Synopsis: Due to a mold infestation at their house, the Dunphys temporarily move into a cramped hotel room where they bump heads so much, Claire and the kids move to another room for more space. Gloria and Jay are surprised to find that Manny's first girlfriend is a beautiful high school senior. Unfortunately, this older girl was only using him to make her old boyfriend jealous and she tosses Manny to the wayside and gets back with her ex. Mitch, meanwhile, becomes slightly aggravated at all the attention Cam is getting as the high school football coach. When Mitch finally decides to be supportive, it seems that his presence at the football game is bad luck that causes the dolphins to lose.
Review: The stories of this episode were all satisfying. What was lacking from "Marco Polo" was comedy. Episodes from earlier seasons of Modern Family had me laughing out loud multiple times within an episode. I'm starting to think Modern Family was able to repeatedly reuse the relationships between the three main houses of the show because wow factor of the show was impressive wit and hilarious situations. After watching "Marco Polo," I really felt as though I had just watched three stories that were void of any jokes. At one point, I thought that Modern Family was on the decline because the stories were so redundant, but now I'm starting to wonder if there's just not as much "funny" as there used to be. Regardless, the ratings are staying up, so I guess I may be riding this one out.
My Grade: C+
Reviewer's Quotes: "'Marco Polo' features a few light twists, making it one of the season’s fleeter installments, and yet somehow there’s still a pervasive feeling of been-here-done-that weighing it down despite its charms." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com)
Nielsen Rating: 3.4 (9.71 million viewers)
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Modern Family S6 E3 "The Cold"
Synopsis: In the interest of victory, Cam benches Manny, who had been the starting kicker for the school football team, and Gloria and Jay are left bitter at Cam. Phil and Luke attempt to edit the footage of Mitch and Cam's wedding so that their is no evidence of Phil sneezing on the cake and giving everyone his cold. A play-date between Lily and a highly intelligent six-year-old goes awry when Mitch calls Lily's friend a know-it-all. Claire attempts to go to work even though she is deathly ill and can hardly stand. Haley kisses Andy after a long talk about how it's a good thing that they resisted their attraction to one another.
Review: The first thing to be said about this episode critically is that there were just too many individual stories packed into it. I had to keep track of five different situations and, while Modern Family has always pushed the envelope as far as many different situations, this one had me wishing that I could toss out two of them so I could focus on the three that I liked. Claire's cold situation didn't deserve its air time. She merely stumbled into a lunch meeting looking quite ill and that was the end of it- no resolution or twist of any kind. Haley and Andy's kiss was thrown into this episode as an investment in continuing that story arc later this season, which should be enjoyable later, but it certainly didn't bolster this episode in any way. At least it wasn't totally useless like Claire's cold.
Focusing on the good three stories would've made a killer episode. It was quite funny to watch Cam start a ringer as kicker for the football game ahead of Manny, his desire to win beating out his desire to be a good uncle. Phil and Luke's edits of the wedding video were hilarious and seeing Mitch lash out against an amazingly talented six-year-old was thoroughly entertaining. At the end of the episode, I was just sad that I wouldn't get to see these scenarios play out further thanks to time taken up by the lame stories.
My Grade: B-
Reviewer's Quotes: "There’s more variety in “The Cold,” which starts a bit slow but hustles in its second and third acts. It’s also built on a theme, one which is not particularly observant, but makes “The Cold” nicely cohesive. Nearly every member of the family is killing themselves to look good for everyone else." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com)
Nielsen Rating: 3.6 (10.63 million viewers)
Review: The first thing to be said about this episode critically is that there were just too many individual stories packed into it. I had to keep track of five different situations and, while Modern Family has always pushed the envelope as far as many different situations, this one had me wishing that I could toss out two of them so I could focus on the three that I liked. Claire's cold situation didn't deserve its air time. She merely stumbled into a lunch meeting looking quite ill and that was the end of it- no resolution or twist of any kind. Haley and Andy's kiss was thrown into this episode as an investment in continuing that story arc later this season, which should be enjoyable later, but it certainly didn't bolster this episode in any way. At least it wasn't totally useless like Claire's cold.
