Happy Fraggle 20th Anniversary!

[pezbalubah]

Yeah! It's first airing was just 5 days before I was born! I grew up loving Fraggle Rock and Karen, Red was my favorite! I still have my Red doll which I would take almost everywhere. I don't think there has ever been another childrens show produced with such high quality- the music, the performers, the morals. The dvds should be on the priority list for Henson, the world needs Fraggle Rock now more than ever.

 

[Jivepuppet]

20 years, huh. I remember seeing the adds in MuppetMagazine like it was... 20 years ago!

That's a great achievement for all who worked on the show, to have it still remembered and loved all these years later. Congrats to all!

Does this mean I'm getting old? Ha!
Jon

 

[SillyRed]

Happy 20th, Fraggle Rock!! It's a good thing I caught up with that show since 1986, and watched it on Disney Channel, before the edited versions were aired back in 1999. Not only should they be on DVD, they should be re-released on video!! It should be on the "coolest young children's shows ever!!" list!! Karen, I love you and Red will always be my Fave Fraggle!! By the way I thought up a new Fraggle named Trembley, She has been trying to go back to Fraggle Rock to escape High School science class.
She is Wembley's sister, they have been seperatedbefore they even knew how to talk. And, she trembles all the time!! I hope they make a Fraggle Anniversary CD, and I hope "Friendship Song" is on there!!

 

[Wembley]

Wow!

Neat! I remember the first time I watched Fraggle Rock - it wasn't the first episode, but, if I recall, it was "The preachification of Convincing John" - one of the first episodes made.

I grew to love FR so much that I watched it every time it was on. One night I had a babysitter (my aunt, as a matter of fact) who decided to watch one of her shows for some reason (I mean, come on, there IS no better show that Fraggle Rock!) and I actually *ahem* adjusted *ahem* the TV and cable box to get nothing except Fraggle Rock! Kinda drove her nuts, but, well, I got my Fraggles!

I wonder though, since Fraggle Rock was filmed directly on video tape, in what condition are the master tapes? Normal video tape of that era (most likely some sort of 3/4 inch format IIRC) only has a ilfetime of about 15-20 years, even properly stored, I read somewhere. Given that, I would imagine that soon, (unless they've been converted to digital), these tapes will have degraded to the point of being un-broadcastable.

Anyway, to all the Muppeteers on this site (both active and lurking), thanks for creating a great show that even this 25-year-old kid at heart still loves! Let's hope that someday, some way, there will be new Fraggle stuff produced... (cue "We are the children of Tomorrow") either on TV, or movies. (If "Star Trek" can have a a "Next Generation", how 'bout the Fraggles?)...

Thanks again, and thanks to all the staff, contributors, and members of Muppet Central for keeping the magic alive!

Rick "Wembley" Miller
rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com
..."You can NOT leave the magic!"

 

[Therecanbonly1]

20 Years!!

I really can't believe its been 20 years. I still remember starting the VCR (we were one of the first families in my area to get one of these) as the first episode started and thinking "I want to save this for MY kids". Back then TV shows were not something that was just available to buy like they are now. I wound up taping it at the slowest speed (SLP/ EP) so the quality of the picture wasn't too great. I still have 2 six hour tapes full of episode and have introduced my 10 month old daughter to the fraggles. She starts dancing with EVERY song (Even the one about the Tweedle Beetle 's daughter doing curtseys like she outta on a spitted spotted stone...) I have 1 cd of Fraggle music but wow the songs they DIDN'T include on the CD... Well congrats on 20 years and here's to hoping for DVD Releases (so my grand children can see 'em too!)

 

[anathema]

Re: Wow!

Originally posted by Wembley
I wonder though, since Fraggle Rock was filmed directly on video tape, in what condition are the master tapes? Normal video tape of that era (most likely some sort of 3/4 inch format IIRC) only has a ilfetime of about 15-20 years, even properly stored, I read somewhere. Given that, I would imagine that soon, (unless they've been converted to digital), these tapes will have degraded to the point of being un-broadcastable.

