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S06.E05: Won’t You Be Our Neighbor

maraleia

By maraleia
in Modern Family [V]

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maraleia

maraleia

 

Phil and Claire panic when an obnoxious couple looks at the house for sale next door. Jay learns Manny's girlfriend is the granddaughter of a business rival -- after forbidding Manny to see her. Cam and Mitch are scared of Lily's teacher.

 

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Shermie

Shermie

I'm a huge critic of what this show has become, and I really enjoyed this episode. I think white trash family annoying the Dunphys is a great direction.

I do have visions of Ed O'Neill meeting them and saying something like, "A dorky husband, a trashy wife, a trampy daughter and a doofus son? Have I met these people before?"

Nice to see Tyne Daly, she always brings it. Although she is a little old to be a teacher, no?

  • Love 3
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CleoCaesar

CleoCaesar

I really liked this one. Felt a lot like old-school Modern Family. Props to the continuity people for remembering Jerry's sad divorce and even a quick throwaway line alluding to Phil's attraction to black women.

 

I got the most laughs from Haley, especially the conversation with her not-really-swinger parents.

 

"Grab that little ho(e)" - such an easy joke but damn if I didn't laugh.

 

The weak plotline was Jay/Gloria/Manny's. Modern Family's standard 3-storylines-per-episode structure doesn't work when one is so clearly the weak link.

  • Love 5
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Blakeston

Blakeston

I groaned when I saw the preview, which focused on the "Oh no, look at the trashy family moving in next door!" plotline.

 

But I ended up laughing pretty hard at a lot of those jokes. Like Haley starting to say, "That's where I know you from!" when the guy mentioned his pot dispensaries.

 

I didn't care for the other plotlines, though.

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seacliffsal

seacliffsal

I loved Tyne Daly and her character.  Believe it or not, many students now want some of the older teachers (old school) as they believe that they will get a better education.  So, Lilly's response made sense to me.  Although they are a small percentage of teachers, many older teachers stay in the profession for a myriad of reasons.  Although I'm not quite at Tyne Daly's age, I will stay in the profession for a while for many reasons including I don't believe I'll be able to live comfortably on only a pension.  I also appreciated that even though Mitchell and Cam made several assumptions about her and worked hard to get Lilly out of her class, the teacher let Lilly back in the class for Lilly's sake in spite of her parents.

  • Love 8
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hoodooznoodooz

hoodooznoodooz

(edited)

I do have visions of Ed O'Neill meeting them and saying something like, "A dorky husband, a trashy wife, a trampy daughter and a doofus son? Have I met these people before?"

Hee, hee. You made me laugh, even though I never watched "Married with Children."

My DVR cut it off. Could someone summarize the object/objective scene with Mitchell and Mrs. Plank?

I enjoyed Mrs. Plank adding an S to the word of the day.

Edited by hoodooznoodooz
  • Love 1
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PaulaO

PaulaO

I've had horrible neighbors in the past so this episode gave me a bit of PTSD.  I'm betting the trashy neighbors will never be seen again.  The best part of the episode was the assorted names of rival closet companies.  The Manny story line was a throw away though. 

  • Love 3
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ChipBach

ChipBach

I was pretty disappointed with the episode.  The "Hoe" joke (I thought) fell flat. The whole "yard work" strategy seemed forced and stupid.  Claire seemed super needy and out of character.  Manny story line was also lame.  The redneck family was WAY over the top and completely unbelievable.  I think a subtly funky family moving in next door would have been funnier and may have given the show more room to grow the story.  Rolling up on the lawn to visit an open house was annoying..  Phil should have said "Get off the F*ckin lawn" as Realtor in charge of the open house. 

 

They jokes are also being delivered as if the actors believe a laugh is a foregone conclusion.  The funniest part of the show was that they would deliver the line without realizing how funny their comment was, now it's like the actors are waiting for the laugh track to kick in.

 

My favorite show jumped the shark...  bummer...

