ABC's Modern Family

A New Kind of Sitcom

Oct 19, 2009

ABC's new sitcom Modern Family (Wednesdays, 9/8 central) offers viewers a true, yet humorous, reflection of Twenty-First Century family life.

At the center of Modern Family are the Dunphys, a traditional sitcom clan with a harried mom (Julie Bowen), a clueless dad (Ty Burrell), and three kids. While the Dunphys are familiar to TV viewers, Modern Family eliminates tired sitcom family humor thanks to Ty Burrell’s Phil. Phil insists on being more of a friend than a dad, constantly butchering “hip” lingo and trends to the befuddlement of his family and the amusement of the audience.

While Julie Bowen’s Claire tries to control her kids and her husband, her father Jay Pritchitt (Ed O’Neill) is enjoying a second marriage to much-younger Latin bombshell Gloria (Sofia Vergara). Unfortunately for Jay, his new family also includes Gloria’s precociously serious son Manny (Rico Rodriguez), and much of the humor in viewing the Delgado-Pritchett household comes from Jay’s attempts to relate to his young stepson (such as the occasion in the pilot in which Manny delivers a poem to a much older crush).

Claire’s brother Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) has his own issues, as he and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) have just adopted a Vietnamese baby. While gay characters on sitcoms are usually played as over-the-top flamboyant, Mitchell and Cameron garner laughs with their attempts to figure out their place in the mostly straight world of parenting, their tiffs over decorating the baby’s room and introducing the baby to the family easily striking a humorous chord with gay and straight audiences alike.

While the ensemble cast has no problem bringing the laughs, Modern Family has already made wonderful use of guest stars both famous and unknown. Shelley Long recently played Jay’s first wife, with flashback scenes of her making a ruckus at Jay and Gloria’s wedding used to full comedic effect. And while he may not be a household name, Reid Ewing has made an impact in the recurring role of Dylan, the boyfriend of teen Haley Dunphy (Sarah Hyland), who performs a sexually suggestive song about Haley at a Pritchett family gathering.

While Modern Family accurately depicts the new American extended family, with its divorces, remarriages, and sexual and ethnic differences, viewers from all types of families can relate to the humor the cast generates from their characters’ often tense interactions. Whether it’s at Claire and Mitchell’s rivalry over whom their mother loves best, or at Phil’s performing High School Musical numbers for his horrified kids, or at Sofia’s descriptions of her first husband’s sexual prowess in front of the schlubby Jay, everyone can find something to laugh at in this Modern Family.

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