Product Description
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Winner of Six Emmy® Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series,
Modern Family is a refreshingly hilarious look at what it means
to be a family in today’s hectic, unpredictable world. While
fledgling hers Cameron and Mitchell struggle with learning the
ropes of parenthood, long-time parents Claire and Phil try to
keep the spice in their marriage amid the chaos of raising three
challenging children. Meanwhile, family patriarch, Jay, has more
than his hands full with his sexy, spirited wife, Gloria, and her
precocious son. Still, no matter the size, shape or situation,
family always comes first in this laugh-out-loud, critically
accled hit.
.com
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It's hard to predict whether Modern Family will end up being one
of those iconic sitcoms that sticks around for six or seven
seasons, maintaining the same immaculate formulation of pace and
first-class execution before it realizes that it needs to quit
while it's still on top. Sometimes young cast members are a
problem for shows like this; their growing up doesn't always
reflect kindly on the maturing concept. But in the case of Modern
Family it's pretty easy to imagine the child actors continuing
their roles into and out of child- and teenager-hood while the
concept remains intact, giving the crack writing staff
increasingly diverse rtunities to explore the dynamics of the
typical dysfunctions of an atypical modern family. With a slew of
Emmys under its belt, the show has settled into a delightfully
familiar formula of checking in on stories unfolding in three
separate households, with an underlying theme providing an
amusing connection and "interview" segments bolstering the
mock-documentary conceit. To its credit, Modern Family's use of
the sitcom style that originated with the original UK version of
The Office remains a clever device without being overly gimmicky.
Phil and Claire Dunphy (Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen) and their
kids Haley, Alex, and Luke (Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan
Gould) seem to be the most normal, but in this world they are
anything but. Claire's brother Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson)
and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) are more lovey-dovey
than ever as they continue to raise their adopted daughter and
navigate the minefield of personal and familial interaction.
Prickly patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill), Claire and
Mitchell's dad, seems to have mellowed somewhat as he basks in or
is bewildered by the devotion of his trophy-ish young Colombian
wife Gloria (Sofía Vergara) and the odd behavior of her
precocious pubescent son Manny (Rico Rodriguez). As in season
one, famous-face guest stars abound, with the plotlines and
dialogue complementing each other in skillful consort. The snappy
tone provokes bursts of hilarity that punctuate the consistently
funny thematic structure running throughout each episode.
There's an increasing emphasis on modern in the Modern Family
frame of reference as technology factors into the conceptual arc
of the series. The family members not only have dynamic
interaction with each other, they also share multilayered
relationships with their cell phones, laptops, and social
networking activities. That their encounters with technology are
ubiquitous and often integral to individual gags or the impetus
to plot threads is yet another way the show connects with its
audience. For all the zaniness, there's also a deft aura of
reality that knows how to keep the extended clan a genuinely
identifiable nuclear unit that faces many of the same situations
as a real modern family. Following up the nice batch of extras
included on the season-one set, the varied package of features
here provides some terrific added value. There's the standard gag
reel of outtakes, etc., as well as a compilation of deleted
scenes on each disc. It's fun to watch the different takes and
extended versions of confessional and interview line-reads from
cast members, especially the expertly timed variations and riffs
from Ty Burrell. The featurettes are a mixed bag. They include a
real-time table read of the episode "Strangers on a Treadmill,"
taped in front of an audience; a behind-the-scenes tour of the
house sets with the show's production designer; an interview
segment with cocreator Steve Levitan; an analysis of how the show
makes special use of holidays to drive an episode; and an on-set
visit from an Oprah Winfrey Show crew (if not from Oprah
herself). The presentation bodes well for future season sets,
which will likely include more backstage elements along with many
more episodes of what has quickly become a classic of modern TV.
--Ted Fry