The first Modern Family episode of 2010 may not have had as many guffaws-per-minute as its already classic Christmas-themed 2009 closer, but I absolutely loved the way a single, wacky plot point — “The firemen in our town have a reputation for being hot,” Phil reported, stone-faced — exposed another inappropriate character trait shared by siblings Claire and Mitchell. Indeed, Julie Bowen takes home the Episode MVP award just for Claire’s combined embarrassed/indignant reaction when Phil (suffering from kidney stones) busted her for changing into a flirty outfit to impress the musclebound hunks who were about to cart him off to the hospital. That goofy development yielded loads of laughs throughout the half-hour, from Phil’s sarcastic reprimand (“We want you looking your sexiest when the hunky gay firemen get here”) to his later request to his kids if he didn’t survive his procedure (“Please be nice to your new fireman daddy.”). Still, the night’s best moment was watching Claire exit anesthetized Phil’s hospital room after trying to convince him that she wasn’t guilty of fireman-baiting, which played out like this:
Phil (groggy): “If I never wake up, I’d hate for the last thing you said to me to be a lie.”
Claire (pausing by the door, waiting for Phil to fall asleep, then practically whispering): “I may have gotten dressed up just a little bit.”
Phil (whoops, not asleep): “I knew it.”
I also liked the painkiller/anesthesia subplot because it allowed Phil to spill some of his dark, innermost thoughts with even less regard than usual for his family’s feelings. Among his best zingers: “Gather round like you’re hugging me, but don’t touch me!” “Death is coming!” And, regarding a seance with hapless Luke, “There wasn’t wind, buddy. We brought something forth!”
At the close of the episode, we got to see Mitchell and Cam act out their own firefighter fantasies — “You call, and I’m gonna change my shirt.” — after the former injured his foot in a battle over Ferberizing baby Lily. Still, the whole Cam-can’t-handle-Lily-crying subplot fell flat (and surprisingly repetitive) after that hilarious initial visual of the burly dad providing weepy harmony to Lily’s baby-monitor howling.
Back at Jay and Gloria’s house, we got a visit from Manny’s dad Javier, played by high-profile guest-star Benjamin Bratt. Much like Edward Norton in the “Great Expectations” episode, though, Bratt’s failure to bring anything fresh or funny to his role only served to highlight the comic strength of Modern Family‘s regular cast, in this instance, Ed O’Neill (“You’re quite the bullfight artist yourself.”), Sofia Vergara (“It’s very important to Manny that you two go have a nice picnic in the mountains.”), and Rico Rodriguez (“Did you catch them with your bare hands?”). And bonus points to Vergara for that blithe slip-up revealing her pre-knowledge of her ex-husband’s plans (“Javier is only going to stay one night.”). Indeed, with the way Modern Family captures the tiny fibs, the petty embarrassments, the tender interactions of everyday life, it’s truly become a show that perfectly lives up to its title.
What did you think of “Up All Night”? What about Bratt’s performance? And did I miss any of your favorite one-liners? (Wait! One more: “Don’t talk black to me!”)
Image Credit: Randy Holmes/ABC
I continue to be blown away by Ed O’Neill’s acting. He’s amazing, and has totally redeemed himself for torturing us all those years with Al Bundy! This show is my new must-see, even more so than (sorry, my platonic life-partner John Krasinski) The Office.
I totally agree bunny slippers!!
Ain’t it the truth about Ed O’Neill? I was really expecting him to be the one I wouldn’t like, but he is brining it every episode.
I totally agree about Ed O’Neill-I think is the best actor on tv today-surrounded by the best cast-
I love this show, so funny
Absolutely!
O’Neill is fantastic. Both funny and touching, he’s the heart of this show, which is fantastic because his gruff character does his best to hide his emotions.
You’re right that Ed O’Neill is the heart of the show. It’s amazing how he can make you laugh then break your heart in the same sentence.
Torturing! Blasphemy! Married.. with Children is a Classic sitcom.. anyways- it wasnt the Fizbo episode but it was still pretty funny- Benjamin Bratt wasnt as painful as Ed Norton was, but nowhere near as funny as Shelly Long. I think what they need to do, if they add guest actors, is stick with t.v. comedy veterans… Loved Gloria getting pissed at Manny staying out all night. I thought the visual with Lilly crying and Cam walking in was hysterical and Mitchell hiding behind the crib was priceless…
Ya know, was Bratt even supposed to be funny? I thought playing it straight really worked — I didn’t expect to laugh at him, and I didn’t. Ed Norton? I still wake up screaming over that nightmare.
