Modern Family - General Discussion

[Meredith Quill]

This topic replaces the old forum for this show which has been vaulted here:

https://forums.primetimer.com/forum/107-modern-family-v/

[Mediocre Gatsby]

I'm watching Season 8, episode 11: "Sarge and Pea." How did I not notice before that they have Alex referring to browbeating Claire during a 10k as "negative reinforcement"? That's not what negative reinforcement is. 

[GiandujaPie]

When I catch reruns of seasons 1-5, I genuinely LOL at most of the episodes since they are so funny. I think the show started getting less funny when Claire returned to work and was no longer a stay at home mom and the kids started getting older. There are some funny episodes in the later seasons (the Las Vegas one comes to mind) but they are not as consistently funny as the early seasons and some episodes are just not funny at all. I know this is the norm for most sitcoms and shows, but the drop off in funny quality is pretty steep with this show, IMO. 

[mmecorday]

Quote

I think the show started getting less funny when Claire returned to work and was no longer a stay at home mom and the kids started getting older.

I agree. I stopped watching soon after Cam and Mitchell got married. A lot of the episodes in the later seasons are brand new to me.

A cringey episode for me is the one where Luke hooks up with the older woman at the Country Club. Yes, I realize Luke wasn't a little boy anymore at that point, but it just seemed so inappropriate and gross. Also, something happened to Luke's verbal skills as he got older.

[ljenkins782]

On 5/31/2022 at 7:08 PM, GiandujaPie said:

When I catch reruns of seasons 1-5, I genuinely LOL at most of the episodes since they are so funny. I think the show started getting less funny when Claire returned to work and was no longer a stay at home mom and the kids started getting older. There are some funny episodes in the later seasons (the Las Vegas one comes to mind) but they are not as consistently funny as the early seasons and some episodes are just not funny at all. I know this is the norm for most sitcoms and shows, but the drop off in funny quality is pretty steep with this show, IMO. 

Agreed. I might be generous and go into season 6, but there's a precipitous drop in the last seasons. 

Ed O'Neil also aged quite significantly by the end, so it's always jarring to me to see an earlier episode and remember when he was an older man but still gave off a powerful vibe that made his relationship to a much younger woman seem plausible and some of those qualities had dimmed by the end. 

[mostlylurking]

This show is on daily and I have to say it still sucks me in every time. Yes the quality dropped off from earlier seasons but it was still strong right up to the end imo.  Especially compared to what’s cranked out currently, way too many shows and for the most part seasons are way too short.  I’d even go as far as to say this was one of my all time favorite shows.  I miss it (and its 20+ episode seasons). 

[LadyIrony]

I remember loving the first season and when season 2 started it was like the magic had ended for me. I can't believe it went on for so long!

[Blergh]

On 8/29/2022 at 10:12 AM, LadyIrony said:

I remember loving the first season and when season 2 started it was like the magic had ended for me. I can't believe it went on for so long!

IMO, that's because  the once-evolving multi-dimensional characters' quirks soon devolved into them becoming simplistic and meanspirited stereotypes (yes, I'm looking at you Gloria, Cam, Haley, Manny and Mitch)!

[voiceover]

Today is “A Fair to Remember” — I’d forgotten how charming this one was.  My favorite subplot featured guest star Jordan Peele as a dad who’s teamed with Jay to be the “security guards” for the school fair.  They meet cute while squabbling over a parking space (“I have a protein bar and a space blanket.  I will spend the night here if I have to!”), then become odd couple-cop buddies after chasing down rule breakers.  At the climax of their story, a snotty juvenile tosses his cherry sno-cone at Peele’s cream silk shirt.  And the dialogue that follows is pretty much the end of Lethal Weapon 2.

Plus: Claire gives Phil the anniversary gift of all time (she hires Chinese acrobats to put on a show for their 20th; 20 years = China).

[anna0852]

Look who's working together again:

https://tvline.com/2022/11/02/pitch-perfect-peacock-series-trailer-bumper-in-berlin-release-date/

[Fool to cry]

Ty Burell's not dead BTW he just couldn't make it!

 

[voiceover]

Watching “Arrested” (Hailey gets kicked out of college), and was reminded that the best line of the season — and probably the series — was Dede’s reaction to Gloria’s pregnancy (“I think my uterus just fixed itself!”).

[Bastet]

I never watched this when it originally aired, but tended to laugh when I watched a few minutes of syndicated episodes while going around the dial during commercials.  So now that I have Hulu, I decided to give it a whirl.

