The Loud House

The Loud House is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino for Nickelodeon. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of an accident-prone boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only son in a large family of 11 children. It is set in a fictional town in southeastern Michigan called Royal Woods, based on Savino's hometown of Royal Oak. The series was pitched to the network in 2013 as a two-minute short film entered in the annual Animated Shorts Program. It entered production the following year. The series is based on Savino's own childhood growing up in a large family, and its animation is largely influenced by newspaper comic strips.

The series premiered on May 2, 2016, and five seasons have been broadcast. The program has gained high ratings since its debut, becoming the top-rated children's animated series on American television within its first month on the air. The series has received considerable media attention and nominations at both the 28th and the 29th GLAAD Media Awards for its inclusion of Howard and Harold McBride, two supporting characters who are an interracial gay married couple. Their introduction into the series was reported in the news as being historic and caused a ratings surge. In May 2017, the characters of Lincoln Loud and Clyde McBride were featured on the front cover of Variety as an example of diverse characters in children's television.

On September 9, 2020, it was announced that The Loud House had been greenlit for a sixth season consisting of 26 episodes.

A feature film based on the series was released on Netflix in August 2021, and a live-action television film is set to premiere in November 2021.

A spin-off series titled The Casagrandes premiered on October 14, 2019.

Premise
Set in the fictional town of Royal Woods, Michigan (based on Royal Oak, Michigan), the series chronicles the surburban life of Lincoln Loud, who is the only boy and middle child in a family of eleven children. He has ten sisters with distinctive personalities: bossy eldest child Lori; crazy fashionista Leni; guitarist musician Luna; comedian Luan; athletic energetic Lynn; gloomy emo Lucy; polar-opposite twins girly Lola and tomboy Lana; experimental genius Lisa, and baby Lily. Lincoln often encounters problems as a result of his large amount of family members, which his best friend Clyde helps him solve. He normally explains these issues to the audience by breaking the fourth wall and speaking to the viewers. While most of Lincoln's plans to make life in the Loud House easier backfire, his predicaments tend to bring the family closer together in the end.

Ratings
The Loud House became the number-one children's animated series on television within its first month on the air. Throughout May 2016, it received an average of 68% more viewers in its target audience of children aged 6–11 than broadcasts on Nickelodeon in May of the previous year. As of June 2016, it was Nickelodeon's highest-rated program, beating SpongeBob SquarePants with an average Nielsen rating of 4.9 among the 2–11 demographic at the time.

The Los Angeles Times cited The Loud House as a major factor in maintaining Nickelodeon's position as the highest-rated children's network in summer 2016. During the show's fourth week of premieres, Cyma Zarghami announced that it was continuing to draw more viewers than any other program on the channel.

The show's highest-rated episode, with 2.28 million viewers upon its premiere, is "Two Boys and a Baby". This was the first episode to air after it was announced that Howard and Harold McBride would be debuting on the program. The first episode of The Loud House shown at prime time, "11 Louds a Leapin'", was the seventh most-viewed telecast across all U.S. households on November 25, 2016.

Critical reception
The Loud House has received critical acclaim, specifically for its animation, voice acting, characterization, and the heartwarming themes of each episode. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media praised the show's voice cast and thematic messages, writing that "kids will come to The Loud House for the laughs, but they'll return for the ensemble cast and the surprisingly heartwarming themes that dominate every story." Kevin Johnson of The A.V. Club gave the show a B+, noting that "the female characters are defined by their traits, but never judged for them."

The characters of Howard and Harold McBride have received praise for being a positive representation of a married same-sex couple. They are the first same-sex couple to be featured in a Nicktoon. Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair stated that The Loud House "handles the topic [of same-sex marriage] in exactly the right way...this kind of casual representation in children's programming is a milestone." De Elizabeth of Teen Vogue wrote, "The best part is that the show doesn’t treat these characters any differently, or even introduce them with a heavy asterisk about their marital status." The Frisky's Tai Gooden mentioned that "kids who have two dads (or moms) will be more than thrilled to see a family they can identify with on TV." Time reported that "people are thrilled about ABC on Cartoon Network's decision" to include a gay couple. However, the characters have been met with criticism from conservative media groups. The American Family Association attempted to prevent Nickelodeon from airing scenes featuring the McBride parents, saying that "Nickelodeon should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda."

Cast

 * Alyson Stoner
 * Maddie Taylor

Lesbian

 * Alice
 * Lainey
 * Sam Sharp

Gay

 * Harold McBride
 * Howard McBride

Bisexual

 * Luna Loud

Transgender

 * Dana Dufresne

LGBT Episodes

 * Overnight Success
 * Attention Defecit
 * Baby Steps
 * L is for Love
 * Singled Out
 * Racing Hearts
 * Purrfect Gig