I agree with you Mark. This has turned out to be a very good series.
td, I don’t think Benjamin was supposed to be funny. I just finished watching the episode and I don’t remember him even having a line that was supposed to be funny.
I agree with the replies– I don’t think Bratt was supposed to be funny. He was supposed to be that smooth, suave guy that sweeps women and children and even Ed O’Neill off their feet with stories and promises, only to disappoint. I think seeing what Manny’s dad is like, showed that Gloria is not a gold digger.
I totally agree. Married with Children comes on in the mornings at 6:00am, so if I flipping from a repeat of Angel on TNT I may catch a glimpse of MWC. I do not even see Al anymore when I look at Ed O’Neil. Glad he finally found a show that will last more than one season.
When I was a kid Dutch was one of my favorite movies and his character in MF reminds me a little of his character in that. The calm storm amidst the chaos. I loved in this episode him waiting on the curb just like Manny and the fam coming to collect him.
Ed had me at “hand me the little Pot Sticker.” I was hooked
Ed O’Neill has been brillant ever since Al Bundy and it’s great to see people who didn’t like his crass but genius role back then, love him as grumpy but a sweethearted character on here. I thought Bratt did a great job as Manny’s flaky bullfight dad. He wasn’t supposed to stand out cause in the end, he’s nothing but a disappointment. Great episode.
Phil: When was the last time you saw your old man scared? Luke: When you walked into that spider web … when we were playing with the Ouija board and the wind blew the door shut… Phil: Is wasn’t the wind buddy, we brought something forth.
I hoped Luke would bring up Fizbo …
I loved the kids talking about the things their parents say and then each line is used later in the show. Phil is gonna fix that step!
I really hope that the broken step is an inside joke that follows the show throughout its (hopefully long) run. It will make for a fun Modern Family drinking game rule!
Modern Family drinking game? Awesome idea!!
Awesome, so we can do a shot every time the broken step is mentioned, every time Gloria speaks Spanish, what else…?
How about a shot every time Phil leers at a woman who isn’t Claire. (They appear to have toned down his leering at Gloria, but there’s still that boobalicious neighbor and the mom/daughter team from last night.)
…everytime Claire rolls her eyes
If I took a shot every time Claire rolled her eyes, I’d be out before the first commercial break. (That would normaly be ok with me, but in this case it means I’d miss the rest of MF, as well as “Cougar Town” and “Ugly Betty.”
speaking of betty- try taking a shot every time betty says “Daniel!”
I never thought of the “Daniel” thing, but you’re ABSOLUTELY right…I can hear it in my head right now!
in her almost-grating tone
Man, ya’ll are gonna be smashed by 10:30 on Tuesday nights.
Ack, I meant Wednesday. I’m drunk right now!
If we’re really determined to pass out by the end of the night, how about one shot every time Clair rolls her eyes at Jay and two shots every time Mitchell rolls his eyes at Cameron?
I don’t think a drinking game could work. I’d spit up half the shots from laughing. Especially from all the hip shot laughs that MF excels at.
It’s not so much that Clarie rolls her eyes as that she either angrily yells (to herself) “Dammit!” or “C’mon!” They all amount to the same thing, though, so for the purposes of the drinking game, I say all three count.
And every time Phil says something he thinks is cool but he gets it wrong (such as “WTF” standing for “Why The Face?”) or whenever he tries to ‘connect’ with Dylan.
And any time Manny makes the move on (or shows an interest in) and older woman/girl. Hilarious!
Those are some more great suggestions for the MF drinking game.
But yes, I hang out for the weekly reference to fixing the step …
Take a shot every time Gloria begins a sentence “In Columbia…”. But if you drink every time Sarah Hyland is underutilized, you’d die from alcohol poisoning.
While he may not have been hilarious, I didn’t think Bratt was as painfully unfunny as some of Norton’s stuff was.
