SEATTLE — At the third annual Geek Girl Convention in October, a standing-room-only crowd of self-proclaimed nerds poured in to see a diminutive television star — but one long since off the air and, it so happens, inanimate. Red Fraggle, a 3-foot-tall puppet with yellow felted fur and red pigtails, took the stage with her companion from the “world of the silly creatures,” puppeteer Karen Prell. They led a raucous sing-along of the "Fraggle Rock" theme, a tumbling C-major tune with a funk-inspired baseline and two claps at the end of each line.

Although three decades have passed since "Fraggle Rock" — the exquisitely crafted puppet series created by Jim Henson, of "Sesame Street" and "Muppet Show" fame — debuted in the U.S. (on HBO) and Canada (on CBC), it still commands a devoted following. This year has seen 30th anniversary rereleases of merchandise and DVDs, renewed promises of a feature film and a Ben Folds Five music video filled with dancing Fraggles.

Less remarked upon amid the fanfare is the show’s ethical ambition. Henson and his co-creators often described “Fraggle Rock” as a way to promote “world peace” and “international understanding.” Over the course of four seasons — broadcast at a time of overt and covert wars, secret arms transfers, hostage crises, banking scandals and a widening socioeconomic divide — the show covered such unpuppetlike topics as war, prejudice, environmental catastrophe and crises of belonging. But it did so through song and silliness.

“By seeing how the various groups in the world of 'Fraggle Rock' learn to deal with their differences,” Henson said in the 1987 documentary “Down at Fraggle Rock,” “perhaps we can learn a little bit about how to deal with ours.”