S08.E19: Frank's Wedding

[Vyk]

From TV Guide:

Phil gets the Dunphy clan to show up in costume for Frank's Roaring '20s-themed wedding.  Jay masters the art of saying no.  Cam stands up to his sister, Pam.

Discuss tonight's new episode here.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

I'm guessing the costume deposits are forfeit.

[DrSpaceman73]

Phil, Claire and Luke's outfits would have been fine in any era. 

Alex was dressed more like the 1820s than the 1920s. 

I find Cam's sister irritating much more than funny.  She's like a more irritating and more needy version of Cam. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by DrSpaceman73

[ItCouldBeWorse]

So, with Joe growing up, the show needed a new baby, I suppose.

Who was watching Lily when Mitch and Cam went with Pam?  Why did Mitch have to go along? He had an easy excuse to stay home.

Edited April 9, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[Artsda]

Where was the wedding? Doesn't Phil's dad live in Florida? Why wouldn't the rest of the family have been invited?

I really don't like Cam's sister. 

[DrSpaceman73]

12 minutes ago, Artsda said:

Where was the wedding? Doesn't Phil's dad live in Florida? Why wouldn't the rest of the family have been invited?

I really don't like Cam's sister. 

I was wondering as well why the rest of the family wasn't there.  Jay was at his bachelor party but not the wedding?  And he does know Mitch and Cam, they met before in an early episode, I believe.  Maybe just a small wedding

No idea where Lilly was later in the day. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

2nd/4th wedding.  They probably kept it to actual family and close friends.

[voiceover]

I've looked, and can't find, the reason Frank & Annie split.  The last time I heard her mentioned was the Peri Gilpin-as-a-hooker ep,  but she encouraged Frank to go back to her!  Edited to add: Anyone know what happened??

Because I'm not a fan of the Frasier/Martin&Ronnie rip-off.

The Dunphy family silliness at the wedding was fine, but I was really struggling to find...anything.

1 hour ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

And he does know Mitch and Cam, they met before in an early episode

They were at Grace's memorial service.  Cam had the sweet speech about her Christmas cards (antlers on animals).

Edited April 6, 2017 by voiceover

[Artsda]

It didn't seem like that small a wedding. It was a full room, if that room was just close family & friends/small wedding then why did the bachelor party only have Jay, Phil, and the step-son. It's weird they didn't have at least Jay and Gloria be invited. 

The show seems so segregated in separate corners.

[For Cereals]

I vote that all future episodes only include the adults/cast over 25.

[Marley]

Too much Joe. No offense to the little kid but he's pretty annoying sometimes.

The 20s seems like a fun dress up era.

I don't like Cams sister at all. I never have sand prob never will lol.

Im kind of getting tired of the show always shitting on Alex. Too much of it isn't funny. Like why couldn't she have a bit better costume.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

If Manny could climb into Joe's window, could anyone, or did he have to get through a gate first in a car?

Edited April 6, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[jjj]

This is another of those episodes where all the segments were filmed separately, except for a connecting splash at the end with the crib.  This gives the other actors two weeks off; they did this a couple of times last year, where there was a series of episodes where the three families never were in the same scene together.  So, in one week, Jay/Gloria/Manny film segments for three separate episodes, then go on vacation for two weeks while the Dunphys do the same thing, etc.  I hate that this sitcom has always been constructed with three separate story lines; it is too jagged for 19 minutes, and keeping the families apart really makes the seams visible.

I agree that it is very odd that only the Dunphys were at Frank's wedding -- *everybody* had gone to Florida for the funeral of Frank's wife, on a moment's notice.  They did mention sometime in the past year that Frank had broken up with Annie (whom we never saw after the funeral episode).  And it is very complex to see a parent get remarried, *especially* when the other parent has died, so I did not like all the slapstick aspects of the wedding -- they could have written the poignant kind of comedy they used for the funeral.  Who shoots paintballs in a room of dressed-up people?  (and Claire would have insisted on goggles!)

I thought this would be a favorite episode, as I love Frank -- I think he is one of the great TV elder fathers ever, and perfect as Phil's father.  But did not like it at all. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

1 hour ago, jjj said:

I agree that it is very odd that only the Dunphys were at Frank's wedding -- *everybody* had gone to Florida for the funeral of Frank's wife, on a moment's notice. 

Anyone can attend a funeral and pay their respects.  You have to be specifically invited to a wedding.

[jjj]

14 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Anyone can attend a funeral and pay their respects.  You have to be specifically invited to a wedding.

