The story follows the families of Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), his daughter Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen), and his son Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who live in a suburban community of Los Angeles, California. Claire is a homemaker mother married to Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell); they have three children—Haley (Sarah Hyland), Alex (Ariel Winter), and Luke (Nolan Gould). After splitting with his longtime wife (Shelley Long), Jay has re-married with a much younger Colombian woman, Gloria Delgado-Pritchett (Sofía Vergara), and is helping her raise her pre-teen son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez). Mitchell and his partner Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) have adopted a Vietnamese baby, Lily Tucker-Pritchett (Ella Hiller, Jaden Hiller).
Lloyd and Levitan conceptualized the series while sharing stories of their own "modern families." The series premiered to critical acclaim and was watched by 12.61 million viewers.
Production
Conception
As Lloyd and Levitan retold stories about their families, it occurred to them that that could be the basis for a show. They started working on the idea of a family being observed in a mockumentary style show. They later decided it could be a show about three families and their experiences. The show was originally called My American Family. Originally, the camera crew would be run by a fictitious Dutch filmmaker named Geert Floortje who had lived with Jay's family as a teenage exchange student and developed a crush on Claire (while Mitchell had a crush on him), but decided against it.The creators pitched it to three of the four major networks (they did not pitch it to Fox due to problems Lloyd had with the network with previous shows). CBS, not ready to use the single-camera style of filming, nor ready to make another large commitment, did not accept the series. NBC, already having two shows—The Office and Parks and Recreation—with a mockumentary format, decided against accepting the show until the success of the other two series' decreased. ABC accepted the series and picked it up for a full season.
Pickup
The series quickly became a priority for ABC after the pilot episode tested high with focus groups, resulting in the network ordering 16 episodes and adding it to the 2009–2010 fall lineup days ahead of ABC's official schedule announcement.The series was given a full season pickup on October 8, 2009. On January 12, 2010, ABC Entertainment President Stephen McPherson announced that Modern Family had been renewed for a second season. A third season was ordered by ABC on January 10, 2011.
The series was also picked up for syndication by USA during the first season for 1.5 million dollars and to 10 Fox affiliates during the second season. The series airs in the United Kingdom on Sky1.
Modern Family characters
Modern Family employs an ensemble cast. The show revolves around three families that are interrelated through Jay Pritchett and his children, Claire Dunphy and Mitchell Pritchett. Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), the patriarch, is currently in a May–December marriage with Gloria (Sofía Vergara), a passionate mother, who, with help from Jay, raises her son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez). Claire (Julie Bowen) is a homemaker mom married to Phil (Ty Burrell) a real estate agent and self-professed cool dad; they have three children: Haley, the stereotypical teenager, Alex, the smart middle child and Luke, the offbeat only son. Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), a lawyer, and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) have adopted a Vietnamese baby, Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons).
The series has also had several recurring characters. Reid Ewing appeared in several episodes as Haley's boyfriend, Dylan.
Modern Family episodes
The series premiered September 23, 2009 in the 9:00pm ET timeslot. Soon after, the series was picked up for a full season of 24 episodes on October 8, 2009. On January 12, 2010, Modern Family was renewed for a second season by ABC. The second season premiered September 22, 2010, airing in the same timeslot as the previous season. Midway through the second season, ABC renewed the series for a third season. The third season will premiere September 21, 2011 with a one-hour episode.
Critical reception
The first season was met with positive reviews. It received a "universal acclaim" Metacritic score of 86 out of 100. Entertainment Weekly gave it an A-, calling it "immediately recognizable as the best new sitcom of the fall". In Time's review, the show was named "the funniest new family comedy of the year". It has also been compared to the 1970s series Soap, in regards to the multiple family aspect, as well as Arrested Development. Some have made comparisons to The Office and Parks and Recreation, due to their mockumentary formats. BuddyTV named the show the second best show in 2009, saying, "Every actor is fantastic, every family is interesting, and unlike many shows, there isn't a weak link". Robert Canning of IGN gave the season a 8.9 saying it was "Great" and called it "Simply put, Modern Family was one of the best new comedies of the season.
The second season received positive reviews much like the first season. Robert Bianco of USA Today gave the new season four stars out of four, saying, "Not since Frasier has a sitcom offered such an ideal blend of heart and smarts, or proven itself so effortlessly adept at so many comic variations, from subtle wordplay to big-laugh slapstick to everything in between.
Analysis and commentary
In The New York Times, Bruce Feiler called attention to how the show depicts the increasing way communications technology shapes the way people perceive others, even family members. "It is surely the first family comedy that incorporates its own hashtag of simultaneous self-analysis directly into the storyline," he writes. "Mark Zuckerberg may be a greater influence on Modern Family than Norman Lear.
The show's writers and actors agree. "We used to talk about how cellphones killed the sitcom because no one ever goes to anyone's house anymore" for routine information, Abraham Higginbotham told Feiler. "We embrace technology so it's part of the story". Ty Burrell draws on Fran Lebowitz's observation that there is no institution other than media. "I had this little flash of Phil—and me—that we are parsing our personality together externally from how people perceive us.
Criticism and controversy
Modern Family drew criticism from the LGBT community for its portrayal of Cameron and Mitchell as not being physically affectionate with each other. The criticism spawned a Facebook campaign to demand Mitchell and Cameron be allowed to kiss. In response to the controversy, producers released a statement that a season two episode would address Mitchell's discomfort with public displays of affection. Executive producer Levitan has said that it was unfortunate that the issue had arisen, since the show's writers had always planned on such a scene "as part of the natural development of the show.
Awards and recognition
In 2010, Modern Family was nominated with five Television Critics Association Awards. The show gained nominations for best new series, best comedy series and best program of the year, while stars of the program Ty Burrell, Eric Stonestreet, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Sofía Vergara and Julie Bowen, were all nominated individually.[60] Like Friends, to reinforce the idea of an ensemble cast, the cast all submitted themselves in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories instead of Lead Actor and Actress for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. On August 29, 2010, Modern Family won Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (for the pilot episode), and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (Eric Stonestreet). The show also later received a GLSEN Respect Award for its portrayal of "positive images and storylines that reflect a diverse America, including the depiction of a family headed by a gay couple.
Ratings
Since its premiere, the series has remained popular. In its first season, the show became the sixth highest-rated scripted show in America among adults between the ages of 18 and 49, and the third-highest rated new show. Aided by winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the show's second season became the highest rated show on Wednesday on premiere week and also rose 34% from the previous season among adults between the ages of 18 and 49. The show frequently ranked as television's top scripted series in adults 18-49 as well.
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