Modern Family
The issues of dysfunctional families are tripled in this mockumentary, as suburban life is mismanaged and "Yes we can" optimism takes control.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Programming, Reviews
Ahh the dysfunctional American family.
They are a genre to themselves, and television positively eats them up. From The Simpsons to Malcolm in the Middle, Dallas to Six Feet Under… they are as rich a story vein as the procedural crime drama. Whether in comedy or drama they never quite manage to resolve their differences and we invariably see a little bit of ourselves in them all.
In Modern Family the issues are tripled, with no less than three families to entertain us and mirror contemporary American society in all its “Yes we can” optimism.
The Dunphy family is a conventional nuclear family consisting of mother Claire (Julie Bowen) and husband Phil (Ty Burrell) who have been married for 16 years. She’s overprotective; his constant reminders of being a ‘cool’ dad (complete with demonstrations of High School Musical choreography) are a regular source of embarrassment to their three kids: teenager Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter) and Luke (Nolan Gould). In the first episode, Haley brings home a senior boy which throws her parents into varying forms of nervousness.
The 6-month Delgado–Pritchett family consists of Jay (Ed O’Neill), his youthful Colombian wife Gloria (SofÃa Vergara) and her son from her first marriage Manny (Rico Rodriguez II). Jay spends most of his time in a tracksuit while his fiery wife runs the household and dotes over her soccer-playing son. Manny is wiser than his years with a crush on a 16 year old girl.
Finally there is Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet), two gay partners of five years who have just adopted an orphan baby from Vietnam. Mitchell is uptight while Cameron is outgoing and dramatic.
All three families live in Los Angeles. Absent from the group is the inclusion of any African-American family members, but the reasons for this will become obvious later.
Central to this sitcom is its mockumentary style. The tone of the show is pitched close to the “fly on the wall” style of Arrested Development or a Christopher Guest film. Filmed in single-cam without laugh-track, the performances don’t acknowledge the presence of a camera. But the fourth wall is broken via interviews to camera, carefully constructed to link scenes together.
The suburban scenes are a slice of mismanaged LA life. Most are built around seemingly futile ambitions that become insurmountable problems. Thankfully the performances are so on the money that it is easy to like these characters despite the fact that you wouldn’t dare want to live with any of them. Presumably over time we will also come to appreciate that for all their fussing and ineptitude, like Homer Simpson, they still have a deep, abiding love for one another.
The dialogue bubbles away with sardonic gags on the nuances of living American life. Watching how they tackle some of the country’s social and political hot potatoes (gay marriage, teenage sex and guns are already touched upon in the first episode) will be half the fun.
Glee notwithstanding it’s been a while since a new US comedy has worked on TEN. The Office, Nurse Jackie, Accidentally on Purpose, Rules of Engagement, The Cleveland Show and Little Britain USA have all met with mixed success. Fingers crossed Modern Family breaks the drought and finds an audience. It deserves to.
Modern Family premieres 8pm Tuesday May 18 on TEN.
14 Responses
Absolutely the best comedy currently on TV. Americans don’t always do irony that well, but when they do, as in ‘Modern Family’ it zings. The observations are pretty much universal and most of us will find ourselves – or a loved one – instantly recognizable in at least once characters. There is also a palpable warmth in Modern Family & an enduring message that in spite of our differences most families are bound by love. And completely agree that the later episodes hold completely true to the pilot & so if you don’t like the pilot then this series is probably not for you.
brilliant, funny, touching show! Though much love David, they acknowledge the cameras quite often throughout the show, it’s constantly breaking the fourth wall and is all the funnier for it!
I watched the pilot and was unimpressed – same with Community. Have recently got into 30 Rock though – thats a funny show. The last few eps of The Office also haven’t been too bad
The Channel TEN ads dont give this show the justice it deserves. This is the best show out of the States this season and i cant wait to see it all again. Dont know how Australian audiences will react to this series but i love it and i’m an Aussie so i hope people do tune in.
definitely worth the watch – have been lucky to see all episodes up to ep 21 and definitley worth the time – some consistently good laugh out loud moments for sure
@DavidM – I agree with you about Community. While love Modern Family, Community is far and away my favourite new show of the season. Community is the new Simpsons – the pop culture references, the ever expanding cast of background characters and the outright hilariousness. Brilliant stuff.
Modern Family is one of those rare shows where if you didn’t like the first episode you can pretty much check out after that, as it stays pretty consistent throughout the run of the series. I love it. Each episode contains a few good laughs and the cast are near on perfect, including the kids.
This show seems to get a lot of very good reviews… and I have to admit that baffles me, as the first couple of episodes struck me as a bit toothless and not really particularly funny. It’s hardly *bad* though, and I’m obviously in the minority, so good luck to it. I suspect that it may need it – I’m not sure how much an Australian audience will connect with Modern Family.
It must be said, however, that it is not a patch on Community, that other success-story of the current US comedy season.
The show is essentially a more mainstream ‘Arrested Development’, done in the style of ‘The Office’, and while not as amazing as either of those shows, it’s a lot of fun; have seen about the first 15 or so eps and it definitely holds up well. Watch it; you’ll almost certainly enjoy it. The Pilot, especially, is amazingly good and well constructed.
I’ve watched the first 3, and yes, they are stereotypes but it’s almost impossible for a new comedy not to have some. The main point is that it’s funny.
This looks good !
ed oneil will always be al bundy in my heart
Cool. I’ve seen the first three or so episodes on different flights in and out of Australia and I’ll happily be tuning in to watch the complete series.
But, I’m not sure how well it will do down under. At the very least I hope Channel Ten simply stick it in a “late night” slot rather than taking it off-screen completely if the first two episodes fail to garner millions of watchers.
Don’t rely on the on the TEN ads, this is a funny show, lots of dry humor and surprises, one of the top new shows of the season, David ITA I hope TEN gives it a chance to find an audience after all the promos then have run!