| Opentheme: | "Down at Fraggle Rock" |
| Composer: | Christopher Lennertz |
| Country: | United States Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 27 |
| Producer: | Ritamarie Peruggi |
| Runtime: | 25–29 minutes |
| Network: | Apple TV+ |
| Last Aired: | present |
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is an American children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of creatures. It is a reboot of the 1983 series Fraggle Rock by Jim Henson. The first season was released on Apple TV+ on January 21, 2022. It was renewed for a second season which was released on March 29, 2024.[1] [2]
A holiday special Night of the Lights Holiday Special was released on November 18, 2022.[3]
In the house belonging to a woman named Doc and her dog Sprocket, there is a hole that leads into Fraggle Rock. The Fraggles, Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober, and Red live their lives within Fraggle Rock while experiencing different adventures along the way as well as interacting with Doozers and avoiding the Gorgs while harvesting radishes.
See main article: List of Fraggle Rock characters.
The title cards of the original Fraggle Rock TV series states the puppet characters as "Jim Henson's Muppets". After The Jim Henson Company sold the Muppet franchise to The Walt Disney Company in 2004, the Fraggle Rock characters, which Henson retained, stopped being referred to as Muppets (though Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock was co-produced by Regency Enterprises and 20th Century Studios's subsidiary New Regency, owned by The Walt Disney Company following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox's assets on March 20, 2019).[4]
On May 26, 2020, following the success of the Fraggle Rock: Rock On! shorts that were released in April 2020, Apple TV+ announced a deal with The Jim Henson Company to produce a full reboot of Fraggle Rock, consisting of half-hour episodes, in addition to exclusive streaming rights to the original series and specials.[5] In January 2021, The Jim Henson Company announced that production had officially started on a reboot of the show. The show is filmed at the Calgary Film Centre.[6] Each episode features original songs, and reprises of songs from the original series.
Pre-production on the series began in late 2020 with the working title Raphanis (derived from the Latin word for "radish"). Filming commenced on January 25, 2021, in-studio at the Calgary Film Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada[7] [8] and wrapped in June.[9]
In November 2021, a trailer revealed the Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock title, and the January 21, 2022 premiere date.[10]
Several original characters return, and new characters are voiced by celebrity guests, including Patti LaBelle, Cynthia Erivo, Daveed Diggs, Ed Helms, and Kenan Thompson. Foo Fighters make a cameo in one episode.[11]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a score of 100% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Back to the Rock gives Jim Henson's beloved production a brand new fleece that fits just right, sure to delight longtime fans while enthralling a whole new generation."[12] On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 89 out of 100 based on eight critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]
The show won Outstanding Art Direction at the 1st Children's and Family Emmy Awards and received three additional nominations for Best Children's or Family Viewing Series, Outstanding Cinematography and Outstanding Editing.