Focusing on the good three stories would've made a killer episode. It was quite funny to watch Cam start a ringer as kicker for the football game ahead of Manny, his desire to win beating out his desire to be a good uncle. Phil and Luke's edits of the wedding video were hilarious and seeing Mitch lash out against an amazingly talented six-year-old was thoroughly entertaining. At the end of the episode, I was just sad that I wouldn't get to see these scenarios play out further thanks to time taken up by the lame stories.
My Grade: B-
Reviewer's Quotes: "There’s more variety in “The Cold,” which starts a bit slow but hustles in its second and third acts. It’s also built on a theme, one which is not particularly observant, but makes “The Cold” nicely cohesive. Nearly every member of the family is killing themselves to look good for everyone else." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com)
Nielsen Rating: 3.6 (10.63 million viewers)
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Modern Family S6 E2 "Do Not Push"
Synopsis: The Dunphys head off to Cal Tech for Alex to have a college visit. While there, the duller members of the family get very confused and dramatic when they sign up as subjects for a scientific experiment. Meanwhile, Claire pushes Alex towards Cal Tech because she wants to keep her close to home. When Jay and Gloria celebrate their anniversary, Jay steps out of his comfort zone by giving Gloria a clay bunny he made in a ceramics class. When Mitch and Cam try to take a new family picture including Lily, they are upset to find that Lily has a hideous smile for pictures.
Review: This was a very solid, very typical episode of Modern Family, the kind that leaves me totally satisfied. As far as humor goes, Phil, Haley, and Luke Dunphy took the top spot with the research test they signed up for. In waiting a room with just the three of them and a red button labeled "do not push," they began to have violent debates over what they ought to do. Quite hilariously, the tension was wiped out when it was revealed that the room was just a waiting room for a survey they were taking, and the red button just started a faulty vent.
It was fun to watch Alex explain her desire to go to the east coast for college to get away from her family, only to be convinced otherwise when an equally nerdy and attractive boy expresses his plans to attend Cal Tech. Their awkward flirting was quite humorous.
On Jay and Gloria's anniversary, it was nice to see a softer side of Jay in his attempt to break away from the materialistic gifts that he and Gloria usually exchange like jewelry and watches. The fact that he made Gloria a ceramic bunny made it that much more adorable. This situation nicely addressed one of my general criticisms of the show that Jay and Gloria fight too much to be a happy couple, especially considering their age difference. Jay trying for Gloria in such a sweet way makes it make some sense that they're together.
Cam and Mitch got another lame story this week. They had a boring problem-solution plot where Lily's creepy smile was solved by them deciding to hang the picture up anyway. There was nothing creative about that one.
I've seen some amazing episodes of Modern Family, this one is just good.
My Grade: B
Reviewers Quotes: "'Do Not Push' is the type of episode Modern Family just can’t get away with anymore, at least without alienating its long-time viewers. The problem with the show’s stubborn policy of producing stand-alone episodes is that there’s never any sense of momentum or any consequence to anything we’re seeing." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com)
Nielsen Rating: 3.7 (10.56 Million Viewers)
Review: This was a very solid, very typical episode of Modern Family, the kind that leaves me totally satisfied. As far as humor goes, Phil, Haley, and Luke Dunphy took the top spot with the research test they signed up for. In waiting a room with just the three of them and a red button labeled "do not push," they began to have violent debates over what they ought to do. Quite hilariously, the tension was wiped out when it was revealed that the room was just a waiting room for a survey they were taking, and the red button just started a faulty vent.
It was fun to watch Alex explain her desire to go to the east coast for college to get away from her family, only to be convinced otherwise when an equally nerdy and attractive boy expresses his plans to attend Cal Tech. Their awkward flirting was quite humorous.
On Jay and Gloria's anniversary, it was nice to see a softer side of Jay in his attempt to break away from the materialistic gifts that he and Gloria usually exchange like jewelry and watches. The fact that he made Gloria a ceramic bunny made it that much more adorable. This situation nicely addressed one of my general criticisms of the show that Jay and Gloria fight too much to be a happy couple, especially considering their age difference. Jay trying for Gloria in such a sweet way makes it make some sense that they're together.
Cam and Mitch got another lame story this week. They had a boring problem-solution plot where Lily's creepy smile was solved by them deciding to hang the picture up anyway. There was nothing creative about that one.
