Howard and Harold McBride are a pair of fictional supporting characters in the American animated television series The Loud House and its resulting multimedia franchise on Nickelodeon.

Positive reviews of the series have also called attention to the lack of focus placed on their sexual orientations, as well as their depiction as fit and capable LGBT parents.

[4] A running gag is the McBrides' impractically large and ever-expanding repertoire of hobbies and former jobs, which increases to include any skill set that an episode's plot demands.

Whenever one of the Loud children learns something new from Howard and Harold, they will simply say that "Mr. McBride" taught them, leaving it intentionally ambiguous as to which dad possesses each skill.

[11] Kaitlyn Hayes of PinkNews wrote in her review of The Loud House that their portrayal in "such a natural and accurate way still puts a huge smile on our faces.

[13] Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair stated that The Loud House "handles the topic [of same-sex marriage] in exactly the right way...this kind of casual representation in children's programming is a milestone.

"[14] 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.

"[16] Commenting on the McBride parents' debut, the staff of Rotten Tomatoes expressed hopes that the two characters would continue to make prominent appearances.

[18] The vocal performances of Michael McDonald and Wayne Brady have also been positively reviewed; Bustle's Jordana Lipsitz stated that "the show could not have picked better actors to portray" Howard and Harold.

[20] The Spanish news site Fórmula TV wrote, "the milestone is not only given by the sexual orientation and gender of the couple, but also by their skin colors, as it is an interracial marriage.

"[22] Like the inclusion of LGBT characters on other children's programs, the inclusion of Howard and Harold McBride on The Loud House have been met with criticism from a particular group; 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,[23] saying that "Nickelodeon should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda.

"[24] Wayne Brady commented on the issue in an interview with The Arizona Republic, stating that "it's ridiculous in 2016 an animated series would rankle so many people because it happens to depict something that actually exists in real life.

Viacom stated that, since the feed reaches other African markets where homosexuality is suppressed, they would risk losing their broadcasting license by showing Howard and Harold.

[30] The series was at the top of the Kenya Film Classification Board's blacklist, and a complaint from the KFCB argued that The Loud House tries to "normalize, glamorize, and even glorify homosexual behavior.