It's safe to say that Nickelodeon's "The Loud House" has left a huge impact that I don't think anyone could have expected when the show first came out. This was, after all, the period where the network was particularly horrible about killing off shows before they could gain a following - an era they unfortunately haven't escaped from. But not only did it manage to beat the odds and become an instant hit, but it famously beat SpongeBob in ratings for a period. Clearly, it struck a chord with both the kids and even some audiences outside of that. And sure enough, you don't have to look far within cartoon aficionados on social media to find a number of profile pictures in the show's style, even today. It seemed like it could have just about everything a show could want. However, as what happens with many long-running shows, as the years passed it became more hip to look at the series with a critical eye and not only did more detractors start to show themselves, but an increasing number of formerly-loyal viewers were also dropping off.
For those not in the know, "The Loud House" is a sitcom-like cartoon about a middle-class, suburban family with ten daughters and a single son named Lincoln, whose perspective we generally follow. Throughout the show, we see the constant struggles and challenges of living in such a tight household, but no matter what may go wrong or how messy everything gets, they always come together in the end and know how to make things right for everyone. Because this was the rare animated show that managed to meet Nickelodeon's notorious SpongeBob standard, it wasn't long before it was treated in very high regard on the corporate end, to the point of giving the show no fewer than 5 seasons (a total very few Nicktoons can boast), a TV movie distributed on Netflix, and a spin-off with side character Ronnie Anne's extended family "The Casagrandes" (which, by the way, I will not be looking at for this post as I have enough to cover already).
I first got into the show around the time it debuted in early 2016, and I regularly followed it for the first season and a half. I was never the hugest fan of it, but the visuals, large cast, and heart had me constantly engaged. And when I did stop consistently seeing new episodes in mid-season 2, it wasn't out of disinterest for the show, but rather me entering a much busier period in my life and focusing the little spare time I still had on newer shows that piqued my interest more, like "Bojack Horseman" and "OK KO: Let's Be Heroes". But I still had it on my mind, and would watch some eps I'd miss from time to time when I was in the mood. Even though negativity toward the show was more commonplace than ever, I could never bring myself to dislike the Loud House because of all the friends I made along with way, especially on Twitter. So naturally, when Paramount+ began hosting the first four seasons, and with word of the movie arriving on Netflix, I knew I had to re-experience it all to see how well they really held up.
It's easy to forget over time that season 1 provided a significantly different experience than the rest of the series. The original setup had Lincoln as the straight man to the chaos surrounding him, and most of the episodes had him actively plan out how he can circumvent his sisters and make everything go his way; be it freeing the TV for his favorite program, ensuring himself ideal seating in the family van, or just having a small inflatable pool to himself. And when that isn't happening, the sisters are still most of the time seen by him as obstacles, either to overcome or avoid trouble from, like trying to attend a rock concert without Luna interfering or netting Leni her driver's license to circumvent Lori's demands. It was a pretty straightforward formula, but it was a fairly effective one, with the family constantly being roudy as you'd expect but always showing an affectionate side when push came to shove. This does mean the majority of the beats quickly become predictable, but the way it plays out is pretty realistic to how these kinds of families act.
Writing-wise, the show's execution is a fairly mixed bag. For a show that wants to be witty every chance it gets, I can't say it made me actually laugh often (and there's admittedly more toilet humor than I remembered), but it's well-written enough where I still constantly smiled at it, and it's certainly energetic and varied enough to keep the kids engaged. In addition, unlike other Nicktoons of the time that could get a little tryhard in being modern or changing things up from the past, the way everything is structured and told feels straight out of the early-to-mid 2000s, even though modern technology is incorporated. Many of the stories feel familiar to those found in your standard B/C-tier cartoon of that time, the humor frequently accentuates each character's defining trait, and for the most part the episodes are very self-contained. While it can certainly come across as 'been there, done that' to some viewers, this problem is nonexistent when taking the target audience into account, especially since these are among the better takes of said familiar stories.