  • Love 1
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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

It does seem like some shark-jumping has occurred, yet we laughed a few times, which is a few times more than the last few episodes caused me to expect.

 

Was Steve Zahn in the end credits? I didn't see his name. It sure looked and sounded like him, but I didn't see his name flash by. (Although I could have missed it.) An "uncredited cameo"?

  • Love 1
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peeayebee

peeayebee

I thought this was a great ep. I laughed a lot.

 

I think the weakest storyline was the Dunphy one. However, I like Andrea Anders, and I LOVE Steve Zahn, so I feel two ways about this. One, I want to see these characters again, and two, having trashy neighbors move in next door seems like a desperate move for the writers.

 

Of course there were still good lines.

 

Phil: Not since I fell off the roof while they were delivering our trampoline have things gone together so beautifully.

 

Claire: What's on your face?

Luke: I don’t know. What color is it?

 

New neighbor wife: I always wanted a Spanish house. It'd be like living in an El Torito.

 

New neighbor husband: I'm not losing the house. I had the best sex in my life in there.
Phil, incredulous: When?!

 

My favorite story was with Jay, Gloria, and Manny. The writing and performances were so damn funny.

 

Jay: What's my biggest problem in the bedroom?
[doorbell rings]
Manny: Thank god.

 

Jay: This is going to revolutionize the closet industry.
Gloria: What an exciting time to be alive.

 

Gloria: Jay, please, it's just closets.
Jay: I wish it WAS Just Closets. I respect those guys.

 

Gloria: I am tired of hearing you rant about the crazy closet world.

Jay: Why would I rant about Crazy Closet World? Those lunatics priced themselves out of business years ago.

 

Tyne Daly was wonderful. I cracked up when she wrote BUFFOON on the board, then pointedly added an S. Her "object" lesson was great.

 

Loved Lily's little friend saying that blue and yellow together is blellow.

  • Love 10
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Latverian Diplomat

Latverian Diplomat

I didn't care much for Mrs. Plank referring to Cam and Mitchell as "Ginger and Maryanne". She called them on trying to play the "two gay parents" card earlier, so she seemed more progressive than that. Also, it's kind of an insult to the relatively realistic character development on Gilliagan's Island.

 

So that was a trick question at the end, correct? There was no object in that sentence? "wrong" is the complement of the sentence, but not the object because it's not a noun and were is a linking verb anyway.

 

We almost had a theme of being caught between two comedically extreme dilemmas, but the Pritchetts had to go and do their own thing.

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LAgator77

LAgator77

I didn't care much for Mrs. Plank referring to Cam and Mitchell as "Ginger and Maryanne". 

I found it to be spot on, especially since we've established that a 7 year old girl has to kill spiders for them. 

I actually like writing Lilly as the "man" of the house, better than the bitchy old queen they were writing her as last season. 

  • Love 6
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maraleia

maraleia

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If they keep on writing Lily the way they during last night's episode I will be super happy. Loved that she rolled her eyes and looked at her dad's like really you want me to be in the other teacher's class when my friend can't even add 2 plus 7 or know the color wheel. Glad they got Tyne Daly to play the stern older teacher.

  • Love 3
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Lizzing

Lizzing

Let me preface this by saying that this show is one of the WORST for continuity of details.  But didn't old man Walt live in the house next door?  I always figured he moved in when the sad divorced man left after that Halloween episode a few years back, based on the direction the characters would walk from the Dunphey's house to Walt's and Luke's ability to see into Walt's house from his room. 

 

I don't think the new neighbors will be that big of a plot point for many episodes.   Andre only had 2 episodes, Walt had 3 (4 if you count the one where he died but wasn't technically on screen), and all the other weird neighbor situations were (IIRC) one off deals, like the eco nerd down the street from Cam & Mitchell and Jay & Gloria's neighbor with the barking dog.

 

I was surprised at the number of recognizable guest appearances (Tyne Daly, Joe Polito, Steve Zahn, Andrea Anders, and Fiona Gubelmann) in one episode.  Is that an act of desperation?

