Synopsis: The Fraggles are doing American Idol and Wembley and Cottorpin are the Justin and Kelly of the bunch.
Original air date: February 10th 1986
Plot stuff time! Fraggle Rock are having a duet-athon contest, with everyone pairing off. Mokey and Red, Boober and Tosh, unnamed Fraggle 1 and unnamed Fraggle 2. Wembley is supposed to sing with Gobo, but backs out when Uncle Travelling Matt arrives to take part instead. He’s all sad, but then Cottorpin Doozer offers to be his partner instead. Everyone thinks it’s weird, so they don’t allow it. Wembley and Cottorpin fight, Wembley gets mad at a Karen Fraggle, and mob rules. So Karen Fraggle relents. Wembley and Cottorpin probably win, but friendship is the real winner. Meanwhile, Doc talks to a plant.
Okay, nice stuff first: I used to get picked last in gym class a lot. Now, look, I never really let it bother me. I got it then, I get it now; I was a chubby, unfit kid who had very little hand eye coordination. I’ve grown up to be a chubby unfit adult with very little hand eye coordination AND glasses. Yet seeing poor Wembley run around the Rock struggling to find someone to do the duet-athon with struck me, because sometimes when you’re not picked, you feel really lonely.
I was also the last of my family and my friend group to get into a real relationship, and for a long time I would watch them all paired off and go home to my cat and be super duper sad. But, just like Wembley discovering a singing partner in Cottorpin Doozer, when I finally found the one for me, it was entirely worth the wait.
And now I’ve said some nice stuff, the honest truth:
What a wet mop of an episode. Listen, I love me some Fraggle Rock, but boy, oh boy, was I bored watching this! For me, Doozers are never the most interesting part of an episode, and there are only so many times I can watch the well-trod plot of ‘We’re all different but the same!’. Okay, we know, you guys have done this now, what, 50 times? And so I’m not going to bother going in to the details here, instead I want to talk about some of the better moments of this episode, which were anytime Uncle Travelling Matt was on screen.
Spoilers for below, but he’s getting my Most Valuable Fraggle spot, because whenever he’s in the Rock and not in Outer Space, he’s consistently the best part of the episode. Dave Goelz is having the absolute time of his life here, really playing up the clueless wacky side of Matt. He also though gets to show just a little bit of that heart of gold Matt hides as he offers to sing with Wembley when he discoveres he’s alone. He also seems to think he’s the one leading the charge getting everyone to sing ‘Children of Tomorrow’ which is really endearing. I love that guy.
Strongest Moment: Uncle Travelling Matt singing the drumline part of his song. What a hero.
Weakest Moment: Any time Uncle Travelling Matt wasn’t on screen.
MVF (Most Valuable Fraggle): Uncle Travelling Matt. See reasons above.
Most Classic Moment: I realized while listening to ‘Children of Tomorrow’ that I’d heard it before, so I guess it staying in my brain for many years means it’s a classic moment?
Musical Highlight: A Duet For One is a cute song.
Coolest Puppetry Effect: Uncle Travelling Matt’s fall and flip entering Gobo and Wembley’s cave is great. It looks like it would have hurt Dave Goelz’s wrist.
Darkest Moment: Boober doesn’t want to enter the duet-athon because he’s nervous he might lose, but even more nervous he might win. The anxiety inside me agrees, bud.
One More Thing…: I ship Boober and Tosh.
Okay, One More Thing…:
By Jarrod Fairclough – [email protected]
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