Exactly -- I can't imagine the rest were not invited.  They chose to travel at considerable expense to the funeral because they were so connected to Frank and Gracie.  They are one family.  Frank even went to Cam's drum solo/band event!  ("When my daughter-in-law's brother's partner plays, I'm there!") 

I realize this was all just an excuse to find a segment they could tape without the other families.  But it was too distracting to see a room of strangers at the wedding instead of the many available other family members. 

Edited April 6, 2017 by jjj

[Everleigh]

Jay and Gloria should have definitely been invited to the wedding since Jay was at Frank's bachelor party and it's in poor taste to include someone in pre-wedding activities and then not invite them to the wedding. Jay obviously wasn't busy or unable to attend so it's not like he had reason to decline, but it is what it is. The show needed the families separated for the episode to make filming easier so they chose to overlook this. Not a huge deal but I definitely would have preferred to see the whole extended family engaging in shenanigans at the wedding together instead of splintered off into their own little worlds.

More glaring than the wedding invite oversight, was Mitch and Cam just walking out of their condo and staying gone the whole day at Pam's audition when we knew Lily was in the house. 

And although I knew Claire and the kids were going to do Frank's little sketch at the end, it was still cute to see how delighted both Phil and Frank were when they realized what their wives were up to.  

[ItCouldBeWorse]

24 minutes ago, Everleigh said:

More glaring than the wedding invite oversight, was Mitch and Cam just walking out of their condo and staying gone the whole day at Pam's audition when we knew Lily was in the house. 

And although I knew Claire and the kids were going to do Frank's little sketch at the end, it was still cute to see how delighted both Phil and Frank were when they realized what their wives were up to.  

Yes to both.

I guess we can assume that Lily is staying with Pam in the future.

[indeed]

They just walk out of the house and leave Lily.  Would one line like "Well, Lily has a play date so I guess we can go for a few hours..." really have been so hard?  Or better yet, Lily walks into an empty living room after they all leave and says "Hey..."  Worst parents ever.

I guess Jay said "No" to the wedding invitation, too.  Seems they could've easily fit that in to his storyline of saying no too many times and getting away with it at his age.  (There could have even been a flashback with Jay saying "Oh, hell no!" to Phil explaining the costume idea - or showing Jay his costume - and a shot of him checking "will not attend" on the RSVP card and mailing it.)

How old is big sis Pam supposed to be?

And are we really supposed to buy Manny can fit through that window?  He couldn't do it in the daytime without the whole house knowing.

Yeah, I like Frank, but that wedding plotline wasn't all that humorous.  Claire learns a lesson AGAIN.  Dig at Alex AGAIN.  Team Dunphy for the win AGAIN...well, that's OK.  ;)  And very little of Phil's new brother!  (Another win.)

[joanne3482]

I'm just glad that Mitch & Cam didn't end up adopting Pam's baby. I was kind of worried that's where they were going since she hadn't told any of her Missouri family she was even pregnant. 

[Silly Angel]

The best things about this episode was that the plots weren't predicated on everyone lying to or hiding something from a loved one. The writers are wearing their go-to plots thin. Although I enjoyed the wedding segments. Otherwise, too much Widdle Joe, too much Pam, and plot holes you could drive Joe's crib through although you'd probably miss.

[jjj]

Pretty much every "pod" had a secret and was hiding something from the other members of the pod:  Phil, then Claire, hiding the shenanigans from the bridal couple, then Claire hiding everything from Phil; Manny hiding his secret entrance from everyone; Phil hiding his intentions by pretending not to destroy Joe's baby things; Mitch hiding his real comments/feelings from Cam; Pam hiding an impending baby, for heaven's sake!

22 minutes ago, Silly Angel said:

The best things about this episode was that the plots weren't predicated on everyone lying to or hiding something from a loved one. The writers are wearing their go-to plots thin. Although I enjoyed the wedding segments. Otherwise, too much Widdle Joe, too much Pam, and plot holes you could drive Joe's crib through although you'd probably miss.

[Blakeston]

I hated everything about this episode except for Jay trying to destroy the crib, and Manny wanting to attend a David Sedaris reading.

Cameron's sister needs to be written off the show immediately. I didn't find the wedding antics funny at all, and there was no reason to bring back Frank's wife's son. And the fewer lines Joe has to deliver, the better.

