# Parents of Tweeners: Fred on YouTube? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 20, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771 "2009-02-20T21:14:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/1 "2009-02-20T21:14:12Z")
See here: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEqwKNNQBwc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEqwKNNQBwc) This one is Fred Goes Swimming. Could this be designed more effectively to annoy anyone who isn’t an 11-year-old boy??? It is basically a kid with an annoying helium voice who is aggressively jump-cut to come across like an ADD-version of Robin Williams (think about it). He manically bounces from topic to topic, freaks out, bugs his eyes - oh, and while he does, he veers from funny, to cute (well, kinda) to bringing up line-crossing topics… My kids think he is hilarious…great. ---
**Author:** ![Momofgirls](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/momofgirls/32/21798_2.png) [@Momofgirls](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Momofgirls)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/2 "2009-02-20T21:21:55Z")
My girls (ages 11 and 13) LOVE him. Think he’s hysterical. I think he’s extremely annoying. He was on an episode of iCarly the other night (a show we like to watch together as a family), and it was the WORST EPISODE EVER. However, when he wasn’t being “Fred” on that episode, he seemed like a nice, normal teenage boy. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/3 "2009-02-20T21:38:18Z")
I lasted three seconds. My god thats the fastest i’ve gone from never having heard of someone to wanting to kill them in the most painful way possible ever. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/4 "2009-02-20T22:19:37Z")
The helium voice kills it. Take that out and make more creative use of the jump-cuts, and he might have had something funny. But the voice needs to die. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/5 "2009-02-21T01:09:17Z")
> [@Momofgirls](#): > > He was on an episode of iCarly the other night (a show we like to watch together as a family), and it was the WORST EPISODE EVER. I thought the subplot involving Spencer having his life ruled by a “Magic Meat Ball” was pretty funny. Especially the bit with the ostrich. Having heard of Fred but never actually seeing him, I think I only laughed once at the link above. The humor happens to remind me a lot of the random stuff the characters on _iCarly_ do on their fictional webshow, so I guess kids really like that sort of humor. (I think _iCarly_ is possibly the best-written live-action show for kids on TV today, and the press seems to agree with me. It’s just that the “webshow” bits are very random like Fred is.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/6 "2009-02-21T01:21:24Z")
My 11 year old loves this. Must be something about that age. I wanna strangle him, myself. If I’m not mistaken, he’s supposed to show up on the Nick show **iCarly**. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/7 "2009-02-21T01:26:45Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If I’m not mistaken, he’s supposed to show up on the Nick show **iCarly**. He already did on an episode that aired on President’s Day. He wasn’t that annoying there, actually (maybe because he didn’t actually appear that much). ---
**Author:** ![Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4af34b/32.png) [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zany_Zeolite_Zipper)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/8 "2009-02-21T02:04:45Z")
What are you old farts banging on about? I thought the aged couldn’t hear high pitched sounds. This is the first I’ve heard of Fred, but he is fraking high-larious. What a kid thinks a young child would sound like. It works are regular humour, and meta-humour. The only thing funny-er than a pitch changed sound is a reversed sound. Although I admit, if I wasn’t actively watching the clip, I wouldn’t want it on at all. If that sound was playing in the background, I would go nuts in short order. Oh, and I am not an eleven year old. Nor, though I’ll admit, am I old enough to have an eleven year old. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/9 "2009-02-21T04:27:59Z")
> [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](#): > > What are you old farts banging on about? I thought the aged couldn’t hear high pitched sounds. This is the first I’ve heard of Fred, but he is fraking high-larious. What a kid thinks a young child would sound like. It works are regular humour, and meta-humour. The only thing funny-er than a pitch changed sound is a reversed sound. > > Although I admit, if I wasn’t actively watching the clip, I wouldn’t want it on at all. If that sound was playing in the background, I would go nuts in short order. > > Oh, and I am not an eleven year old. Nor, though I’ll admit, am I old enough to have an eleven year old. I’m not sure I can take this seriously from a man named Zany Zipper. 😉 Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/10 "2009-02-21T05:23:08Z")
It’s like Alvin and the chipmunks played at 45rpm, but not in a good way ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/11 "2009-02-21T19:45:50Z")
> [@Zany\_Zeolite\_Zipper](#): > > What are you old farts banging on about? I thought the aged couldn’t hear high pitched sounds. This is the first I’ve heard of Fred, but he is fraking high-larious. > > Oh, and I am not an eleven year old. Nor, though I’ll admit, am I old enough to have an eleven year old. Oh - get off my lawn. 😃 No - I get the appeal to an 11-year-old kid - but _oy_. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/12 "2009-02-21T23:21:40Z")
That cat looked fairly alarmed in the video. Can’t we report him? ---
**Author:** ![parsnip](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parsnip/32/4564_2.png) [@parsnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parsnip)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/13 "2009-02-22T02:49:13Z")
Major favorite of my 10 yo and 12 yo. Right up there with [http://www.angryalien.com/](http://www.angryalien.com/) (movies in 30 seconds with bunnies–if the movie is R rated, so are the bunnies) ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/14 "2009-02-22T10:22:21Z")
I think if that was my child I’d have to send him away somewhere. Either to receive professional help or just so I wouldn’t have to listen to that voice anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/15 "2009-02-22T10:57:29Z")
I thought the “Ridiculously sped up voice as humour” thing went out with the last series of _Alvin & The Chipmunks_ back in the '80s. I’ll be conservative and say “I don’t get it” in regards to the video… ---
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-of-tweeners-fred-on-youtube/486771/16 "2009-02-22T19:16:58Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > It’s like Alvin and the chipmunks played at 45rpm, but not in a good way There’s a good way?