Modern Family "Two Monkeys and a Panda" Review

The biggest indictment of how far Modern Family has fallen this season is that of the shows I watch on Wednesday night it was placed fifth on my priority list. As a show I thought was the best new show last year, this is a stunning fall from grace. I've started to wonder is it the writing is that much weaker or has the newness and novelty just worn off? It's hard to say at this point but one this is for sure the honeymoon is definitely over.

Last night's episode did have its share of highlights. Phil doing Phil stuff like having a spa day by himself was excellent. "You should totally get bangs...you have the face for it. I don't." This kind of environment was right in the Phil wheelhouse. Even him getting advice on how to deal with Claire was well done. I thought Phil getting a win for successfully using the advice he received at the spa was a nice touch. There's so many times he's completely clueless, it's nice to see him succeed now and again.

An episode with the Dunphy kids but not Luke is a big miss for me. I'm an unabashed fan of Luke. The other two register a big whatever for me these days. Maybe it's because I'm a male and I don't get the sister/sister relationship but I don't find Haley and Alex interesting at all. One of the biggest issues this season has been the writing for Claire. She has been neither a funny character nor a sympathetic character this season. She's just been busy.

Jay's personal victory to have himself placed on the mantle in a coffee can made me laugh along with the kooky couple they wanted to buy the crypt space from. The "tada" argument was OK but not one of the finer moments. The better moments with this side of the family are between Jay and Manny. The man to man talks they have always include a nice nugget or two of manly advice Manny is able to pass on to Jay.

The "Two Monkeys and a Panda" stuff was a total miss for me. Cam in hysterics is usually good but the flashbacks were very forced and disingenuous tonight. Even getting Lily to clap when they said adoption because of something  he saw on Oprah fell pretty flat. I prefer Cam when he's overconfident and moving towards hysterics otherwise he comes off as a poor man's Albert from The Birdcage. 

I've said it before and I'll continue to say it, I continue to watch the show for the highlights because each episode has a few. However, as a whole the series still seems a bit lost with where they are taking our favorite modern family.

Modern Family "Regrets Only" Review

I'm starting to get concerned about Modern Family. The only episodes that have really worked this season have had gimmicky characters like Fizbo and Phil's alter ego Clive Bixby. "Regrets Only" had none of these gimmicks to fall back on and the episode suffered for it.


Phil's relationship with Claire may be the least interesting relationship on the show. The age difference between Jay and Gloria and Mitchell and Cam's relationships offer greater variety of material. Phil is at his best when he's being one of the kids. His attempts to be an adult and deal with Claire just always seem to fall short. Phil's best moments on "Regrets Only" are between him and Gloria. His reaction when she offers to cut his hair by saying "I'll do you." However, his attempt to figure out why Claire was mad at him just came off as a lazy episode.

We know Alex has the classic "Jan Brady" complex when it comes to Haley. Her eternal quest to expose Haley to her parents is usually pretty good but last night's fake job and Haley's attempt to cover it up was lifted straight out of a News Radio episode.

It seems like they really need some common ground they can grab on to for this season, at least on the Dunphy side of the family. Last season the Dylan/Haley courtship gave Phil and Claire something to ground them in parenting. It also created some of the better comedic tension between the two. This season the writers have put the parenting on autopilot and tried to concentrate on the relationship between the parents and it hasn't worked.

Maybe the solution is to take some of the focus off of the Dunphy's. The Jay/Gloria karaoke story actually had some funny moments and more traction than the writers used. I think they could have gotten a lot more out of Luke as Cam's party planning assistant. Even skipping the part of Mitchell forgetting the invitations and concentrated solely on the party.

It seems like I say this every other week but I do hope Modern Family regains their mojo. Last year it was a breath of fresh air and this year has been entirely too stale. Perhaps they need the offseason to see where things went wrong and come back strong in the fall. It wouldn't be the first time a show fell victim to a sophomore slump.

Modern Family "Princess Party" Review

"The truth is little guy, I am rich but not with money. I've got my abs. I've got my hair and I've got a super sweet job driving that limo outside." Bobby Sullivan

It's time for Lilly's birthday party and all the crazies in the Pritchett clan are coming out to play. Claire and Mitchell's mom, Jay's ex, Dede, played by Shelly Long, is coming to town for the party and she has a way of bringing out the worst in everyone. Modern Family always works best when they bring out their worst.

Dede shows up at Phil and Claire's house with Claire's old high school boyfriend, Bobby Sullivan in tow. Bobby is played by the excellent Matt Dillon. Dede always looking to get something neglected to tell Bobby that Claire was married when she invited him to dinner.

There's some pretty funny quien mas macho? banter between Phil and Bobby before and after dinner but the real comedy is going on at Mitchell and Cam's house. Cam is upset because Mitchell didn't invite his alter ego Fizbo to entertain at Lilly's party. Instead hiring a princess to entertain. I thought court jester Fizbo was genius. I would have hired him on the spot.

You know it's a good party when Gloria shows up whacked on Xanax and tequila. Cam is gold tricking the princess to break character. Then berating her with a story about being lit on fire and still making balloon animals as he was being loaded into the ambulance. The party really gets going when Dede shows up with Bobby leading to a great line by Claire. "You win. I'm screaming at a princess party, Mom."

Modern Family continued their comeback from a sub par first half of the season with another solid episode tonight. On a night when Phil doesn't have the biggest part it's imperative to get a performance like this out of Cam. Although Phil was classic Phil exclaiming "I've got Gloria. I've got Gloria" as Gloria and Dede were rolling around on the ground fighting.