Modern Family: Ed O'Neil Got Swole

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDu5s309Ouw

wtf: why the face?

I am watching this because some critic said it was arrested development-y.

one of the funniest, most fully realized pilots to hit a network since "Arrested Development." It's a mockumentary (agreed, too much of that with "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" already on NBC) about three disparate families.

Ed O'Neill plays Jay, an older man who marries a much younger Colombian woman named Gloria (Sofia Vergara), who comes with an 11-year-old son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez), who's a little too emotional and poetic for Jay's taste.

Then there's Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and his partner, Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), a gay couple who have just adopted a baby girl from Vietnam. And finally, there's Claire (Julie Bowen) and husband Phil (Ty Burrell, an immediate Emmy threat to Alec Baldwin), who have three chaos-causing kids.
Fantastic cast

The cast is fantastic, especially Burrell as the clueless wannabe hip dad and Ferguson and Stonestreet as the gay couple.

ABC has already spilled the secret part of the premise - they're all related - and that doesn't detract one bit from the laughter, which is deadly funny in the pilot (and in clips of future episodes - unfortunately ABC only sent out one).

"Modern Family" is politically incorrect and viciously spot-on in its send-ups of parents, kids, friends, family in general and, well, pretty much everyone. Whether the ABC audience, which has yet to warm to the right angles of "Better Off Ted," embraces this gem, one can only hope.

the bb gun thing was hilarious

you do understand that calling something "the best since ____" isn't actually the same as saying it's reminiscent of that thing, right

jowls happen

fuck is Ed O'Neill good.

the flowers of indie rock womanhood look decidedly dingy and drab to me, and always have. The indie world's concept of sexy is very closely related to its concept of "rock": limp, non-threatening, far more interested in talking than fucking.

lol

It's an ILX thread turned into a sitcom!

Comparing this dreck to Arrested Development should be illegal.

The chubby romeo kid is great, though.

The only two sitcoms I remember laughing at in the last 5 years, I mean not just mentally noting "this is reasonably funny" but actually LAUGHING at, are "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and this. First rate. Hope they can keep it up.

the bb gun thing was hilarious

^^^ this. Outside of this and the chubby romeo kid, though, I didn't find much to like. This show's already trying too hard.

This show isn't very good. I like the goofy dad, but that's about it.

Three episodes old and this show is already into "I mentally note that this is funny without actually laughing" territory.

not going to bother ever watching this since it has 'cancelled' written all over it.

this has funny scenes/characters here and there but jesus christ am i sick of the mockumentary thing. bad studio audience sitcoms >>>>> average single camera sitcoms.

The single camera, documentary angle does not work in this show's favor. Too much of the humor is kinda broad in a way that a laugh track might be a boon.

yeah absolutely. i don't think EO'N needs to be total Al Bundy w/ a hooting audience but he could stand to be in an environment a little closer to that.

btw are any of the other shows in that ABC wed night block worth a look at all?

The Middle is decent for larffs.

The Middle, Cougar Town and Modern Family were all just picked up for the full season order yesterday, btw.

i HATE that redheaded dude who plays the gay guy. HATE. he was in some other horrible swiftly cancelled sitcom not long ago and he was just as annoying.

He was on The Class on CBS 3 or 4 seasons ago, which was a more-than-decent studio audience sitcom that fell victim to cancellation because she was in the cast. Studios! This actor is poison (see also Joey and Better Off Ted).

http://www.poptower.com/images/db/5332/450/500/better-off-ted.jpg

(Andrea Anders isn't bad, really, but cursed certainly.)

The Class! argh, yeah, that's the one. couldn't stand it. and i have no idea why i even watched it. i must have been really bored. or it must have been on before or after something i liked. and didn't they tragically misuse sara gilbert on that show?? there ought to be a law against making her so unlikeable. they did this in the horrible Twins show she was on too. the big bang theory knew what was up, god bless them.

Oh right, Sara Gilbert played the annoying guy's super cranky secret wife! Forgot all about it.

The Class got better toward the end, once they realized half the cast was a dud and started to focus on the other half, but by then it was too late.

Anders has a ways to go before she can claim to have the Paula Marshall jinx (still amazed Gary Unmarried bucked the PM rule and made it to a second season).

Oh yeah, her! How many shows has Paula Marshall killed now? It's gotta be 7 or 8 by now at least.

yeah i think she's on her 7th series as a star/co-star, not even counting recurring roles in other stuff

awww, did Better of Ted get cancelled? I liked that show, just got into it over the summer..

