Modern
Family: The Formerly Fresh Out of The Stove, Piping Hot Pumpernickel
Bread of A Show Has Turned Into Stale Three Day Old White Bread
There use to be a formula in making
television sitcoms. Take a little bit from here, mix in a little bit
from over there, pour in just a little bit from over there and
wallah, you've got a sitcom. Over the course of time, that formula
is still being used and on occasion, there have been a few shows that
have altered the ingredients by one or two elements. Such as the
case with Modern Family, an ABC sitcom that's been around since 2009
and is in it's eighth season. It's the sitcom formulaic show done up
in the pseudo faux documentary style of comedy similar to the fashion
of the former NBC sitcoms The Office and Parks and Rec employed when
these shows were on the air. Both The Office and Parks and Rec took
their bows at their respective times. The Office lead actor, Steve
Carell, parted ways with the show early and his absence was felt
tremendously with his departure. He did return for the series finale
of the show that gave it a respectable and decent, if not pretty,
close to the show and some of the most enjoyable characters to grace
the small screen. And Parks and Rec took it’s final bow as well,
even though there was still life in the show. This was a show built
around Amy Pohler and an ensemble of characters that were truly
unique oddballs. These shows took a cue from the old Seinfeld show
by deciding when it was time to exit the arena rather than waiting
for the network to give them their walking papers. It is a
testament to the better shows when they decides that they don’t
want to wear out their welcome and opt for leaving while the audience
screams for more. And while The Office and Parks and Rec are missed
and much of the gag reels can be found on YouTube, check them out and
discover your old friend or if you haven’t seen them, a missed
opportunity to be with that friend. But what about Modern Family?
What happened to this show?
Modern Family has been chugging along
with the same main characters with no signs of any significant
disruption or alteration. They've changed out one character in the
beginning, the toddler Lilly with an older more animated version who
would respond to verbal commands and not look as if she’s a mute
doll. They had no choice in the matter as the original Lilly didn’t
emote or have any facial expressions except for one and that was the
look of seemingly being lost. If you have someone, even a small
child, who has only one dour look, it doesn’t bode well when you
act out a scene and the kid is giving you a zombie look straight out
of the Walking Dead. They needed a new Lilly. And they've replaced
the toddler, Joe, with a new speaking version as Gloria and Jay's
son. The Joe character has been played by three different actors,
infant, non-speaking toddler, and speaking toddler . Other than
that, we still have Jay, Gloria, Manny, Luke, Phil, Claire, Alex,
Haley, Lilly, Mitchell and Cameron. With the possible exception of
one, there hasn't been any clear sign of progressive growth with
these characters. Here is the character development of each:
Gloria Pritchett: She comes from a
large extended family from her country of origin, Columbia. To have
her tell it, Columbia is a lawless country controlled mainly by the
drug cartel. When she talks about Columbia, it is always laced with
elements of the criminal underworld with a tinge of perverse pride in
the telling of the tales. She has stated that she had other reasons
that attracted her to Jay. However, if a cartel boss ever had her in
his sights, there would not be a Jay. She gained her US. citizenship
a few seasons back which they made it appear to be a cakewalk in
gaining one’s citizenship when in reality, immigration policies
and obtaining citizenship have more restrictions in place for
qualification. If it was that easy for undocumented citizens to
waltz in and answer softball questions to a citizenship exam, then
the 10 million illegal immigrants would have done so immediately.
Aside from popping out another child, Gloria has been a stay at home
mom for eight seasons. She has explored marketing her salsa recipe
for sale with mix results but she has done little else in between
outside the home. Gloria’s past job was that of a hair stylist as
explored in brief from a past episode. Since marrying Jay, her
quality of life has improved and to she has no reason to be at home
anymore as she has had nannies and babysitters for Joe. She has
gotten lazy and comfortable and has turned in to be nothing more that
the atypical trophy wife to an economically successful business man.
