By Thomas Gillen
Arts & Entertainment Editor
“Modern Family” is one of the longest running comedy series on television, along with shows like “The Big Bang Theory,” “Family Guy,” “The Simpsons,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” and “Saturday Night Live.” Since premiering in 2009, the ABC sitcom has been able to create unique storylines around different characters, while keeping true to its original premise of following three unique families as they try to overcome the challenges of everyday life, while still remaining intact.
In the show, created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan, Jay Pritchett is the patriarch of the three families, while his two children, Mitchell and Claire, have families of their own. Jay is in his second marriage to Gloria Delgado, a much younger woman from Colombia who has a son named Manny from a previous marriage. Together, the couple also has a son named Fulgencio Joe.
Claire is married to Phil Dunphy and has three kids named Haley, Alex and Luke. Mitchell and Cameron Tucker, who adopted a girl named Lily from Vietnam in the first season, comprise the third family.
The show stars Ed O’Neill as Jay, Sofia Vergara as Gloria, Julie Bowen as Claire, Ty Burrell as Phil, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell, and Eric Stonestreet as Cameron. Throughout its time on air, all of the child actors have remained and grown up on the show with the exception of Lily, for whom a new actress was brought on between seasons two and three.
“Modern Family” has been very successful in giving equal character development to both the adults and kids. While one episode focused on Jay and Claire’s closet business, another revolved around Haley getting kicked out of college. In the first episode of season eight, which premiered on Sept. 21, each family’s story was separate at the beginning but managed to converge by the end. The Dunphys were vacationing in New York, the Pritchetts in Mexico, and the Tucker-Pritchetts in Missouri. After some unusual circumstances, each family ends up at Jay and Gloria’s for Father’s Day.
One of the strongest aspects of “Modern Family” has always been the chemistry between the actors. While there are standout pairs such as Cameron and Gloria, Jay and Phil, and Manny and Luke, the eight seasons have allowed each actor to pair with one another to create some memorable scenes.
Throughout its eight seasons, “Modern Family” has managed to retain the same quality of acting and writing, which has allowed it to win five consecutive Emmy awards for best comedy series. While it hasn’t won that award for the past two years, “Modern Family” has already established itself as one of the best comedy series of the 2000s. New episodes of the show air Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on ABC. This show is for anyone who enjoys comedies or family shows.
Be First to Comment