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(S01E11) You know, I thought Jay was far too clever to be wooed by Colombian charm -- and I'm not talking about Gloria. I think most of us wouldn't mind being charmed by her.

Benjamin Bratt turned in a solid, and charming, performance as Manny's father Javier. He absolutely nailed the elements of the douchebag father who tries to make up for broken promises and absence with gifts and fun, fun, fun. It works on the kids, while they're young, and apparently it works on adults as well.

But it was the kids that were the linchpin of this episode, in a way. They provided the opening narrative to the episode, including Luke trying to figure out what "talking black" means and Alex being told to grow up and act more like an adult; a statement brilliantly followed up with Phil acting absolutely ridiculous with Luke.

(S01E10) I think we all know the holiday season is about learning from our mistakes, and then trying to make amends, right?

Well, that's what it's about in the extended Pritchett family. It's the first Christmas for Jay and his new family, but he's a little surprised when Manny starts bringing some Colombian Christmas traditions into the family. Cameron and Mitchell take Lily for her first Christmas photo with Santa Claus, only to be disappointed when a shift change brings a less realistic Mr. Claus to the chair. Cam has his own mini-crisis, though, because of a troupe of carolers he has some history with.

The craziest of all of this is what went down at the Dunphy household. As a parent of a ten-year old, I know I've struggled with having to go through with whatever threat I make during a disciplinary lecture. It taught me to be careful of what I say, because I may not want to go through the hassle of taking all the toys out of his room and putting them in the garage.

(S01E09) You've gotta love the use of the dramatic flashback to lead us into the saga of Luke's birthday party. Not only was the affectation utilized well, it again showcased the love and support at the heart of this family saga. Opening us at the hospital the way they did also nicely gave the whole episode that feeling of inevitable dread.

At the same time, they smartly kept the number of people involved in the hospital conversations very small at first so that we would have no choice but to speculate which member of the cast would wind up there, and via what means.

Then, they just sat back and let events unfold as Phil and Claire put together one of the coolest -- and lamest -- parties in the history of television. And still they found a way to let everyone shine for at least a scene or two.

Julie Bowen from 'Modern Family' proves to be an indispensable guest on 'Chelsea Lately.' Not only does she offer up a proper use of oxycontin, but she also brings her claws and takes them out when Chelsea mentions Bowen's sultry Latin co-star Sofia Vergara. Plus she talks about upcoming guest stars on 'Modern Family' and what it was like to the birth of her twins "out of the netherlands of my yoni."



Watch the full episode after the jump.

(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.

(S06E08) "I could see shooting someone over you." - The judge to Mike

This week, Susan had to face the fact that she accidentally shot Katherine a few weeks back. Sadly for Susan, she had to face a judge who had humor when giving sentences and who allowed Katherine to say a few words before sentencing Susan. As expected, things didn't turn out the way Susan would have wanted them to turn out. However, Susan got exactly the type of sentence that offered us some fun war scenes between Katherine and her.

(S01E07) I love more and more every week that we have these three different families we can pull from for our main focus. On most family shows, you're limited by the one family dynamic you're dealing with, and by the age of the kids involved. Here, in one show, we have a gay couple with a baby, a traditional couple with kids ranging from pre-teen to teenager, and an older man married to a younger woman with her young son.

That's like at least three different shows worth of material they can pull from each week. How can they possibly not find simply tons of moments of funny with that much to work with? So far, they've managed to pack every minute of each episode, and this week was no exception.

The main story was Manny's fencing tournament; of course it would be fencing Manny would excel at ... why not? From there, we extrapolated into the general parenting desire to have children who are great at something, and the desire of children to receive praise from their parents.

(S01E06) Once again, the three families on this show needn't interact at all for the series to work. Maybe if someone were tuning in for the first time, completely unaware that the three families were all related, they'd be confused as to why we're following these three separate storylines. Even then, though, I suspect they'd still laugh at Lily's costumes and Manny's Colombian pan flute.

As a parent, I'm not to the teenage years yet, so can't relate as well with the experiences of Phil and Claire, but I do remember the fear and panic you have with your first child. Every little bump is a crisis, as we saw. And, I'm ashamed to admit that I committed the same "horrible" crime they perpetrated on Lily later in the episode, as well.

As for Jay and Gloria ... oh, my son is in the fifth grade. Sometimes I feel like they're living my exact life. Maybe all fifth graders are equally off-the-wall, or maybe my child is as special and unique as Manny.

(S01E05) I'm glad this issue was finally addressed. No matter what you see on the surface, if your older father marries a stunningly beautiful piece of... well, you know... like Gloria, then you're going to have some concerns. Especially if the old man looks like Ed O'Neill. Let's not mince words here, I love O'Neill but he's no Cameron!

As usual, there was a lot going on in this episode, but still plenty of rooms for laughs. We're five episodes in now, and Modern Family hasn't laid an egg yet. That's a pretty impressive performance out of the gate for any show. This week, we got the extended family together again, where they could work out some of those unresolved issues.

(S01E03) After last week's installment of Modern Family where each family stayed within their own little nucleus, this week saw the intermingling of two of them. Cameron and Mitchell didn't have time to get involved, because the somewhat snobbish Mitchell discovered the joys and wonders of Costco. "What is this place?"

I remember my first time in Costco. You do have this strange desire to grab all the carts and flatbeds and go crazy. Who doesn't need 5,000 gumballs and a five-pack of VCRs? I've still got two spares in the garage. But Mitchell and Cam's shopping spree was the B-story.

This week, the show explored relationships between parents and their children. We got to see Claire's husband Phil try to bond with Jay in a model airplane flying expedition. Meanwhile, Claire and Sofia swapped kids and shared growing and learning experiences with them. And it all worked. Everything about this show is working right now.

(S01E02) Let all the doubters stand and face the wall in shame. This cast is not too big and this is absolutely the funniest new show of the season. Tonight, rather than have the characters interact directly (except for one small scene), the connection between them was thematic. And tonight it was all about fatherhood.

When they opened the show with the fathers talking about what they thought fatherhood meant, I knew this show was going to become a huge hit. They absolutely get it. They've got something really special with the three family dynamics they've set up. Something that represents almost every facet of modern America all in one show. And one by one they can talk about anything through these families.

It's brilliance in its simplicity, brilliantly executed. Not only did we get so many funny moments throughout, but if we paid close attention, we learned several lessons about life and parenthood between the laughs.

(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.

Edward Norton adopts 'Modern Family,' Ellen replaces Paula on 'Idol,' Augusten Burroughs' 'Sellevision' and the Internet's 'Text From Last Night' head to the small screen, and more of today's top TV headlines.

(S04E11) The truth hurt almost everyone this week. The stress of having both a deflowered son and knowledge of the tunnel's other uses took its toll on Nancy. Harsh reality set in for the others as well. Doug's faults weren't lost on Maria, Celia's lack of insurance affected her recovery, and Bob Odenkirk made me lose confidence in commercial airline pilots. Where's Jimmy Jam when you need him?

(S04E09) It appears that Nancy is growing up, and it only took four seasons for it to happen. She dealt with mature relationship issues and had a calm, romantic moment with Esteban. I was thrilled that she finally made good on her promise to be more available to her family, going MILF-a-MILF with Lisa and dealing with Shane's kinky flea-scratching. Her responsible behavior also made up for Celia's descent into coke-fiendom.