"Overnight Success" is the 23rd episode of The Loud House in the broadcast order and the first segment of the ninth episode of the first season in production order. It first aired on July 20, 2016. In this episode, Lincoln Loud manages to convince his parents, who banned sleepovers after incidents involving his sisters' owns, to make his first sleepover with Clyde McBride, his best friend, only to end up getting jealous, as his sisters repeatedly take Clyde for their own needs. Nickelodeon promoted the episode by releasing a clip featuring Clyde's parents, Howard and Harold, an interracialgay married couple. The episode was praised by the introduction of Harold and Howard, particularly to the brief use of the characters, their casual presentation, and the episode's lack of focus on their sexual orientation.
Plot
Lincoln Loud is excited, as he finally managed to convince his parents to let him have a sleepover with his best friend Clyde McBride, as they previously banned sleepovers in their house due to some previous incidents caused due to Lincoln's sisters Lynn, Leni, and Luna. Clyde soon arrives and is dropped off by both his dads, but as soon as Lincoln starts explaining their itinerary, Clyde soon attracts the attention of Lincoln's sisters Lisa, Lola, Lynn, Leni, Lori and Lana who quickly begin to take him to accomplish their own needs, much to Lincoln's annoyance and envy. Desperate to make a sleepover, Lincoln calls all of his other friends. However, they soon end up running due to Lincoln's sisters also taking them. Lincoln soon realizes that Clyde, due to being an only child, is the only one capable of putting up his sisters' antics. Lincoln then goes to Clyde's house and apologizes to what thinks it's him, only to discover back home that Clyde actually never left the house, as he fainted every time he watched Lincoln's oldest sister Lori, and that the thing in Clyde's bed was actually his stuffed animal, to whom Clyde's fathers put in his bed as a way of deal with the sleepover. Lincoln apologizes to Clyde, and chooses to ignore the itinerary for the sleepover. As Lincoln, his sisters, and Clyde watch a movie, Clyde soon faints once again due to Lori's presence.
Reception
The episode's scene in which Howard and Harold are introduced was met with a highly positive response by several media. Dan Avery of NewNowNext was particularly pleased by the character's "casual and humorous introduction" as "a breath of fresh air". Similarly, Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair felt that the episode's "casual representation in children's programming" was "a milestone" and that "handles the topic in exactly the right way". De Elizabeth of Teen Vogue said that "he 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 scene was also met with a positive response on Twitter.
Ratings
The episode was watched by 2.15 million viewers, a slight drop from previous episode Two Boys and a Baby's 2.28 million viewers.
