After canceling two-thirds of their Wednesday night lineup ("Pushing Daisies" and "Dirty Sexy Money" ) and moving "Private Practice" in order to powerhouse Thursdays, ABC made a risky move this season: launching five new shows on Wednesdays, four of them comedies. So far, though, it looks like the network will at least find success with "Modern Family," one of the funniest new shows on television.
While the other three new ABC comedies are relying mostly on star power — Kelsey Grammer on "Hank,", Patricia Heaton on "The Middle" and Courteney Cox and "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence with "Cougar Town" — the strength of "Modern Family" lies with its smart, funny writing and diverse cast.
In an age when everything tries hard to be innovative and high-concept, "Modern Family" succeeds by proving that the funniest and most original idea is sometimes the most familiar — the experiences of the people who call each other family.
The pilot introduces three different families, all seemingly disconnected but with their own distinct comedic appeal. Ed O'Neill ("Married … with Children") and Sofia Vergara play Jay Pritchett and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett, a recently married, May-December couple. Her fiery personality nicely contrasts his laid-back approach, and Gloria's young son Manny (Rico Rodriguez), from a previous relationship, steals scenes as a hopeless romantic.
The traditional nuclear family is represented through parents Claire and Phil Dunphy (Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell) trying to raise their three kids. Burrell especially stands out for his hilarious role as the cool dad. He knows texting lingo (but thinks WTF stands for "Why the face?") and all the dances to "High School Musical" (2006), and truly thinks his kids like him more for it. His deadpan delivery makes his humor all the more realistic and entertaining.
Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) make up the third family, a gay couple who recently adopted a Vietnamese baby girl. Although their characters fall dangerously close to stereotypes, Stonestreet and Ferguson imbibe Cameron and Mitchell with so much genuine chemistry that they come off just as developed as the other two clans.
By the end of the first episode, it is revealed that (spoiler alert!) all three families are actually related, setting the scene for some crazy family get-togethers in later episodes. The great thing that the pilot showed, though, is that the three groups already have their own stories, personalities and humor. Bringing them all together has wonderful comic potential, but it won't be a necessary weekly plot device that would eventually drag the show down.
The series borrows the popular mockumentary technique used so well by Christopher Guest and "The Office," but it doesn't feel repetitive. The shots are much wider, allowing for a view of the whole room instead of just headshots, and thus a broader glimpse into the characters' lives and personalities. Like other mockumentaries, there is no real explanation as to why these people are being filmed, but the style adds a welcome element of character backstory that might otherwise feel forced.
"Modern Family" feels real. Yes, some of the situations are clearly invented for television, like the humorous sequence in which the Dunphys schedule a time for Phil to shoot his son with a BB gun to teach him a lesson for shooting his sister. But most of the situational humor feels organic and relatable, something the audience will no doubt appreciate as the series progresses.
Critics across the board have lauded the show, and the audience so far seems to agree with the positive consensus. A grand total of 12.7 million viewers watched the premiere, and while high ratings don't always mean quality programming (see: "CSI: Miami"and "Two and a Half Men"), in this case the viewers are on to something good; Great, even.
Hopefully viewers who can only watch one new show this season will pick "Modern Family." With smart writing, clearly-established characters and broad-spanning humor, "Modern Family" will keep everyone laughing.
