What to Watch?! Part Four in a Series About Series!

Hey everybody! I know it’s been a while, I’m sorry. It has been very busy around here with Carnival and Homecoming, but I managed to find time to watch some great television!

This time, I’m going to talk about a sitcom that has already started called Modern Family! It comes on ABC, Wednesdays at 9pm.

Now, it has taken me a while to get into this show, because it comes on the same time as Glee. However, if musical comedies are not for you and you’re still looking for a good laugh, you should DEFINITELY tune into Modern Family.  The first three episodes are available on ABC.com and Hulu.com, if you want to catch up. If you don’t have the time or just want to start off Wednesday night, here’s my crash course on what you need to know:

The episode follows three families, which are interrelated. The first is the Delgado-Pritchett family. Jay Pritchett (played be Ed O’Neill of Married with Children fame) is a much older man married to Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a beautiful (and much younger) woman. In marrying Gloria, Jay also has adopted Gloria’s son from a previous marriage, Manny, a ten year-old who proves to have wisdom beyond his years.

Jay has two biological children himself, from a previous marriage; Claire and Mitchell. Claire is the stereotypical

soccer mom and married to Phil Dunphy – a self-proclaimed “cool” dad. It’s safe to say that Claire is the disciplinarian when it comes to their three children; Haley, the eldest daughter who is starting high school and dating boys, Alex, the less cool, but “smart daughter”, and Luke, their irresponsible son.

Jay’s son Mitchell is gay and in a serious relationship with Cameron Tucker, who is flamboyant but extremely sweet and endearing. In the first episode, Mitchell and Cameron are on their way back from Vietnam, where they adopted a baby girl, named Lily. Mitchell is uptight and Cameron even calls him a snob, whereas Cameron exudes love and wants there to be peace.

At first, I was a bit skeptical, especially after my beloved Samantha Who? got canceled last season, but Modern Family is something completely different. It IS a sitcom, but the humor isn’t as hokey as sitcoms have the reputation of being. It’s quite smart humor and it is laugh out loud hilarious. In fact, there were many times that I had to pause it so that I could laugh.

There are many misadventures that the families go through, the Dunphys in particular. Phil seems to have the worst luck in the world, despite being the cool dad, luck that includes shooting his son, his daughter’s date, and himself with a BB gun, accidentally stealing an innocent kid’s bike, and getting hit in the nose by a model airplane.

However, there are times where Cameron completely steals the show. After inviting Mitchell’s family to their house to introduce baby Lily, for example, he turns on the song “Circle of Life” from the Disney film The Lion King and comes in carrying Lily in the air the same way that Rafiki presents Simba to the animal kingdom in the film. Safe to say, that was one of the parts that I had to pause to laugh hysterically.

There are some sentimental parts to the show, but there is no live studio audience providing the “Awwww” for viewers at home. They are subtle and they are not often, but it’s obvious that this great big family deeply cares for one another and they would do anything for each other.

Modern Family is truly a treat and definitely something not to be missed! It is definitely a highlight of the fall season and, while advertised, still seemingly under the radar – especially among my sisters and other college friends. It is worth watching, whether you manage to see it Wednesday nights at 9/8c or whether you watch it the next day online like I do! This is not something you want to miss, trust me!

Briana Simko is an intern for College Lifestyles (TM). She is an English and Theater Arts major at Duquesne University and a member of Alpha Sigma Tau and enjoys sitting in front of the television with a hot cup of tea, especially with her family.