Last night’s return of Modern Family was dominated by two gags whose setups you probably saw coming like a… well, like a minivan plastered with an unintentionally inappropriate real-estate ad. (The “I Can’t Be Satisfied” tagline and the knowledge that a big letter F would drop onstage in Cam’s musical were the tip-offs, no?) But [...]

Not a ton to say about the most recent Modern Family, which featured two subplots straight out of the Wacky Misunderstanding School of Sitcomedy—though for my money, the most amusing storyline involved Phil and Claire’s shared dorky love of bad movies. (Phil on sequels: “They usually get a new cast around 5. That’s where the [...]

“Slow Down Your Neighbors” was a little like a first bicycle ride: it started off shaky, I didn’t expect it to succeed, and yet at some point, without my quite noticing it at the time, it steadied itself and rolled to a satisfying ending. It wasn’t the best of Modern Family episodes by a stretch, [...]

If I were feeling pickier about “Manny Get Your Gun”—which I might be if the episode were not so funny—I might carp that it was not that long ago that another episode (“Unplugged”) revolved around a Dunphy family competition/bet (in that case giving up technology, in this case the race to Manny’s birthday dinner). But [...]

Earlier this week, I did an interview with a reporter who’s doing a story on how the recession (or crappy recovery, or whatever the proper term is) is or isn’t affecting TV. I’m always a little skeptical of the idea that news events strongly drive viewing trends; I tend to think people watch shows they [...]

A little bird reminds me that I have not yet posted on last night’s Modern Family. I could have used said little bird this morning, when I left for the office, leaving my notes for the episode on my laptop across the East River. So today’s post will be abbreviated. I will say in general [...]

I’ve dispensed a lot of verbiage in this space about what makes an episode of Modern Family work or not. Is it better when it brings the three family units together, or keeps them separate? Is it better when it’s sentimental, or forgoes the warm ending monologues? But “Unplugged” has me reconsidering my theories. My [...]

There’s often less to say about a decently successful episode of a sitcom than a bad one, which is about where I stand on Modern Family’s “Strangers on a Treadmill.” Three of the four storylines hit (the miss being Jay’s quinceanara foul-up, which was pretty much one underdeveloped joke), and maybe the most noteworthy accomplishment [...]

    Quick spoilers for last night’s Modern Family coming up: One of the toughest things about keeping house is keeping the house. As in keeping it together, making sure it does not physically disintegrate. Home ownership puts a strain on relationships because (1) it is a strain and (2) every little failing and glitch [...]