It was just a spring season show, but I wouldn't expect it to come back considering ABC's recent track record with sitcoms.

BOT was renewed and is coming back as a mid-season replacement this year, I'm pretty sure (xpost)

Oh really? That's good news!

ah good stuff. I'm a sucker for Portia de Rossi in any incarnation. Since I got into it via downloads, I wasn't sure what season it ran during.

the first season ran from March to August of this year, so it's just been on a really weird schedule in general

The thing that made me think it might've been canceled is that there was a long break in the series run, and they they were just burning off remaining eps in August.

i think burning off unaired episodes is more a good omen than a bad one these days -- if a network really hates a show and isn't contractually obligated to air everything produced, they'll say fuck 'em they can put it online/on a DVD

show continues to be solid. loved the "claire and present danger" tee

I was hoping the manny shirt would be a manny's laughter/manslaughter pun.

Oh, and charging the ipod/cellphone! Starting to like that kid.

saw 2 eps of this last night and it is fabulous. when is dvd due?

usually a month or so before the next season starts, so ~august

this show is delightful

I agree. Pleasantly surprised by how much I crack up this show.

all the sitcoms on abc had some good moments tonight. but i might be stoned.

Good god that trailer is hideous. What a load of the same old tired sitcom jokes paired together with backhanded pandering to 21st century global values. The men in these families are by-the-book clueless/helpless idiots. And look at how forward-thinking we are? We included a gay couple because we're so progressive, and then insulted them because we don't want to alienate the gay-bashers in the ABC audience. Here's a Columbian chick who....(surprise! surprise!) is hot and like to screw! And fight! Wow, just look at this firey latina getting riled up! Muy caliente!

Can we get past the knowingly ironic stereotyping of people on TV yet? Please?

perhaps US television is not for you...

nah son this show just kinda sucks

yeah i don't think this is very funny. it's trying, which is nice, but it just doesn't really work; nothing is funny enough. it's better than that show that comes before it which is terrible. i do think cougar town is funny though.

I do understand the 'trying too hard' complaints but still think this show is pretty funny

it's very pleasant! enough so that i keep coming back.

This week's needs to go up for an Emmy. Completely awesome in every regard.

good episode but i realized at some point last night that Modern Family is basically my least favorite show in ABC's comedy lineup

I don't know if I should admit this in here, but I like that new Happy Endings show a lot.

yeah it's good. kind of falling into that Perfect Couples/Better With You/Traffic Light generic post-HIMYM sitcom formula but still good cast, funny writing.

It helps that all three of the female leads are really cute, but it seems pretty sharply written so far.

ha i totally agree:

some dude wrote this on thread 2011 winter/spring TV thread: mid-season replacements, returning favorites, etc. on board I Love Everything on Apr 15, 2011

Happy Endings was pretty good imo. although there's a huge watchability gap between the hot/funny chicks and the zzz dudes in the cast.

modern family so funny.

"dad, smell her for me."

"i always do...NOT."

hahahaha!

thought the last one was really great, thought the one before was the worst yet. very uneven this season: the writing's been real lazy.

feels like the crueller half of the writing team is on the ascendant at the moment. "what was that he said?" "... 'I can't hear no more.'" "Oh yeah ... 'I can't HEAR no more'" etc

iirc the mitchell-hates-public-displays-of-affection episode was the first time mitchell + cam kissed onscreen, & was written after they'd been fielding complaints about just that. whether it's a good way of dealing with things or not, i dunno

i like how the father falls for the spanish woman

okay this show is likely the funniest thing on television right now

I lost my shit completely and thoroughly for about 5 minutes TWICE during "The Musical Man"

i've only seen some youtube clips, but it's v. good. but -- clearly -- it's sofia vergara who steals the show.

her turns in "slap the chicken," "peruvians," "taste my cupcakes," and "i've lost my childhood" scenes were beyond hilarious.

i loved the first season of this, but i think they ran out of steam kind of badly in series 2. and they totally ran out of stuff for sofia vergara to do - she totally became just broad comic relief in the second season. there were a few great episodes, and Phil Dunfy remains my favourite character on TV, but I was pretty disappointed overall.