That said, there are many tropes of that time that were left behind for a reason and that they definitely should've reconsidered including. Stuff like 'the girl that beats you up at school actually has a crush on you', and sometimes leaning a little too hard on gender stereotypes, but this is probably the most problematic with Clyde McBride. Despite constantly appearing to assist Lincoln in his schemes... it's literally his sole role in the show, the textbook definition of 'black best friend'. That, and crushing over Lori - the oldest of the sisters - at least once every episode he appears in. Apart from being incredibly repetitive, the kind of culture we live in now (as well as a certain revelation that came to light later) makes this seem far more creepy than the writers intended, and it drags every time it gets brought up. Lincoln himself can also be considered a sort of blank slate for the sake of connecting with the target audience. But I think he's still pretty likable as far as that kind of character goes, and there's still a thrill-seeking, reactive personality within there. Sure, I would've preferred to get more quirks out of him, but its purpose is served well in this context.
The sisters all squarely fit into a different archetype that they rarely deviate from, and whenever humor comes out of them it's generally a safe bet what they'll each contribute. Lisa speaks with scientific dialect, Luan gives the bad puns and one-liners, Luna loves to rock out, and so on. This may make them look one-note and tired, but the fact most of their appearances are kept brief and each of them are night-and-day from any other makes it feel more like getting a general overview; a means of getting to know them before they get some spotlight time. And sure enough, this gradually starts to happen as the season progresses. From the start, there were episodes that pit Lincoln against one specific sister, like "Get the Message", but they became the norm by the second half of the season, and even the little exchanges within the more general episodes feel more 'distinct', of which I consider far more interesting than treating them as mere parts of a single unit. They still stick to their one defining trait, but they make the most of those traits.
The technical aspect is a more complicated matter. The look of the Loud House is meant to emulate that of a comic book, and it nails that aesthetic in spades. The character poses are all drawn in a way that would still look appealing as stills, and the backgrounds - no matter what the setting or contents - always have this faint but unmistakable particle effect that only further makes it look out of a printed work. This is best illustrated where clouds, trails, and many props are always drawn with lines across the edge. It helps that the Toonboom animation proves really fun and fluid, always getting the speed, motion, and bounce just right. This does come with the downside of the staging not being very interesting, often shooting the characters side-by-side of each other with little depth, but it at least fits the style they picked. Unfortunately, the sound design doesn't fare as well. The original score from Doug Rockwell isn't too memorable, but it always fits the current tone or setting fine; however, the show has a bad habit of reusing the same handful of cues (like the 'madness' theme), and it doesn't help the mixing often overemphasizes the voices.
That said, it didn't take long for season 2 to start drastically changing things up. I didn't talk about the parents (Rita and Lynn Sr.) in season 1, and that's because they only occasionally appeared with their role being little more than the faceless authority figures who could struggle with keeping the family in order, but would manage in the end. Starting with "12 Louds a Leapin'", however, they were not just able to show their faces onscreen, but they gained a much larger role from that point on, becoming just as important to the show as their children. To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of this decision. While they had their fun moments from the start, now they tend to be treated as goofballs with not much more rationality than the kids, especially in spotlight episodes. It doesn't help either that a lot of the time, it seems like they're almost enabling everyone's bad behaviors or at least standing on the sidelines. Not that they're without dignity and authority, I just prefer the idea of them being more confident with such a big family.
Another thing one will quickly catch onto while watching season 2 is how the sisters are used. Sure, we had episodes that could give development to one of them like "Snow Bored", but they always had to be told through Lincoln's perspective. And while this generally worked, it would've started to become restrictive after a while, so they decided to ditch this idea and have the perspective and main character of the episode simply be who the story is about. You get episodes like "Patching Things Up" where Lana and Lola are able to contrast off each other without needing a third wheel, "Friend or Faux" where Lisa has to not just befriend one of her peers but learn what actually makes a friend, or "Spell It Out" which follows Lucy as she attempts to spell-cast karma onto all the siblings, with Lincoln treated no more importantly than any of the other sisters. While it's certainly a less unique way to get these stories and characters across, I think this was easily the more beneficial move in the long run as it led to a far greater variety of stories to be told and more interesting combinations to try out, and sure enough they've stuck to this since.
But they didn't deviate too far from Lincoln being the definitive main character, as he still carries the majority of the stories. However, even his role saw a noticeable shift. Much like how his sisters were no longer stapled to his perspective, Lincoln was no longer kept to stories involving his sisters or even his home life. Now, whenever he was the star of an episode, it'd often be at his school and involving his group of friends. I'll admit, much like how Lincoln is the standard 11-year old, these guys feel so disappointingly generic, and with their main traits being 'farm boy', token black kid, and even a token girl added in season 3, it very much feels like they're checking the boxes on the basic 'diverse kid group' list. But like a lot of the series' other tropes, I don't dislike what they bring to the show on the whole, and the way they work off each other is pretty natural. It's clear they were meant to represent the friends the average kid in the target audience might have at their own school, and I can respect that.
