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YMMV / Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock

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  • Adorkable: Doc's childlike enthusiasm for science and cutesy nicknames, as well as her tendency to go off on odd tangents and her close relationship with Sprocket, make her very endearing. She's as perfect for this show as the original Doc was for the '80s series.
  • And the Fandom Rejoiced: There was always a fair bit of cautious optimism among the fan base around Back to the Rock, but the first real sign that the production was in good hands was the revelation that Karen Prell (Red) and Dave Goelz (Boober, Travelling Matt) would not only be reprising their roles but serve as executive producers for the show. There was even more rejoicing when sneak peaks began dropping, including the song "Party Down in Fraggle Rock" which would not only confirm that this series was going to have Awesome Music, but also show off the colorful visuals and amazing puppeteering, which were even better than the already-impressive original.
  • Anvilicious: The series doesn't hold back on its morals regarding consent, ideological echo chambers, and especially microplastics in the ocean (in the Doc segments).
  • Awesome Music: Both the new songs and the tunes reused from the original series provide examples.
    • "Party Down in Fraggle Rock" is the first song of the series, and establishes straight off the bat that the music is going to be just as good in this series as in the original.
    • "Only Way Home" (originally from "Sir Hubris and the Gorgs") is catchy, has clever wordplay, and a great rhythm.
    • "Craggle Lagoon" has pleasant-sounding steel drums, perfect for a song about a lagoon.
    • "Once Upon a Time (I Knew My Name)", originally sung by Gobo in "Gobo's Discovery", is a quite emotional song that Red pulls off perfectly. Also counts as a tearjerker.
    • "One Heart" is an epic, uplifting song to end Season 1.
    • "Floop, Bloop and Whoop" is simple but irresistibly catchy with its '60s California-surf-rock sound.
    • The fiery vocals of Patti LaBelle take the song "Shine on Us Now (Moon Come Soon)", originally featured in "Capture the Moon", to a whole new level.
    • The title song to the holiday episode "The Night of the Lights" is fun and joyful, recalling songs like Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" or anything from the 1963 Phil Spector Christmas album.
    • The final episode of season one has a new rendition of one of the most classic Fraggle songs, "Follow Me." And "The Night of the Lights" does the same with "Magic Be with You" from the original series finale.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: In "Colder Boulders", Large Marvin states that it has gotten so hot in the Rock that even his sweat is sweating. Cut to an uncharacteristically surreal gag where it is revealed that one of Marvin's sweat drops is alive and indeed sweating itself, followed by a line from the sweat.
  • Broken Base: Some fans like the new, redesigned Mokey; others prefer the original.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: While they already had fans in season 1 due to their hilariously ditzy and clueless nature and fluffy design, Pogey's popularity exploded across the entire Muppet fandom with season 2's A Day in the Limelight episode "I'm Pogey", due to them being a canonical non-binary Muppet (large portions of the Muppet fandom are LGBT, and LGBT headcanons are common) who is nothing but incredibly sweet and caring to Wembley when he questions his identity. Many have proclaimed the character absolutely adorable and lovably silly, and there has since been plenty of fan art and requests on the Tough Pigs Discord server (a very large Muppet fan server) for a Pogey plush and other merchandise.
  • Fanfic Fuel: What if Doc finds out about the Fraggles? Notably, the final episode ends with the Fraggles literally inches from being found out by her canonically.
  • Squick: From the episode "Deep Dive", when Mokey gives Red a hug to comfort her while she is crying - and then Red blows her nose on a corner of Mokey's dress, with the sound making it obvious that she is blowing a ton of snot onto the dress. It's also very funny though, due to the look on Mokey's face at the moment.
  • Tearjerker:
    • Red's remake of "Once Upon a Time (I Knew My Name)", as mentioned above. She actually does start crying after finishing the song and asks Mokey how do you help when you feel helpless.
    • Boober's song "Glow Away", about how much he hates his glowing baloobius and dreads being thought of as a freak because of it. Anyone who's ever been insecure about their appearance will relate, and Dave Goelz delivers a tender, heartfelt vocal performance.
    • The Foo Fighters rendition of "Fraggle Rock Rock" could be considered one in retrospect, as it was one of the final filmed performances of drummer Taylor Hawkins, who would sadly pass away on March 25, 2022, at the age of 50.
    • In real life, according to John Tartaglia, wrapping work on "The Night of the Lights" was a very emotional experience and everyone participated in a Group Hug on the last day of shooting, with more than a few tears. Possibly at the time they weren't sure if the series would continue (it has since been renewed for a second season, so at least this is FAR from over).
  • Visual Effects of Awesome: Every episode looks like it could be a movie. In particular, note the shot in the first episode where the Fraggles are escaping from Junior Gorg: Those are CGI Fraggles being used instead of puppets, and yet you can't tell.


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