The only issue I had with his appearance is that, up until last night, I’d personally gotten the impression that Javier was a bit more heavy on the scumbag and a little lighter on the “fun-loving” charming rougue”, which is the way Bratt played him. I realize, he ultimately disappointed Jay the way he constantly does Manny. Still, I think Bratt did fine – I just don’t think he was given enough to do.
However, I DO agree that the stuff with Phil and Claire was gold. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Phil is TV’s next great dumba$$! Unfortunately, Luke isn’t too far behind: (“Don’t talk black to me.”)
This show is actually LOL funny! Must see TV!
“Don’t talk black to me” had me rolling. No idea why hahaha
I loved it too. It was my Facebook status this morning.
“How do you even do that? Do you end every word with ‘izzle’?”
this one had us cracking up too!
and then we find out that thats what phil was saying. comic genius.
I laughed SO hard when Phil said that. Loved it!
I could not stop laughing when Cam had Lily and they were watching Scarface.
Great ep. But the Cam anti-ferberizing subplot joke hit home with me. I liked it a lot having gone through long nights of crying baby within the last few months.
I did not like that at all. Babies cry for a reason and that seemed like torture. Sure, they cry to get you to come but what if she was stuck between her crib slats? Yeah, just a show, I know but my hubby & I went round and round on this with each kid. Mama Bear won.
We bought a video monitor so we could check to make sure our daughter wasn’t hurting herself when we let her cry her self to sleep. It’s still painful to listen to though!
FYI babies do not always cry for a reason. Some babies just cry out of being alone and in the dark. You need to teach your children you won’t coddle them every time they want something.
My husband died over the Ferberizing plot — we have only recently finished suffering through it, too, so it was very fresh and funny for us.
Me too!
And my wife did the exact same thing as Cam and would sneak around and grab the baby while I was the bad guy who put her in her bed screaming every night.
We both thought it was hilarious.
I loved it just cause I am an expectant mother andIi just KNOW my husband and I will go through the same thing. I felt bad for Cam when he was lying in crying while hearing Lilly cry over the monitor. Plus Lilly sitting calmly on Cam’s lap while watching Scarface was hilarious.
That subplot was awesome, with Cam crying in bed, and cutting away to them explaining the ferberizing.
My wife and I had the same issues with three kids, but luckily my wife realized we had to let them cry, and all three were sleeping through the night by 4 months.
I couln’t stop laughin! I love the hole Cam/Mitchell scenes!
You either meant “whole” Cam/Mitchell scenes, or you made one of the worst Freudian slips ever.
Ohhh…I totally enjoyed Benjamin Bratt in that role, thought he was great. I must be a simple person.
I agree. He was perfect for the part, no major laugh lines needed.
I liked hearing him with an accent!
I agree Benjamin Bratt did a fine job embodying a character that the audience already kinda knew about. I don’t think he was meant to be laugh out loud funny. I think the funny parts came from the show regulars’ reactions to him.
I also felt he was an outstanding choice…he can “seduce” me any day he wants! Why do only men get so much hotter with age! DAMN!
I thought Bratt played his role perfectly. I wasn’t looking for him to be hilarious, but more just straight to the point of the dad manny and gloria kept describing him as.
“Why do only men get so much hotter with age! DAMN!”
Not really true; we’ve just been conditioned to be repulsed by any woman with the lines of age on her face, lol.
I agree..I thought he was perfect casting. Loved the accent, he looked gorgeous. Exactly what Jay’s worst fears were…and then to be sucked in by him like everyne else..perfect. I hope he comes back again
What more could we have wanted in the part? He was charming, good looking and you could totally believe him as the superficial Latin playboy. The fact that he stood Jay up at the end was genius.
This show surpasses my expectations every week. It’s so well done and broadly appealing – take that 30 Rock.
I love me some Modern Family, but as far as belly-laughs-per-minute 30 Rock easily takes the cake.
I think there’s room for everyone. Totally different shows, love them both.
Agreed. I’m surprised at how many legitimately funny shows there are on the networks today : 30 Rock, Modern Family, Parks and Rec, Community, Cougar Town, Glee, The Office, HIMYM, The Simpsons and even Old Christine sometimes. That’s not even mentioning the cable ones.
Good call Fatima.
Thankfully, it seems like reports of the sitcom’s death were greatly (well, mostly) exaggerated.