Season 3 was also a transitional period of sorts for the show, but for a much more unfortunate reason. In October 2017, well within the season's production, series creator and primary director Chris Savino was fired from Nickelodeon for his history of sexual misconduct, with no fewer than 12 women coming forward. Because of this, many episodes that started production under his direction had to be finished by Kyle Marshall. This naturally caused some heavy discomfort among animation communities, including the fanbase; even though the show was able to carry on without him no problem, it was difficult to ignore how strong his mark was, even beyond creation. It made some recurring gags, like Lincoln's habit of reading in his undies and Clyde's Lori infatuation suddenly become much more uncomfortable than they already were. Kyle must have noticed this too, as any traces of this were suddenly very far and few between in season 3, and then completely gone by season 4. But to many people, you just can't wash some stains off.
Naturally, this leads to there also being changes in the general story structure. Rather than having a straightforward A to B goal that builds to some kind of resolution at the end, often times episodes will start with one conflict only for it to shift toward another later. A good general example would be "No Place Like Homeschool" where the kids realize being homeschooled is much more challenging than they thought. That sounds like it'd be the entire plot, but the climax comes when Lola getting them back on track blows up in her own face, forcing the sisters to take action of their own. Or it will make you think they're going for one direction, only to swerve into a different one that still makes sense for the story. "Shop Girl" starts with Leni's siblings toughening her up to survive Black Friday crowds at the mall. You expect her to go too far in her fighting, but instead she gives her grabs away to troubled customers out of the goodness of her heart. It really makes her and the episode as a whole all the more likable. The stories are still pretty standard for this show, sure, but there's a bit more layering to it.
That said, sometimes they can get overboard in their ambitions to push a certain concept and making the characters look incredibly short-sighted. Like when Lisa becomes obsessive about detect lies around the house by installing surveillance systems all over the place, Lynn Sr goes to tiring lengths to give all his children equal and favorable attention, and Lincoln changing up his daily routines only to make a fool of himself. They can be amusing in the moment but feel like they stray a little too far from the more grounded, moderately silly tone the show started under. But there were also a few positive character turns. They started distinguishing Clyde's character more to that of a worry-prone rule-stickler that always puts his friends first, including becoming the school's junior administrator. Leni gets a job at a dress shop which brings out the best in herself. And Lynn Sr even opens his own family restaurant with the children's help. So there's that.
Much of the same can be said about season 4, but with an added interest in trying to explore new directions with the characters. Take "Any Given Sundae", which is centered on Lily having to overcome as many different inconveniences as you could think of in order to get her very first taste of ice cream. It is absolutely adorable, and a refreshing change of focus. You also have Lynn bonding with neighbor Mr. Grouse over their love of sports, Luna and her girlfriend Sam tasked to watch over the McBrides' pets, the sisters taking part in an Ace Savvy convention... stuff like that. This even extends to the status quo itself. As early as season 3, the show started to develop an ongoing, progressive timeline - one that would have an entire year pass by season 5. So naturally, season 4 spends several episodes on Lori preparing to move onto college. It's still played pretty casually, but it's satisfying to see a cartoon like this commit to aging up its characters, especially at this point into the run. The plots still aren't groundbreaking, but there's experimentation at play.
But as fresh as these stories are, there is unfortunately a catch, and a pretty big one at that. That problem I mentioned in season 3 of the characters acting desperate and irrationally sadly becomes a more frequent problem here. We're now at a level where Lincoln tries to get himself out of trouble at a PTA by disguising his friend Rusty as the teacher and Leni tries to sabotage Lori's college tour. So already a portion of the episodes can be difficult to sit through by default. And when that isn't happening, a good many plots are still driven by characters being annoying or stupid (Flip especially, who seemed to become a writers' favorite by this point despite most fans, myself included, finding him unlikable). That said, there are still some really sweet episodes like "Geriatrics", which has Lisa coping with the fact that Pop-Pop is going to die and that it's the natural order (especially poignant with his voice actor Fred Willard passing not long after), "Brave the Last Dance" where Clyde gains a proper crush only to unexpectedly find a different dance partner, and the aforementioned "Purffect Gig" which ends with a very earned same-sex kiss.