Jay did do that to her in a past episode when he wanted to show her
off to his old buddies and she readily agreed to somewhat deplorable
stereotype. She could have taken the position that she is not a
trophy wive to be put a display for Jay’s friends. In fact, she
did voice her dissatisfaction with Claire because the assumption was
that she was a gold digger from Claire’s point of view in the
beginning of Jay and Gloria’s courtship. But somehow, this
characterization of Gloria going along with this facade somehow feels
as an inappropriate back handed compliment. Gloria has the smarts
but she doesn’t apply herself. Grade B-.
Jay Pritchett: Jay is a self made
entrepreneur specializing in the manufactured closet industry. He's
been plying his trade for a while and has been successful in doing so
and this has led him to live a well earned comfortable life in a
comfortable home with a comfortable swimming pool. Jay represents a
different generation of men from the early baby boom generation. Yes
means yes and no means no, there is none of this double meanings or
alternate definitions to words. He would be the guy who would say
“Are you shitting me!” during the impeachment proceedings with
President Bill Clinton when Clinton said in a deposition, “It
depends whet the meaning of “is” is.” He has two grown
children, one stepson and a toddler that he accepts and tolerate in
the same breath. He is the patriarch to his family, no ifs ands or
buts. He knows that times have changed and as much as he fights
change, he has slowly resign himself to the fact that this is the
world that we live in now. He footed the cost to his gay son's
wedding demonstrates one of the changes he has undertaken. He was
retired from the closet industry but retirement didn't suit him as he
had imagined so now he's back but in a different capacity. He had
too much time on his hands with doing nothing except going stir
crazy. Jay is still Jay. He has lived his life by his own terms and
a lot of him has been set in concrete. With a toddler son however,
some of his traditionalist ways may have been introduced to a chisel
hammering on the edge of that concrete. Jay's growth has been
progressive in the past eight seasons. Grade B+
Manny Delgado: The once cute and
precocious child is a young man now. Living a life of comfort with
financial access has given him some advantages. He has not want for
anything as he has said, “grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle”,
we've constantly observed Manny sipping espressos and lattes and
enjoying hotel stays and spa retreats to no end all on Jay’s dime.
There has never been a discussion on whether or not Manny is
financially supported by is biological father, Javier? He doesn't
seem to appreciate the fact that someone else worked hard to have the
money that he readily spends on himself. He has forgotten his humble
beginnings and roots. He has placed too many memories far in the
rear view mirror that when he looks back, he sees only small dots on
the horizon. Jay sometimes remind him that all of what he's come to
know and have wasn't there at the start. Manny has become the
quintessential privilege class who has set the lines of demarcation
between the working class blue collar people and the professional
class white collar people. Manny has evolved into a young
Republican. It could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing.
Only Manny will have to decide which way he wants to go. As for his
character, Grade C.
Phil Dunphy: Father of three, Phil is
a Realtor by profession. We often see Phil at his practice and by
all appearances, he makes a decent living with it as he has purchased
vehicles over the years for himself, his wife, Claire, and for his
daughter, Haley. The thing about Phil is that you sometimes question
his focus. On more than one occasion, he has referred to himself as
“the cool dad”. Why is that so important to him? Dads are never
cool with their kids and dads should never want to be cool with their
kids. You are the parent. They look to you as the authoritarian
figure, not the let's drink a beer and smoke some weed figure. He
feels that if he “speak their language” then he stays in touch on
a certain level with his kids. His technique has been a disaster in
the case with his oldest daughter, Haley And you can also see the
results in his other children as well. Nobody is perfect but Phil
is, not Phyllis, but Phil is a person stuck with rose colored glasses
permanently attached to his face. If you are a father, you can't go
through life thinking you have perfect children. They will test your
boundaries and your resolve. For the most part, Phil has stayed in
his lane. He never ventures far at all. He's comfortable and
conservative. He sells real estate conservatively. You can almost
see that he likes that about himself. He laughs at his own jokes.