[Traveller519]

I thought both the Wedding and Jay segments were well done and on brand for all the characters involved. My heart broke a bit for Jay when Joe said "Go fix yourself a drink" amidst all the laughter from the other three. Nice to see Manny getting mischievous in his own way too. The Dunphy's work well as a family unit, and it's always nice to see them support one another through their actions, following some self reflection. Phil's was conscious of public perception, and Claire understood why the relationship between Phil and his Dad works.

Mitch, Cam, and Pam though.... woooo. The casting agents marveling at Mitch's blandness and the associated undertalking was funny, and I enjoyed seeing Cam stand up to his sister. But the water-breaking, immediate birth humor was just painful.

[tennisgurl]

Normally I liked Cams family, but his sister is rather grating. I could do without for awhile.

I also thought it was weird the rest of the family didn't go to the wedding. It looked like a pretty full room, its weird that none of them were apparently invited, considering none of them were doing anything particularly important so that they couldn't go.

With the exception of poor Alex, I thought the Dunphys outfits looked pretty good, and could have easily been turned into more modern looking outfits by removing a few accessories. Of course, I love 20s style clothes, so maybe its just me. I would totally wear Claire's outfit to a party or a nice event, just without a few of the extra things.

[vibeology]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

With the exception of poor Alex, I thought the Dunphys outfits looked pretty good, and could have easily been turned into more modern looking outfits by removing a few accessories. Of course, I love 20s style clothes, so maybe its just me. I would totally wear Claire's outfit to a party or a nice event, just without a few of the extra things.

Haley's dress looked costume-y with that shawl thing, but during the shootout scene you could see that it was just a really cute dress underneath. All she had to do was take off the shawl and she looked great. The wig was a little over the top too so if she could get her hair looking good once it was off, she would have been one of the most stylish people there. Alex was the only one truly stuck. I am glad everyone stayed in their costumes though, because otherwise it would have been another time Alex was the odd one out and I feel they do that too often.

[dleighg]

2 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

My heart broke a bit for Jay when Joe said "Go fix yourself a drink" amidst all the laughter from the other three.

me too

[AriAu]

Quote

Cameron's sister needs to be written off the show immediately. I didn't find the wedding antics funny at all, and there was no reason to bring back Frank's wife's son. And the fewer lines Joe has to deliver, the better.

She has always been an annoying sad sack and, worse yet, NOT funny and the actress plays it so over the top that it becomes annoying.

I was actually able to understand about 75% of Joe's lines, that is 50% more than usual. The lines were not that funny, but at least I could understand them.

Overall, the episode was kinda sweet even if not at the highest MF level of comedy.

[dleighg]

That whole baby-birthing thing was ridiculous. Contractions start, and then proceed to arrive every 15 seconds and last 2 seconds each. Having had a couple of kids myself, it doesn't work that way. Was covering her with the bear costume supposed to be in any way amusing?

How did Jake get his car paint fixed so quickly?

[DrSpaceman73]

54 minutes ago, dleighg said:

That whole baby-birthing thing was ridiculous. Contractions start, and then proceed to arrive every 15 seconds and last 2 seconds each. Having had a couple of kids myself, it doesn't work that way. Was covering her with the bear costume supposed to be in any way amusing?

How did Jake get his car paint fixed so quickly?

Yes the birth was ridiculous.  That was like 30 minutes from start of contractions to birth. 

[marymon]

19 hours ago, Artsda said:

Where was the wedding? Doesn't Phil's dad live in Florida? Why wouldn't the rest of the family have been invited?

I really don't like Cam's sister. 

The wedding was in LA.  Haley's friends were at the gas station.   So why none of the rest of the family was there is odd.

[Vyk]

8 hours ago, indeed said:

And very little of Phil's new brother!  (Another win.)

I loved that Claire bagged on Ray right away, as soon as he first bagged on them for showing up in costume.

[Roaster]

Are you all overthinking the wedding?  No, it didn't make sense to have it in California, etc, but I'm sure the writers were more than willing to swallow believability in order to get a wedding into the episode.  TV comedies love weddings.  Always have.  (The Rhoda wedding episode of 1974 was one of the highest rated TV shows ever.)  Shakespeare's comedies ended in weddings.  Any excuse to get a wedding into a TV comedy and they'll take it.

[biakbiak]

5 minutes ago, Roaster said:

Are you all overthinking the wedding?  No, it didn't make sense to have it in California, etc, but I'm sure the writers were more than willing to swallow believability in order to get a wedding into the episode.

At the bachelor party they mentioned that Frank and his fiancée moved to California, he said one of the reasons they did it was to get away from her son.

