Episode 105: The Thirty-Minute Work Week

Fraggle Rock
Air Date	February 7, 1983
Written by	Jerry Juhl
Director	Norman Campbell

Wembley gives radish-gathering a try with Mokey.

Every Fraggle has to work a grueling thirty minutes a week, and it's Wembley's turn to choose a job. All of his friends have jobs -- Gobo collects messages from Traveling Matt, Mokey gathers radishes from the Gorgs' Garden, Red cleans the pool, and Boober does the laundry. Now Wembley has to decide what he wants to do... but can he choose before the pressure makes him explode?

Meanwhile, Doc tries to get Sprocket to choose between two types of donuts and soups.

Fraggle Facts

Traveling Matt, working on another one of his dangerous missions: a roller coaster.

"Aroooooooo!" Wembley becomes the siren for the Fraggle Rock Volunteer Fire Department.

• The Gorgs' secret password for the day is "I don't know the password."

Notes

• While this was the fifth episode of Fraggle Rock that aired, it was the first episode to be produced, and served as the original pilot for the series. Jim Henson, CBC, and HBO wanted to see what the show would look like, and what problems could be changed. The reason it did not air first was because it was decided that it was not a proper introduction to the series; a more fitting introductory episode, "Beginnings," was produced later in the first season.
• This episode was recorded on March 10, 1982. There was a gap between the production of this episode and the rest; the second episode shot, "Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk," was recorded in mid-April. Some of the puppets underwent slight redesigns in the meantime; most notably Marjory the Trash Heap and Sprocket.
• Dave Goelz, the Muppeteer who performs Uncle Traveling Matt, makes a cameo appearance in Matt's scene. When Matt boards a roller coaster, Goelz is sitting next to him, performing Matt. Goelz has a false arm on the back of the roller coaster. Pay close attention to the shot in which Matt stands up. The scene was filmed at Canada's Wonderland, a theme park in Maple, Ontario, just north of filming headquarters in Metropolitan Toronto. The park was relatively new, having opened in 1981; Wild Beast was one of the original rides at the park.
• Portions from this, the previous episode, and "New Trash Heap in Town" were used for the unfilmed demo recordings of the show's theme song that were shown in the Dance Your Cares Away: Evolution of Fraggle Rock Theme Song bonus feature from the Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection.
• The character profiles in the Archaia Entertainment Fraggle Rock comics claim that Gobo was the one who encouraged Wembley to choose the fire department; however, in this episode, it is actually Marjory who gives him the idea.

Songs

• "Workin'"
• "The Fireman's Anthem"

Supporting Cast

• Firechief Fraggle (Richard Hunt)
• Clerk Fraggle (Dave Goelz)

Video releases

• Fraggle Rock: Complete First Season (HIT!, 2005)
• Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection (HIT!, 2008)

International episode titles

• Brazil: "O Wembley Arranja um Trabalho" (Wembley Gets a Job)
• Denmark: "30 min. arbejdsuge"
• Finland: "30 Minuutin Työviikko"
• France: (video title) "Le travail c'est la santé" (Work is Health)
• Germany: "Die 30 Minuten Arbeitswoche" (The 30 Minute Work Week)
• Japan: "仕事さがしが大仕事" (Finding a Job is a Big Job"
• Netherlands: "De half-urige werkweek" (The half-hour workweek)
• Norway: "Tretti minutters arbeidsuke"
• Poland: "Praca dla Wembley’a" (Work for Wembley)
• Spain: "La semana de los 30 minutos laborales" (The week of 30 minutes work)
• Sweden: "Vembis svåra beslut" (Wembley's difficult decisions)

Sources

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