I think people mostly thought the old school laugh track multi camera sitcom is dead- but its very much alive on CBS… sadly I dont watch HIMYM or BBB…
So true Paige.
However, if you look at the 10 network shows Fatima mentioned 4 are new, 1 is “Park and Rec” (which started being REALLY good this year) and none of them are “The Middle” (which I recently sampled for the first time and really enjoyed) or “Better Off Ted” (which I never realize is on until I read about it in Ken Tucker’s blog the next morning).
This season has been STRONG for comedy.
If BBB is “Big Bang Theory”, Paige, I highly recommend it. And could I add “Better Off Ted” to the list of great modern sitcoms (for me, it’s second only to “Modern Family”).
You guys are right… the sitcom has arisen! Paige, you should watch HWIMYM. It’s not always non-stop laughs, but the serialized nature of it is extremely compelling. I daresay it’s almost as deep as Lost! I watch Big Bang Theory on occasion, and it’s pretty good too.
i unfortunately got into Better off Ted this season cause everybody keeps talkin about it, and it is even funnier that i thought it was going to be. I have the first season on my netflix queue… I heard the Middle is pretty good but I have a negative thing towards Patricia Heaton- which is a sad excuse. Also- for HIMYM and BBB- there are 2 things I have against it 1) I am anti laugh track. sorry. and 2) I do not support CBS… pathetic excuses i know but I have enough to watch that I dont really have time for anything… but yea, banner year for comedies on network television
I totally forgot about Big Bang Theory! I don’t watch it normally, but whenever I catch it, it IS funny. Better Off Ted is a show I completely missed and I’m sad about it. I have a hard time going out of order and jumping in during the course of the show, but I might have to.
It’s ok…I understand that there are plenty of people who have a distaste for Patricia Heaton, but “The Middle” is funny.
I also understand the CBS thing. While I’m not allergic to CBS like you appear to be, the fact is that I don’t watch anything on the channel (except for football on Sundays). I don’t actively avoid their programming (at least I don’t think), but it just ended up that way.
FATIMA:
you forgot BETTER OFF TED!!
Ceballos, I’m with you on Parks and Rec and also The Middle – though the latter hasn’t made my “must see” list yet, it’s a cute show.
I can’t with CBS though. Old Christine is decent, but the laugh track used on BBT and HIMYM are a completely turn-off. I can’t get past it.
Total Monkey -
EVERYONE forgets “Better Off Ted.” (Especially ABC) That’s the problem.
every episode of Better Off Ted is a pretty much unrelated to the last so you dont NEED to see the episode prior to get whats going on. I usually avoid shows that I miss from the beginning but with this show you dont really need to. Unfortunately though, I tried watching P&R last season and it didnt work for me. I heard mucho good things about it this season so maybe Ill catch it on netflix…
paige, Parks and Rec is well worth your time, I promise AND it carries the added benefit of not compromising your CBS ban.
very true- i wont lie- it upsets me that i watch have an empy half hour gap on my nbc thursday line up- plus! i absolutely love the intro to P&R… i have no idea why
oh yea- i have a thing for split screens
I skip Community, but Parks and Rec is right up there with 30 Rock as far as I’m concerned (and that says alot). They do a nice job with subtle humor and likable characters. I’ve laughed to the point of tears. You will not be disappointed.
you skip Community! ok- do yourself a favor and watch either the Halloween or Christmas episode. I will promise to watch any episode of P&R you suggest if you can pleeeease watch 1 of those 2 of Community… its nowhere near subtle and thats perfectly fine- i wouldnt call 30 rock subtle either
Well, I have tried Community, the first 2-3 eps. and bailed. I will take your deal and give it another shot, watching for one of your recommended eps. And you check out Parks and Rec.
I agree about “Community.”
My gf was COMPLETELY turned off by the pilot and refused to watch another episode of “Community”…until the recent four-episode marathon (which featured the Halloween and Christmas episodes). I can’t say she’s totally onboard, but she definitely doesn’t hate it anymore.
It was my most masterful turnaround since I made her like “Lost” after she initially hated it. (I just put the first disc from season 1 in – I believe that if you can have any new viewer reach “Walkabout”, they’re in.) Now she’s all about “Lost.”
paige, my recommended list for Parks and Rec (most of season 2 was good) would be anything from eps. 3-8. I can’t pick a favorite.
