Freddy (weather)
Freddy, officially Freddy Forecaster, is an animated weatherman shown in TV weather reports. Freddy depicts twenty different weather conditions, complete with sound effects, and appears on various networks such as the TVB channel in Hong Kong.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> Freddy was created by Fairman Productions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which syndicates the program.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Appearance
Freddy wears a yellow suit and has a pink face; his design has not generally changed over the years.
Freddy and the weather
Freddy's actions gives a short forecast of the day's weather:
- For extreme heat, he melts.
- For lightning, he gets struck by lightning and runs away.
- For rain, a rain cloud drifts in and he opens his umbrella.
- For heavy rain, the rain fills the screen.
- For strong winds, he is blown away.
- For cold, he turns to ice.
- For fog, he holds up a lantern for light.
- For sunny conditions, a flower sprouts, he picks it and walks.
The animations feature various sound effects, such as falling rain, thunder, blowing wind, footsteps, and Freddy's whistling and reactive cries such as "oooh", "aaah" and "awww".
Other markets
Freddy (also known as "Freddy Forecast" or "Freddy the Forecaster") has been shown in 19 television markets in the United States, such as KTVO TV in Kirksville, Missouri, WJBF in Augusta, Georgia<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and many other stations. The series also ran in Perth, Australia for many years.<ref name=":0" /> In 1982, a program director at KNOE-TV in Monroe, Louisiana said that Freddy was "the best thing we’ve ever done" for weather reports because it had successfully gotten more kids to watch, and that the station planned to "keep Freddy around until he’s a great-grandfather."<ref name=":0" />
In Shenzhen, China, Shenzhen Television's news bulletin at noon uses a similar character and features Shenzhen's skyline in the background.
Hong Kong (TVB)
In Hong Kong, where Freddy is known as (Template:Zh) in Cantonese and Mandarin, the character is utilised on TVB's weather forecasts, for both its English (TVB Pearl) and Chinese (TVB Jade) channels. In 1993, he became computer-animated.
The skyline behind him on TVB's broadcasts is regularly updated to keep abreast of the ever-changing skyline of Hong Kong. It appears as if he is walking on the water surface of Victoria Harbour. As of January 2008, Freddy was upgraded to his third incarnation.
During the 1980s weather reports, in case of fine weather Freddy would pick flowers, which was criticised as an example of destroying public property. After receiving complaints, TVB changed this in the 1990s to him walking and whistling merrily.
References
- Toon Town: the city's homegrown comics, HK Magazine No. 585. Retrieved 29 July 2005.