User blog:AustinDR/What I Would Want to See from the Loud House

When I was a kid I loved cartoons. Now, I'm not going to be that guy and say that all 90s cartoons were amazing, when clearly not all shows airing at that time were smash hits. I was a frequent watcher of Cartoon Network where I could find an assortment of cartoons to watch ranging from Ed, Edd n Eddy, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, the list goes on. However, that was nothing compared to Nickelodeon. I was a Nicktoon fanatic to the point that you could say that it was my religion. Everything from Hey Arnold to Rugrats, I fondly remembered all of the episodes even to this very day. That was how much cartoons shaped my childhood. To me, the last good show on Nick was Avatar: the Last Airbender, and once that ended, I was slowly turned off by the network. I even had wanted to be a cartoonist so that I could work for Nickelodeon one day. Well, that was until someone (whom I will not name) over at deviantART said that they could do better, and I found out how Nick treated its employees. I mean just look at what the network did to C. G. Greenblatt - creator of the show Harvey Beaks a show that I had neglected to watch.

I hadn't really watched cartoons for years. After graduating from high school, my interest in the genre reignited when I turned my attention over to Cartoon Network. After it had went through a few changes, they released Adventure Time. Now, I watched the show for quite some time, and I grew to love it, though admittedly, it was going down in the most recent of years. And then came Steven Universe. I had kept myself off of the show for a few years, because I felt that it would suck. However, I decided to give it a try one day, and I grew to love it. I loved the characters, the songs, the animation...my only complaint is that its schedule is extremely sketchy. I also began to watch Gravity Falls, only to realize that the show was to end before I could get into it. After the show ended, I began to watch Wander Over Yonder, but it was to be canceled, not because of low ratings, but because the network thought that eighty episodes were enough. The current show I'm watching on Disney XD is Star vs. the Forces of Evil, which is actually pretty good.

Unfortunately, I could not say the same for Nickelodeon. My childhood television network was going down in quality as it was made more evident that the executives conducting the station valued quantity over quality. Several of their past cartoons were crappy, even though they would make a huge deal about them by promoting them. However, if a show didn't turn out to be a smash hit, the studio would immediately forget it, and condemn it to Nicktoons Network, which is practically a death sentence for any cartoon. My heart was broken into millions of pieces at seeing the condition of the network, so I decided to swear myself off of any of its shows for good. That is, until I saw the promotions for the Loud House. I didn't watch the show then, because it seemed to be another bomb that Nick would desperately try to remove posthaste. Sometime after seeing the announcements, one of my watchers requested for me to draw some characters from the series. Since I had no idea who any of those characters were, I went to good ol' Google for reference. I was fascinated by their designs. They seemed simple, yes, but I also admired the comic strip style animation. Whilst browsing through the channels to see what to watch, I came upon the Loud House yet again. Seeing as their wasn't anything else good to watch anyway, I thought, what the hey, let's give this a watch. Sure enough, it was "The Butterfly Effect." You know, that episode where Lincoln accidentally wrecks Lisa's experiment causing all hell to break loose? Well, that was my introduction to the show. To be perfectly honest, I actually really enjoyed the episode in question. Yes, I know that this episode is divisive to other fans of the show, but I hold this episode close to my heart. If the episode was trying to reel me in to check out more of the series, I can gladly say that it succeeded with flying colors.

I immediately fell in love with all of the characters. I could actually see myself relating to Lincoln in a few ways. Much like Lincoln, sometimes I feel like a burden, and that there isn't anything special about me. I tried to be an artist only to be told that I was mediocre, I tried to be a writer, but hardly anyone reads what I write. This was the problem that I have had on my deviantART account. I do draw quite often, though I won't say what type of drawings I do. Needless to say, many people began to watch me, because I appealed to their urges. However, I didn't want to be known as the guy who did that type of work, so I began to review episodes from the series to garner their interests. Unfortunately, they didn't express my affection for the show; some even stopped watching me because I no longer did what they wanted. Just recently, I asked that deviant who dissed my art those years ago on whether I improved. He told me that I slightly did. I shouldn't have cared about his opinion, but I did. I wanted to prove that I was a competent artist, only to be told that for all of my efforts, I made slight improvement. I even did drawings for the jerk, and he never thanked me for any of it. Because of all this, I felt that I was a failure at everything I did, because no matter what I did, I knew that there was always someone better. As such, I actually did feel sympathetic towards Lincoln's plight in "Making the Case," though I did not approve of him secretly video taping his sisters. I also loved the show, because truth be told, I am an only child. I always wanted a younger sibling because I always felt mighty lonely. However, I do have baby cousins that look up to me as though I were their big brother, so that's a plus.

I can go on and on about how whenever I'm feeling down, the show almost always manages to lift my spirits. I seriously get giddy every time that upbeat theme song plays. However, I am not going to do that. While I enjoy the show, there are some glaring problems that I have with the series. Well, not glaring as that would suggest that it ruins the show for me. I meant it more as there is some room for improvement. Without further ado, here's what I want to see from the Loud House.

What I Want to See from LH

 * 1) No More Lincoln Torture Episodes: This goes without saying. Basically, this is the equivalent to the infamous Squidward torture episodes. Normally, Lincoln ends up getting the short end of the stick, but there are some episodes that take this too far. I know that I may be in the minority, but I actually kind of liked "Girl Guru" and the "Longest Yard." (guns are pulled) OK, before you shoot, I'd like to explain why I do. Both episodes had Lincoln be in the wrong, thereby the punishment he receives in the end was justified. Many forget that in "The Loudest Yard," Lincoln was a lazy bum who took advantage of Lynn so that he wouldn't be made to play foot ball. Granted, Lynn didn't mind, but still. And in "Girl Guru," Lincoln gave terrible advice on how to get girls, so again, he set himself up for a fall. These two episodes I have no problem with. But then there's episodes like "Sounds of Silence" in which his sisters make up stories about Lola, and what was Lincoln's crime? He was wanting some peace and quiet so that he could read his comic books. That's it. I mean I understand that you shouldn't ignore family, but everyone wants some quiet now and again. They also make Lincoln do demeaning stuff just so he could be on Lola's good side. While that was bad, "Garbage House" was even worse: for one, Lincoln is never made aware of the "sister protocol." I don't get that; Lincoln is a member of the family, and yet he doesn't know anything about it? Even Bobby knows about the protocol, so why is Lincoln the only one in the dark? Lincoln is prohibited from going into the kitchen to get a snack, he couldn't even watch television (he also gets pummeled in his attempt of getting the remote), and the bathroom is off limits. The episode wants you to see Lincoln as a villain for trying to get involved, but he clearly was not in the wrong in this episode. They even make him idiotic as he was incapable of solving their problem when in countless episodes, Lincoln was the first one to come up with a solution. He was even kicked out of his own room for little to no reason, and he is cruelly told by his sisters that they solved their problem the moment he left. This episode made me lose any respect I had for them as they fought over meaningless things. As to keep my sanity together, I'll leave it at that. Overall, I want the series to stop punishing Lincoln if he didn't do anything to deserve the repercussion. It's not funny, it is irritating, and it only makes me feel more sorry for Linc.