I’m not gonna let the fact that no one asked for my opinion stop me so:
I’d recommend “Beauty Pageant” (Louis CK is great and almost disarmingly sweet”), “Practice Date” (Amy Poehler’s improv skills in the practice date with Ann kill) or “Ron and Tammy” (broader than most episodes, but Megan Mullally is great with her real-life hubby Nick Offerman.) (For the record, these are all in the 3-8 wheelhouse Ambient mentioned.)
ok ambient life- you will get my full report sometime this week lol– and ceb, doesnt it feel good to get people into Lost? Like a Jehovah witness that gave someone a Watchtower…
I loved Louis CK in Lucky Louie (i think im the only one that watched)… there IS something disarmingly sweet about him!
paige-
It just makes Wednesday nights A LOT more fun. Otherwise, it’d be me watching “Lost” and her making snide comments about how bad the show is and how she doesn’t get it…basically what I did to her when she used to watch “Grey’s Anatomy” back in the day.
i am soooooo glad I never jumped on the grey’s anatomy season 2 bandwagon. I get seperation anxiety from t.v. shows alot of the time- hence why i kicked and screamed throughout the L word… luckily since then, I have been able to cut the cord of Heroes & Smallville before more damage could be done to my psyche
Ceballos, I had no idea that Megan Mullaly is really married to “Ron”. Wow! I loved that episode, they’re both so wonderfully venomous.
I hope they bring Louis CK back, he was great in that role.
Teach me how to cut the chord with “Heroes”! I sat through the most recent two-hour block, and when I sat down to write my recap afterwards, I just stared at the Word document wanting to type “Why am I doing this?” over and over again like Jack Torrance in “The Shining.”
Just delete it from your DVR list. It’s the TV equivalent of removing an ex’s number from your cell phone. I find it quite cathartic.
listen to cripsy ceb, for the words are wise… Heroes was getting backed up on my DVR and then stayed there collecting invisible cable dust- then i just said F— it and started deleting it. havent regretted it since then. It’s a horrible show that had an enormous amount of potential. its only on the air because NBC is ashamed to cancel it
paige-
I don’t know if you’ll see this in time, but the “Ron and Tammy” episode of Parks and Rec is on tonight at 8:30…fun times.
Ken, I don’t think they were going for laugh out loud hilarious with Benjamin Bratt. The story seemed a bit more serious minded, to me. The baby crying stuff? That was more geared to comedy. Still, even the violence of those scenes was a bit darker than what we’ve seen so far. I appreciate the writers of this show are unafraid to begin showing us how deeply flawed the inner workings of relationships really can be.
And of course, what modern family is complete without a divorce? We already have two failed marriages on the show, and those all come from the father.
I know this is a sitcom, but I think maybe modern tv doesn’t have to fall into a singular box, y’know?
(paraphrasing) Phil: “I’m feeling better now…OH GOD IT’S CANCER!!!”
It’s JUST a kidney stone.
I didn’t think Bratt was supposed to be funny so much — he brought context. Edward Norton’s appearance was a throwaway, so I don’t see the comparison. The only thing that bothers me about the show is that Phil’s comments are sometimes a little too Michael Scott (for example, the golden ticket/robot comments). Overall, a solid episode.
I agree with you, I thought Bratt played his part well and, unlike Norton, there’s actually a chance for him to come back down the line. As a result, hey may have more overtly funny stuff to do in future episodes.
Could they please just go ahead and take Ty Burrell’s shirt off already so I can settle a long-running bet with my better half?
3rd nipple?
that he’s pretty skinny and probably hairy?
The man looks ripped under there! But I forget you like the juiceheads.
stoooops
sooooooo true
but that dont mean im in love with the prepubescent werewolf from you-know-what…
You got it – I saw some shirtless pics of him online…..big treasure-trail and pretty scrawny.
I thought the proper description for skinny/scrawny guys was “wiry.”
or “swimmer’s build”
You can only say “swimmer’s build” if you’ve removed every hint of body hair.
oh, I think of swimmers as being muscular, broad shouldered (okay, hairless too)…that guy doesn’t fit the bill.
true true… guess he’s just skinny and a little hairy