S10.E10: Stuck in a Moment

[Mittengirl]

I would think that a real estate office would have a supply closet containing staging items like Christmas decor, fancy towels, welcome mats, centerpieces and vases and such.  Especially holiday-themed decor pieces that can be purchased post-season cheaply.

[love2lovebadtv]

On 12/14/2018 at 6:07 AM, Blakeston said:

There's a pretty big difference between being a bad liar and having your hair go gray and your organs shut down,.

I didn't think the hair going gray was funny because it looked like the hair of someone who had gray roots. It might have been funny if she found a gray hair or two and started freaking out about the stress of the secret. Obviously her organs weren't shutting down so I did chuckle about how dramatic she was. The stress-induced rash was pretty realistic and was neither particularly funny or over the top to me. 

[love2lovebadtv]

On 12/17/2018 at 6:56 AM, Eataton said:

This might bother some people, but in this situation I just make fun of the person who doesn't know the right word or phrase. Then they learn the right way. It may seem mean but it's just constructive criticism.

The Dunphy family lives in the kind of area where kids get speech therapy for in school to improve their ability to pronounce certain sounds. Some poor kids get made fun of because of that. Even with a good education, people mispronounce words as adults. This is just a sitcom, but in real life kids who grow up being laughed at develop defense mechanisms for dealing with adults who make fun of them when they slip up - like Luke defending his pronunciation. You might want to rethink meanness as a form of constructive criticism. 

On 12/15/2018 at 2:36 PM, AnnaRose said:

I don't get it. Why would a native English speaker pronounce a 'th' sound as and 'f' sound?   And at least in my world, hearing somebody say wreath is much more common than ever hearing the word reef. 

Claire goes overboard decorating for holidays, so I'm sure she has been hanging wreaths for years, which makes it even more implausible that Luke would not know the correct pronunciation.  More than that, I particularly don't understand why Claire correcting her son's pronunciation of a simple word is considered rude by some people.  I thought it made Luke sound so stupid, and he should have been grateful his mom pointed it out to him.

I did get one laugh from the episode - when Lily immediately dropped her phone in the water.  I've been hate-watching this show for a long time and rarely ever laugh during an episode - so I guess that was a positive in an otherwise bad episode.

Oh, and I also liked the reaction of Phil and Claire to Haley's news.  It was well-acted by Ty and Julie.  So it wasn't all bad, I suppose, but I'm ready for this show to be over.  I've thought about not watching it anymore, but since I've watched since the pilot, I want to see how it ends.  I just wish it was more funny than annoying.

Native speakers mispronounce words all the time. Just ax anybody with difficulty pronouncing a word like ask, which is far more common than wreath or reef. 

https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/how-do-english-speakers-differentiate-a-th-sound-from-an-f-sound.html

[mojito]

Quote

I also think everyone in this episode acted badly in some way.  Lots of being inconsiderate, lots of free floating stupidity, and lots of breaks from reality.  Really none of it was funny, interesting or entertaining.

Holidays can bring out the worst in people. That's all I concluded in this un-funny episode.

I seem to be one of the few people who can think of lots of language quirks in people I know--college graduates--who mispronounce or misuse words. Usually, it's the only word that I notice them saying or using incorrectly, and that's probably why they get away with saying things like this all the time. "Fer se" for "Per se". "phantom for fathom". "Massatusetts" for "Massachusetts". "mischeeveeus" for "mischievous", "fustrating" and "flustrating" for "frustrating", "pitcher" for "picture". The list goes on.  When you're not in a particularly good mood....that might be the time you decide to correct someone. 

To me, the question isn't why is this show still on but why people keep tuning into it. People even take the time to "hate" watch it. You're the reason the show is still on.

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah. I mean.. since I’ve been with the show since the beginning I can’t not watch it. It is becoming background noise though. Everyone  on it annoys me.

Also.. as I said most of the actors seem over it too. I really do see if the show comes back one of the actors leaving and this show I don’t think could be the same without all the actors. I really do wish they would just call it but in this day and age, that rarely happens, if viewers are still tuning in and the actors get the money they want, this show will continue. As someone else pointed out, abc doesn’t have that many sitcoms. 

