Review: Modern Family

BY MIKE DANESCO

There’s a new kid on the block, actually a new family on the block, actually three new families on the block Wednesday evenings on ABC. Modern Family, a vigorous inventive sitcom has settled down from a sputtering introductory period to establish itself as one of the leading comedy programs on network TV this season. The characters are likeable, the plotlines antic and funny, and the general atmosphere upbeat.

The show explores the dynamics of a three-tiered family composed of newly emerging elements of the modern American society. First there’s the traditional middle class suburban clan. Phil, played by Ty Burrell is a self-assured real estate salesman speeding his way to financial and social success. Claire,Julie Bowen, is your favorite soccer mom happily making cookies and lunches for their three perfect children. Just your normal modern middle class family? Oh yeah. Sit back and watch as Phil self-destructs with his overreaching arrogance and tactless misspeaks. Claire’s confident maternal grace can turn to jello at a moment’s notice. And the three kids are smart, tech-wise, and two steps up on their parents. Two teenage girls and a younger brother in the same house. You can forget it, Rodney King.

Now we add the second element of modern to this family. Claire’s father, the patriarch figure in this series, is a middle-aged divorcee with a young and gorgeous second wife. Gloria, played by Sofia Vercara, and her son are from Columbia -as in, of Hispanic ethnicity. Jay, the veteran Ed O’Neill, freely admits that there were mistakes made in his first matrimonial endeavor particularly with his choice of a mate ( hilariously played by Shelley Long in a cameo appearance).This time around he is going for all the gusto-fast convertible, fancy dining, electrifying spouse. No wasted effort on domestic tranquility. He says whatever is on his mind and most of the time that is a big problem.

Finally let’s crank it up a notch. You want modern. How about meeting Jay’s gay son Mitchell and his husky huggable companion Cam and their adopted Vietnamese daughter Lily? Mitchell, (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), and sister Claire constantly remind us something was dreadfully wrong with Jay’s first parenting efforts. Cam, (Eric Stonestreet) is a dominating presence as he combines the toughness of his college football experience with the zaniness of his prior work as a professional clown to keep Mitchell off the ledge and encourage family harmony.

Much of the fun of the show is generated as each component encounters problems and conflicts within their own unit and as they reconcile them they inevitably bump into the other folks and intermesh as they seek resolutions. Somehow they end up as one big happy bruised battered family. Each group is capable of dreadful entanglements that create hilarious scenes such as when Phil accidentally shoots his daughter’s boyfriend with a bb gun or when Cameron clumsily flatters Lily’s pediatrician-an Asian American born in Denver. Grandpa Jay softens just enough to make the kids happy and the adults skeptical. Setting up the Hispanic, gay and middle-aged crisis stereotypes were taking a risk but are not harsh or biting and are very humorous. Actually the person who takes the most lumps and deserves them is the yuppie straight Caucasian daddy Phil. The chemistry is there.

Tune in Wednesday nights 9PM EST on ABC.