They did what?? Made a relatable comedy show with an updated family tree – Modern Family makes the everyday events funny, well, almost “everyday events” as the characters tend to take things a little too far. The successful series focusing on the tree of one family and its three connecting branches – and excuse me as I try to quickly explain who’s who. There’s the patriarch and grandfather – Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill), and his stunning, and much younger second wife; Gloria (Sofía Vergara), and her son Manny (Rico Rodriguez). To then Jay’s son Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and husband ‘Cam’ Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), and their adopted daughter Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons). Then there’s Jay’s daughter and Mitchell’s sister Claire (Julie Bowen), who’s married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell), and together have three children; Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter) and Luke (Nolan Gould). Phew! There are of course later additions to the family, but no surprises posted here.
What makes the show so good is the mockumentary style in which the families are filmed, with direct and knowing looks to the camera, complete with eye rolls and shoulder shrugs – as if the crew (and in extension yourself) are in on the argument, and invariably the fun. This has the benefit that after just a few episodes you feel as though you’re part of the family – although more accurately a fly on their walls. This insider information in knowing the characters is further strengthened by their interviews – with them telling you what they really hoped for, what they feared and what they thought at the time, all while sitting in the comfort of their home – thereby making it feel friendly, cosy and personal.
This sense of being included in the families’ lives comes from the creators being inspired by their own – the idea for the show coming about through a discussion on family life – thereby making a relatable and similar dynamic to many families of today; from the bickering, misunderstandings, sweet intentions and of course the pranks – but only for those who can take it.
Another nice touch of the show, and which some of the best comedy serials have, is the setting up of a final joke within each episode, the prelude to which doesn’t always make sense or is gut-splittingly hilarious – but when it all comes together (which it invariably does) these gags fall seamlessly into place, and you die on the floor with laughter. This technique later repeated on a grander scale as the jokes continue across episodes, and thus rewarding its returning viewers with many an inside joke.
As the series progresses you can’t help but have favourites, cough* Cam, Mitchell, Gloria, but they would be overwhelming without the more down-to-earth Jay, Alex and Claire to balance it out. Each episode splits between the three related families, and in this none of the antics seem over the top, whilst keeping you equally engaged in both the more urgent issue, and the current drama that’s unfolding. Boredom being a word that doesn’t exist here.
Everyone, from the cast to crew make this the popular series it is to date, but special mentions have to be made for the child actors. For it’s not often that a show will leave children to act out scenes on their own, and it certainly took a few episodes for them to be brave enough to do this on a more regular basis. But when they did, what a great decision. The scenes between them seeming more genuine, while the children’s fights escalate because there aren’t any parents to stop them, and the same goes for their escapades. With twenty-minute length episodes you may not always be laughing out loud, but you’ll always leave smiling.
Creators: Steven Levitan & Christopher Lloyd
Other notable works:
- Frasier 1993-2004
- Wings 1990-1997