Edited December 19, 2018 by WhosThatGirl

[AnnaRose]

7 hours ago, love2lovebadtv said:

The Dunphy family lives in the kind of area where kids get speech therapy for in school to improve their ability to pronounce certain sounds. Some poor kids get made fun of because of that. Even with a good education, people mispronounce words as adults. This is just a sitcom, but in real life kids who grow up being laughed at develop defense mechanisms for dealing with adults who make fun of them when they slip up - like Luke defending his pronunciation. You might want to rethink meanness as a form of constructive criticism. 

Native speakers mispronounce words all the time. Just ax anybody with difficulty pronouncing a word like ask, which is far more common than wreath or reef. 

https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/05/how-do-english-speakers-differentiate-a-th-sound-from-an-f-sound.html

I know people have trouble saying certain sounds and pronouncing certain words, but I don't think we've ever seen any sign that Luke has any kind of speech impediment and he pronounces the "th" sound just fine.  I don't think he couldn't pronounce it correctly.  He just seemed to be confused about (or somehow unaware of) what the correct pronunciation is.

I still think Claire correcting him is completely appropriate for a parent who is, let's face it, still preparing him for life, and not the least bit rude.  (Especially since it was in private.)  YMMV, of course.

Edited December 19, 2018 by AnnaRose
typo - th sound

[tribeca]

15 hours ago, Mittengirl said:

I would think that a real estate office would have a supply closet containing staging items like Christmas decor, fancy towels, welcome mats, centerpieces and vases and such.  Especially holiday-themed decor pieces that can be purchased post-season cheaply.

Believe me I work in a store there are people who shop just to stage houses.  They buy and return thousands of dollars of merchandise never really buying anything.   Usually they return throws curtains all rolled up in a ball wrinkled up bedding out of packaging.  It’s very annoying because you know customer who actually wants to buy those things for their home. One day my first customer returned $5000 of merchandise for the house she staged.  

Edited December 19, 2018 by tribeca

[AnnaRose]

46 minutes ago, tribeca said:

Believe me I work in a store there are people who shop just to stage houses.  They buy and return thousands of dollars of merchandise never really buying anything.   Usually they return throws curtains all rolled up in a ball wrinkled up bedding out of packaging.  It’s very annoying because you know customer who actually wants to buy those things for their home. One day my first customer returned $5000 of merchandise for the house she staged.  

That's horrible!  People who do that have no sense of decency, do they?

[love2lovebadtv]

12 hours ago, mojito said:

Holidays can bring out the worst in people. That's all I concluded in this un-funny episode.

I seem to be one of the few people who can think of lots of language quirks in people I know--college graduates--who mispronounce or misuse words. Usually, it's the only word that I notice them saying or using incorrectly, and that's probably why they get away with saying things like this all the time. "Fer se" for "Per se". "phantom for fathom". "Massatusetts" for "Massachusetts". "mischeeveeus" for "mischievous", "fustrating" and "flustrating" for "frustrating", "pitcher" for "picture". The list goes on.  When you're not in a particularly good mood....that might be the time you decide to correct someone. 

To me, the question isn't why is this show still on but why people keep tuning into it. People even take the time to "hate" watch it. You're the reason the show is still on.

The VP of a subsidiary of a company I worked with would chuckle at and correct people who mispronounced words. Buy she couldn't pronounce subsidiary (it was more like subsidirarry).

My friend, a special ed therapist, is a real word snob. Good thing since she works with lots of little kids, most of whom are in kinney garten lol. 

No one is perfect - not even the self-proclaimed word nerds or highly educated executives. 

[lynxfx]

5 hours ago, tribeca said:

 One day my first customer returned $5000 of merchandise for the house she staged.  

One of the few times I'm for restocking fees. Charge them 20%. It's people like that which ruins it for the rest of us. 

[Aryanna]

19 hours ago, tribeca said:

Believe me I work in a store there are people who shop just to stage houses.  They buy and return thousands of dollars of merchandise never really buying anything.   Usually they return throws curtains all rolled up in a ball wrinkled up bedding out of packaging.  It’s very annoying because you know customer who actually wants to buy those things for their home. One day my first customer returned $5000 of merchandise for the house she staged.  