The characters have a lot of stereotypical traits from the beginning, so I knew they were going to come to feel cartoonish in time, but I'm more than halfway through season five and still laughing a good bit.  Manny is a creep, Luke has a mouth full of marbles, Hayley is too stupid to live, and Lily is a demon, but I like the adults and Alex enough to make up for it.  This new nanny, though, Andy -- he is one of the most annoying characters in the world.  And now they have Haley liking him, after that ridiculous video he made for his girlfriend?!  That's the episode where I left off, and I was not pleased to check IMDb and learn he's around for years to come. 

I'm looking forward to Mitchell and Cam's wedding, because I remember my best friend describing to me what Jay did in the end - having it at his club, in front of all his friends, and walking Mitch down the aisle, and I look forward to seeing that from him.

Anyway, I came here to see whether most people liked it all the way through or if, as is typical with shows running this long, it wore pretty thin by the end, and from a brief perusal, see I am just about through with the good years.  I could sense that, which is why I finally dropped in.

Edited January 6 by Bastet

[andidante]

On 1/5/2024 at 4:26 PM, Bastet said:

Anyway, I came here to see whether most people liked it all the way through or if, as is typical with shows running this long, it wore pretty thin by the end, and from a brief perusal, see I am just about through with the good years.  I could sense that, which is why I finally dropped in.

I stopped watching a few years before it ended as it was not fun to watch anymore. I didn't find it funny. The first few years were the best.

[ljenkins782]

On 1/5/2024 at 7:26 PM, Bastet said:

I never watched this when it originally aired, but tended to laugh when I watched a few minutes of syndicated episodes while going around the dial during commercials.  So now that I have Hulu, I decided to give it a whirl.

The characters have a lot of stereotypical traits from the beginning, so I knew they were going to come to feel cartoonish in time, but I'm more than halfway through season five and still laughing a good bit.  Manny is a creep, Luke has a mouth full of marbles, Hayley is too stupid to live, and Lily is a demon, but I like the adults and Alex enough to make up for it.  This new nanny, though, Andy -- he is one of the most annoying characters in the world.  And now they have Haley liking him, after that ridiculous video he made for his girlfriend?!  That's the episode where I left off, and I was not pleased to check IMDb and learn he's around for years to come. 

I'm looking forward to Mitchell and Cam's wedding, because I remember my best friend describing to me what Jay did in the end - having it at his club, in front of all his friends, and walking Mitch down the aisle, and I look forward to seeing that from him.

Anyway, I came here to see whether most people liked it all the way through or if, as is typical with shows running this long, it wore pretty thin by the end, and from a brief perusal, see I am just about through with the good years.  I could sense that, which is why I finally dropped in.

It definitely went several seasons too long and the traits of the characters became clownish and less fun.

But the interesting thing about picking the series up now vs when it actually started is that I feel like some of the storylines or characteristics are dated already, so when I watch some of the earlier seasons, it feels like a moment in time.

I like the actor who plays Andy, but yeah, that was not a great character. 

[bluegirl147]

On 1/5/2024 at 7:26 PM, Bastet said:

I'm looking forward to Mitchell and Cam's wedding, because I remember my best friend describing to me what Jay did in the end - having it at his club, in front of all his friends, and walking Mitch down the aisle, and I look forward to seeing that from him.

I think that was my favorite thing of the entire series. 

On 1/5/2024 at 7:26 PM, Bastet said:

Anyway, I came here to see whether most people liked it all the way through or if, as is typical with shows running this long, it wore pretty thin by the end, and from a brief perusal, see I am just about through with the good years.  I could sense that, which is why I finally dropped in.

I laughed a lot less in the later seasons but there were some funny things.  Anything involving the whole cast at one location was usually good.  

On 1/5/2024 at 7:26 PM, Bastet said:

This new nanny, though, Andy -- he is one of the most annoying characters in the world. 

 

21 hours ago, ljenkins782 said:

I like the actor who plays Andy, but yeah, that was not a great character. 

I'm the opposite.  I don't care for the actor, Adam Devine.  I don't really think it's necessarily his fault.  I just don't find him appealing in any way.  He is just so blah to me. 

[Bastet]

I'm on season nine now, about 1/3 of the way through, and the show is definitely wearing pretty thin, but I'm still laughing sometimes, especially at the physical comedy.  Stuff like Phil losing control of a flare gun and shooting his raft should not be funny, but it is.

They really don't know how to write for the kids now that they're adults, and I didn't think there could be a child actor worse than Lily but then Joe came along and proved me wrong (actually, she's still worse, but he's more annoying), so I'm glad we're not seeing the kids as much.

Making Luke every bit as gross about girls as Manny and giving Alex even worse taste in guys than Haley are two choices I could have done without, but I do appreciate that there isn't a big deal made about the kids having sex.  Phil freaked out about Haley, but immediately regretted mishandling it and apologized beautifully.  With the rest, there's barely been any comment on it. 