However, he places too much concern on what his colleagues think
about him and what they do. Gil Thorpe, his real estate colleague,
is his forever nemesis. It was only recently, after seven seasons,
that he did venture out from his comfort zone and into a real estate
venture with a lot of trepidation. He brought in Jay as an investor
on a piece of property that proved to be an environmental disaster.
Why didn't he get a soil report from the very beginning? This is a
fundamental first step to take and a bonehead move not to make when
purchasing land. He would have known right away what the property
could be used for. This was a calculated failure on his part and a
lost leader for his investment partner, Jay. While Phil may be a
consistent middle of the road real estate agent in the residential
market, he should have been in the commercial market a long time ago.
For Phil, growth has been stagnant. Grade C.
Claire Dunphy: Claire started off as a
stay at home mom in the beginning. She is a seriously serious Type A
personality. She has to be right all the time and she has to prove
that why she is right by providing supporting documentation and
proof. Even when she was pregnant in college, she managed to finish
and get a degree. That is something they never have explored, how
did she manage to do that especially with having Phil around. In
addressing this aspect of Claire’s life, if would be good to go
back in time and watch a young Claire and Phil before marriage.
Somehow, Claire had the wherefore all to get through college. Maybe
if Claire would have exposed this aspect of her life with Haley, she
would have had a different outcome instead of just having experienced
one semester of college and being expelled? Claire definitely has
develop the same type of behavior as her father when it comes to
getting things done. She doesn't let her insecurities overwhelm her,
at least, not when she's around her father. When he's in her
presence and should things be slightly off centered, then the
insecurities come out. She wants to be perfect but she knows that
it's an impossible task. As her children have gotten older, Claire
found herself at a crossroad. She needed to be back in the work
force and she did that in increments. She ran for city council and
lost but the loss gave her some meaning and purpose. She found her
way back among the nine to fivers by working for her father. She has
flourished even with a few stumbles with her coworkers. Of all the
characters within this show, Claire has had the most significant
gains in development. Grade A+.
Haley Dunphy: First impressions are
important sometimes. Haley, the eldest child of Claire and Phil,
started off as the rebel when she really didn't need to be. A lot of
the issues that she put Claire and Phil through were just trivial
nonsense taken from a person who thinks on the level of a ten year
old. Her entire existence was orbiting around popularity, partying
and with the loser boyfriend, Dylan. She should be the poster child
for all young girls on how not to act privileged and when you take
advantage of a father who wants to be your peer. Haley’s character
is drawn as an insult to all teenage girls. She's not an excellent
student, oh hell, she's not even a good C student. Of all the time
Haley was in school, she had no favorite subject whatsoever. They
didn't even attempt to show where this girl had at least one subject
she cared about. She was nothing more than just a popularity queen,
living on empty accolades from Snapchat. Twitter, and Instagram
followers. And then she is accepted to college which lasted all of
five minutes because she, like a typical street junkie, falls back
into her old ways and attends a party where she falls into trouble
with the university and gets promptly expelled. Now this may seem a
stretch and highly improbable but the writers took the easy way out
and once again, Haley Dunphy is a screw up in the eyes of her
parents. All of the effort and money it took to get her off to
college and she takes three steps back and winds up living in the
basement of her parents home. She meanders about finding menial jobs
and to date she really doesn't have a definitive career to speak of
other than some made up job she created for herself. And then there
are her past relationships and current relationship. With Dylan,
every teenage girl should look at that for what it was worth, as a
stupid high school no nothing romance. With Andy, at least, it was
more honest and genuine. For the first time Haley was in a
relationship where she was equal. You started to believe that there
was hope for this woman, that she was finally leaning in a direction
that was positive. This relationship wasn’t built on
superficiality. Haley even expressed her desire about being with
Andy made her want to stop doing the stupid things. But then, the
relationship ended without ceremony. One day she was single again.