I thought that there were companies who's business was to stage houses and kept warehouses of furniture just for staging. Am I wrong in this thought?

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, Aryanna said:

I thought that there were companies who's business was to stage houses and kept warehouses of furniture just for staging. Am I wrong in this thought?

There are.  I guess some people would rather save the money it would cost to hire such people and try to cheat the system by buying, staging and then returning what was used.  Or maybe it's also stagers who are buying, using and returning merchandise.

[VCRTracking]

Even though Hayley can occasionally keep her head on her shoulders and Dylan has matured a little, Phil and Claire are very, very right to be worried.

Edited December 21, 2018 by VCRTracking

[readster]

3 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Even though Hayley can occasionally keep her head on her shoulders and Dylan has matured a little, Phil and Claire are very, very right to be worried.

I agree, as much as Phil has tried to be supportive of Haley and Dylan, now he is seeing that maybe he should have put his foot down more. With Claire, her years of helicopter parenting have like most parents in that situation completely backfired. She has a daughter who is dependent on everyone and doesn't know how to do most life skills.

[Suzn]

2 hours ago, readster said:

I agree, as much as Phil has tried to be supportive of Haley and Dylan, now he is seeing that maybe he should have put his foot down more. With Claire, her years of helicopter parenting have like most parents in that situation completely backfired. She has a daughter who is dependent on everyone and doesn't know how to do most life skills.

Exactly!  I've been disgusted in so many episodes where Claire and Phil were doing things for the kids that they should have been doing for themselves.  There was one with Alex unable to use a broom!

[readster]

4 hours ago, Suzn said:

Exactly!  I've been disgusted in so many episodes where Claire and Phil were doing things for the kids that they should have been doing for themselves.  There was one with Alex unable to use a broom!

Or how she couldn't take her own allergy medicine and Phil gave her the drowsy version instead. She was 15 by that point, she couldn't get her medicine? Not using a broom was really stupid, I mean she can play the cello and yet a broom? She can't watch a youtube video?

[WhosThatGirl]

Yeah. I don’t think Haley is mature in any way to have a baby. And honestly I feel like the second half of this season is just going to be more episodes where haley freaks out about something baby related again. Like I get freaking out but that is all haley has been doing forever now.

[justduckey]

I lost interest in this show at least 3 seasons agouti I still watch it (distracted watching). I have no idea where Cal came from but wasn’t her just a large size baby last season? He appears and looks older than Joe.  

Lily has never been a good actress. I’m sure she’s a sweet kid in real life but her acting has always been painful.

Why is anyone thinking another season is  necesary at this point?

[CleoCaesar]

On 12/21/2018 at 2:22 PM, readster said:

Or how she couldn't take her own allergy medicine and Phil gave her the drowsy version instead. She was 15 by that point, she couldn't get her medicine?

That scene always irritates me for that exact reason.

Similarly, the third-season episode "Aunt Mommy" where Claire realizes she left the kids home alone for half an hour and freaks out in the car while talking on the phone with Phil. ("Aren't you at home?" "No, I left right before you did." "Phil, the house... the – the kids... Oh, God, the squirrel.") Again, 2/3 of these "kids" are teenagers. She's acting like they're newborns who can't feed or entertain themselves.

Or when Claire had to teach teenage Haley how to bake cupcakes from a mix. Or dozens of other examples.

With their hovering and babying, Claire and Phil raised three incompetent, maladjusted young adults. Luke is the only one who seems he'll land on his feet in time.

[readster]

27 minutes ago, CleoCaesar said:

That scene always irritates me for that exact reason.

Similarly, the third-season episode "Aunt Mommy" where Claire realizes she left the kids home alone for half an hour and freaks out in the car while talking on the phone with Phil. ("Aren't you at home?" "No, I left right before you did." "Phil, the house... the – the kids... Oh, God, the squirrel.") Again, 2/3 of these "kids" are teenagers. She's acting like they're newborns who can't feed or entertain themselves.

