Modern Family - We Miss You!

Sky 1 have announced the return of Modern Family season 3 but maybe it’s just me but I’m not sure how much I care anymore. Don’t get me wrong I bloody love Modern Family, it is absolutely brilliant but this season has been shown so sporadically I don’t remember what’s happening! To get the best out of these 20 minute comedies you really do need to watch them in bulk but the problem now is, I can’t remember the last time I saw an episode. And this isn’t even your typical winter break because the whole of season 3 has been a viewing nightmare. One week a new episode, the next week a repeat of an old episode because of some bloody American Football game and by the time you get a new episode again you’ve forgot what happened in the last one. I know it’s all because of this whole ‘days behind the States’ nonsense but I would prefer to be months behind the States and have no gaps in my seasons rather then this whole disjointed one week on one week off nonsense. It’s easier to wait for the DVD then have to scan through your TV guide every week making sure you haven’t missed an episode and that Modern Family definitely wasn’t on. Of course I’m going to watch it but I swear any more gaps between now and the end of the season and I won’t be watching MF on Sky again! Those are fighting words!

Modern Family- Jay is a happy Al Bundy!

In a TV world where the only sitcoms we have on TV are repeats on comedy central with canned laughter and slapstick humor, Modern Family continues to lead the way as the best comedy on the TV.

Modern Family hit the ground running when it started last year, it was laugh out loud funny from the word go and even in the weakest episodes you are guaranteed to have at least one belly laugh. It continues to be the single best comedy on the TV and this is only backed up by the fact that no one has a bad word to say about it. In a world where the internet forum is king, it is hitting a high 9.2 on IMDB, which ranks it better then Friends, Frasier, Cheers and its new rival Raising Hope. If it continues to the high standard it has already set itself there’s no reason why Modern Family can’t go on to be the best comedy of the decade.

Whilst it can’t yet rank itself amongst the greats (what with it only being two series in) it does have something going for it that sets itself apart from sitcoms of the past and present; each character is funny. In a fairly large cast of 10 (let’s face it most comedies only have 6 characters at most) there isn’t one poor character. Some albeit are better than others, but all of them are strong in their own way. For me Phil, Cam and Manny are up there among the best, but my favourite character has to be Jay. This probably has a lot to do with the fact I have a soft spot for Married with Children. To me Jay is just a happy Al Bundy who has finally left Peg, won the lottery and married the women he always dreamt of. Ed O Neil is as good in this as he was in Married with Children. Despite the fact there is a 23 year gap between the start of the two shows and making Ed O Neil considerably older then he was when Married With Children started, he still continues to be one of the best comedy actors (if not the best) on TV at the moment.

Everyone wants to be apart of the show meaning there are a handful of guest appearances in each series, and despite a dodgy cameo from Matt Dillion (easily the weakest one so far) they fail to compromise the shows integrity or high standards. Lady Gaga recently said she would love to appear on Modern Family but thankfully that idea was quickly rebuffed. This isn’t a show that needs guest appearances from flash in the pan pop stars to gain ratings or laughs and that’s what makes it so good. Shows like Will and Grace that were perfectly good on their own merit got bogged down in celebrity appearances, everyone from Madonna to Cher was on Will and Grace and it didn’t matter one bit if they couldn’t act or it didn’t fit in with the story line. Glee is another good example, someone only has to mention the show and Ryan Murphy has him or her in the next episode or has Lea Michele belting out on of their hits by the end of the season. Modern Family doesn’t need to go down this route and nor should it ever have to.

Modern Family keeps getting stronger and stronger and I for one love it. Let’s hope it stays this way and can stay on the air for a very long time, hopefully as long as Married with Children!