Frackles

The Frackles are a group of monsters who first appeared in the 1970 special The Great Santa Claus Switch as the henchmen of Cosmo Scam, the villain who tried to replace Santa Claus.

The group included Boppity, Scoff and Gloat, among others. Several of the Frackles were later reused or reworked for other projects, including The Muppet Show. And some changed to monsters or other creatures - such as Gonzo (originally known as a cigar box Frackle) who moved away from the Frackle label to become a "whatever".

Five Frackles were mentioned by name in the lyrics of a song featured in The Great Santa Claus Switch. However they were never mentioned by those names again; their names were either changed or not mentioned at all thereafter. When the Frackles were referred to after that special, they were either named after their performer, color, shape or design. The Jim Henson Company does not have any official files, publications or material with the song's names included. Boppity and Gloat, for example, were officially known within the Henson organization as Blue Frackle and Green Frackle, respectively. The Frackles became nameless and personality-less monsters, similar to Whatnots, Anything Muppets, and Anything Monsters. They often changed appearance, performer, name and gender depending on the sketch. The Frackles had no distinct traits or personality, and functioned as utility monsters.

Six new Frackles debuted in the fifth season of The Muppet Show, similar in design to the established Frackles. In 2001, when the Muppets appeared on Family Feud, a new Frackle named Mo was introduced.

When Fraggle Rock was in development, the question arose of choosing a name for the characters' species. According to Michael K. Frith, Jerry Juhl kept returning to the moniker "Frackle," which when softened to "Fraggle," became the final choice.

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones suggests that the word may come from "Grackle," another name for blackbird. Most Frackles are bird-like.

The definition of what is a Frackle, rather than a generic monster, narrowed over time. It appears that as originally sketched for The Great Santa Claus Switch, all of Cosmo Scam's henchmen could be called Frackles, and in a 1971 Dick Cavett Show appearance, Jim Henson offhandedly refers to Lothar and Thog in this way. However, dialogue by Cosmo Scam in the special seems to suggest that only the smaller creatures are Frackles. By the time of The Muppet Show, only the birdlike creatures were referred to as Frackles, and any new Frackles created resemble Boppity and Gloat, thus defining what exactly a Frackle is.

The Frackles have been performed by various performers, including Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Fran Brill, Kevin Clash, David Rudman, Eren Ozker, John Lovelady, Bruce Lanoil, Eric Jacobson and Tyler Bunch.

Frackles
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A blue Frackle was one of the standard Frackles on The Muppet Show. He was first used as Boppity in The Great Santa Claus Switch, where he had yellow eyes. He was given googly white eyes for The Muppet Show. His design changed for episode 119 (changes include a better eye focus, a lighter beak and an adjusted ear shape). In 1992, in The Muppet Christmas Carol, he was rebuilt to look more like his original design. He was later rebuilt in the late 90's for Mopatop's Shop. In The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, he's listed as "Bolshy blue Frackle".
 * valign=top | Blue Frackle