Or when Claire had to teach teenage Haley how to bake cupcakes from a mix. Or dozens of other examples.

With their hovering and babying, Claire and Phil raised three incompetent, maladjusted young adults. Luke is the only one who seems he'll land on his feet in time.

Yeah, reminded me of the old TV show, My Wife and Kids. Where Damon Wayan's character leaves the house with his wife and then half way to their dinner goes: "Oh crap I didn't give them my rules speech." Then being told by his wife the kids had heard it enough and know it by now. However, since he was always telling them what they should "always do" and then forgets,  the kids since they didn't hear the "rules speech" do everything they KNOW they shouldn't do because, they weren't "told" to do it. Showing that his constant "my way or the high way" and not actually showing them "why" these rules exist and why they should no better. He created three kids who if not told "exactly" what to do, can't.  So, all the years with helicopter/friend parenting you get: "Can't you take responsibility at all?" Haley can't survive on her own, and thinks she is going to have some "magic scheme" that is going to get her the glamours life she dreams of. Alex is SO smart she is a moron and can't do basic things but yet can create machines that think for themselves and yet it's Luke who lands on his feet and also realizes: "I have to learn to live without mom and dad." Yet still makes some 4 year old dumb decisions, when honestly he should know better by now at 20. If Claire wouldn't have been trying to be some over bearing "I have to do everything" helicopter parent, which Jay was not in any form and neither was DeDe. Or Phil trying to always be "the buddy parent" their kids maybe would be able to survive or not panic over the stupidest things. Yet, here we are with everything we have been predicting for years. So, now Phil and Claire come looking like: "shit, we really screwed up." Well, do you wonder why? Look in the mirror.

[WhosThatGirl]

On 12/24/2018 at 3:02 PM, justduckey said:

I lost interest in this show at least 3 seasons agouti I still watch it (distracted watching). I have no idea where Cal came from but wasn’t her just a large size baby last season? He appears and looks older than Joe.  

Lily has never been a good actress. I’m sure she’s a sweet kid in real life but her acting has always been painful.

Why is anyone thinking another season is  necesary at this point?

Another season isn’t. The only reason I can think of it getting picked up is the viewers are still pretty good (most of us posters are part of that as we are watching)and that’s money for the network. Even if the numbers aren’t great, this show is probably still good enough numbers for the network. Especially considering it seems every September they’re always trying to get new sitcoms off the ground to fit in the first two prime time hours of Wed nights to go along with the show.

I do think if it gets picked up, there’s a high possibility of one of the actors leaving. It’s been 10 years, I’m sure some of them might want to move on.

23 hours ago, readster said:

Yeah, reminded me of the old TV show, My Wife and Kids. Where Damon Wayan's character leaves the house with his wife and then half way to their dinner goes: "Oh crap I didn't give them my rules speech." Then being told by his wife the kids had heard it enough and know it by now. However, since he was always telling them what they should "always do" and then forgets,  the kids since they didn't hear the "rules speech" do everything they KNOW they shouldn't do because, they weren't "told" to do it. Showing that his constant "my way or the high way" and not actually showing them "why" these rules exist and why they should no better. He created three kids who if not told "exactly" what to do, can't.  So, all the years with helicopter/friend parenting you get: "Can't you take responsibility at all?" Haley can't survive on her own, and thinks she is going to have some "magic scheme" that is going to get her the glamours life she dreams of. Alex is SO smart she is a moron and can't do basic things but yet can create machines that think for themselves and yet it's Luke who lands on his feet and also realizes: "I have to learn to live without mom and dad." Yet still makes some 4 year old dumb decisions, when honestly he should know better by now at 20. If Claire wouldn't have been trying to be some over bearing "I have to do everything" helicopter parent, which Jay was not in any form and neither was DeDe. Or Phil trying to always be "the buddy parent" their kids maybe would be able to survive or not panic over the stupidest things. Yet, here we are with everything we have been predicting for years. So, now Phil and Claire come looking like: "shit, we really screwed up." Well, do you wonder why? Look in the mirror.

