Modern Family (TV Timeout)

Families love each other. Most do, anyway. You have to wade through a lot of crap most of the time, but at the end of the day they’re what you have, and they’re not going anywhere. ABC’s Modern Family takes us into the world of one such group, and week after week this show provides pure joy minus the usual cynicism. Yes, I love Arrested Development, but for the first time in a while we have a true family sitcom that depicts a big, happy family. Yes, I’m a guy who tends to love some of the most depressing stuff out there, but I'm not immune to happiness.

In suburban Los Angeles, we have the Dunphy clan, your basic stereotypical American family with a mother, a father and 2.5 children. Fearing the consequences, no doubt, the series decided to round up and go for three.  The parents are Claire (Julie Bowen) and Phil (Ty Burrell), and their children are the high-school aged Haley (Sarah Hyland), the intelligent middle child Alex (Ariel Winter), and the young Luke (Nolan Gould). I’ll let them do the talking:

Claire’s father, Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill), has married a younger Columbian woman named Gloria (Sofia Vergara) after a divorce. Gloria’s son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez II) is adjusting to his new life with Jay. Vergara is an absolute revelation, she could have been a one-dimensional bimbo in a relationship that would never happen, but against all odds she and O’Neill appear to be truly happy. This is the kind of thing you just don’t see often.

You know what else you don’t see often? Gay couples on network television. Luckily Modern Family has created Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who is Claire’s brother and Jay’s son. Again, this could be a coupling done in an exploitative manner, and the ads seemed to be advertising them in a way that said “See! We don’t hate gay people!”, but these are actual believable characters. In the pilot they adopted a Vietnamese infant who they named Lily, and they continue to raise her as their daughter.

One of my favorite films thus far this year has been The Kids Are All Right¸ which functioned very much in the same way, only in a slightly more adult tone. Who am I kidding? It was a much more adult tone. Either way, the basic message in both examples is that no matter how much crap people go through, at the end of the day your family is your family. Kids went to some darker places than Modern Family will ever go, but you get the point.

All ooey-gooey stuff aside, this show is freaking funny. Once in a while it goes a little over-the-top, but for the most part it stays rooted in the real world. Often the laughs are laughs of recognition, remembering moments from your own family history. Let me just say, though, that Ty Burrell is absolutely godlike in this show. Eric Stonestreet won the Emmy for supporting actor, and deservedly so, but part of me was rooting for Burrell. He does slapstick with the best of them, the entire time playing a man with intentions so good that he can become misguided. Without him, I’m convinced this show would not be anywhere near where it is.

However, the longer I think about it, I don’t think you could afford to lose a member of this cast. Each hits every note with just the right pitch, and I think saving their characters from becoming the stock types I was afraid of. Take, for example, Bowen, who at any point plays a scene with the just the right level of caring and neuroticism. There is never a moment where you worry that there are two characters who don’t truly love each other. The closest thing to genuine conflict comes in “Coal Digger”, an episode in which Claire’s possible true feelings about Gloria come out. However, (spoiler alert) it’s all worked out.

In fact, if I have a complaint about the show, is that there never really seems to be anything TRULY at risk. Honestly, though, that is a terrible complaint and I hate myself for it. Modern Family is not intended as a show where everything can fall apart. It’s a family sitcom, about real families. Sure, all the episodes can end with cheesy group hugs set to cheery music. Sometimes, with all the negativity and cynicism from people such as myself, sometimes we all need a little cheese. There’s a reason it won the Emmy for Best Comedy Series. It’s a weekly injection of pure, unadulterated joy. Who can resist that?

MY FAVORITE EPISODES (in order of airdate, yes there are a lot)

“Pilot”

“The Bicycle Thief”

“The Incident”

“Coal Digger”

“Not in My House”

“Moon Landing”

“My Funky Valentine”

“Truth Be Told”

“Benched”

“Airport 2010”

“Hawaii”

Two episodes have aired to begin this second season: “The Old Wagon” and “The Kiss”. The show airs every Wednesday night at 9pm EST.