Family Portrait

I'm not really much of a sitcom guy. Besides the animated "Family Guy", the only other sitcom I've ever been able to stomach on a weekly basis has been "The Office" (which I absolutely loved). One night while watching television, however, I stumbled across a few episodes of "Modern Family". I laughed out loud on a number of different occasions each episode, and thus decided to give the entire first season a try. It did not let me down!

The basis of Modern Family is simple: the show focuses on three families that are all related to each other:

-Gay partners Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) & Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and their adopted baby Lily.

-Goofy Phil (Ty Burrell), his wife Claire (Julie Bowen), and their children Haley (Sarah Hyland), the cute ditzy one, Alex (Ariel Winter), the conservative smart one, and Luke (Nolan Gould), the clueless one.

-Family patriarch Jay (Ed O'Neill), his trophy wife Gloria (Sofia Vergara), and their son Manny (Rico Rodriguez).

What makes the show so great is that the deep ensemble cast plays so well off of each other. There is also "something going on" with the large crew, and the fact that there is blood relation between the families adds an extra layer of emotional depth. Of course, living up to its sitcom name, "Modern Family" is also just doggone funny! There is something unique and humorous about every single character.

Perhaps most importantly, everyone can find something to relate to in the show. That is what made "The Office" so great, and that kind of story/joke telling bleeds over into this show as well. This is just a take on family life instead of being at the office.

Simply put, I am glad that I gave "Modern Family" a try. I already have ordered Season Two and am looking forward to laughing at the continuing adventures of the three families.

Modern Family was on its third season I think by the time I had heard enough to make me watch it for myself. I wasn't sure quite what to expect though because I had heard some people say it was quick fire in its delivery of all types of jokes, while others suggested it was more of a traditional sitcom albeit with the family units changed up to suit demographics for today. What I found was, to my tastes, something that seemed to sit in the middle of these two places, providing enough of the comedy to carry the more traditional lessons and "coming together" of families that one expects from this.

I enjoyed it but for me the sow just seemed to lack that little bit of edge in the humour, in the plots and in the characters; there is a lot of polish here that didn't always work in the favour of the show. It manifests itself in many ways but mostly it is evident in the gloss of the presentation – this doesn't ever look like a show in its first season settling in, it always feels like a big network comedy which was designed and made from the start. This is not necessarily a criticism though, but it did strike me as odd to see something hitting the ground with so much weight behind it. The plots and characters are pretty good; I liked the modern collection of characters and relationship – the show keeps them human but also allows them to be exaggerated for the sake of the laughs. The downside of this is that too often it does play a very straight bat with them – with sentimental lessons and interactions that don't always ring true; I would have liked a bit more bite to it at times, but this isn't all the time and mostly it is funny enough to carry it off.

The actors are mostly great. Burrell is a great clown and his character plays it well against Bowen. Ferguson and Stonestreet are equally funny and are written well enough so that they can be seen as modern but without ever pushing the mainstream audience away (this is not Six Feet Under after all). O'Neill continues to be a steadfast of the genre and his character here is suited to him as it is equally grumpy and also good humoured. Vergara has a better comic touch than one might expect from someone who effortlessly stunning; likewise Rodriquez leads the child cast well with an odd but funny character. The various guests cameos are impressive on paper but generally they just seem odd due to how big the names are – again an example of the resources behind the show, but generally they don't add as much as they detract.

Overall, this first season may not have delivered the edge and laughs that I was looking for due to how polished and sentimental it could be, but mostly it is funny enough to carry the aspects I didn't so much care for. More than good enough to make me come back for the second season though.

The first season of modern family might be the best season consisting of great writing, heartfelt moments and likeable characters, watch this show if you haven't