Filmography
 * The Great Santa Claus Switch ... as Boppity
 * Pure Goldie
 * The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
 * The Muppet Show
 * "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 1-5)
 * Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Comedy Tonight")
 * Episode 104: Ruth Buzzi (At the Dance, Prisoner sketch)
 * Episode 107: Florence Henderson ("Happy Together")
 * Episode 109: Charles Aznavour
 * Episode 111: Lena Horne
 * Episode 112: Peter Ustinov
 * Episode 113: Bruce Forsyth
 * Episode 114: Sandy Duncan ("Try to Remember")
 * Episode 115: Candice Bergen ("You Gotta Have Friends")
 * Episode 119: Vincent Price ("Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," At the Dance, "You've Got a Friend")
 * Episode 120: Valerie Harper (At the Dance)
 * Episode 122: Ethel Merman ("There's No Business Like Show Business")
 * Episode 202: Zero Mostel
 * Episode 203: Milton Berle ("Ugly Song," performed by Jim Henson)
 * Episode 207: Edgar Bergen
 * Episode 208: Steve Martin
 * Episode 210: George Burns ("It All Depends on You" / "You Made Me Love You")
 * Episode 215: Lou Rawls
 * Episode 216: Cleo Laine ("Limbo")
 * Episode 217: Julie Andrews
 * Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan
 * Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheese Cake")
 * Episode 223: John Cleese
 * Episode 307: Alice Cooper ("Once a Year Day," performed by Richard Hunt)
 * Episode 308: Loretta Lynn
 * Episode 406: Linda Lavin ("Beyond the Blue Horizon")
 * Episode 422: Andy Williams ("Green Door")
 * Episode 424: Diana Ross (Audience)
 * The Muppet Movie ("Rainbow Connection" Finale)
 * The Great Muppet Caper
 * The Muppets Go to the Movies
 * The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
 * Jim Henson Hour pitch tape
 * Better World Society
 * The Ghost of Faffner Hall
 * Episode 103: Sounds Become Music
 * Episode 104: Music Is More Than Technique
 * Episode 105: The Voice Is an Instrument
 * Episode 107: If You Can Play, It's an Instrument
 * Episode 109: Notation: The Sign That Gets the Sound
 * Episode 113: Anyone Can Make Music
 * The Cosby Show
 * The Muppet Christmas Carol
 * Muppet Classic Theater
 * Muppets Tonight
 * Episode 203: Heather Locklear
 * Mopatop's Shop
 * Muppets Most Wanted

Book Appearances
 * The Muppet Show Book
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book - issue #3, "Gonzo's Story"
 * Muppet Robin Hood - issue #2
 * Muppet Snow White - issue #4
 * Green and Bear It
 * The Muppets Character Encyclopedia


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 * valign=top | Green Frackle

A green Frackle was one of the standard Frackles on The Muppet Show. He was first used as Gloat in The Great Santa Claus Switch, where he originally had yellow eyes and a blue inner mouth (lips). For The Muppet Show, he was given white eyes and a green inner mouth (lips). He was rebuilt for Mopatop's Shop. In The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, he's listed as "Grumpy green Frackle".

Filmography
 * The Great Santa Claus Switch ... as Gloat
 * Pure Goldie
 * The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
 * The Muppet Show
 * "The Muppet Show Theme" (Seasons 1-5)
 * Episode 103: Joel Grey ("Comedy Tonight," "Willkommen")
 * Episode 104: Ruth Buzzi
 * Episode 107: Florence Henderson ("Happy Together")
 * Episode 114: Sandy Duncan (At the Dance with Mary Louise, "Try to Remember")
 * Episode 115: Candice Bergen (At the Dance with Mary Louise, Artist in "Look at That Face")
 * Episode 117: Ben Vereen (Gonzo's Opening Gong)
 * Episode 119: Vincent Price
 * Episode 118: Phyllis Diller (At the Dance with Janice performed by John Lovelady)
 * Episode 120: Valerie Harper (At the Dance)
 * Episode 122: Ethel Merman (Gonzo's Opening Gong, audience member during Fozzie's Comedy Act)
 * Episode 203: Milton Berle ("Ugly Song")
 * Episode 204: Rich Little
 * Episode 207: Edgar Bergen
 * Episode 208: Steve Martin
 * Episode 211: Dom DeLuise
 * Episode 212: Bernadette Peters ("Just One Person")
 * Episode 214: Elton John
 * Episode 216: Cleo Laine ("Limbo")
 * Episode 217: Julie Andrews
 * Episode 218: Jaye P. Morgan (At the Dance)
 * Episode 222: Teresa Brewer ("Cheese Cake")
 * Episode 311: Raquel Welch
 * Episode 515: Carol Burnett
 * American Express
 * The Muppet Movie ("The Rainbow Connection" Finale)
 * The Great Muppet Caper
 * The Muppets Go to the Movies
 * Better World Society
 * Muppet Treasure Island
 * Mopatop's Shop
 * Muppets Most Wanted

Book Appearances
 * The Muppet Show Book
 * Two for the Show
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book Issue #1: Kermit's Story
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book Issue #2: Fozzie's Story
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book Issue #3: Gonzo's Story
 * The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson Issue #2: You May Meet a Stranger''
 * Muppet Snow White - issue #4
 * The Muppets Character Encyclopedia