Absent Minded

**"Absent Minded"** is the twenty-eighth episode of the third series, and the one-hundred-twenty-ninth episode of *The Loud House*.

## Plot

Clyde discovers he didn't earn his junior administrator job, but can't give up the perks that come along with it.

## Synopsis

At the McBride House, Lincoln and Clyde are marveling over a perfect attendance plaque Clyde has recently won. Clyde decides to record this moment in a journal he has had since kindergarten. While bringing up some highlights, Lincoln and Clyde discover that on one day, Clyde didn't go to school, making Clyde panic. Realizing that he's a fraud, and doesn't deserve the perfect attendance award, Clyde considers taking the award back, and Lincoln, initially opposing Clyde taking it back, becomes supportive of Clyde's decision.

The next day, Clyde attempts to tell Principal Huggins about his perfect attendance award. However, Principal Huggins, interrupting Clyde every time he talks, says that because of his perfect attendance, he's perfect for the role of junior administrator. With this job, Clyde can do a lot of privileges around the school, such as raising the flag, taste testing the cafeteria food, and give morning announcements. Clyde, realizing how great it is to be a junior administrator, forgets about telling the truth, and gladly accepts the position.

Now that he's a junior administrator, Clyde gets a lot of special privileges, courtesy of Principal Huggins. After raising the flag on the flagpole, tasting the cafeteria food, and giving the announcements, Cheryl, Principal Huggins' assistant, give Clyde the task of digitizing the school files. However, Clyde, realizing that the files contain his attendance records, quickly asks Lincoln for help, and Lincoln accepts. Late in the day, after most of the staff has left the school, Lincoln and Clyde successfully extract the file containing Clyde's attendance and are prepared to leave. When Clyde brings up the idea that no one would expect what they did, Clyde sees the school janitor, Norm, nearby. Fearing that Norm overheard him (which Lincoln replies is highly unlikely), Clyde says that they need to keep him quiet, and they do so by cleaning the boy's bathroom. However, upon finishing, Clyde blurts his secret again, and fears that Coach Pacowski overheard him. Lincoln and Clyde decide to scrape off the barnacles on Coach Pacowski's houseboat in hopes that it would keep Coach Pacowski silent. Unfortunately, for the third time, Clyde blurts his secret out, and fears that Nurse Patti overheard him. Lincoln and Clyde decide to exam each kindergartner for head lice for Nurse Patti.

The next day, Clyde is informed by Principal Huggins that he now has his own personal golf cart, as thanks for helping the staff out yesterday. Unable to live on a lie anymore, Clyde, while doing his morning announcements, reveals to everyone that he's a fraud because he missed one day of school. Principal Huggins and Cheryl, shocked at what Clyde is saying, ask him what he's talking about. Clyde says that he missed a day of school in 2012, but Cheryl reveals that the day Clyde claims he missed out on, was actually due to an incident named The Great Flood of 2012 that happened, and school was canceled as a result. Realizing that his worrying was all for nothing, Clyde is more than proud to still hold onto the position of junior administrator, and his perfect attendance plaque.

## Cast

* Collin Dean as Lincoln
* Grey Griffin as Cheryl
* Lara Jill Miller as Nurse Patti
* Andre Robinson as Clyde
* Jeff Bennett as Coach Pacowski / Norm
* Stephen Tobolowsky as Principal Huggins

Mrs. Johnson, Girl Jordan, Penelope, Lance, Trent, Artie, Andrew, Renee, and Papa Wheelie have no lines in this episode.

## Smarty Pants Challenge

During a rerun of this and its sister episode on September 14, 2020, the viewers had the chance to answer trivia questions related to the episode with the Nickelodeon Screens Up app or on Nickplay.com for a chance to see their name on screen.

