I’ve resisted writing about "Fred" for several months now, but I can put it off no longer. For those of you (blissfully) unaware, "Fred" is (1) a wildly hyperactive 6 year old with an absent, alcoholic mother; (2) the fictional creation of now 15-year-old Lucas Cruikshank, a Nebraska kid with a camcorder and apparently a lot of free time; and (3) for the last nine months or so, the most popular web series on YouTube ever. Seriously. Several of his videos have been viewed over 9 million times (thems better ratings than pretty much the entire CW network), and his "channel" on YouTube has registered over 28 million total views. "Fred" posted his most recent episode last night. Here it is. See how far you can get through it before you have to stop.
On the one hand, Fred is a perfect encapsulation of what is possible now with the Internet: A kid, barely in high school, living in a rural part of the country that’s geographically and culturally pretty much as far from media hubs Los Angeles and New York City as you could imagine, posts videos to YouTube that win him near-overnight fame and a massive fan base. On the other hand, I have no freaking clue what this is. What makes this character, as opposed to so many other Internet personalities, so off-the-charts popular? The "Fred" channel has more than 843,000 subscribers — that’s almost five times as many as Barack Obama’s YouTube channel boasts, and nearly twice as many as the Jonas Brothers‘ channel has. So does that mean, like, "Fred" should be hosting Saturday Night Live? What do his fans understand that so utterly escapes me? I mean, I know I’m late to the party in asking this question, but what…what…IS…this?!
I’m serious: Tell me, please!
It’s the end of civilization as we know it.
Fred is very popular with the elementary school crowd. My 3rd grade son loves Fred. He tells me that everyone in 3rd grade loves Fred. (I confirmed with his friends.) And they watch those horrible you tube videos over and over. So the best way to explain it is to try and remember what you thought was funny when you were 8 or 9. As a parent, I am ok with Fred as it is produced by another kid. I don’t let my kids watch most of the you tube videos for obvious reasons.
also if i’m not mistaken he just signed a deal with nickelodian for his own show. I think it has to do with the whole “high-pitch voice” thing. Also from reading the comments he usually garners i would say what has intrigued so many people is their love of HATE. they tune in because they can’t stand it. sounds odd but i’m sure u know what i’m talking about. Either way, clever kid he is and i salute him even if i don’t agree with him
Holy Frak, what the…I just don’t know how to describe that other than to say that no I don’t get it either.
No no no no no nononononononNOOOOOO!
Wow. This video reminded me of Kelly Kapoor on “The Office” – and how much funnier Kelly is – and how about 30 seconds of Kelly per week really IS the right amount. The lesson Fred teaches is that silence really IS golden.
That was awful.
People like “the chipmunks” voices. Also he also says soething actually funny once and a while.
My kids love Fred, but I can’t for the life of me figure out why!
You should watch Fred from season 1. What makes him so humorous is his Lucy-esque way of being blind to the actual truth of his situation. In addition it is a coy send-up to the masses of self-indulgent videos that populate the ether-sphere.
I thought this was pretty funny and crazy actually… its also edited very well…
I lasted 16 seconds.
If in fact the kid is actually doing this and is not the front man for an adult, then he is certainly precocious, if incredibly annoying. Why anyone likes this is beyond me, but remember that weird guy who was tone deaf and wound up with a CD contract? Heard about him lately? I thought not… And why do so many people watch American Idol? To watch no talent people get humiliated? It might help me to understand this if I could listen for longer than 16 secs, but I think the world can get along just fine without my informed opinion, even if it seems to be going to hell in a handbasket.
Wow. I watched ten seconds with the sound off and I can tell I don’t need to see any more.
I had no sound on my computer, but just watching his lips so fast, I had to look it up on my blackberry. He seriously needs meds, but I did see he had an episode of ICarly that they all did the voices with him. Crazy
I think I caught ADD from watching that.