I was so relieved when Andy left; I had to fast forward through his scenes, especially when he and Haley were together, because he's unbearable.  Pam is almost as bad, so now I'm hoping she heads back to the farm soon.

[andidante]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

They really don't know how to write for the kids now that they're adults, and I didn't think there could be a child actor worse than Lily but then Joe came along and proved me wrong (actually, she's still worse, but he's more annoying), so I'm glad we're not seeing the kids as much.

I was so relieved when Andy left; I had to fast forward through his scenes, especially when he and Haley were together, because he's unbearable.  Pam is almost as bad, so now I'm hoping she heads back to the farm soon.

I am not sure why they thought Joe was even necessary? I hate when shows add another child to a show. The 80s shows did that a lot.

I totally agree about Andy. I didn't like him at all. 

[Bastet]

On 1/15/2024 at 4:10 PM, andidante said:

I am not sure why they thought Joe was even necessary? I hate when shows add another child to a show.

Ugh, yes, and now they've had Cam's nephew hanging around and knocked Haley up - with twins - which is inexplicably being presented by the writers as a good thing.  Oh, yeah, two people with the combined IQ and emotional maturity of a rutabaga producing and raising children is a great idea.

They're trying to redeem Dylan by saying he's in nursing school and has a (what would be incredibly low paying at this level) job, yet still show him as being stupid, easily confused, and distracted by a strong breeze; it doesn't compute.  He's always been shown to be good with kids, and he has never compounded his stupidity by being profoundly self-involved like Haley, but this is not a good idea for him at this time, especially with her, as she's still hopeless at anything other than whatever the hell it is she does at the company that's a parody of Goop (a job which is precarious, as faux-Gwyneth could flit off to something else at any minute, and which pays little enough she's still living with her parents).  So let me guess, she's going to suddenly turn out to have the world's greatest maternal instincts once the twins are born.  Barf. 

I'm up to where Jay decides to leave the closet company - again - to design and manufacture dog beds, and I hope it sticks this time because I am so tired of them lather, rinse, repeating with him "giving" Claire control of the company but not really, so they argue and make up.

[Bastet]

Boy, I wonder how ticked the other kid/grandkid actors were that only Manny went on the trip to Paris. 

And, seriously, they couldn't pay the three Dunphy kid actors to sit in the living room during the memorial gathering for Phil's dad?

The episode titles for season 11 - the last this, the last that - indicate they knew it was the final season, which makes the fact it is so damn bad worse; do better when you know this is it!  Bringing back that rich dork who idolizes Phil and the one where Gloria tries to secretly baptize the twins while Mitchell puts on a chicken costume to attack the dolphin mascot who's making fun of Cam were particular low points.

I am determined to see it through, though. 

Did I sleep through the episode where Pam decides to go back to Missouri, or did she and the kid just disappear?  I'm glad they're gone, but curious -- in the last episode I saw her in, she'd been released from prison and they invited her to stay in the upstairs unit as long as she wanted.  But in a later episode they had a tenant up there.

[Bastet]

I finally finished this, and I liked the finale better than the rest of the final season.  I mean, it's ridiculous that everyone suddenly left at almost the same time (not to mention that Haley and Dylan could afford Mitch and Cam's old place), but they captured the emotion, especially when it came to Claire and Phil.

I loved that one of the moving boxes of Haley and Dylan's was labeled "nick nacks" but did not love that they kept making sure we saw it.  Just let it be sitting there behind Haley.

I only had time to watch a little bit of the "making of" documentary, but got to the part where the creators were congratulating themselves that no one (among viewers) knew Julie Bowen was pregnant during the filming of the pilot.  Really, no one?  Unless you only polled blind viewers, I'm pretty sure most of your audience noticed.

This was nowhere near as "modern" as it thinks it was, as the gender, racial, and sexual orientation stereotypes were sometimes dispelled (I particularly liked Mitchell on that front) but still too often furthered.  And it went on several seasons too long even just on a surface level of comedy.  But I am glad I watched; it had many issues, but it was fun. 

Updated to say now that I've finished the documentary, this strikes me as one of the shows where a cast really did become a family of sorts, so I'm off to read if that is true.

Edited January 27 by Bastet

[rejnel]

Every time I start a fresh rewatch, I'm struck by a major inconsistency between the first episode and the rest of the series. There is NO WAY that Mitchell could keep the adoption plans secret from the rest of the Pritchetts, and no way Cam would have let things get that far without forcing the issue. (Not to mention that Clare was awfully god at sniffing out secrets.) So I can't buy the whole premise of the pilot, with Mitch and Cam breaking the news when it's a done deal. 

Just an odd lapse in one of my very favorite sitcoms.