Now she hooks up with someone who is more superficial than she is,
Rainier. Okay, so here is the thing, why was it necessary for her to
be back in a relationship? It is normal for someone to not be in a
relationship but Haley can’t go two weeks without her being defined
by the relationship she’s in. With Rainier., it appears as if
she's stumbling down a rabbit hole and she is lost trying to find
herself and this relationship is lined with twenty feet deep potholes
and she is barely hanging on the edge by her press on nails. Andy
was good to her and for her. They need to bring him back. Haley is
not only stagnating, she's stuck. Grade C-
Alex Dunphy: The golden middle child
of the Dunphy clan showed promise to a world of recent beleaguered
sitcom kids. She was smart, she was focused and she had excelled
past her parents in competency even though she was worldly naive
having lived a sheltered life. We watched as Alex moved effortlessly
in obtaining her educational objectives and faced the realities that
schools of higher education of your choice sometimes fall away from
you and that you often have to kick the field goal and settle for the
three point schools instead of the seven point schools. Sometimes
it's not a bad thing because it's up to you to make something out of
yourself in the final conclusion. So she enters college and after
that first year, she either drops out or take a hiatus and we find
her working in some coffee shop as a host. Did not her parents give
her enough preparation about the rigors of college? Did they not
attend college and endure the stay without taking any breaks? Surely
they've coddled their children to the point where hard work and
sacrifice is not a part of their structured DNA. What's at stake
here? Couldn't she just reduce her course load and take only the
basic courses needed to maintain enrollment? Are Claire and Phil's
parenting approach coming back to haunt them when they have two
children not doing the college journey? Or maybe it is honest
approach when you look at the cost for higher education and newer
types of jobs that are being created that don't need a degree?
Seeing Alex as a coffee hostess however, doesn't conform to the
person who was a champion for education, a skating on the edge
feminist and questioning the status quo type of individual. Alex's
status is in flux and could go either way. She’s a smart kid and
shouldn’t be boxed in by imposed constraints. She’s Type A like
her mother. Having her doing grunge work may be good for her
character in the short term but if this goes on too long, it becomes
a detriment. Grade B+.
Luke Dunphy: There is a famous quote
from a famous movie where this old weathered guy says to another old
weathered person, “No, there is another”. And like that famous
movie, this Luke started off with wide eyed optimism. But somewhere
in this journey, a course correction was made and the ship took a
blast to the right starboard engine. They decided to turn Luke into
a debonair idiot and not the kind of lovable idiot that grows on you.
He has not come close to reaching his academic or human potential
and appears to be skating on the edge of failure. Now this type of
kid has been seen before and done with spectacular diminishing brain
cells by the kid from Two and a Half Men. I never could understand
why that show took that route with the kid? He started off
pleasantly as an average cute kid with great prospects. In fact, in
this opinion, it would have played better against type as the one
person who was totally opposed to his father's scheming ways and his
uncle's misogynist behavior. But they chose to take the kid down a
road of moronically stupid weed smoking loser. It became a show that
was not fun to watch and opens up a discussion about reverse sexism
but that is another discussion at a later time. But this Luke seems
lost and unsure about himself as he is set to graduate from high
school. It seems as if his parents haven't fully explored the
challenges that is about to visit upon Luke. Much like is older
sisters, Luke's world has no road maps for him to take, he is
destined to be wandering for a while. So, why was it important to
turn Luke into another adolescent moron? Most teenagers are not this
stupid or unsure of themselves. I was a teenager and was about the
graduate high school at the age of 17. My focus was on the ritual
passage of graduation and the prospects of entering college from out
of state. Nowhere is this equation was there any angst about
grabbing on some ass like they’ve treated Luke and Manny. Luke’s
ficus should have been on getting into college from a male point of
view. We’ve already experienced Haley and Alex situation and the
challenge would have been to show Luke’s take from his world. It
seems like he is the forgotten child in this transition and for them
to lightly skim over it show that no thought has been taken into play
with Manny or Luke where it had any substance. Sure, they showed
Alex’s breakdown on the academics with her therapist and eventually
her mother and that was good but males have been discounted at the
expense of the female empowerment battle cry that’s been in play
for many years now. His parent’s aren’t giving him the necessary
tools that he is desperately trying to keep his head above the
emotional waterline. He is becoming a man and he has no life line
support. Grade C+.
