Modern Family - season 1 (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

ABC gets back to comedy with the premiere of "Modern Family" tonight at 8:00 p.m. EDT. The cast features Ed O'Neill, Sophia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet. From what I can tell, the idea of the conventional family is turned upsidedown.

There's also a repeat airing on Friday at 9 p.m.

 

[pitchman]

After all I've read, I'm kind of looking forward to checking this out. but, since I haven't watched an ABC comedy block in decades, I'm not sure I'me ready to take the plunge now, either.

 

[Patrick Sun]

It was okay, but nothing got me to LOL. I wonder if it'll fill that Arrest Development-esque-dysfunctional family niche for me, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[MarkMel]

I don't know, it had me laughing pretty hard.

 

[Joe Bernardi]

I'm not a laugh out loud person, but I thought it was funny. Somethimes hard to hear the dialog as my wife WAS laughing out loud.

 

[Hanson]

Soooo uneven. Not consistently funny enough, and some of the jokes just fell totally flat.

The scene on the airplane about the "baby with the creampuffs" was the funniest, but unfortunately spoiled by promos. But I can't rip them too bad about that -- if it weren't for that promo, I would never have tuned in. I'll probably give this a few more whacks and chalk up some of the negatives to pilot growing pains.

With Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton joining Ty Burrell for the ABC comedy block later this season, it's like they took the cast of Back to You and scattered them about Wednesday night. Is there any way Fred Willard can join the cast of Cougar Town just to make the diaspora complete?

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm wondering if this sort of show works best for those with large extended families (of which I do not have). My problem is that I either saw the punchline coming far too early, or haven't really gravitated towards any of the characters introduced so far.

 

[Larry Geller]

Neither my wife or me are from extended families & we both thought this show was great! She gave it her two highest compliments: "great writing", 10 minutes into the show, and "I was guffawing". I was too.

 

[IanDP]

I was really looking forward to seeing it because I'd love to see Ed ONeill on tv again. I made it through about ten minutes or so before changing the channel. It just wasn't funny. Like others said, there were a couple good moments but the rest fell VERY flat.
I made it to the scene where the daughter's date showed up and the dad was going to intimidate him. Then the dad doing his best "Michael Scott" impression talks to the camera trying to talk all ghetto. That hasn't been funny since like 1991.
It reminded me of "The Office" or a Christopher Guest movie, but without the smart, dry, and subtle humor found in either of those.

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I really liked this show. Ed O is perfectly cast as the patriarch. I feel that he played the part very "Al Bundy" like and I think that's why I liked it so much.

The "Lily" comment had me LOL'ing.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Ty Burrell, Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd's o holdovers from "Back to You", was definitely the weak link here. He was much better as the long suffering weatherman than he is here as the unbelievably pathetic father. I liked everything else, including the way the pilot only hinted that the three families are part of one big family until the reveal at the end. I like that Julie Bowen and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, despite being opposite genders and sexual orientations, have the same ultra Type A personalities. It made it easy to buy them as brother and sister. After all of the brave, upstanding gays Hollywood's given us in recent years, Eric Stonestreet's out-and-out queen was somewhat of a comedic breath of fresh air. I liked Ed O'Neill's young, volumptous Hispanic wife, and I liked Bowen and Burrell's TV kids. O'Neill's stepson is still a bit of a blank slate.

I actually found the dinner reveal quite affirming, with all of these three families that would seemingly have nothing to do with each other effortlessly merging into a larger whole that felt closer to my family gathering than any of the saintly or miserable families that I usually see on TV; the melting pot in micro.

The real test will come in future weeks to see how Levitan and Lloyd adapt to the single camera format. Is this the tip of the iceberg or, like multi-camera sitcoms, are we just going to get endless variations on the same character quirks?

EDIT: Because my fingers seem to have developed a case of aphasia...

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by IanDP )), be it Knights of Prosperity, The Class, or Back To You. The MILF-alicious Julie Bowen is remembered from the late, lamented Ed. I'm surprised Ted McGinley isn't in this.

 

[Malcolm R]

Who are the characters supposed to be talking to when they're alone with the camera?

I found the first episode moderately entertaining, but the single-camera, mock-umentary style is really irritating to me.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally Posted by Malcolm R

Who are the characters supposed to be talking to when they're alone with the camera?

The concept of the show is that this is an actual documentary of a 2009, non-traditional family. Presumably that means they'll be playing the mockumentary angle straighter than, say, "The Office" has.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Last week I noted, "The real test will come in future weeks to see how Levitan and Lloyd adapt to the single camera format. Is this the tip of the iceberg or, like multi-camera sitcoms, are we just going to get endless variations on the same character quirks?"

This episode passed the test. While less laugh-out-loud funny than the pilot, the characterizations were much more nuanced. In particular, Ty Burrell's character felt much less tired. I could believe his character this week is a real dad in a way I couldn't in the pilot. Ed O'Neill's patriarch showed the most growth, though. It takes a lot of maturity to give others credit for your own sacrifices, so that the innocent party won't be harmed.

The gay couple storyline was the least problematic in the pilot, so it's not a shocker that it's the least changed here.

 

[Gwon Chang]

Anyone have audio issues with the show? Right after the hot jogger left, the mom said something and the vocal track disappeared. The background sounds (cars, birds) were still there, but no voices.

Other channels are working, but ABC (via Dish Network) is acting funny.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I only laughed when Desiree brought back the bike. Otherwise, eh.

 

[Walter C]

So far, the show has managed to bring a smile and a few chuckles here and there, but not really laugh-out-loud.

 

[Hanson]

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

I only laughed when Desiree brought back the bike. Otherwise, eh.

+1

 

[Patrick Sun]

What was up with Brandy Ledford's not-so-taut midsection, it looked almost Shar Pei-like.