General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Fred: The Show

Fred: The Show is an American live-action short-form comedy series that aired on Nickelodeon in 2012, created by and starring Lucas Cruikshank as his internet character Fred Figglehorn. The series continued the Fred franchise built on Cruikshank's YouTube videos and two Nickelodeon television movies, Fred: The Movie (2010) and Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (2011), and ran for a single season of 24 episodes from January 16 to August 3, 2012.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Network and run	Nickelodeon, 2012; sneak peek January 16, 2012, official premiere February 20, 2012, final episode August 3, 2012³^•²
Format	Single-camera, 11-minute episodes; 21 episodes initially licensed, 24 ordered and aired¹^•²
Creator and star	Lucas Cruikshank as Fred Figglehorn¹
Main cast	Jake Weary (Kevin), Siobhan Fallon Hogan (Hilda Figglehorn), Daniella Monet (Bertha), Rachel Crow (Starr), Stephanie Courtney (Kevin's Mom)⁴
Viewership	Averaged about 2.3 million viewers per episode⁵
IMDb rating	2.2/10 from about 3,100 users⁶
Production companies	Varsity Pictures and The Collective³

Spoilers

Premise

The series follows Fred Figglehorn, a hyperactive teenager with a penchant for tantrums and a flair for the dramatic, as he deals with school and home life. His best friend Bertha (Daniella Monet) gets drawn into his mishaps, while his next-door neighbor and tormentor Kevin (Jake Weary) is usually the cause of his trouble. His mother, Hilda Figglehorn (Siobhan Fallon Hogan), is inconsistent as a parent, and Fred also has a make-believe father. Each episode centers on a single adventure, such as Fred inventing a love potion for a science-fair project.⁴^•³^•²

The character had originated in YouTube videos in which Fred appears as a manic 6-year-old with a digitally processed screech. By 2010 his channel had more than 2 million subscribers, and the character had moved to television through the iCarly episode "iMeet Fred" (2009, 5.1 million viewers) and the movie Fred: The Movie (2010, 8.7 million viewers).⁷^•¹

Production and greenlight

Nickelodeon announced the series on January 14, 2012, licensing 21 episodes and simultaneously ordering a pilot for Marvin, Marvin, a separate multi-camera sitcom starring Cruikshank as a quirky, intergalactic new kid in school adapting to life as a human teenager. Marjorie Cohn, then President of Original Programming and Development at Nickelodeon, described the 11-minute format as a showcase for Cruikshank's "signature adventures." The greenlight followed the October 22, 2011 premiere of Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred, which drew 5.7 million total viewers and ranked as that week's number-one telecast with kids 6-11 and kids 2-11. Production on the series had begun in Los Angeles by the announcement date.¹

The show was produced by Varsity Pictures and The Collective. Executive producers listed for the season include Cruikshank, Brian Robbins, Sharla Sumpter Bridge, Gary Binkow, and Evan Weiss.³^•⁸

Broadcast run

Nickelodeon aired a sneak peek on Monday, January 16, 2012, at 8 pm ET, immediately after the iCarly episode featuring First Lady Michelle Obama. The series officially premiered on President's Day, Monday, February 20, 2012, with a special "Fredsident's Day" presentation, and settled into a regular Friday 8 pm timeslot later that week.³

The season ran to August 3, 2012, when the two-part finale "Freddy and the Figglettes" aired. Episode listings differ slightly among databases: TVmaze records 24 ordered episodes, while JustWatch lists 25 entries for season 1, including "Drivers Fred." The opening episodes "Evil Fred" (parts 1 and 2) aired February 20, 2012, and the January 16 preview episode, "Love Potion," was later placed third in the aired order.²^•⁹^•¹⁰

Cast

Lucas Cruikshank starred as Fred Figglehorn. The supporting cast included Jake Weary as Kevin, Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Hilda Figglehorn, Daniella Monet as Bertha, Rachel Crow as Starr, Gracie Dzienny as Holly, Stephanie Courtney as Kevin's Mom, and Carlos Knight as Diesel. Guest appearances listed on the streaming release include Alan Ritchson as an "Expired Cow" and Reggie Brown as Barack Obama.⁴^•⁹

Reception

The series drew weak ratings from aggregated user reviews. Its IMDb rating stands at 2.2 out of 10 from about 3,100 users, with an unweighted mean of 4.9; the highest-rated episode on IMDb's per-episode list scored 8.0.⁶ Rotten Tomatoes shows no critic reviews for the season and an audience score based on fewer than 50 ratings.⁸ Common Sense Media's review criticized the show for putting "a humorous spin on damaged family relationships and chronic irresponsibility" and for lacking positive messages, while noting that Cruikshank has comic talent.¹¹

Despite the low ratings, the series averaged about 2.3 million viewers per episode during its run.⁵ It was not renewed, and Nickelodeon instead moved forward with Marvin, Marvin, which aired until 2013.¹²

The show remains available digitally: it can be purchased as a download on Amazon Video, the Apple TV Store, and Fandango At Home, with no free streaming options as of the most recent availability checks.⁹

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Sitcom and comedy series › American sitcoms and comedy series › 2010s and later network sitcoms

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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