Sarah Hyland is my new Mila Kunis. i'm not sure what that means but
http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=1031748001543&id=4071830639eb16af5b49ccaf4cde98b2

http://pedobear.3hoursites.com/imgs/Pedobear.png ?

she's 20 and surely older than your average 4channer

but i think they ran out of steam kind of badly in series 2

feel like the writers 'kinda wish' they were only writing an abc family sitcom abt the dunphy 'clan' & didnt have 2 cum up w/ storylines for the other characters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NKTrj0tDXw

"what was that he said?" "... 'I can't hear no more.'" "Oh yeah ... 'I can't HEAR no more'"

this was so awesome

but i think they ran out of steam kind of badly in series 2

Steam not restored so far. This week's double was sort of awful.

yeah not funny at all.

it's reminding me of the office now really, where it's just kind of 'eh ok' but I don't think I've actually fully laughed at it in ages.

I just started watching this from the start. It's weird, there are some killer lines and storylines - like the bit about falling in love with Costco, which <3, and the joke about dressing the kid up as a girl when he was a baby then explaining it as a twin that died, so he wouldn't be traumatised - but I don't feel like any of the characters are saying the lines, they're just mouthpieces. Maybe this'll pass and they'll get more rounded out. Also I really can't stand the dad, husband of blonde lady - something about him is so dead inside. Shall I stick with it?

you can't stand phil dunphy? but i thought he was like everyone's favourite character ! i kinda agree with you, some great jokes but if i were honest i don't feel any ... attachment i guess towards this show. if it weren't for my flatmate constantly asking me if i have new episodes of this show, i probably would have stopped watching it, and not because i don't enjoy it, just because i keep forgetting it exists

first episode of this that i turned off half way through bc i was bored and it was terrible

phil dunfy rools

First ep was pretty bad but ime there has v v rarely been a pilot ep that makes me want to watch the show, and therefore as a rule I don't judge from pilot eps.

Dance until your feet hurt, sing until your lungs hurt, act...until you're William Hurt

both episodes of this were great tonight

Phil is so amazing that sometimes I sleep on how amazing Claire is, too

"Jeaux."

music posters on Haley's dorm room wall: Mark Knopfler, The Vines

The Vines? Is the show set in 2001?

the knopfler seems to tip their hand that maybe it was some next level 'lol outdated band posters in tv shows' gag?

Ty Burrell is a national treasure

yeah i'm at the point where i can barely tell you what happens in the plotlines that don't involve phil or luke

luke is really great. loved him saying haley might have a shiv at the end of the last episode. also in the previous ep iirc he was wearing a tshirt i own.

The one with the astronaut carrying the boombox?

I totally spotted that Knopfler poster during the daughter's Skype session!

There's a thread on that phenomenon:

S/D: The Most Bizarre, Incongruous, and Hilarious Examples of Set Designers Placing Band Posters on Characters' Walls in Movies and TV

yup that's the one. a friend texted me to ask if luke had stolen my shirt lol

i got bored of this for some reason during season 2, and then got dead into it again during season 3 and 4. i'm not gonna lie, the season closer had me choked in a way i didn't think expect. ty burrell is AWESOME.

Really felt like this season sucked badly except for the finale, which might be the best episode they've done.

They had about nine instances this year of the little kid Lily walking in the room and saying a precocious put-down and shuffling out, a'la the Olsen Twins or Rudy Huxtable or something - cutesy sitcom kids are one of the worst sitcom crimes, for my money.

ordinarily i hate smart-mouthed kids but i find lily to actually be really funny!

ed o'neil is way better than craig t. nelson would've been as jay.

Ed is def better, in this role and in general, than Craig, but w/e, T-Bone is good on Parenthood, all's well that ends well.

Got Swole/wtf: why the face? is one of my favorite thread title/opening post combos ever

so wtf this half-hour long apple commercial is a bit much

this show has always been heavy on product placement but yes, this ep kind of transcends the old conception of "placement" to enter what is really a "product setting" which i think is an advancement nobody really wants

reminds me of the term "adverlingus" from 30 rock

i had to stop watching last season, all the kids are awful now, and ty burrell's boy is some horrifying puberty-stricken beast.

burrell himself, however, is still a physical comedy genius, and the one thing i miss about the show.

not going to bother ever watching this since it has 'cancelled' written all over it.

― akm, sábado 10 de octubre de 2009 7:28 (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Can't watch this show any more, the kids all went weird with puberty and none of them can act.

I’m really enjoying this!