DUNPHY TOWERS IS FALLING DOWN: We haven't talked about Modern Family in a while, but I wanted to talk a little bit about this season. There's been a lot of funny stuff, but it seems like the writing staff hasn't learned from Season 1 what really makes the show take off--and that's either getting the whole extended family together (as in "Fizbo" or the airport episode) or mixing the family units to give characters a chance to collide off one another who might not otherwise (e.g., Cameron and Jay go to the gym, Gloria and Cameron go out for Latin food, Manny and Claire discuss parenting).
Last night's, like most of the episodes this season, kept the family units largely separate--indeed, the only intersection of the three plots was Mitchell's seeking Claire's counsel about schools. Admittedly, there's some funny stuff within the family units (the "Haley teaches Alex how to be cool" plotline was both funnier and truer than most of the teenage shenanigans over on Glee, for instance), but the show needs to get back to what it does best.
I kind of like the fact that the show can do both (stay in family, and have them mix). But did anyone notice that last night the show ended without the heartwarming "in the end we are all family" kind of a feel? I believe that was the first time. I noticed because usually I cry during that moment. "Parenthood" ends the same way.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to disagree. I think last night was very funny. Very early on, it was true that the funniest episodes were the ones where they mixed and matched the families, but I don't think that's been true for quite a while now. Now that the writers have a better handle on their characters, and now that they've thoroughly established the characters and their eccentricities and backstories for the audience, what the show does best is figure out how to put those characters in situations that take advantage of the actors' talents. The contrivances to get the different families together are kind of distracting and counterproductive to me. I think there's a lot of confirmation bias in the lingering complaint that the show needs to put the families together more.
ReplyDeleteI respectfully dissent, Matt. I thought last night's was an extremely funny episode. (Girard, I agree that it was muted and maybe even undercut by Gloria's response, but I thought that Jay's purchase of the airline tickets to Colombia had some of that feel you mention.)
ReplyDeleteI join the dissenters, but not for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that the whole-clan episodes have a sparkle that makes them awesome, it's really only that way because we know all of these characters so well individually, and know how they are going to bounce off of each other. We also know what is being held back through civility because we see so much of them and hear so much of what they are actually thinking behind closed doors. If the family were around each other all the time, they would be on their constant best, most polite behavior, and we would never get the insight into their lives that we have.
I am looking forward to them getting together again, but for now, it's good to let each household have its own rhythm.
I thought last night was really funny, especially the whole interview scene. Cam's "Tucker" voice nearly made me cry from laughing.
ReplyDeleteI was going to post a dissenting opinion on the whole "mixing families" thing, but I see that everybody has beaten me to the punch. I like seeing the families operate as nuclear family units -- I think it gives them more realistic material to work with and I really enjoy watching their relationships deepen.
I was also near tears at the whole Tucker scene.
ReplyDelete"Who do you think we are, Peruvians?"
ReplyDeleteLoved the Peruvians line, and the immediate switch Jay made from defending his wife to "What. did. you. do?" as the door closed on the neighbor - so true to life.
ReplyDeleteYou know, that's what everyone seems to say about this show (Sepinwall particularly), but really, can they have the entire cast together every single week? Realistically, probably not. So maybe they should save the Grand Family moments and not try to do it every week anyway.
ReplyDeleteI don't need (or want) the whole extended family together every week. I just want to see more combinations outside the three separate family units, which have yielded comic gold both where it might be expected (Cameron+Gloria) and more unexpectedly (Mitchell+Manny, Manny+Claire). Especially with Cameron and Mitchell, focusing on them separately tends to turn into something very sterotype-driven.
ReplyDelete1. Taylor Nichols got really old while I wasn't looking.
ReplyDelete2. So much to love in this episode: Peruvians, "We got Shawshanked," Tucker, "I'll cut your corners"... Yes, the tippy-top episodes interweave better than this one did, but variety is okay; if every episode had a contrived interaction, we'd appreciate it less. (Last week's fell short of its potential, for example.)
3. That said, this season isn't up to the standard of last season. Every episode last year captivated me; this year, I've been much more likely to stop the DVR at a commercial and pick up a day later.
Add me to the dissent. Yes, I like when they come together, but I also like that they don't force them together unrealiztically. So far, all the combo episodes they've done have seemed fairly organic, and I'd like to keep them that way.
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud several times last time - Gloria as parrot (and setting off the car alarms), long Amish nightmare, the bar of soap, the Peruvian line, the delivery of the final "lesbians!" "in a wheelchair!"...
I find this by far the most consistently funny show on TV, and the show I most want to watch when it's on my DVR. I haven't found any lower quality this year than last year.
Adding late for archival purposes (3 weeks behind on DVR), as I may someday want to note when I started using the line, "No, I'm not going to get dragged into playing Good Cop, Mom". Becuase, oh yes, that will be said.
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