Fred Figglehorn - Content

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Fred (stylized on webpages as FЯED) is an internet video series centering around the dysfunctional 6-year-old Fred Figglehorn, created by Lucas Cruikshank.

Fred lives with his recovering drug-addicted and alcoholic mother, whose voice is often heard, and his grandmother. It is implied that Fred has been the victim of child abuse (for example being locked in a dog cage for three days), however he frequently speaks of his love for his mother, particularly after her stay at rehab. Fred's father is mentioned several times as being on death row in the state penitentiary. Fred has not met his father, as he left Mrs. Figglehorn while she was still pregnant with Fred. In seasons one through three, Fred communicates with all characters off-screen.

On screen characters are seen for the first time in a dream sequence, in "Fred: A Star In His Own Mind", Fred dreams of being a famous actor, meeting fan girls and other famous actors. Season four, as it was filmed after Fred: The Movie, marked a change in production style, it is filmed in a higher video quality, and shows other on-screen characters. The original production style was revived for a few episodes in 2010, introducing the Claudio character, after the movie was released in the UK, and ended when Cruikshank returned to movie filming. Leading up to the second movie's release, a new series, called Figgle Chat was produced and features internet and television stars. Following that, an animated series, It's Fred!, named after Fred's catchphrase, began being uploaded to the channel.

Cruikshank has described the channel as "programming for kids by kids". The series is intended as a parody of people who, in Cruikshank's words, "think that everyone is so interested in them." Cruikshank believes that viewers either "automatically love Fred or automatically hate Fred, there is no in between". The videos primarily consist of the character speaking to the audience about what is happening in his life. Fred has a high-pitched "chipmunk" voice, making him sound more like a 6-year-old. According to Cruikshank, this effect, and the hyperactive appearance of the character, are achieved by speeding up the audio.

The first season follows Fred attempting to perform a number of activities during the summer, until his mother attends rehab. "Fred Goes Swimming" is the most watched video on the Fred channel, with over 59 million views. The second season explores Fred's love for Judy, a girl in his class, and attending school. There Fred decides to run against class bully Kevin, for class president. The song "Watch How I Do This", by Kev Blaze, is featured in a number of the season 2 videos. Season three again follows the daily adventures of Fred, in school, and with classmates, and shows Fred's interest in singing. The fourth season, now with on-screen characters, shows Fred traveling around town trying out different occupations. Following this, Fred holds contests surrounding his first two movies, gets a visit from a creeping character named Claudio, gets invited to host a talk show, dispels rumours of being owned by Nickelodeon, and becomes animated.

The series uses a floating timeline, meaning it is always taking place in the current year, and Fred is perpetually 6 years old and in kindergarten.