And finally, we get to season 5, as of now the current season and the one that saw the most drastic status change in the status quo. Lori is off at Fairway University, Lincoln and his friends are in middle school, Lily now goes to preschool, and so forth. And a good number of the stories take great advantage of this; Leni has to learn to take charge of the house, Lincoln and friends have to cope with rude 8th graders on the bus, and Lily's increased comprehension plays a major role in the family's gift exchange. It helps that they seemed to fix a lot of the aforementioned characterization problems. Granted, there's still way too much Flip, but everyone consistently acts more believably than they could in seasons 3 and 4, and many of the more irrational behaviors and conflicts have some sort of reasonable catalyst attached to them. The moral value remains just as high as ever, with a few more mature lessons thrown into the mix. Even the technicals stepped up a few notches, with more elaborate title cards and a more memorable soundtrack. There's definitely an attempt to keep the show fresh on all sides.
Unfortunately, there is one major catch here that I can see being a turnoff: the less realistic tone. Now, don't get me wrong - the show has had a cartoony lean from the very start, and there have been some rather unbelievable story beats in the past (like Rita giving birth to Lincoln with help from the President of the United States...), but for the most part it was pretty clear which actions had consequences and how grounded much of the show's world operated. Contrast to the hour-long season premiere "Schooled", where we're meant to buy that all of Fairway's dorms are either beyond strict or a disaster waiting to happen, and that Lincoln would be expected to travel back and forth to a Canadian school (complete with unfunny stereotypes that get drilled into your head). This isn't a one-off thing either; a number of other episodes are in a similar vein, like when the Louds' new neighbors turn out to be secret spies and when Lily orchestrates these super elaborate April Fools pranks that even outdo Luan's. I appreciate them trying to spice it up, but it frankly goes against a large part of what made the original direction as charming as it was.
But I think the real thing that made so many people drop out was that it just didn't seem to quite evolve the same way so much of modern western animation did.
No matter how much they mix up the characters and settings, too many of the plots start to gel together as a while. At least half the episodes center around either a wild, exaggerated misunderstanding, or a character changing something about them that ends up not working out. Most of them aren't by any means carbon copies, but after over 200 stories, it can be difficult not to catch on and get tired of it. And on top of that, there is rarely any noteworthy character development, unlike more acclaimed shows that are also episodic and sitcom-esque like "Big City Greens" and "The Amazing World of Gumball". Sure, some romantic pairs develop (Lori/Bobby, Luna/Sam, Lincoln/Ronnie Anne), and a character can end an episode in a new position that sticks, but the personalities see little to no evolution. Even in season 5, you still have Lisa as much of an insensitive know-it-all and Lola just as spiteful and vain as season 1. Which is, to be frank, an understandable criticism.
In fact, there's many good reasons why someone would either not get into the show altogether or decide they didn't enjoy it as much as they initially thought. Your engagement in the characters entirely depends on how accepting you are of those that are either walking tropes or otherwise one-note, cause so many of them are. There's also the matter of hype backlash, both it's prominence on Nick and how it was initially treated by viewers as a savior of sorts, along with how immature the fanbase can get at the worst of times. But most damning, in my opinion, part from a few minor aspects like the strong LGBTQ+ representation, the show doesn't stand out much from other family cartoons released since. Not just in comparison to your "Infinity Train"s and "The Owl House"s providing complex characters and nuanced, multi-layered conflicts, but also other laid-back cartoons that are full of style and ambition like "Summer Camp Island" and "Glitch Techs". Even simpler shows like "Middlemost Post" feel comparatively more humble.
But despite all these genuine gripes, both with specific seasons and on the whole, I must admit that I found myself consistently entertained going through, even if the reasons why changed from season to season. I generally find at least something to enjoy in each experience, even if it's something as small as a character interaction or a fun motif here and there, and even if I strongly disapprove of a story's direction. The Loud House is not a deep show, and it's debatably outdated in some ways. I myself have brought up several problems I personally have with it over the course of this post, and I'm sure there's many more fair complaints I haven't considered. But even with all the reasonable detraction, I simply don't believe the Loud House is worthy of the hatred parts of the internet have given it. It's meant to be harmless yet heartfelt fun that the kids clearly got into for a reason. The Loud House is, in my personal opinion, a good show - faults and all.
But no matter where it goes, and how much or how little it keeps my attention in the future, the Louds will undoubtedly always have a place in my heart. Which is, in my opinion, the true sign of an influential and memorable series.
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