Yeah, it’s kind of funny to me that people think Haley and Dylan are going to be fine(I mean because it’s tv, they probably are going to be magically fine because again.. tv) but realistically I don’t think they are. Yes they’re in their middle 20s and they are adults but neither really acts like it. Yes they have decent enough jobs I guess? But we don’t really know how much they pay. But also Dylan lives with roommates, Haley has never lived without her parents. That’s a big deal. I’m also pretty sure they pay at least half on her Finances. I know for sure they help her out with her car, even in later seasons when she had to borrow money from Luke to give them. And she had a job then too. She just spent the money on other things.  Not to mention the other types of bills she never worries about probably, the house she lives in, the food, probably her cell phone(although that’s guessing but I would not be surprised). I don’t think Haley knows anything about those things. Maybe Dylan does but given that he trusted Haley’s terrible math on their diner bill a few episodes ago, probably not. I know these are nitpicks things but just because she has a good job  doesn’t mean she’s able to provide for a child.

[readster]

9 hours ago, WhosThatGirl said:

 

Yeah, it’s kind of funny to me that people think Haley and Dylan are going to be fine(I mean because it’s tv, they probably are going to be magically fine because again.. tv) but realistically I don’t think they are. Yes they’re in their middle 20s and they are adults but neither really acts like it. Yes they have decent enough jobs I guess? But we don’t really know how much they pay. But also Dylan lives with roommates, Haley has never lived without her parents. That’s a big deal. I’m also pretty sure they pay at least half on her Finances. I know for sure they help her out with her car, even in later seasons when she had to borrow money from Luke to give them. And she had a job then too. She just spent the money on other things.  Not to mention the other types of bills she never worries about probably, the house she lives in, the food, probably her cell phone(although that’s guessing but I would not be surprised). I don’t think Haley knows anything about those things. Maybe Dylan does but given that he trusted Haley’s terrible math on their diner bill a few episodes ago, probably not. I know these are nitpicks things but just because she has a good job  doesn’t mean she’s able to provide for a child.

That's the problem, Haley doesn't know how to survive on her own. True story, my wife due to having a medical condition lived with her parents into her late 20s. Now, they taught her how to: pay bills, get groceries, save, ect. She also worked a set of good jobs, including one for almost 5 years out of college. However, after we got married and got our own house, she was really lost on things. She realized that you have to spend money on utilities that don't wait on things and flux every month. She was just use to credit card, cell bill, ect. She had never owned a car she had to pay on her own, deal with outside costs and also how much money it cost for their son. She was in a tail spin for a couple of years and also got talked into some bad deals by maintenance people because she was "being nice" to them. Instead of saying: "Excuse me! I am not paying for that? I don't have that kind of money." Plus, since Modern Family is so famous with putting people out of a job because of "reasons" I can see Dylan while having his certifications and good rapport with patients all of a sudden saying: "Get out!" or with Haley as much as works in this out there crappy "celebrity world" of all of a sudden the clients turning to drugs and rehab or flaking out for some "new weird" thing. 

[WhosThatGirl]

Above post, yeah. I don’t see her doing as good as I’ve read some comments here. As I said yes she’s adult, and yes she has a job, but those don’t mean anything in the grand scheme of things. 

But the thing is because it’s tv she’s going to be fine as I said. Somehow magically it’ll all work out but in reality I’d this were a real life situation, she would be lost because she really has never had to

do anything like all those things i listed before and things the above poster listed.

[jhlipton]

Re "wreath" -- with the "I've heard it both ways", I thought it was an homage to Psych, where Sean used the phrase all the time (he would have driven some people NUTS!!!!).  It would have been really awesome if there was a pineapple in the background.

On 12/19/2018 at 4:58 AM, love2lovebadtv said:

Native speakers mispronounce words all the time. Just ax anybody with difficulty pronouncing a word like ask, which is far more common than wreath or reef.

It's really "funny" how bugged people are about "aks", which is used largely by Blacks and has been recognized by linguists as a legitimate part of AAVE (African-American Vernacular English), which in turn is recognized as a distinct dialect of English.  But when you tell them that Chaucer used "aks", well, that's OK then. 