I've seen some amazing episodes of Modern Family, this one is just good.
My Grade: B
Reviewers Quotes: "'Do Not Push' is the type of episode Modern Family just can’t get away with anymore, at least without alienating its long-time viewers. The problem with the show’s stubborn policy of producing stand-alone episodes is that there’s never any sense of momentum or any consequence to anything we’re seeing." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com)
Nielsen Rating: 3.7 (10.56 Million Viewers)
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Modern Family S6 E1 "The Long Honeymoon"
Synopsis: Mitch finds himself at odds with Cam's ludicrous level of romantic gesture as he tries to get back to his normal work schedule following their wedding. Meanwhile, the Dunphys are experiencing a blissful Summer with Alex out of the country on a mission trip. Upon her return all goes awry and her parents and siblings try to get her out of the house again, convinced Alex is a curse on the family. In Jay and Gloria's world, Gloria becomes so frustrated with Jay's lack of effort to look good for her that she goes to a business dinner with him with a lazy outfit, frizzy hair, and no make up.
Review: Nothing about this season premiere is very special. While the "Modern Family laugh a minute humor" is indeed totally present, the three story arcs in this episode are all issues that have become a bit stale due to overuse in previous episodes. These being the "Jay feels intimidated by Gloria's good looks because he's so old resolving with Gloria and Jay apologizing to each other," the "Alex, though being a child, is the most competent member of the Dunphy family and they realize that they need her around even if she does muck up the family chemistry," and finally (the most overused) "Cam gets a head full of steam to do something that he considers wonderful and Mitch becomes increasingly annoyed with it until he eventually can't take it anymore and he and Cam have a fight that leaves Mitch feeling bad and then he apologizes soon after." The specificity of these scenarios ought to speak to the fact that the Modern Family writers really need to figure out some new story-lines.
However, despite my gripes Modern Family was the best rated show among high income 18-49 year olds in its premiere week (even narrowly beating out The Big Bang Theory). This is probably because holds a uniqueness among other shows, and now in its sixth season, it has burrowed its way into the hearts of the American TV viewing audience, and man, that "mockumentary" humor is top notch.
My Grade: C+
Nielsen Ratings: 3.9 (with 11.38 million viewers) winning the night and helping out Blackish.
Reviewer's Quotes: "It’s unlikely the episode will rank in the top tier of season 6—probably no Emmy tape in its future—but it performs solidly and none of its three plots is disastrous. It plays with some fun, mischievous story ideas, and it’s pretty funny throughout. Modern Family’s B-game is far from perfect, and probably shouldn't be breathing the same oxygen as Louie, but what it does, it still does well." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com).
Review: Nothing about this season premiere is very special. While the "Modern Family laugh a minute humor" is indeed totally present, the three story arcs in this episode are all issues that have become a bit stale due to overuse in previous episodes. These being the "Jay feels intimidated by Gloria's good looks because he's so old resolving with Gloria and Jay apologizing to each other," the "Alex, though being a child, is the most competent member of the Dunphy family and they realize that they need her around even if she does muck up the family chemistry," and finally (the most overused) "Cam gets a head full of steam to do something that he considers wonderful and Mitch becomes increasingly annoyed with it until he eventually can't take it anymore and he and Cam have a fight that leaves Mitch feeling bad and then he apologizes soon after." The specificity of these scenarios ought to speak to the fact that the Modern Family writers really need to figure out some new story-lines.
However, despite my gripes Modern Family was the best rated show among high income 18-49 year olds in its premiere week (even narrowly beating out The Big Bang Theory). This is probably because holds a uniqueness among other shows, and now in its sixth season, it has burrowed its way into the hearts of the American TV viewing audience, and man, that "mockumentary" humor is top notch.
My Grade: C+
Nielsen Ratings: 3.9 (with 11.38 million viewers) winning the night and helping out Blackish.
Reviewer's Quotes: "It’s unlikely the episode will rank in the top tier of season 6—probably no Emmy tape in its future—but it performs solidly and none of its three plots is disastrous. It plays with some fun, mischievous story ideas, and it’s pretty funny throughout. Modern Family’s B-game is far from perfect, and probably shouldn't be breathing the same oxygen as Louie, but what it does, it still does well." -Joshua Alston (avclub.com).
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