Mitchell Pritchett: At some point,
Mitchell Pritchett must come to the realization that the world
doesn’t revolve around him. He took every word that was pointed
in his direction as some sort of attack of his lifestyle or
relationship. He had contempt for his father and found ways to
sabotage his father’s friendship with long time friends. Was he
justified? Absolutely not. His relationship with his father was no
that of someone who was abusive, verbally or physically. Jay had
made the claim that he stayed married to Dee Dee because he thought
they needed to emotional support at a young age. So why does
Mitchell carried so much angst towards his father versus Claire’s
not so much angst? Mitchell is gay. For him, that is the ultimate
defining factor as to crux of his relationship with his father. Jay
grew up in an era where men weren’t told or allowed to express
those other human feelings. He was punished by Mitchell for not
having those feelings but Mitchell was too stubborn and pigheaded to
understand who he lived with and what his father had experienced. As
Jay once expressed to Mitchell one day at his home, “Why do you get
to say what you want and I can’t?’ on the eve of Mitchell and
Cameron’s wedding. That was a good point. Mitchell has used his
sexuality as a baton against his father and for those around him that
may disagree with the lifestyle. He had inadvertently spoke way too
soon and a flight fill with passengers when a passenger said
something that was taken out of context. Mitchell responded
aggressively but found out afterwards that the comment was made to
their newly adopted child. Mitchell also is prudish, standoffish and
doesn’t like to be bested by someone who’s station in life is
underneath him. He has demonstrated this on more than one occasion
with the most glaring one being in Australia with their celebrity
friend. Mitchell has profound daddy issues when he shouldn’t. Jay
has some issues but not caring for his kids is not one of them. Grade
C.
Lilly Tucker Pritchett: They’ve
never really done much with Lilly. She lives in a child’s world
and elementary school. Much of her story is joined to Mitch and
Cameron so any development with her is mainly muted which is
unfortunate because it maybe good to see her world perspective for a
change. It would certainly make her character balance out the
outrageous of her obnoxious fathers. Grade- Incomplete.
Cameron Tucker: Sometimes saving the
best for last is not always a good thing. Cameron Tucker is an
unprecedented bore. He wants to be worldly when he’s not. He
wants to be sophisticated when he foppish and vain at best. Over the
course of this show, he has been the most annoying characters to hit
the screen. Yes, he won n Emmy for the role and perhaps because it
was new and it was at the beginning of this series but now it’s no
longer interesting. And he cries ALL THE TIME. Can we stop with the
excessive crying? Yeah, they addressed his excessive crying but it
hasn’t let up. It’s gotten to the point where you have taken
Lilly’s place and you empathize with her that this dude cries way
too much. He wants to be something that he’s not and the bragging
just got to stop too. It’s gotten to the point now where I just
hit the mute button whenever he’s about to put on airs or cry. You
just have had enough of Cameron Tucker. As Lilly got older, it was a
good move to transition Cameron into the workforce. One would think
that having him as a coach of a high school football team would
expand his repertoire but unfortunately they’ve mucked that up by
focusing on the wrong thing. With Mitch and Cameron, is all about
the agenda and not about the comedy. There’s too much anger in
them that needs to be set aside or relaxed. You have an intelligent
audience, you don’t need to keep hitting us over the head with some
superfluous agenda. Sitcoms used to be about laughs, now we have
agendas. Grade D-.
The show is in syndication across the
land. It’s a popular show. But can it hold up like Seinfeld?
Well, there are a lot of pop cultural references in the show and
elements like those tends to date the show whenever it goes out of
style. And in these days of pop culture references, they could have
a shelf life equivalent to the time of an in-flight movie. The first
show had pop jargon laced in the show that’s now when you look
back on it, it’s prehistoric ancient. In wanting to be the “cool”
show, they’ve sacrifice good stories for idol worshiping status.
Idols sometimes fall down a lot and fashions go out of style.
Gangnam style anyone?
