Created byJim Hensonand first on the air in 1983, the fun-loving, musical, always ready to eat a yummy radish Fraggles are back for the Apple TV+ seriesFraggle Rock: Back to the Rockand ready to go on new epic adventures. The Fraggle gang – made up of Red, Gobo, Wembley, Boober, Mokey and Uncle Travelling Matt – love to connect and have fun with everyone and everything, from the tiniest Doozers to the largest Gorgs and the wise old Trash Heap.
During some downtime in Fraggle Rock, which they have plenty of, as a result of their only 30-minute work week,GoboandMokeytook some time out to chat with Collider through a Doozer tube for this interview, which you can both watch and read, about why they love radishes so much, Uncle Travelling Matt’s scary adventures in outer space, the best thing about being a Fraggle, connecting with the Gorgs, the importance of meditation and yoga, and the best advice they’ve ever gotten from the Trash Heap.
Collider: Hi, Gobo. Hi, Mokey. I want to tell you that my name is Christina Radish, which I promise you, I’m not making up. It really is my name. You guys are Fraggles, and I’m a Radish, just so you know.
GOBO: We’re very excited to talk to you, silly creature Radish.
MOKEY: We’ve never been interviewed by a Radish before. I’d be happy with an actual radish.
GOBO: But we’re happy with a silly creature too.
MOKEY: Yeah, very happy.
GOBO: Yeah.
I know you guys love radishes, so I’m hoping that earns me some bonus points.
MOKEY: Yes, it does.
What do you love about radishes? What was it like the first time you ate a radish?
GOBO: Oh, well, it starts pretty young. I remember being a little teeny Fraggle and my Uncle Travelling Matt said, “You’ve gotta try this. It tastes so delicious.” When you’re a little Fraggle, you pretty much just start on Doozer constructions, which are made out of radishes.
MOKEY: Yeah, so we haven’t really had anything else.
GOBO: Yeah. But then, you have your first real radish and it’s so good.
MOKEY: From the earth, from the Gorg’s garden.
GOBO: I can remember like it was yesterday. Give us a second here, Christina Radish. Radish memories.
Do you have any favorite uses for radishes? Is there a favorite way you like to eat them?
MOKEY: You know, a souffle is always nice. Boober makes an amazing radish souffle.
GOBO: He does. He also makes a great bouillabaisse. Also, I like a sensible radish gumbo.
MOKEY: Sometimes if I’m feeling simple, I’ll just slice a radish and put it on some toast.
GOBO: That’s nice.
MOKEY: Simple and uncomplicated. As you may know, Christina, the radish does not need a lot of adornment.
GOBO: And there are endless uses. You should write a book.
It sounds like you could do a whole cookbook on what you can do with a radish.
MOKEY: What a great idea!
GOBO: Wow! You know, silly creature Christina Radish, we could write it with you.
MOKEY: Will you write it with us?
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I could help you write it, but I have to say, I have never cooked with one, so I’d have to leave that up to you guys.
GOBO: You’ve never cooked with radishes? Wow! We are focusing on radishes a lot.
MOKEY: That’s blowing my mind right now.
GOBO: Wow. I’m in shock.
Uncle Travelling Matt tells you stories about silly creatures and outer space, but you’ve only ever heard them and not seen them, so what would you imagine that a silly creature might look like?
MOKEY: Five eyes, a couple of heads.
GOBO: 17 arms.
MOKEY: Flippers for feet.
GOBO: You know, I have seen the silly creature that lives in the portal to outer space, and that silly creature seems really nice. But I haven’t seen beyond that. I hope to, someday. I’m pretty brave, so I might go to outer space and explore. We’re talking to you through a Doozer tube, so we can’t see you, but do silly creatures also like radishes and like to explore?
Yeah, definitely. I would hope silly creatures like radishes, otherwise that might make things hard for me. People like radishes on salads, especially.
GOBO: Boober likes a sensible radish salad.
MOKEY: That sounds amazing. Yes, I’m going to try that.
GOBO: With a nice saffron dressing that’s lemony.
Mokey, would you ever want to see or meet a silly creature?
MOKEY: Oh yes. I’m all about connecting. I would love to connect with a silly creature and ask all kinds of questions like, “What’s a pancake?,” and things like that.
GOBO: Deep things.
What did you think, the first time Uncle Travelling Matt told you about visiting outer space and silly creatures? Did it seem scary? Did it seem exciting?
GOBO: Well, I’d be lying, if I were to say it wasn’t a little scary sounding. I’d only say that in front of you and Mokey, but it’s true. It sounds scary, but exciting and adventurous. There are things I wanna see. He told me about a magical place, called the subway. That sounds exciting.