  • Love 1
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CleoCaesar

CleoCaesar

(edited)

I'm feeling charitable towards the show after this episode so I'll defend it a little.

 

Let me preface this by saying that this show is one of the WORST for continuity of details.

 

I've personally found it to be quite good with continuity. They frequently have callbacks to even minor jokes of past seasons, like in this episode Phil and black women. They do play it fast and loose sometimes with characterization - is Alex a lonely outcast or is she the nerd wetdream who plays in a cool band? - but I never get the sense that the writers haven't seen any previous episodes, unlike other shows (hi, Glee!).
 

I was surprised at the number of recognizable guest appearances (Tyne Daly, Joe Polito, Steve Zahn, Andrea Anders, and Fiona Gubelmann) in one episode.  Is that an act of desperation?

 

 

They've always had a lot of recognizable guest stars: Greg Kinnear, Judy Greer, Edward Norton, Shelly Long, Elizabeth Banks, Leslie Mann, Jesse Eisenberg, Matthew Broderick, Minnie Driver, Nathan Lane, Matt Dillon, James Marsden, Kevin Hart, Ellen Barkin, Bobby Canavale, Jennifer Tilly, Justin Kirk, Jane Krakowski, and so on. Granted, maybe not in the same episode, heh,

 

EDIT: And I just noticed that you stressed out the "in one episode". Oopsie. I actually didn't recognize anyone but Tyne Daly and Steve Zahn but I'm sheltered.

Edited by CleoCaesar
  • Love 2
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Guest

Guest

Couldn't stop thinking about class difference between the Dunphies and the trashy family at first, but definitley warmed up to it and was laughing out loud by the time Haley recognised the weed guy. 

Mitch and Cam storyline seemed to make a statement that oldschool teaching is better than modern teaching. Mrs. Cratchet was a badass who knows good grammar. Awesome! (But I keep getting distracted by the fact that Lily's lines are so out of character for a girl of her age.) 

 

Was not a fan of the cheap Romeo and Juliet trope in the Jay/Manny storyline. Could with less of these characters, to be honest.

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maplebrew

maplebrew

If Jay's competition ends up with the patent to the 'sock n roll' it's Jay's own fault. While Jay was chewing Manny out, he should have been on the phone immediately to his lawyer to get the patent work started.  

  • Love 3
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DrSpaceman

DrSpaceman

cant stand andrea anders, didn't realize that was her until I saw her mentioned here. I thought the neighbors were a bit over the top. I find the Glossners on the middle to be much funnier. They live in a super ritzy neighborhood with I am susuper strict HOA, so while they might be annoying, there is a limit to what they can do at least in terms of the house and the property.

I did like mentions of the other closer companies and finally meeting someone from Closets, Closets, Closets, Closets....they had just been mentioned before, I don't think anyone from the company had ever been introduced. Though I thought that story fell a bit flat.

  • Love 1
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CleoCaesar

CleoCaesar

If Jay's competition ends up with the patent to the 'sock n roll' it's Jay's own fault. While Jay was chewing Manny out, he should have been on the phone immediately to his lawyer to get the patent work started.

 

Can one patent a small box to keep socks in?

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possibilities

possibilities

I worked in retail. The way to prevent wearing the same item all the time is to put things away on the bottom (or in the back) of the pile after doing the laundry. We called it "rotating the stock" when it was groceries on a shelf, but the same thing applies to clothes in the closet.

 

At least Cam and Mitch weren't fighting with each other this week. I kind of like how Lily doesn't mind having friends who are either more advanced or less learned than she is. She seems like a diva with her dads, but not with the girls her age.

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hoodooznoodooz

hoodooznoodooz

I worked in retail. The way to prevent wearing the same item all the time is to put things away on the bottom (or in the back) of the pile after doing the laundry. We called it "rotating the stock" when it was groceries on a shelf, but the same thing applies to clothes in the closet.

