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 a 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 four 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 May 7, 2019, it was announced that The Loud House had been greenlit for a fifth season consisting of 26 episodes. A feature film based on the series is also in development to be released on Netflix in 2021. A spin-off series titled The Casagrandes premiered on October 14, 2019.
Premise
Lincoln Loud is the only boy and the middle child in a family of eleven children residing in the fictional town of Royal Woods, Michigan. He has ten sisters with distinctive personalities consisting of bossy eldest child Lori, ditzy fashionista Leni, musician Luna, comedian Luan, athletic Lynn Jr., gloomy poetic goth Lucy, polar opposite twins Lana and Lola, child genius Lisa, and baby Lily. Lincoln occasionally breaks the fourth wall to explain to the viewers the chaotic conditions and sibling relationships of the household, and continually devises plans to make his life in the Loud House better.In the fifth season, the Loud siblings will age up a year with Lori going to college, Lincoln going to middle school, and Lily going to preschool.
Episodes
Production
Development
The Loud House was created by Chris Savino for Nickelodeon. Savino based the series on his own experiences growing up in a large family. Early in development, the Loud family was going to be composed of rabbits, but this was terminated when an executive, Jenna Boyd, asked Savino to make them human. The idea of the Loud family being rabbits became used as Lincoln's dream in the Season 3 episode "White Hare". He pitched the idea to Nickelodeon in 2013 as a 2½-minute short for their annual Animated Shorts Program. In June 2014, Nickelodeon announced that The Loud House had been picked up for a season of 13 episodes. The episode order was later increased to 26. On May 25, 2016, Nickelodeon announced that the series had been picked up for a second season of 14 episodes later increased to 26. On October 19, 2016, the series had been picked up for a third season of 26 episodes. Savino has cited Peanuts and Polly and Her Pals as influences on the show's characterizations and animation. Newspaper comic strips are also influences on the show's background art.Episodes are produced at Nickelodeon Animation Studio in Burbank, California, USA and animated by Canadian studio Jam Filled Entertainment.
Savino's firing
On October 17, 2017, Cartoon Brew reported that Chris Savino was suspended from the studio due to allegations of sexual harassment, the report noting that rumors of Savino's behavior have existed for "at least a decade." On October 19, a Nickelodeon spokesperson confirmed that Savino had been fired from the studio, and that the series will continue production without him. Six days later on October 23, Savino spoke for the first time since his firing saying he said he was "deeply sorry" for his actions. Alongside the announcement of the series being greenlit for a fourth season, it was revealed that story editor Michael Rubiner had now been named executive producer and showrunner. On May 30, 2018, Savino was suspended from The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, for one year.Broadcast
The series debuted on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016, with new episodes premiering every weekday that month. The first trailer for the series premiered on March 13, 2016. The series is also aired on AFN Family.Internationally, the series premiered in Israel and Italy on May 15. It premiered in Latin America, Brazil, Poland, Germany, France and Africa the following day. It began airing in Southeast Asia on May 20. Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Ireland's Nickelodeon channels premiered the series on May 30. In Canada, YTV aired a sneak peek of the series on September 5, 2016, which was followed by an official premiere on September 6, 2016.
The series premiered on May 15, 2016, in the Middle East and North Africa on Nickelodeon Arabia, dubbed in Gulf Arabic.
In India, the series premiered on Nick HD+ on May 18, 2020.
Home media
Reception
Critical
The Loud House has received positive reviews, 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 series 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 an interracial gay married couple. They are the first married gay couple to be featured in a Nicktoon. Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair stated that The Loud House "handles the topic 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 Friskys Tai Gooden mentioned that "kids who have two dads will be more than thrilled to see a family they can identify with on TV." Time reported that "people are thrilled about Nickelodeon's decision" to include a gay couple. Some groups, by contrast, have criticized the introduction of the characters. The One Million Moms division of the American Family Association objected to scenes featuring the McBride parents and unsuccessfully pushed for the episode in which they first appeared to be edited to exclude the couple, saying that "Nickelodeon should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda." The Kenya Film Classification Board also called for the suspension of the series on Pay TV service provider DStv, saying that the animated series "promotes the Lesbian, Gay and Transgender agenda."
