Modern Family Reaction - Who's Da Manny?

Making a comedy ripe with tons of genuine laughs while also connecting on an emotional level is something The Office used to do in spades. Where The Office has faltered of late, Modern Family seems more than happy to pick up the mantle. It’s a show with multidimensional characters, real problems, laugh out loud moments, fantastic characters and some truly great scenes. In just six episodes, Modern Familymay be becoming the best comedy on television.

Tonight’s “En Garde” explored how parents find love in the most unexpected places with their kids. Modern Family excels in depicting the clueless parent without making said parent the obvious punchline. Too often, family comedies rely on the “parents as over-accentuated doofuses” brand of humor where the patri- or matriarch paints themselves into some ridiculous corner while unwittingly teaching their kid some life lesson. Modern Family breaks from the mold by painting the parents as who they are, “kids who just got a little older and became adults.” It’s real life. Modern Family plays on the idea that there exists no Parental Handbook. Parents aren’t perfect and neither are the kids. Hell, sometimes we need to search real, real deep to find something the kid is actually good at. It’s a tough pill to swallow but a reality nonetheless.

Manny’s successful foray into the world of competitive fencing triggers something in each adult on the show. Mitch is reminded of the doubles figure skating career he feels his sister sabotaged when they were kids. Meanwhile, Claire and Mitch struggle to find something, anything, their kids excel at. They finally settle on: remains to be seen (Alex), will hopefully marry someone successful (Haley), and we might have dropped the ball (Luke).

The most competitive of the bunch, Jay (Ed O’Neill is playing a character I can only describe as a Successful Al Bundy. It’s brilliant) sees Manny’s success as a chance to relive those days of parental pride and gloating. He is parent just looking for a reason, any reason, to cheer. Whether it’s making t-shirts (Who’s da Manny), spouting off competitive rhetoric or just plain cheering, Jay wants glory. He’s the kind of dad that can cheer even when his kid beats a sickly, veteran’s daughter with a wheelchair cheering section. I love it. Is it the right way to raise kids? I don’t know, but at least it’s honest; just like Modern Family.

Highlights and thoughts:

- Don’t you feel for Phil? Above all, he just wants to be a good dad. Patient and loving to the -nth degree, he makes me smile because he reminds me of what my friend Wade will be like as a father. Someone who will happily spend hours just finding something his kid can do well.

- Mitch and Cameron continue their tutorial on how to play a couple. Of all the relationships on the show, theirs is by far the most accurate. They snip at each other, call one another out on their faults and love each other without question.

- It was great to get a little child-like behavior out of Manny this week. His taunting and subsequent dismantling of his female fencing counterpart was totally out of character for the straight laced little guy. Up until this point he has been the most adult character on the show. Rico Rodriguez is a phenomenal actor as just an 11 year old.

- While I typed this write up my wife watched Cougar Town. About three quarters of the way through I turned to her and asked, “Have you laughed once during this?” She replied a quick and emphatic, “No.”

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