Your Thoughts: Fraggle Rock returns to HBO, remastered in HD

[Phillip]

Fraggle Rock was originally broadcast on HBO back in January 1983. It was the network's first original series. Beginning Thursday December 14, Fraggle Rock returns to HBO as the entire series has been remastered in HD, supervised by Brian Henson.

The series will air on HBO Family beginning December 14 at 4:30 eastern, 3:30 central. The series will also be available on HBO GO. HBO Go is HBO's streaming service which doesn't require a cable or satellite subscription.

If you've seen the new remastered Fraggle Rock, please like this post and share your thoughts below.

 

[Oscarfan]

I watched one episode so far ("Mokey and the Minstrels") and it looks pretty good. The cropping is done the right way, with each shot cropped on its own so that nothing important gets lost (there's one song where some of the Minstrels get cut off, but ah well). Only 82 of the 96 shows are availible currently; I don't know if they plan to add the others or just aren't including them (content reasons or the HD versions didn't fare so well).

For comparison, here's a still of the DVD:

And here's the HD:

You can tell that the color has been touched up, more contrast, and there's a little more visible detail.

 

[Harold43]

Having now watched the first episode, I'm not sure if this replaces my DVD collection. It's great that it's on HBO again and widely available but I didn't see anything spectacularly better than what I've already got with the DVDs. With no new footage, special intros or retrospectives, it's hard to make a commitment to watch all of the episodes over again. Even a moment or two of new footage at the beginning of each episode with the Fraggles, or new interview footage of living cast members or outtakes might've greatly improved the appeal of this rebroadcasting.

My advice: If you're unsure about getting the DVDs, watch it from HBO and decide. If you've already got the DVDs and you've got access to HBO/HBO GO, then maybe watching an episode or two isn't so bad. Just don't expect a miraculous difference between this and what you've already got.

 

[Oscarfan]

Having now watched the first episode, I'm not sure if this replaces my DVD collection. It's great that it's on HBO again and widely available but I didn't see anything spectacularly better than what I've already got with the DVDs. With no new footage, special intros or retrospectives, it's hard to make a commitment to watch all of the episodes over again. Even a moment or two of new footage at the beginning of each episode with the Fraggles, or new interview footage of living cast members or outtakes might've greatly improved the appeal of this rebroadcasting.

My advice: If you're unsure about getting the DVDs, watch it from HBO and decide. If you've already got the DVDs and you've got access to HBO/HBO GO, then maybe watching an episode or two isn't so bad. Just don't expect a miraculous difference between this and what you've already got.

I don't think this is meant to replace or be an alternative to the DVDs in any way (example: FRIENDS is on DVD/Blu-ray and Netflix, and yet, is syndicated on like 1000 channels these days).

 

[Oscarfan]

Hate to double post, but all the episodes (minus "The Bells of Fraggle Rock," which is being added in January) are now availible for streaming.

 

[ErinAardvark]

Old post is old, but I just had to say one thing. I wish my parents had HBO, because I was Nanny-sitting (staying with my grandmother while my parents were out of town), and I ran across Fraggle Rock while channel surfing, but I couldn't watch it, and I had neglected to bring FR with me.

 

[monkeyjb1988]

I watched one episode so far ("Mokey and the Minstrels") and it looks pretty good. The cropping is done the right way, with each shot cropped on its own so that nothing important gets lost (there's one song where some of the Minstrels get cut off, but ah well). Only 82 of the 96 shows are availible currently; I don't know if they plan to add the others or just aren't including them (content reasons or the HD versions didn't fare so well).

For comparison, here's a still of the DVD:

And here's the HD:

You can tell that the color has been touched up, more contrast, and there's a little more visible detail.

That looked a LOT better than I expected from an upscale. Not bad at all.