I worked at a restaurant. We called it FIFO--first in, first out.
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VCRTracking

VCRTracking

(edited)

I recognized Steve Zahn right away but didn't realize his wife Andrea Anders, She was on the short-lived spinoff Joey, and starred with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Lizzy Caplan in the shortlived "The Class" and was in Better Off Ted. She was so not that "ample" before!

 

I really want to believe the closet industry is as cutthroat as they make it seem! Love the running joke of Gloria saying something like "It's just closets" and Jay going "I wish it was 'Just Closets' I respect those guys!"

 

They should really stop having Luke grabbing Hayley like that. He's grown too much and now it seems creepy.

Edited by VCRTracking
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LucyEth

LucyEth

Luke should also stop calling his sister "kitten" it's just strange.  Read that the new neighbors will have a recurring role in the show this season.  I thought it was an OK episode.  I like seeing guest stars on these shows.  The Middle does it all the time.  Loved seeing Tyne Daly.  I thought the Ginger and Maryann line was funny.  

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NYCFree

NYCFree

I thought this episode had a bunch of laugh out loud moments, such as Hayley's dawning realization about where she recognized the new neighbor from, or having to buy the frowny stamp in Germany.

Gives me hope that the show is not circling the drain.

  • Love 2
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C0mputerGeek

C0mputerGeek

While I cringed during the storyline of Jay-Gloria-Manny I laughed out loud when Cam and Mitchell had their talk with Mrs. Plankton. Ha at her makingthe word of the day Buffoon and then changing it too Buffoons. Plus it was great seeing Tyne Daly again.

 

Ariel Winter is attractive. I am looking forward to more storylines with the new neighbor if just to have Alex interact with more guys that find her attractive.

  • Love 2
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maplebrew

maplebrew

If Jay's competition ends up with the patent to the 'sock n roll' it's Jay's own fault. While Jay was chewing Manny out, he should have been on the phone immediately to his lawyer to get the patent work started.

 

 

Can one patent a small box to keep socks in?

 

 

Since Jay believes his sock box idea is brilliant, then I can believe that one can patent the idea  :D

 

Regarding the new neighbors, the only plot line that wouldn't be tired is if they turned out to be awesome. Really don't need another Glossner's plot right out of the Middle.

  • Love 1
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Milburn Stone

Milburn Stone

Regarding the new neighbors, the only plot line that wouldn't be tired is if they turned out to be awesome.

 

Actually the show can't win, because the "surprise" twist that the new neighbors were awesome would be just about the most predictable development of all.

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maplebrew

maplebrew

Actually the show can't win, because the "surprise" twist that the new neighbors were awesome would be just about the most predictable development of all.

 

 

There's always the option of never returning to the fact of the neighbors again. Reducing them to a passing one liner during the series finale someday would suit me fine.

  • Love 3
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mansonlamps

mansonlamps

(edited)

Haha we learned to write one letter a day in first grade and either I or another girl named Pam won the penmanship award every single day. Every time. Irony? I have sincerely horrible penmanship. I just did it to get the reward, it never stuck.

Edited by mansonlamps
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MaryHedwig

MaryHedwig

(edited)
I still have my Grade 1 printing book (from 1968) and it has a couple of frowny face stamps. And some neutral face stamps, and a bunch of smiley face stamps. Penmanship was important!

Tyne Daly really did evoke memories of stricter grade school teacher of the past, didn't she?  I had one that would always say, "Lines are your friends."  (Meaning the lines we had to walk in but also every rule or regulation she imposed.  Tyne Daly did such a good job I wish she could be a regular somehow, the show could benefit from her grativis.

 

Wasn't this the second show in a row where the three stories line stayed separate and clan never gather together?  I really missed watching the extended family interact. 

 

Luke embarcing his sister thinking she was "the hoe" was creepy to me, especially in light of him sharing a bed with her in the previous espisode.

Edited by MaryHedwig
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Shermie

Shermie

While the hoe/ho joke was amusing, it is pretty disrespectful for a brother to refer to his own sister as a ho. I know some teens don't think of the word as offensive as some adults might, but still.

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