1. Clyde writes about getting his plaque on what date?
	1. 11/1
	2. 11/2
	3. **11/3**
	4. 11/4
2. What title does the principal offer Clyde?
	1. **Junior Administrator**
	2. Hall Deputy
	3. Junior Principal in Training
	4. President of Recess
3. What color is Clyde's blazer?
	1. **Blue**
	2. Green
	3. Yellow
	4. Black
4. What's Cheryl's new project?
	1. Rewriting student files
	2. Deleting student files
	3. Memorizing student files
	4. **Digitizing student files**
5. The janitor's name is...
	1. **Norm**
	2. Don
	3. Ron
	4. Tom
6. When was the last time Norm cleaned the bathroom?
	1. Never
	2. The Great Food Fight of 2014
	3. **The Great Flood of 2012**
	4. Last Week
7. What does Clyde do to keep Nurse Patti quiet?
	1. Clean her boat
	2. **Check the kindergartners for lice**
	3. Clean her floors
	4. Give the kindergartners a snack

**The Winners**

1. Rita Hive 047
2. Loud Champ 179
3. Royal House 154
4. Lisa Agent 087

## Physical distribution

This episode is available on the "Cooked" DVD.

## Trivia

* This episode takes place on November 3-8, 2016.
* The title of this episode refers to how Clyde has the day of his supposed absence (Absent) in his mind (Minded) for a majority of the episode.
* This episode reveals the following:
	+ Clyde has never missed a day of school since kindergarten.
	+ Clyde is also the most recent to win a perfect attendance award in 30 years, right after Principal Huggins.
	+ On April 6, 2012, a toilet exploded in the boys' bathroom, resulting in the school being flooded, and shut down for a day.
		- According to Norm, he has never cleaned the bathroom ever since that event.
* Upon close inspection, Clyde's journal also reveals a few things:
	+ He once dressed up as Santa Claus for Halloween, and most people disliked it.
	+ Once he was very disappointed, so he put his focus on Lori.
	+ When there was a blood drive at school, Clyde did not have enough blood to donate because he ran into Lori and had a nosebleed.
	+ He once stayed after school to clap erasers.
	+ He once traded his fathers' quiche for Rusty's leftover pizza and ended up experiencing gastrointestinal problems (implied by a drawing of a toilet).
	+ One day, he ran into Mollie in the hallway and felt guilty for the rest of the day.
	+ He once got an A+ on a math test.
	+ One time, he forgot to wear socks, but he liked the experience, save for the blisters on his Achilles tendons.
	+ At the end of the episode, he writes that he was feeling itchy and felt so concerned, he figured he needed to get Nurse Patti to inspect him the next day.
* One of the boxes of student files is labeled "Class of '42", meaning that the Royal Woods Elementary has been open since at least 1942.
* This episode takes place after "Teachers' Union", as Coach Pacowski and Nurse Patti are seen being together.
	+ Patti appearing on Pacowski's houseboat could indicate that the two are actually dating.
* This is the final episode to mention Clyde's former crush on Lori.

## References

* ***Absent Minded*** - The title of this episode means having or showing a habitually forgetful or unfocused state-of-mind.
* ***Dragnet*** - Clyde's junior administrator badge is modeled after Joe Friday's police badge from this long-running detective series, right down to the number being 714. The badge in the series was modeled after that of the Los Angeles Police Department.

## Errors

* According to his journal, Clyde clapped erasers on the date 7/13 and traded lunches with Rusty on 7/14, which is the middle of July. School should have been out around this time since it would be summer vacation which takes place between June and September. It is also highly unlikely that he had to stay for summer school.
* When Clyde and Lincoln see Nurse Patti sunbathing on Coach Pacowski's houseboat, the frames in Clyde's goggles are missing.
* According to his journal, Clyde missed class April 6th but said he missed April 5th toward the end of the episode.
* When Trent listens to Clyde's confession, he was inside the classroom. But in the next scene, he was outside.

## Clips

The Loud House - Clyde McBride's 'Absent Minded' Secret 🤫 - NickThe Loud House - Perfect Attendance - Nickelodeon UK