MOKEY: That does.
GOBO: And there was another place he told me about, called the beach, covered with something called sand. It sounds like a magical place.
MOKEY: Wow.
There are definitely a lot of adventures to be had.
MOKEY: Oh yes.
GOBO: Oh sure, yeah.
MOKEY: Most adventures always have a little bit of scariness to them, but mostly fun.
GOBO: When Fraggles get scared, the fringy part, here at the end of our tails, is called our bolubius, and when we get scared, it goes, “Wah!”
If I’m ever able to go on my own adventure and make it to the Fraggle hole and come visit you guys at Fraggle Rock, what is the first thing you would want to show me?
GOBO: The pond, right back there. We’d wanna take you for a good swim in the Fraggle pond, for sure.
MOKEY: And we’d wanna announce to the great hall, “There’s a radish here, you guys!”
GOBO: “There’s a radish here! Silly creature Christina Radish is here!” That’s what we’d do.
That would be quite the welcome, so thank you for that.
GOBO: Oh, sure. We’d love to bring you down here to Fraggle Rock.
MOKEY: Yes!
GOBO: You’re always welcome.
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What’s the best thing about being a Fraggle?
MOKEY: The 30-minute work week is pretty great.
GOBO: Yeah, we only work 30 minutes a week, but is exhausting.
MOKEY: Oh, man.
GOBO: Also, the singing. We love to sing.
MOKEY: Yeah, we sing, dance and play, the rest of the time. It’s awesome.
We’ve all had times when we weren’t our best selves. That’s something that Fraggles, silly creatures, Gorgs, and everyone and everything else has in common. How do the Fraggles get past that? Does all of the singing and dancing help with that sort of thing?
MOKEY: It does, yeah. What we attempt to do, and maybe you silly creatures do this too, is we reach out to one another and we talk to our friends and we tell them what’s going on inside our hearts.
GOBO: Yeah, it’s all about connection and checking in with each other and talking things through. There’s always room for everybody, here in Fraggle Rock. Even though we have our differences, we tend to work them out.
MOKEY: We talk, and we listen to each other. That’s very important.
Gobo, you’ve talked to the Gorgs before. How scary is it to face the Gorgs? Were you ever scared, with how much bigger they are than you?
MOKEY: I’m gonna step away for this because I’m a little afraid.
GOBO: Okay. Well, I’m not gonna lie to you, silly creature Christina Radish, I was pretty scared, at first. But, you know what? It turns out Junior Gorg and I have a lot in common. I got to understand him a little bit better and I learned that, just because he’s different from me, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have something in common to talk about. But I’m not gonna lie, I was . . .
MOKEY: . . . Terrified?
GOBO: Not scared at all. No, I was totally brave, thank you very much.
MOKEY: We were terrified for you.
GOBO: Were you?
MOKEY: But you know what? You did it. You talked it out.
GOBO: I decided to reach out. He seemed like he was upset, and I wanted to help.
MOKEY: That was beautiful.
GOBO: Thank you.
Mokey, I’ve heard that you like to meditate, first thing in the morning.
MOKEY: I do.
What do you like about meditating? How did you learn to meditate and do yoga?
MOKEY: Oh, Christina, I am self-taught. I love to start my day off with a little meditation. It clears my mind and helps me begin my day with a clean slate, as it were. It’s calming and centering, and it just really helps me face the day.
GOBO: I’ve tried it.
Do Fraggles do yoga together? Are there yoga classes in Fraggle Rock?
MOKEY: Well, I’ve tried, let me just say that, Christina. I have tried.
GOBO: I’ve perfected the art of staring into space and blanking.
MOKEY: Let’s just say it’s been semi-successsful.
GOBO: Radishes. Postcards. Doozer sticks.
MOKEY: Clear your mind. Think of nothing.
GOBO: No, it doesn’t work.
The Trash Heap seems very wise. What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten from the Trash Heap?
GOBO: I will say, the best advice I ever got was when the Trash Heap told me to dig deeper. First of all, I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on, so she wanted me to think a little deeper inside of myself. There was that dig deeper. But then, she also really meant dig deeper, like pull the rocks away and just keep on exploring.
MOKEY: That’s right, it was metaphorical and literal, at the same time.
GOBO: Both of those work.
MOKEY: She’s really good like that.
Thanks so much, you guys. I hope to someday get down to Fraggle Rock to see you. Until then, I appreciate you talking to me.
GOBO: You’re always welcome. We’ll take you right there, to the pond.
MOKEY: That’s right. Any radish is a friend of a Fraggle for life.
GOBO: That’s right. We love you silly creature Christina Radish.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rockis available to stream at Apple TV+.
