhl's birth name[[/note]], but his last name is Crystal, making him "Doc Crystal." (Say it out loud if that doesn't make sense.)

* ContinuityNod: Tons. In part this was budgetary -- custom Fraggle models [[DemotedToExtra reappeared frequently in crowd scenes after their debut]], for example -- but many were entirely script-based, such as Travelling Matt recognizing the hopping creatures.

-->'''Red:''' [[SarcasmMode You're right, Gobo, he IS a great explorer. He found the cake.]]

** "Gone But Not Forgotten": After Mudwell forces Wembley to leave, Boober offers to cook Wembley his favorite dish - [[AlliterativeName Peach and Pepper Potage]] - to cheer him up, not knowing that Mudwell made that dish for Wembley (and it was much ''better'' than Boober's). Boober is at a loss to figure out why this makes Wembley cry ''harder''.

* PinkySwear: Fraggles have an vow called "The Solemn Fraggle Oath" that affirms an unbreakable promise (and they really do keep to it, one of the few things they take ''very'' seriously - only the Fraggle who called for the oath can release others from it). Being Fraggles, the actual "solemn" oath is kind of silly: They hop around in a circle, saying "Weeba weeba, waffa waffa, garpox gumbage, whoopee!"

* SavingTheWorldWithArt: Or saving Fraggle Rock, anyway. Music is literally what keeps the Fraggles alive, as we see in [[ChristmasEpisode "The Bells of Fraggle Rock"]] - if they weren't able to ring their bells for the holiday, they'd ''literally'' freeze to death.

* ThemeTuneRollCall: Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red shout out their names in succession during the theme song, though so rapidly that viewers are quite unlikely to learn their names that way. And if you think it's hard in the show's native tongue, it's even ''more'' difficult in some of the foreign dubs - for example, Japanese, where Wembley's and Red's performers have to squeeze in additional syllables to say their names in {{Engrish}}. (Perhaps that's why the Latino Spanish version ditches the roll call and adds new lyrics there instead.)

** Partially justifiable when you consider how old the Gorgs are, and that they are essentially isolated from the rest of the world - including whatever other members of their species remain.

The ideals of friendship, being true to yourself and learning to love those incredibly different were the cornerstones of Henson's career, and he considered ''Fraggle Rock'' to be one of the purest and most successful expressions of that vision. Although Henson delegated most of the day-to-day responsibilities of the series' production, as he was focused on ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'' and then ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' at the time, he had assembled a top-notch team of professionals in every department who knew how to bring his vision to life, and did with flying colors; in turn, many Henson fans have agreed that ''Fraggle Rock'' may be his masterpiece. Unlike ''Dark Crystal'' and ''Labyrinth'', ''Fraggle Rock'' enjoyed near universal acclaim, well liked by both critics[[note]](it was a [=CableACE=] award winner and even earned a commendation from the National Educational Association before it even premiered)[[/note]] and audiences.[[note]]Early Nielsen surveys showed ''Fraggle Rock'' on HBO with a 13.2% rating among kids, more than six times the channel's average, and that it was watched by more viewers 11 years old and younger than the much-ballyhooed HBO premiere of ''Franchise/StarWars''. In Canada, where one didn't need a pay television subscription to watch the show, it was even more popular, winning ratings as high as 20%.[[/note]] The first LP soundtrack earned a UsefulNotes/{{Grammy|Award}} nomination and charted in the UK Top 40 (as did the theme song). And while it didn't end war in general, it ''was'' dubbed into over a dozen languages and aired in over ''ninety'' nations globally, and ''was'' the first western series broadcast in the UsefulNotes/SovietUnion... four days before the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall came down, no less![[note]]Henson obviously knew that his show wasn't solely responsible for ending the UsefulNotes/ColdWar, but he still jokingly took the circumstances as a compliment.[[/note]]

* TheMagicGoesAway[=/=]TheMagicComesBack: The finale. When it looks like Doc is moving, Gobo races to tell him that he cannot leave the magic -- and gets there too late, finding only a cold, dark, empty, utterly ''mundane'' room stripped of all the life and joy Doc and Sprocket had infused it with throughout the entire series. [[spoiler:Luckily, the message wasn't an order. It's a statement of fact]].
** RealitySubtext: The show's message to fans was that the Fraggles would always be there if the fans wanted them to be there, even after the series ended.
--->'''Doc:''' If little furry creatures could live behind the walls... why... that's magical. And then, anything is possible. Think of it. Maybe you're magic. Maybe I'm magic. Maybe Ned and Fluffinella are magic. Maybe the whole world... and then, Sprocket... if we '''''wanted''''' there to be a Fraggle hole behind that cardboard box... well... who knows?

* HeyThatsMyLine / UnwantedAssistance: Matt and Gobo's reprise of "Follow Me" in "Uncle Matt Comes Home". Gobo starts singing verse two, as he did when the song was introduced in the first episode, and Matt quickly shushes him, telling him, "This is ''my'' song."

* SelfSoothingSong: "The Day The Music Died" Gobo is the last Fraggle awake as the Ditzies, who give light to the subterranean areas where Fraggles live, are dying off. Gobo had been tasked with writing a song for a celebration, and he begins to sing it to comfort himself as he feels himself starting to slip away into slumber with the rest of the fraggles, when beautiful sparks of light begin to appear as he plays and sings. He realizes that the Ditzies come from music, and he renews his efforts with more vigor, until all of Fraggle Rock is restored.