Modern Family’s weird kids, gay jokes and sneaky laughs

I’m just going out on a limb and saying it: this was the funniest episode of Modern Family since the pilot. I’ve enjoyed every episode, don’t get me wrong, but this episode was written in the style of the pilot, meaning it left me with the inability to recover from one laugh before they got to the next one.

And did you catch all those little funnies they slipped in when you thought you weren’t listening closely? Yeah, they were there and they were priceless.

In reference to Lily’s referee outfit, Mitchell asks, “Why is she dressed like the Hamburglar?” That was pretty sneaky, but Phil’s reaction to “Miss Passwater” was downright covert. You would have giggled too.

There’s nothing I love more than when a show celebrates a weird kid. Nope, that’s not because my kid tucks his pants into his socks, thinking it makes him look like he’s wearing super hero boots, or because he makes up words as a part of his own secret language. It’s not even because, like Claire, “I ask why a lot.” OK, it probably is, but the fictional kids tend to be even weirder than mine, and it makes me laugh, with love.

“I’ll tell you what’s weird. Our son is not weird. What’s weird is that her kid wears after shave and dresses like a count.” – Claire, about Manny

Modern Family handles gay jokes with reverence, which I suppose means that they don’t make fun of gay people any more than they make fun of weird kids, “mud flap” moms or… Phil.

“It’s not just the game. It’s the bands, and the drama and the pageantry.” – Mitchell
“Don’t forget about the team mascots.” – Cameron
“They wear ascots?” – Mitchell
“No, mascots, with an ‘m.’ that could have been very embarrassing.” – Cameron

But my favorite gay joke of the night: “Dad, you’re really close to ruining gay for me.” – Mitchell

Other stuff:

• This episode was originally scheduled to air on November 4, so I’m wondering why they decided to mess with the order of the episodes.
• Seriously subtle funny: “Claire likes to say you can be part of the problem or part of the solution. I happen to believe that you can be both.” – Phil
• What do Erik Estrada and the Righteous Brothers have in common? I don’t know either, but somehow Jay managed to reference both of them in the same sentence.

Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Oct 21, 2009 @ 22:24 EST5EDT