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Modern Family: Pilot (series premiere)
by Jason Hughes, posted Sep 24th 2009 2:18AM
(S01E01) It's so simple. All you need to make a great family comedy is have it be funny. I must have laughed out loud at Modern Family more than I have at any recent television show, including the much-hyped Community. Bar none, this had some of the sharpest one-liners and zings flying around, as well as sharp characterization and top-notch acting across the board.
I don't even care that ABC "spoiled" the first episode by revealing that these three very different families were all actually one big family. I think I would have figured it out by then anyway. What I did care about was that I found myself interested and enjoying all three families equally. Combined, they're going to be able to mine great comedy from this ensemble for years to come.
Ed O'Neill and Julie Bowen were the names that I knew the most. I've loved O'Neill since he gave us one of the greatest television fathers of all time in Al Bundy. It's been too long since we got a regular dose of his special kind of charm. Here, he's simply perfect as the eldest member of the Pritchett clan.
The Dunphy family is the one that's the most "normal," and yet there's Phil. We've all seen the tragically un-hip dad who thinks he's cool, but Ty Burrell still makes it funny. He's so tragically lame that he threw his back out trying to look cool in front of his daughter's older boyfriend. Said boy had to carry him to the couch.
I'm hopeful that America isn't still so prejudiced that they'd dismiss this show because of the presence of a gay couple -- and they adopted a child together! Cameron and Mitchell are a hilarious couple, and I love how they don't fit into the stereotypes of one being the "male" and one the "female." They've shown a strong and committed relationship, and I think it's great to see it on TV. And they're funny together.
Any one of these three families could easily carry a half-hour sitcom. Together, they've made a great pilot. I have no idea if they can keep up this level of quality, but if they do, then ABC may finally have a smash sitcom on their hands. I love the confessional element, the fast pace of it all as we shift from one family to the other, the characters, everything!
There were so many little bits throughout the show that made me laugh:
- Jay (O'Neill) getting chastised by the mall cop because the mall-walkers are supposed to stay to the right.
- The entire scene where the Dunphy family figures out when to pencil in Phil shooting his son.
- Phil accidentally shooting his son ... and then his daughter's boyfriend ... and himself.
- Cameron's grand Lion King entrance with Lily, followed by the subsequent question of whether or not she'd have a hard time saying her own name when she grows up (because she's Vietnamese).
- Manny writing a poem about what a poor father Jay is. "Of course you did."
- Hell, Manny in general. Picking flowers and wooing a 16-year old girl at eleven. That kid's cool!
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