Aside from some digital formats, there's only one 3/4" tape format - U-Matic - which wasn't typically used for studio recordings. It was developed originally for the domestic market, but never caught on due to the high cost. TV stations picked it up for ENG uses, and it's also used in university A/V units and for corporate videos and the like.

'Fraggle Rock' would most probably have been made on either 2" Quad or 1" C-format videotape. Given a broadcast picture (or a decent VHS), I could identify which

Videotape lifetime varies, depending on factors such as the brand (some of the original Scotch tapes didn't age well, for example) and storage conditions. In general, both formats I mentioned above should survive for a good long while so long as they're well looked after.

A more serious problem is that the number of machines to play them on is dwindling, particularly in the case of Quad. Any respectable broadcaster or archive should be well aware of this, and should have been transferring their holdings to a more modern format. The BBC, for example, have copied all their Quad tapes onto a modern digital format (the originals are now held at the BFI in case they should be needed again; while some have fallen apart, the vast majority are perfectly playable, and the newest are almost 20 years old), and are currently working on their 1" tape library.

There will certainly be some deterioration of the tapes, but a lot of it would have been present on first broadcast. I can't comment on FR directly, but I've seen a lot of TMS tapes over the last six months, and there are scratches, dropouts and other faults actually recorded into the masters. Pretty much all of these are repairable given modern technologies (I do some of this myself), so there won't be any real problems for the forseeable

 

[Wembley]

Okay, glad you set me straight on that. I actually have one of those U-Matic VCRs (somewhere) in my basement, the sucker is HEAVY! I got it when the school librarian was throwing it out, and was told I could have it on one condition - that she never see it again. I oblidged.

I would hope that the Henson people have converted their masters to some sort of digital - I would hate to see FR become unwatchable...

(Interesting side note - I once visited a community television station in Newton... (I think) - it was all done with SVHS if I remember right...)

-Rick "Wembley" Miller
rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com
..."You can NOT leave the magic!"

 

[anathema]

Originally posted by Wembley
Okay, glad you set me straight on that. I actually have one of those U-Matic VCRs (somewhere) in my basement, the sucker is HEAVY! I got it when the school librarian was throwing it out, and was told I could have it on one condition - that she never see it again. I oblidged.

I would hope that the Henson people have converted their masters to some sort of digital - I would hate to see FR become unwatchable...

(Interesting side note - I once visited a community television station in Newton... (I think) - it was all done with SVHS if I remember right...)

-Rick "Wembley" Miller
rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com
..."You can NOT leave the magic!"

I've got an old lo-band U-Matic deck too You think they're heavy - this is a Quad:

http://www.lionlmb.org/quad/tour.html




Community TV stations are typically short on cash, so it wouldn't surprise me to hear they used SVHS I've seen some SVHS material on broadcast, and it looks so-so. It's still interesting to note that for all its size and complexity, no other tape format has come close to matching the picture Quad was capable of...

 

[Wembley]

Actually, in your UMATIC.JPG picture, the one on the left is the one I have, IIRC. I wonder, one of my other interests is amateur radio, and I bet some of this "old" video equipment, etc would be fine for amateur TV use.... hmmm....

I'll have to do some research.

-Rick "Wembely" Miller
rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com
..."You can NOT leave the magic!"

 

[anathema]

Originally posted by Wembley
Actually, in your UMATIC.JPG picture, the one on the left is the one I have, IIRC. I wonder, one of my other interests is amateur radio, and I bet some of this "old" video equipment, etc would be fine for amateur TV use.... hmmm....

I'll have to do some research.

-Rick "Wembely" Miller
rickmillerenterprises@hotmail.com
..."You can NOT leave the magic!"

The one with the blue front? Wow! Mine's a much newer Sony model. Not that I actually have any use for it...