Hot Topics Make Good Comedy ... even the iPad on 'Modern Family'

While watching the two family sitcoms on ABC last night, 'The Middle' and 'Modern Family,' it seemed to me that they were funnier than usual because the writers took the effort to incorporate topical, timely elements into the scripts. On 'The Middle,' it was all about basketball and the NCAA Final Four. On 'Modern Family,' it was the highly anticipated release of the Apple iPad.

Now, while Joel thought the latter was an overdone commercial that may have been penned by Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself, my reaction was completely the opposite. And some critics agreed with me, too.

The idea that Phil would be obsessing about the latest technology was in keeping with the character. Phil's been established as a techie guy, a geekster of the first order. Why wouldn't he be an early adopter of the iPad considering that it is being touted as the next big thing?

And even Joel pointed out, it would have been silly to create a faux product to make the point about his obsessiveness. There was an authenticity to the entire situation because it was a real product, and as someone who has been on the bandwagon myself, I can tell you that it was a relatable story line.

It was even more so because nobody else in the family feels like Phil. Claire didn't think it was such a big deal... until she found out that it was a big deal to people like Phil. The ones who will be in those lines at the Apple Store on Saturday, April 3. The final shot of Phil fondling his iPad and saying, "I love you," well -- I've been there, too. Nothing like the smell of a new laptop or camera or George Foreman grill, right out of the packaging.

Now, was it a blatant case of product placement, even though Apple didn't pay a cent? You betcha. Apple couldn't buy a better chunk of prime time to promote the product than that episode of 'Modern Family.' In fact, tonight on the 'CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,' the story about the iPad included scenes from 'Modern Family.' That's right, CBS News used ABC sitcom clips.

When product placement is done in a realistic way, it doesn't bother me. If the Cisco system is used on '24,' that's fine. If Ford sponsors the 'American Idol' video, it's all right. Motorola headsets for the NFL make sense to me. Heck, even 'Modern Family' extolled the virtues of Costco when Cam and Mitchell were shopping for disposable diapers!

Maybe I've become numb to the overload of products everywhere so that it doesn't matter as much, but the Apple iPad/'Modern Family' connection seemed like a smart pairing, and kudos to the writers for being topical and timely.

Earlier in the evening, 'The Middle' was also on point with the Final Four episode. The Hecks live in Orson, Indiana. Hoosier country. Basketball is king in that part of the country, so it made sense that Mike would be beside himself with excitement about the prospect of attending the Final Four in Indianapolis. And the tickets literally fell in his lap. The fact that he had to go to Frankie's Uncle Mack's funeral instead was a funny, albeit real dilemma. We've all been there, haven't we?

My favorite aspect of the show, though, was how Mike tried to take the lemons he'd been handed and make lemonade. He sucked it up and prepared to go to the funeral, setting up the VCR -- the Hecks do not have the DVR technology yet -- and planning to keep from finding out the results of the Saturday games so he could enjoy the experience as if they were live.

In a great twist, Mike got an attack of appendicitis and wound up being wheeled into surgery, hearing the doctors above him talking about the game and how Duke had won the game! ARGH!!! Every sports fan could understand that turn of events, and what made it even better was the fact that Duke is playing on Saturday for real.

So, you see, time and topicality can make the funniest of shows, even funnier. Quibble about the details, perhaps, but if 'The Middle' and 'Modern Family' can keep up this level using real products and real events, that's fine by me.