ReidEwing

(S01E14) Sometimes I wonder if I could just write up a review of 'Modern Family' by listing all of the great quotes that come out of this show. Line for line, this has to be one of the cleverest series on television today. Even the episode title, 'Moon Landing,' recalls a great moment.

The action this week was split between Jay and Cameron heading off to the gym to play racquetball, Mitchell helping Gloria with a traffic-related legal problem, and Claire's reunion with an old work colleague from before Claire became a stay-at-home mom. Minnie Driver was well cast as the friend, Valerie, but her performance was completely overshadowed by the brilliance of the episode itself.

(S01E08) I don't know if enough credit is being given to the child actors on this show. All four are doing top-notch work... five if you count Lily. We already knew that Rico Rodriguez is amazing as Manny, but so little is being said about the Dunphy children. They haven't had as much screen time, yet, as really anyone else on the show, but who can deny how funny it is watching Ariel Winter as middle daughter Alex just torturing her dimmer siblings.

Sarah Hyland is channeling her best Mila Kunis in the role of eldest daughter Haley, who's just so tortured by how mean and horrible her family is. This week, she matched wits with her grandfather, only he'd been down this road so many times with his own daughter, and to a lesser extent his son, that he knows all the tricks by heart.

I was laughing so hard I had to rewind and watch the whole scene again when Haley got up from the table and stepped outside, only to find Jay out there already changing a light bulb.

(S01E04) You know, I never even thought about the fact that Jay's ex-wife might still be out there. I don't know why, but I guess I figured she was dead or something, since nobody's even mentioned her prior to tonight. Now I know why that's the case. There's a lot of history to this family, and it looks like we're going to be able to piece it together.

I loved the flashbacks we did get this week, and Shelley Long as the ex-wife is just brilliant casting. And may I say she's been aging very well. She hasn't lost even a bit of her comic shops, either. I'm hoping she agreed to come back and play this role over and over again. Since she's also Claire and Mitchell's mother, there's reason for her to come back over and over again.

Every week, I'm blown away at all the little moments of humor the writers find in these three families. They pack so much in a short half-hour that I come out of it exhausted. Tonight's episode stuck to one main plot, but man was it good.