User blog:Gumball2/Characters vs Comedy

When I hear people praise the Loud House, the two biggest strengths they attribute to its success is the variety of rich characters and the strong, consistent comedy. It can be argued that both of them feed off each other to an extent (jokes and gags are much more likely to land when they're performed by dynamic people with strong chemistry).

What I've been wondering is whether people value one of these characteristics over the other despite their relationship with each other.

I personally prefer characterization over comedy. I should start by saying that I'm not a connoisseur of comedy; I don't have a rigorous method of evaluating whether a joke works or not and I don't tend to hold it against the episode. Most of the time, I passively acknowledge attempts at comedy and go on with my day. I don't find LH humor to be so bad that it's annoying or detrimental to the quality, however I usually don't laugh at it (though to be fair, there's a limited volume of stuff that has made me genuinely laugh). On the other hand, when a joke really lands and gets an actual reaction out of me (whether I laugh or smile), I give the episode points in its favor. I don't consider myself anti-comedy, however it's usually not a significant consideration when I'm gauging my feelings towards an episode.

What is a major consideration, however, is how the characters are presented and whether we learn anything new about them. In my eyes, the people drive the show above all else. Unlike comedy, an episode is made of broken depending on how the characters act and how that reflects on them. NSL and BiTF are not reviled because the comedy is bad (although it doesn't help), but because the characterization is not only awful but carries terrible implications for the Sisters and the parents at large. Had the characterization in these episodes had been done correctly, then they wouldn't have gotten the backlash they did even if the comedy still faltered. On the flip side, while it would have generated a few additional fans, I don't think these episodes would have had many fans had the characterization been awful but the comedy was golden.

Now obviously, I don't want to simplify the arguments of those that disagree with me. I think everyone can agree that characterization holds at least some significance, however I also notice that some reviews of certain episodes have excused certain lapses in characterization on the grounds that it lent itself to a good joke.

But what do you guys think? Do you think certain elements of the show are more important than others? Feel free to share your thoughts below.