Modern Family just won it’s first Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series. It’s already two for two in Emmy Awards for the same category. It’s safe to say that the next great family sitcom has officially arrived, which is significant since it seems like the family-centric comedy isn’t what it used to be.
20 years ago, family-centric comedies dominated the landscape. There was Family Ties, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Wonder Years, Blossom, Full House, Home Improvement, Step-By-Step and more. While the sitcom has declined overall in this century, the family sitcom is a dying breed. Besides Everybody Loves Raymond, which was clearly the last great family sitcom (although I was never a fan), shows like Yes, Dear, The Middle and Tyler Perry’s House of Payne are about as close as anyone came in the first decade of the century. Other than Modern Family, there isn’t a good family sitcom on that wasn’t already on the air before 2009. And that’s what makes Modern Family that much better.
For those unfamiliar with Modern Family, it centers around the Pritchard family. The patriarch of the family, Jay is married to a much younger Columbian woman who has a pre-teen son. Jay’s daughter Claire is married with three children, and Jay’s son Mitchell and his partner have an adopted infant daughter. The 10 primary characters are often mixed and matched in various story lines. Often the families interact at multiple points in an episode, and sometimes they spend the entire episodes together. There are no specific recurring story lines. Like most family sitcoms, the stories involve typical family stuff, growing up, working, holidays and family tension.
After three seasons, this show is not only the next great family sitcom, but probably the best sitcom period. The is mostly due to the fact that the ensemble cast does not have a weak link. Claire’s husband Phil, played by Ty Burrell, and Mitchell’s partner Cameron, played by Eric Stonestreet, have both won Emmys for their performances, and rightfully so, as these characters are the best of the bunch. But the kids are incredibly strong as well. Claire and Ty’s goofy pre-teen son Luke started off as clueless moron, but as evolved into a naive but clever character. Their two daughters, Haley and Alex are stereotypical polar opposites. Haley is the beautiful, ditzy, materialistic one. Alex is the studious overachiever who doesn’t care about being “cool”. Meanwhile, Jay is married to a busty Columbian woman young enough to be his daughter. Played to perfection by Sofia Vergara, Gloria is loud, intense and misunderstood, mostly because of her thick accent. Her son Manny, who looks like Webster, is in the same grade as Luke, but a polar opposite. He’s high-strung, anxious, hormonal, and maybe a little wise beyond his years. Manny was definitely born in the wrong generation, and clearly struggles to fit in.
What is especially great about the show, is that there is plenty of variety. Unless the storyline is a family gathering, like Thanksgiving, there are usually three main story lines going on, one with each family. And within these stories, generally it focuses on one or two of the characters within each family, which means that it’s not focused on the same people every week.
If there is one weak link, it’s the big-name guest stars. Some of them have been good, but many, like Ed Norton fall short. Phillip Baker Hall has been good as the Luke’s friend. That’s only funny if you know who Phillip Baker Hall is. Elizabeth Banks and Nathan Lane were pretty good, but overall I haven’t been that impressed.
When it’s all said and done though, this is the funniest show on TV. I enjoy Big Bang Theory, but Sheldon can be a bit much at times. Community and 30 Rock are funny, but often just a bit too “out there” to always be entertaining. Up All Night and Mike and Molly are good, but not great. Rules of Engagement is incredibly underrated, but Adam’s stupidity has worn on me. So that just leaves Modern Family.
Season 3 has been rock solid so far, and the show doesn’t really show signs of slowing down. The problem with family sitcoms though, is that kids grow up. Roseanne and Home Improvement definitely weakened as the kids got older, and the daughter that plays high school student Haley is already 20 in real-life. My opinion has always been that TV shows peak between seasons three and five, so Modern Family is hopefully just hitting it’s stride. The ultimate question is where it will end up all-time amongst family sitcoms. At this rate, it could be the best ever.