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.
Awards and nominations
The Loud Houses portrayal of interracial gay married couple Howard and Harold McBride led the series to be nominated for Outstanding Individual Episode at the 28th GLAAD Media Awards and for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming at the 29th and 31st GLAAD Media Awards. The series was also nominated for Favorite Cartoon at the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 Kids' Choice Awards.| Year | Presenter | Award/Category | Nominee | Status | Ref. |
| 2017 | 28th GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Individual Episode | "Attention Deficit" | ||
| 2017 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | The Loud House | ||
| 2017 | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Teen Actor | Grant Palmer | ||
| 2017 | ASCAP Screen Television Award | Top Television Series | Doug Rockwell Michelle Lewis Phillip Cimino | ||
| 2018 | 29th GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Kids & Family Programming | The Loud House | ||
| 2018 | 45th Annie Awards | Outstanding Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television/Broadcast Production | Amanda Rynda Larry Murphy Edgar Duncan Hallie Wilson Jared Morgan | ||
| 2018 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | The Loud House | ||
| 2018 | 45th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program | Kyle Marshall Lisa Schaffer | ||
| 2018 | 45th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program | Eric Acosta Sammie Crowley Karla Shropshire Kevin Sullivan Whitney Wetta Michael Rubiner | ||
| 2018 | Nickelodeon Mexico Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | The Loud House | ||
| 2019 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Cartoon | The Loud House | ||
| 2019 | 46th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Series | The Loud House | ||
| 2019 | 46th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program | Eric Acosta Sammie Crowley Karla Sakas Shirosphire Kevin Sullivan Whitney Wetta Michael Rubiner | ||
| 2019 | 46th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Editing in an Animated Program | Oliver Pearce Amaris Cavin Gayle M. Grech Andrew Huang Monica DeStefano Rachel Russakoff Jon Kinyon Richard A. Domincus Matthew Malach Matt Brailey | ||
| 2019 | 46th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Music Direction and Composition | Doug Rockwell Michelle Lewis | ||
| 2019 | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Teen Actor | Andre Robinson | ||
| 2019 | Young Artist Award | Best Performance in a Voice-Over Role – Teen Actress | Brie Singleton | ||
| 2019 | Imagen Awards | Best Children's Television Programming | The Loud House | ||
| 2020 | 31st GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding Kids & Family Programming | The Loud House | ||
| 2020 | Kids' Choice Awards | Favorite Animated Series | The Loud House | ||
| 2020 | 47th Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Children's Animated Series | The Loud House |
Other media
Podcast
''Listen Out Loud''
Nickelodeon and its YouTube channel have done a series of podcasts called Listen Out Loud, where each member of the Loud family does a podcast revolving around their topics.- "Meet the Loud Family" – The Loud siblings start their very first podcast, but they can't come up with a topic about it.
- Luna Loud – Luna and her roadie Chunk give the listeners a virtual tour of Luna's home music studio where Luna talks about her musical instruments and her inspirations, but some of her instruments keep disturbing Bud Grouse.
- Lola Loud – Lola does her podcast called "The Lowdown with Lola" where she starts dishing out the latest Loud family gossip much to the dismay of her siblings.
- Leni Loud – With help from Lincoln as her producer, Leni gives the listeners a virtual tour of the Royal Woods Mall, where she shows her favorite stores and the different shopkeepers that she knows.
- Luan Loud – Luan teaches her listeners the basics of playing pranks on anyone. She demonstrates a few on some of her siblings much to their annoyance. But little does Luan know that she might get pranked right back.