[SanDiegoInExile]

17 hours ago, joanne3482 said:

I'm just glad that Mitch & Cam didn't end up adopting Pam's baby. I was kind of worried that's where they were going since she hadn't told any of her Missouri family she was even pregnant. 

I expect that actually to happen by the end of this season.  The season finale is three episodes away and is supposed to feature the Manny/Luke graduation from high school and was written as a potential series finale, in case ABC, the producers, and the actors fail to reach agreement on Seasons 9/10.  I expect the other season-long storylines will get some closure, including Alex-Ben moving in together (engaged?) and Cam-Mitch getting the second child they have mentioned for the past few years (and Pam moving back to Missouri). 

Edited April 7, 2017 by SanDiegoInExile

[qtpye]

Claire and Hailey looked gorgeous in their flapper costumes.  Also, with just a little tweaking, both of those dresses would be perfectly suitable for a wedding in 2017.  This is something a supposed fashionista like Hailey would know.

Cam's sister is the worst tertiary character of the show.  Guess what... being pregnant does not excuse being an asshole to your brother and his husband...and then physically attacking him.  Was it supposed to be funny because it is a woman beating up a man, because that does not work for me.

Her plan on supporting the baby was "being a real world model".  Really?  That labor scene was so unrealistic that they might have just as well had a drunken stork come through the window hiccupping "Congratulations, you're a mother". (Looney Tunes reference for those of you who are too young).'

Poor Alex, but her standing up during the bit with the bible and proclaiming the devil is in everyone was my favorite part.  Luke is not a good enough actor to play Luke, so please do not make him do old timey gangster accents.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

22 hours ago, Blakeston said:

here was no reason to bring back Frank's wife's son

Well, his mother was getting married! I think his absence at his own mother's wedding would be more glaring than that of Mitchell/Cam or Gloria/Jay.

 

22 hours ago, Traveller519 said:

But the water-breaking, immediate birth humor was just painful.

They missed the opportunity to have it happen on the expensive white couch which one of them recently, secretly replaced!

23 hours ago, jjj said:

 

Pretty much every "pod" had a secret and was hiding something from the other members of the pod:  Phil, then Claire, hiding the shenanigans from the bridal couple, then Claire hiding everything from Phil; Manny hiding his secret entrance from everyone; Phil hiding his intentions by pretending not to destroy Joe's baby things; Mitch hiding his real comments/feelings from Cam; Pam hiding an impending baby, for heaven's sake!

 

 

17 hours ago, dleighg said:

Was covering her with the bear costume supposed to be in any way amusing?

All I could think was that Cam was going to lose the deposit on the bear costume.  Maybe that's the overall theme of the episode: everyone loses their costume deposits!

[qtpye]

47 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Pretty much every "pod" had a secret and was hiding something from the other members of the pod:  Phil, then Claire, hiding the shenanigans from the bridal couple, then Claire hiding everything from Phil; Manny hiding his secret entrance from everyone; Phil hiding his intentions by pretending not to destroy Joe's baby things; Mitch hiding his real comments/feelings from Cam; Pam hiding an impending baby, for heaven's sake!

Particularly, the ridiculousness of practical Jay just not saying he can't stand that clothes eating crib, instead of causing a deadly car accident by pushing that thing into traffic...not to mention having cinder blocks and bowling balls fall off of high shelves.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

On 4/7/2017 at 10:57 AM, qtpye said:

 

On 4/7/2017 at 10:07 AM, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Pretty much every "pod" had a secret and was hiding something from the other members of the pod:  Phil, then Claire, hiding the shenanigans from the bridal couple, then Claire hiding everything from Phil; Manny hiding his secret entrance from everyone; Phil hiding his intentions by pretending not to destroy Joe's baby things; Mitch hiding his real comments/feelings from Cam; Pam hiding an impending baby, for heaven's sake!

Particularly, the ridiculousness of practical Jay just not saying he can't stand that clothes eating crib, instead of causing a deadly car accident by pushing that thing into traffic...not to mention having cinder blocks and bowling balls fall off of high shelves.

 

I agree, but the above quote is jjj's, not mine!

Edited April 9, 2017 by ItCouldBeWorse

[MoreCoffeePlease]

Quote

Cameron's sister needs to be written off the show immediately.

This ... and Cameron can actually take a hiatus himself as well.  If I were Mitchell, I would have been FURIOUS at how Cameron was acting.  SO annoying, and not funny at all.

