Fraggle Rock

Fraggle Rock was a 1980s television show featuring underground Muppet (part marionette and part puppet) creatures called Fraggles who inhabit an subterranean society without hierarchy or laws. Creator Jim Henson, described by colleagues as a "gentle anarchist," intended the show to promote "world peace" and "international understanding." In fact, Fraggle Rock ended up being the first U.S. television show to be broadcast in the Soviet Union, perhaps playing some small part in tearing the Iron Curtain. According to Henson's daughter, "'Fraggle Rock' emphasized notions of community, environmentalism (and) spirituality."

The Fraggles live underground and, as Wembley Fraggle emphasizes, "Fraggles don't have any bosses [...] We each lead ourselves and we all lead each other." He then launches into a song describing their egalitarian ethos:

"For you can never, ever, ever/

You can never, never, never/

be the boss/

of someone else./

No, you can never, ever, ever/

You can never, never, never/

be the boss/

of someone else!"

There have been various spin-offs of the show since the 1980s, and a reboot was ordered in 2020.

Culture

Aside from being fiercely egalitarian, the Fraggles culture is largely devoted to pleasure and fun as summarized by the show's theme song ("Dance your cares away, worries for another day/ Let the music play, Down in fraggle rock") and in the song "Working" ("There's ping-pong games that must be played and songs that must be sung"). Although they only have a thirty-minute workweek, they consider the work "enriching" and are very committed to getting it done.

Fraggles seek advice from a sentient, wise compost heap named Marjorie.

Economy

Fraggles have a thirty-minute workweek, and jobs include gathering radishes, collecting postcards, exploring above-ground society ("outer space"), and putting out fires. Fraggles are encouraged to pick a job they enjoy, and Mokey Fraggle explains that she likes her thirty-minute workweek so much that, she says, "Sometimes I put in two, maybe three minutes of overtime, just for fun."

Fraggles mainly live off radishes and a radish-based substance that the Doozers use for construction.

Revolution

Muppet Wiki explains the history of how ancient Fraggles went from a hierarchical society to "anarchy."

Ancient Fraggles fed on cave mushrooms. They were bald and wore hats to keep their heads warm. In contrast to their modern-day anarchy, the ancient Fraggles had leaders, laws (one of which forbade laughter), and prisons.

A prophecy held that a great and wondrous Fraggle named Blundig would one day come to rule the Rock. When Blundig finally showed up (during the reign of Fishface Fraggle), she made the revolutionary suggestion that Fraggles should abandon the idea of leaders in favor of each leading himself and all leading each other. It was she who invented the "dance your cares away" lyrics of the Fraggle Rock Theme, which were immediately recognized as an inspiring concept and ushered in a new era in Fraggle history.

Neighboring Societies

Underground, Fraggles live peacefully alongside a species called the Doozers who enjoy construction work and spend their time building pointless scaffolding out of ground-up radishes. The Fraggles consider the scaffolding delicious and often eat it with permission from the Doozers. The Doozers explain they want the Fraggles to eat their architecture so that they'll always have room to build more.

At one exit of Fraggle Rock, the Fraggles interact with Grogs. The Grogs consider Fraggles to be pests since Fraggles take radishes from their gardens

Humans live at another exit. Fraggles call the humans "silly creatures from outer space" and, aside from Uncle Traveling Matt, do not directly interact with humans until they befriend one (Doc) in the last episode.