No offense to anyone here, but grammar purists drive me nuts (grammar is used largely to put Those People in their place); speech purists even more so.  [Think about it: the "rules" of grammar were invented by the same guys who couldn't spell Mumbai or Beijing!]

[NUguy514]

Just to be clear, the "guys who couldn't spell Mumbai or Beijing" neither invented the rules of grammar nor deliberately misspelled those two cities: "Peking" reflected the Middle Chinese pronunciation of the city that was used in the southern Chinese cities where English traders and missionaries first visited, and "Bombay" was the anglicized version of the Portuguese name for the city since the Portuguese were the first to set up a trading post in Mumbai.

My observation is that white people's grammar is just as terrible as everyone else's: I tutor grammar, among a few other things, to mostly privileged, mostly white students who go to really competitive schools, and – as one example – every single one of them uses "bad" when "badly" is appropriate ("I did so bad on that practice test.").  Every single one of them, and I've tutored well over a thousand students at this point.  I never let shit like that slide because it makes them look less intelligent than they are.  Speaking correctly shouldn't be derided by anyone.

[readster]

21 hours ago, NUguy514 said:

Just to be clear, the "guys who couldn't spell Mumbai or Beijing" neither invented the rules of grammar nor deliberately misspelled those two cities: "Peking" reflected the Middle Chinese pronunciation of the city that was used in the southern Chinese cities where English traders and missionaries first visited, and "Bombay" was the anglicized version of the Portuguese name for the city since the Portuguese were the first to set up a trading post in Mumbai.

My observation is that white people's grammar is just as terrible as everyone else's: I tutor grammar, among a few other things, to mostly privileged, mostly white students who go to really competitive schools, and – as one example – every single one of them uses "bad" when "badly" is appropriate ("I did so bad on that practice test.").  Every single one of them, and I've tutored well over a thousand students at this point.  I never let shit like that slide because it makes them look less intelligent than they are.  Speaking correctly shouldn't be derided by anyone.

Oh I know, my favorite is when students see that the word is underlined in red if they are using a word processing and they don't "right click" to see the spelling correction suggestions. I challenged one student for the new year to start spelling his words correctly. They told me: "But that will take longer" I went: "Where are you going?" Student: "Nowhere." I told them to stop acting like they had somewhere to go and type out: that instead of: tht"

[TheLastKidPicked]

I'll give the show credit for a few great lines.  If you have an attorney in the family then this is pretty funny:

Santa:  I know you-- you're that lawyer.

Mitch:  This is never good. . . 

And if you know somebody like Cam then the "Christmas card placement on the piano" and the "You have to save Uncle Cam's cards for seven years-- like tax returns" are absolutely spot on.

A disclaimer for this next part.  I'm a huge Ed O'neill fan.  He is one of the few actors on earth who could sell the whole elbow cream subplot.  Calling it his "medication" so he wouldn't seem vain.  And at the end, hamming it up for the picture by striking his "elbows" pose.  

This is one actor who just quietly goes in to work and gets the job done, scene after scene.

[readster]

On 1/3/2019 at 5:10 PM, TheLastKidPicked said:

I'll give the show credit for a few great lines.  If you have an attorney in the family then this is pretty funny:

A disclaimer for this next part.  I'm a huge Ed O'neill fan.  He is one of the few actors on earth who could sell the whole elbow cream subplot.  Calling it his "medication" so he wouldn't seem vain.  And at the end, hamming it up for the picture by striking his "elbows" pose.  

This is one actor who just quietly goes in to work and gets the job done, scene after scene.

No kidding, no matter how lazy the writing, Ed O'neil does his job. He still loves what he does, he doesn't do it for a paycheck, he really loves his art. Always has from his comedy days on Married with Children, to his more series side of: A Father's Love.

[IDreamofJoaquin]

On 12/12/2018 at 6:50 PM, Mrs. Hanson said:

It is official:  I hate Claire. 

Just now?  HA!

 

Haley's eyebrows are so distracting this season.  Too huge and overdone.   I never come on the Modern Family boards, I only came on to say this.