Jenna Robbins/Staff Writer
We all have that TV show we think describes our lives perfectly–“I totally get what Sookie is going through right now because I have these two gorgeous boys who happen to be vampires chasing after me and I don’t know who to pick!” or more likely, “Why can’t that special someone see that we’re perfect for each other like Jim and Pam?” But I actually live in the “Modern Family” world. When I watch it, I really feel like I am watching my life—albeit filled with funnier, more attractive people.
The show centers around three different branches of patriarch Jay Pritchett’s family—one same-sex couple, one interracial/intergenerational couple, and one “typical” couple. The show purports to present modern American life as it is, not through the limited lens that has characterized sitcoms in the past. America seems to be responding with enthusiasm.
Over the past three seasons, “Modern Family” has won consecutive Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series. Nearly all the actors have been nominated for Emmys as well, and Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, and Eric Stonestreet have all won in their respective categories. (In 2010, Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays his fictional partner, became the first actors playing a couple to be nominated for the same Emmy category). Clearly, “Modern Family” is the best comedy on television.
The show takes place in Los Angeles and is filmed partly in my neighborhood. Cam and Mitch “live” with their adopted Vietnamese daughter Lily in a house around the corner from mine. Episodes where the group watches their sons play sports are filmed at the park where I worked last summer. I derive a lot of happiness from trying to figure out which Apple Store Claire is desperately trying to find an iPad for her husband Phil.
But the show’s relatability for me goes far beyond its physical location. I see my friends, my family, and myself in these characters. After watching an episode where Claire and Phil attempt to teach their teenage daughter Hailey to drive, my dad determined that Hailey and I have the exact same level of driving ability (none). I died of laughter while watching Claire attempt to use their new universal remote, as my mother is equally technologically illiterate. My boyfriend and Phil share the same goofball tendencies, to a sometimes disturbing degree.
Every character on the show is hilariously watchable. Gloria, Jay’s much younger Colombian second wife, slays me with her combination of English malapropisms and shrewd intelligence. Her son Manny is an adorable wanna-be middle school Romeo, with wisdom beyond his 12 years. Cam and Mitch play effortlessly off each other, with Cam as the larger-than-life diva who was a star quarterback in high school, and Mitch as a slightly OCD lawyer with a sarcastic brand of wit and a phobia of birds. Phil and Claire’s children, Hailey, Alex, and Luke, have conflicting personalities: Hailey is obsessed with boys and popularity, Alex is a dedicated student with limited social skills, and Luke is just the adorably clueless youngest child. Together, the Pritchett-Dunphy family represents a wide range of personalities and backgrounds, with unlimited comedic potential.
As modern as “Modern Family” may seem, the characters, to some extent, do live a charmed life. The show doesn’t comment much on current issues of our era, such as the economic strife that has wrecked havoc on many American families. The entire Pritchett clan is firmly upper-middle-class, and Jay and Gloria in particular are quite well off. As much as creators of “Modern Family” are willing to push the boundaries of traditional family set-ups by featuring an openly gay couple with their adopted daughter, it doesn’t really make a big point of that potential controversy. In fact, many viewers of the show complained during the first season that Cam and Mitch never kissed on the air, while the heterosexual couples kissed all the time. The writers cleverly made that the focus of an episode early in the second season, when Cam was upset over Mitch’s reluctance to kiss him in front of other people. They concluded the issue with a quiet, background kiss between the two.
“Modern Family” is a show packed with humor but with a lot of heart. The episodes, particularly in the first season, revolve around issues of parenthood or familial relationships within and across the three sub-family groups, and the episodes often conclude with a sentimental statement about the importance of family love. Despite their comedic squabbles, the characters of “Modern Family” all have a closeness that is admirable in every configuration of family.