- Lori Loud – With Bobby on her phone helping out from Great Lakes City and Luna providing musical accompaniment, he and Lori talk about how they first met and eventually started dating. However, they over-romanticize the details on their first date so Luan and Lynn Jr. chime in and tell them what really happened and how they had spied on them during the date to make sure that Bobby was good for Lori.
- Lincoln Loud – Lincoln and Clyde give the listeners a virtual tour of their treehouse. When their hammock goes missing, Lincoln and Clyde become Ace Savvy and One-Eyed Jack to find out who stole it. While Lincoln suspects that it's one of his sisters, they soon discover that the culprit is someone they'd least suspect.
- Lynn Loud Jr. – Lynn Jr. leads the listeners in her own at-home workout, arguing that gym memberships are expensive and mentioning how some gyms tend to ban people for bringing spicy submarine sandwiches into the sauna. During every single part of the workout, Lynn causes fitness-type chaos in the house which annoys her family.
- Lana Loud – Lana teaches the listeners how to handle and take care of vehicles. She uses the family van Vanzilla as an example. Lana gets some more help from her faithful frog Hops, her parents, and two of her sisters: Lori and Leni as they are the ones who drive Vanzilla.
- Lucy Loud – Lucy talks about the five main features of the Royal Woods Cemetery with the help of Lincoln since Luan was unavailable. Though they soon find evidence that there is a ghost in the area.
- Rita Loud – Rita discusses what she does at her dentist job as she runs the dental office while Dr. Feinstein is away at Cavity Con. While she does the dental work on Lola, Lori, and a reluctant Lynn Loud Sr., Rita also has to deal with some malfunctioning equipment which leads to her calling Lana in to take care of them.
- Lisa Loud – Lisa takes a break from solving her family's problems so that she can use her brainpower to solve the greater challenges of humankind by hosting a call-in called "Ask a Brainiac." Though the people who call her up are Lynn Loud Sr., Luan, Rita, Lincoln, and Lynn with their respectful questions.
- Lincoln & Clyde Review Gus' Games & Grub - Lincoln and Clyde work to review Gus's Game & Grub only to find it crowded. While working on reviewing the games, they have a hard time trying to get a table due to the different actions done by Lynn and Chandler.
- Lola Loud's Pageant Tips - With the aid of her pageant coach Lincoln, Lola gives pageant tips to the listeners while preparing for the Little Miss Iron Ore pageant that Cheryl is helping out with. When Lola's ribbon for her ribbon dance routine goes missing, Lincoln works to find it as Lola suspects that Lindsey Sweetwater is responsible.
- Lucy and the Morticians Club - Lucy and the Morticians Club hold a séance to speak to Royal Woods Elementary School's mascot Ricky the Rooster. They try to hold it at different locations like the Royal Woods Cemetery where the groundskeeper Hank is dealing with owls, Lucy's home where the antics of Lynn and Lana disrupt it, and Boris' house where his home decorating mother tries to treat them. When it comes to attempting a séance at Royal Woods Elementary School, Principal Huggins allows it since he still misses Ricky.
- Clyde's Explosive Cooking Problems - Clyde visits Lynn's Table to find out how to run a restaurant from Lynn Loud Sr. as Clyde works as his sous chef for the day. It becomes difficult for Clyde in the kitchen during the lunch rush as Kotaro mentions that it's the weekend of the Rattlesnake Roundup where some of the guests are from the Poconos. While also dealing with Scoots' demands, Clyde does some table service to Mr. Grouse and Flip.
- Lana Loud Rescues Animals - As mentioned two podcasts ago, Lana is volunteering at the Royal Woods Animal Shelter. She is assisted by Sam Sharp who is working as the head volunteer as Lana learns about its Adoption Day. They work to find pets for every one of its visitors like Rocket the German Pinscher, Feline Dion the tabby, and Captain Ron the cockatoo. While Sam goes to pick up lunch, Lana makes efforts to sell pets to possible adopters like Mayor Davis, Cheryl, and Dante.
Films