[CleoCaesar]

30 minutes ago, MoreCoffeePlease said:

If I were Mitchell, I would have been FURIOUS at how Cameron was acting.  SO annoying, and not funny at all.

This could easily apply to the entire dynamic of the Mitch/Cameron relationship starting from season 1 to, well, this latest episode.

[Blakeston]

5 minutes ago, CleoCaesar said:

This could easily apply to the entire dynamic of the Mitch/Cameron relationship starting from season 1 to, well, this latest episode.

I thought their relationship was really quite sweet back in season 1. Season two was when they started hating each other, and Cameron began turning into the manbaby from hell.

3 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Well, his mother was getting married! I think his absence at his own mother's wedding would be more glaring than that of Mitchell/Cam or Gloria/Jay.

Keeping John Gemberling off my TV screen is far, far more important to me than plausibility!

[qtpye]

1 hour ago, Blakeston said:

4 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Well, his mother was getting married! I think his absence at his own mother's wedding would be more glaring than that of Mitchell/Cam or Gloria/Jay.

Keeping John Gemberling off my TV screen is far, far more important to me than plausibility!

They could have had a story about how he was driving to the wedding and some idiot pushed a crib into the street, causing him to crash, so he was late...that way we would not have to see him onscreen.

[meep.meep]

I thought the scene of Gloria, Manny and Joe gleefully painting together was cute.  It's rare that they show those three as a family unit.

[jjj]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 4:23 PM, Roaster said:

Are you all overthinking the wedding?  No, it didn't make sense to have it in California, etc, but I'm sure the writers were more than willing to swallow believability in order to get a wedding into the episode.  TV comedies love weddings.  Always have.  (The Rhoda wedding episode of 1974 was one of the highest rated TV shows ever.)  Shakespeare's comedies ended in weddings.  Any excuse to get a wedding into a TV comedy and they'll take it.

No, not overthinking it!  This was not a wedding episode, it was random scenes that included some wedding scenes.  I'd agree with you if they actually made it a wedding episode, and brought all the family pods together for the wedding.  I really like Frank, and it could have been a lovely yet funny episode if that had been the focus. 

[Phishbulb]

On 4/7/2017 at 3:09 AM, SanDiegoInExile said:

I expect that actually to happen by the end of this season.  The season finale is three episodes away and is supposed to feature the Manny/Luke graduation from high school and was written as a potential series finale, in case ABC, the producers, and the actors fail to reach agreement on Seasons 9/10.  I expect the other season-long storylines will get some closure, including Alex-Ben moving in together (engaged?) and Cam-Mitch getting the second child they have mentioned for the past few years (and Pam moving back to Missouri). 

I wonder why if this is the case that they had Haley and Rainer break up. As the oldest Dunphy child, it would have made the most sense for her to get married at the end of this season (and possibly pregnant) if they wanted it to be a series finale. 

[mojito]

Quote

I loved that Claire bagged on Ray right away, as soon as he first bagged on them for showing up in costume.

Claire: Shouldn't you be partially upright in a "stages of man" chart....

Alex's costume cracked me up. Just seeing her standing there with the rest of the family was funny. Looked like she should be swinging an ax in a saloon somewhere. Loved that evil Haley picked the outfit for her. 

Quote

 (The Rhoda wedding episode of 1974 was one of the highest rated TV shows ever.)

I still remember Rhoda's arrival (I think). Breathless and triumphant, leaning against the door (or wall). 

[Nordly Beaumont]

6 minutes ago, mojito said:

I still remember Rhoda's arrival (I think). Breathless and triumphant, leaning against the door (or wall). 

"This dress is ruined. I'll never be able to wear it again."

I liked when Claire was running down what the 20's were like, she had a little panic when she got to "prohibition" - until Phil assured her there'd be drinks at the wedding!

[biakbiak]

If I were Cam I would have responded to Mitchell telling him so stand up and be honest with his sister "like you do with Claire?"

[Cherry Cola]

I wish the writers would put in an effort.   They have an amazingly talented cast, that I love.  But the writing is just stupid.  Mitch and cam leaving Lily really stood out to me too.  Like what?! 

Haley and Clare looked great in the costumes.  

I did laugh at Cam's high pitched scream when his sister's water broke. 

[jhlipton]

On 4/5/2017 at 9:38 PM, DrSpaceman73 said:

I find Cam's sister irritating much more than funny.  She's like a more irritating and more needy version of Cam.

Hard to believe that's possible, but here she is!