(S01E18) It's time to mix up the relationships and find out which ones work the best. My theory: they all do. Tonight, we got to see Cameron hit the town with Gloria, while Jay brought Manny along on his and Mitchell's regular astronomy evening. The new dynamics worked better than anyone could have expected.

Cameron's constantly sticking his foot in his mouth while in Gloria's company created so many moments of hilarity, I had to pause the show several times just to make sure I didn't miss anything.

The Dunphy family stayed at home, because their kids are like all of our kids and neglected to tell their parents about a couple of major things that needed to be done before school the next day. One was a diorama on the life and work of Vincent Van Gogh, while the other was a batch of cupcakes.

While Claire usually handles all of that, because she's clearly the only one qualified, I was actually quite pleased to see that Phil's "take a step back" tactic with Luke actually worked. Luke may very well be ADHD, as Alex indicated, but he proved himself with his project. When Phil and Claire barged in on him with his Mr. Potato-Head figure, I had an indication of what he was up to.

Based on the project he completed, as well as the first half of his presentation to Alex -- before the alien part derailed him completely -- Luke may be smarter than I gave him credit for. At this point, maybe we're going to find out that he's a genius, and that he just processes things so vastly different than everyone around him, he only comes across as a complete flake.

Phil is the true ADHD flake. As usual, Ty Burrell was on top of his game with some stellar physical comedy. The icing on the garage debacle scene was the ladder resting against the wall behind Claire when she came in to see what the cacophony was. The sad thing about it was that I recognized elements of myself in Phil's series of distractions. Not to mention the misplaced items. I'll bet he won't be able to find that screwdriver he set down when he saw the flashing light.

Claire's sweet lesson for Haley with the cupcakes was another very satisfying thing to watch. We've all seen those self-congratulatory teenagers who think they've got their parents wrapped around their fingers. However, it would appear that Haley has worked this angle many times, and it was only Phil's success with Luke that caused Claire to realize what was happening.

I could have watched just the Dunphy household this week and been satisfied, but as funny as those scenes were, Cameron's foot-in-mouth syndrome around Gloria was even funnier. Their whole dinner date was both sweet and funny. He gets so nervous around her, and yet we learn that she likes him just fine. I half expected her to find whoever stole those tires and kick their asses. Gloria comes across as someone you just don't mess with.

The astronomy scene with Manny, Mitchell and Jay wasn't quite as funny throughout, but by the time we got Mitchell sprayed with a skunk and then in Gloria's expensive dress, things were looking up on the comedy front. Manny's continual picking on Mitchell just didn't strike me as all that funny; more awkward and mean. It was certainly believable, as kids don't know any better, and Jay barely more than that, so I'll give it credit for that aspect.

Actually, that's one of the greatest strengths of 'Modern Family.' For all the insane laughs we get every week, and we get a ton of them, these characters still ring more true and real than most families you see on television.

I can't even get into all the funny lines there were throughout this episode, because honestly I think I'd have to post the entire transcript. You can feel free to rehash some of your favorite moments in the comments.

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